The continuing bonds of US expatriates living in Egypt |
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| Authors: | Hani M Henry Nayla Hamdi Gina Shedid |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Marketing, McCoy College of Business Administration, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX 78666, USA;2. Virtual Trade Mission Foundation, 211 C. Street, NE, Washington DC 20002, USA;3. Department of Marketing & Real Estate, University of West Georgia, Carrollton, GA, USA;4. School of Marketing & International Business, Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand;1. Université libre de Bruxelles, SBS-EM, DULBEA, CEB, Belgium and University of Stuttgart, Institute for Landscape Planning and Ecology, Germany;2. Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium;3. University East London, Sustainability Research Institute, United Kingdom |
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| Abstract: | This study used the continuing bonds model, which describes the process of loss and mourning, to build a theory about the acculturation process of US expatriates. We examined six case studies of US expatriates permanently residing and working in Egypt. Participants were interviewed about the loss of their US culture and their cultural experiences in Egypt. All participants acknowledged losing aspects of their US culture, and kept continuing bonds with it, but these bonds took different forms depending on the way they responded to their loss and the way they negotiated the influences of both host and native cultures. We present three of these case studies in this paper due to space limitations. One participant believed that his continuing bonds might be imagined or outdated and used religion to avoid the influences of both US and Egyptian cultures in his life. Another participant used his continuing bonds to inspire marginalized Egyptians and refugees. The third participant used his continuing bonds to isolate himself from the Egyptian culture and lead an exclusive American lifestyle. External factors such as political climate of host country, family members, privilege, circumstances of coming to Egypt, and age influenced the mourning process. |
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