I’m adding a few more Tai Tai descriptions to my list;

Tradeoff Tai Tai-has found the shopping and the mahjong’s boring and took up a part time job.  She’s earning a nice little income and enjoys the work.  It’s only part time but fulfilling.  She mixes with locals and has a different slant on living in Asia.  She maybe doing something related to her career but chances it is something completely different like relocation work, teaching English or selling over priced products to her fellow expatriate. 

Trying it On Tai Tai – she has had a maid – frustrated by the experience and has gone out on her own.  She is trying to do it all, the shopping, ironing, picking up the kids, homework, entertainment, laundry and after 4 months she’s out there looking for another maid.  Trying it On Tai Tai’s don’t last – they come to the conclusion it’s too hard to do ‘it’ without a maid be it part time or full time – most Tai Tai’s need a maid.

Tai Tai in Training – you always recognize these ones.  They have a stunned rabbit look and headlights for eyes.  Everything is new, exciting and wonderful.  One of my friends called them “fresh meat” because that’s how they were still oozing with enthusiasm – or as she said ‘blood’. Lasts about 2 months then they hit the wall and realize the maids a headache, the husband’s never around to talk to and their newest buddy just got notice they are being relocated to a new place.  They have plans to learn the language, go to the gym regularly, buy new furniture, and learn to play mahjong and definitely mix with the locals.  Wrong … most of it wears off and they put on weight, get frustrated with the language, hate mahjong, and quickly learn that locals will never ask them over.  

Master Tai Tai – she’s probably lived somewhere else in Asia – done this before and is married to an Expert Expat.  By now she knows which maid will be a valuable member of the family, have extensive Asian furniture and doesn’t need another piece but will still buy some.  She has the cooking mastered and can teach you a thing or two from a city she once lived in.  Plus she’s got connection is every other Asian town, so you need to talk to her before you travel.  She’s a good Tai Tai to get to know, but she may not warm to your initially because by now she has hardened and knows that most of her fellow Tai Tai expats do not stay around too long.  They move on, just like she will one day.

Sometime ago I wrote about the different expats that do the stint overseas.  I talked about the loco expat, the professional expat and the list goes on.  I have tried to explain to them the different types of expats that live overseas and you will find links here at my blog as well.  What I have come to realize is that there is a whole range of expat women often refereed to in Hong Kong  as ”Tai Tai”.

Tai Tai in Chinese means “woman” with it a connotation, so I need to explain this first.  A Tai Tai tends to have the means and where all to do nothing all day except spend money and shop.  They don’t cook, clean or work.  Their main object in life s to be happy.  They usually are a wife but they could also, effectively, be a ‘girlfriend’ or ‘lover’.

Super Tai Tai  (STT) – (this is a term a friend of mine used recently)

The Super Tai Tai – has loads of cash to spend and she never accounts for why she bought another original Channel Outfit when she already has 3 she has never worn.  Most Super Tai Tai’s are probably in the social pages, go to charity events that requires them to dress nicely and look expensive.  She would have a driver to take her places. No doubt she doesn’t know how to drive or has forgotten because her job is not to drive but to simply be a Tai Tai.

Super Tai Tai probably has a couple maids one to look after the children and one to take care of the house.  If she is lucky she also has a maid to take care of her clothes.  One year when we were looking for a new apartment we saw an apartment that had it’s own ’shoe room’ – talk about a Super Tai Tai luxury.  Even I had to say I was thrilled with the idea of my own shoe closet!

It is suggested that these women don’t necessarily have further education but I cannot vouch for that.  They are seen shopping in small groups – I guess they value moral support.  It is possible that the husband has another ‘wife’ and as such ensures the Super Tai Tai is rewarded accordingly i.e. nice cars, diamonds, vacations.  The joke during the 97 recession was that these Tai Tai’s shopped across the border buying ‘fake’ products and boasting about it.  I believe this activity has died down, one too many convictions have probably turned them off this shopping spree.  (Please note Super Tai Tai’s are often not expatriates)

It is not true that I dream of being a super Tai Tai or aspire to be one.  In fact I’m probably now in trouble for sharing the secrets of being a Tai Tai.

“Love Expat” left their home for love and live wherever, under whatever circumstances.  If it means they live in a tent and are with their love they will do it.  There are many of those around; they will give up creature comforts to be with the one they love. Sometimes they get to have better creature comforts but more than not, Not.  No questions asked, or any answers given.  Bottom line it’s all about Love!  or should I say Lust?

This brings us to the end of the expats as I see it, but I have loads of other great Hong Kong stories and I plan to post them so watch this space.

A rare breed is the “Unexpected Expat“. They are the type that lands in a city for other reasons than staying.  They are the guy or gal that fall in love with the place vs falling in love with another human being.  Their intent is usually to travel and move on but sometimes the unexpected expat stays and stays and stays..  I love the story of the hippie that came to Hong Kong many years ago and now heads up a Bank!  I’m sure other Asian cities have these types of expats.  The one that sees the need for the Bar near the beach in a isolated location.  Yeh, unexpected expats are great people they have some of the best stories becaues they have gone through a lot to make it all happen.   They don’t have the companies to make the adjustments for them, find the housing, it’s all there.  HR is there to help but not these guys.

