When you become a
parent, you get a new name: Mom or Dad. You have a new role, a new identity,
and this name helps you make the transition to parenthood as well as separate
your old self from your new one.
 |
| Step off that plane with a new name |
But when most people
move abroad, they don’t take a new name for their new role as The
Foreigner.
If you were like the
Frau, you didn’t change your name after changing countries, so your old and new
identities collided like tectonic plates and the earthquake that shook your
body was probably a 9.0 on the Richter scale.
That’s why the Frau is
campaigning for Expat Name Reform in Switzerland. The new law would say that
all foreigners should take a new name when moving to Switzerland in order to
protect their old sense of self.
So what are you
waiting for, expats? Let’s choose a nice Swiss name and let’s get going.
Regula? Perfect.
Ok. Let Regula get cut
in front of at the cheese counter. Let Regula smile at people and let Regula
feel defeated when they don’t smile back. Let Regula protect Jennifer or Katie or
Cathy or whoever you are inside. Don’t let your two identities
meet.
The Frau’s Campaign
for Expat Name Reform was inspired by Peter Hessler’s book about living in
China, River Town (great book for
expats, by the way).
In China, expats
usually take Chinese names. Hessler took one right away, and describes how his
Chinese identity, Ho Wei was very different from Peter Hessler. In fact, he
says, the two never really interacted. Ho Wei was passive, dumb, and a toddler
in terms of dealing with his Chinese world. But he never collided with Peter,
who was more assertive, Oxford-smart, and a world traveler.
Anyway, if you read this blog, you know Chantal eventually became “The Frau.” But looking back,
Chantal wishes she had become The Frau right away.
Here’s why:
After moving to
Switzerland, things happened to Chantal and she had no control over them.
Chantal wasn’t used to being rendered mute but Swiss German had a funny way of
doing that to her. She had trouble separating who she used to be (Ms. 4.0
Perfectionist Who Was Going to Conquer the World With Her Brilliance) with who
she had become (Ms. I Failed At Buying Beef So We’ll Be Having Pork Stroganoff
for Dinner).
So do yourself a
favor, new expats, and find yourself a new name to go with your new country.
Find your “Frau“ or your “Ho Wei” and preserve the smart, worldly you before it
gets ripped apart by people who think you’ll automatically understand them if
they talk louder.
If you agree with
Expat Name Reform, please sign the petition otherwise known as the comment
board and include your preferred Swiss name.