“Xtra Expat” there tends to be less of these around.

They cost a lot for a company because they bring with them the wife and the three kids on the journey. Usually they themselves are the off springs of expats and breed more expats.  More than not these guys are actually very beneficial to companies as their expertise is usually huge – they know all about travel, culture, languages and are top in their field.  They are Third Culture Kids and so are their children.  They tend to marry like-minded spouses.  Some of these guys are actually “Expat Experts” or “ Xtraordinary Expats” they may even considering becoming a “Loco Expat” and at some stage they might have been a “Love Expat”.  I think in time they will be known as the “Xpensive Expat”.

To learn more about Third Culture Kids – there is a book and a study on the subject.  It’s a very interesting study as it shows that these kids have a feeling of not belong to one particular country but to the world as a whole.  I feel my children have the signs of being this type of person.  They have friends all over the world already, they have far more life experience than their class room counterparts and they associate and understand children who are new to an environment.  In fact they are usually the first to take a ‘newbie’ under their wings. 

“Duo Expat” usually they are either a young couple with no kids and no plans to have them or they are relatively new empty nesters or they are in the twilight of retiring and taken to living the last few years overseas.

They don’t have big packages and are thrilled to be living abroad.  They might have some benefits like decent accommodation, medical and regular trips home during the summer.  They never localize.

Infact, I’ve said to my husband that I would like to become a duo expat one day.  I found living in Hong Kong with young children at times a challenge.  On our return to the U.S. our children discovered the back yard, their complection change from pastie white to cream. 

I found that a lot of those expats that came to Hong Kong as couples had a great time.  They could have the part-time maid to do their laundry, keep house and assist in preparing meals.  They could travel and enjoy some of the wonderful exotic cities close by and in general the things that were inconveniences to families living in Hong Kong were not inconveniences without a family.  Duo’s put up with the heat and the humdity, duos would eat out more, and travel more and play more.  One day we may take up this lifestyle again either in Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan or Thailand, but with kids I don’t know it causes a whole different dynamic.

The “Excited Expat” has never had a passport, never left their hometown, never attempted to speak a second language

and had little or no exposure to different cultures.  The probably have never eat Chinese or if they had they think Lemon Chicken is a regular Chinese dish.

Excited Expats have no extra luggage (ie wife, kids, animals) and therefore their drain on the company is less than the “Xtra expat” who has an entourage.  They also tend to have no expectations and arrive to find the city of Hong Kong expensive, overcrowded and exciting!

Hang out in the Wanchai Bar district you will find one of these expats there.  Eventually they move out of this phase – because I suspect that this is purely a phase not a permanent breed.  See them as a puppy, over zealous, eager to please, into new stuff and clearly missing the point at times.

“Professional Expat” well they are a little like a “Loco Expat” but they have been doing it longer, they have also found ways to still find a company that will give you an Expat package with less perks.  They usually stay in one place unlike the “Xtraordinary Expat” who has moved countries many times over many years.  Professional Expats have a way of making the system work for them; they usually have a really nice holiday home in a tax-free country and pay no taxes anywhere. Professionals will eventually retire to there tax free haven and travel regularly. I even met a professional expat who had a business card that stated he was a ‘beach bum’, with a tech degree and incredible knowledge on how to ‘hide’ his money from the Tax man.  I never worked out how that all went but he also knew how to travel the world and ‘crash’ with friends for a few weeks at a time!

“Loco Expat” no they haven’t gone crazy they tell you.  They just love living where they are and will do so at any cost.  They have given up their original package, which included housing, medical, schooling, club membership, car etc for a local salary. 

Now a local salary is usually high for someone in his or her field.  It needs to be because they are now going to have to pay for all those things the package usually included.  However, usually those that go local down size their accommodation, give up their club membership and use the local health care system for their ailments.  It’s not a bad deal you just have to love living in your new home more than your old one. 

Some Loco’s have acquired a taste for the local faire i.e. woman/man and as such there really is no turning back, unless they decide they are going to bring back said ‘faire’ or should that be afair to their original point of sale.

“Xtraordinary Expat” another slant on the “Expat Xpert” but usually they have finished their “Expat Xpert” stint and gone home for a few years. They are glad to be back home but get bored doing their job in their hometown.  The company sees this and needs them to return to another city to save the company or increase revenue again. Sometimes the company realizes if they don’t send them they will go to a competitor who will use them to their advantage.

 It’s a version of “Your Country needs you”.  By this stage in your life (you are over 50) you can demand anything in your new package.  These guys usually get a driver and high-end motor vehicle, 1^st class tickets home, incredible housing allowances, more than one return trip home a year, and many more perks. Companies reward them accordingly because they have made money for them.  NOTE: These guys NEVER become “Loco Expats” and they tend not to sleep.