True enough but at least the coffee machine was free.
Ah but was it REAL coffee, the kind you get at PMUs that you can stand the spoon up in 
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Sadly, no Anna. It was 'orrible but since my 10 hour shifts were through the night I drank gallons of the muck.
LOL,yes I worked a 7 to 7 graveyard shift four nights a week for a couple of years, and the cr1pe I used to eat and drink to keep myself going donât bear thinking about. I became addicted to mini-cheddars, and I used to get through about six little bags of those a night. Not a healthy lifestyle, and it took me a long time to readjust afterwards.
I see the word âexpatâ has entered the discussion again. I want, again. to register my disapproval of it to describe people (like my wife and me) who have emigrated to France with the intention of settling here permanently.
I have lived in a country other than the land of my birth for ten years, and during that time I was happy to describe myself as an expatriate worker from Britain living in Zambia, and with the intention of leaving Zambia at the end of my work. Thatâs how the word expatriate should be used, to describe someone living in a land other than his own for work or study, and with no settled intention of remaining there permanently.
A person who moves to a country other than the country of his birth (or by adoption), and settles there with the intention of staying, is an immigrant.
At least thatâs the way I see and understand it. Iâm never referred to as an expatriate by French people, only by the British. I donât know what words other than âles anglaisâ French people use to designate us British, perhaps Veronique can give us a cheerful hint?
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Ha ha⊠PeterâŠ
I am often introduced to a group (or whoever) as ânotre petite anglaiseâ by my french friends⊠who then go on to explain that I am more French than the French themselvesâŠ
Expat⊠neverâŠimmigrĂ©e, yes. 
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I think the term usually used in the media etc is âressortissants britanniquesâ.
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The expat/immigrant argument is so tiresome. It seems like some sort of invert snobbery, some badge of honour to proclaim âIâm an immigrant not an expatâ Call yourself whatever you want who cares? And actually the definition of an expatriate is someone who lives outside their home country either temporary or permanently, but people seem to make up their own definitions and want to impose them on everyone else.
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Actually PoppyâŠ
Locally, folk from all other countries are immigrĂ©s⊠or touristesâŠ(if any label needs to be given) ⊠
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Hi Poppy, maybe Iâm a bit oversensitive to the use of the word. There are countries (I cited Zambia in my post) where the word âexpatâ is used (by indigenous locals) as a token of contempt for the âhere today, gone tomorrowâ attitude of many British people who went there to work, had virtually no social contact with the local people (except in a master-servant relationship), and lived in almost hermetic isolation in privileged ghettoes.
I donât think this is true of most British immigres, but it seems true of some; and I donât think itâs snobbery not to want to be associated with people like that: to some extent itâs a matter of simple prudence and self-protection, as some have ugly reputations for dishonesty and worse.
But so as not to raise your ire further, Iâll not raise the matter again 
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Expat is a word that I use as an adjective not a noun. I refer to an expat lifestyle being where a group of British people abroad maintain their British way of life to a point where their âcustomsâ become more extreme than those of the nation the are emulating.
âThe sunâs over the yardarm, anyone fancy a snifter?â
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My neighbour JosĂ© is an immigrĂ©âŠhe says so himself. He made a conscious decision to come and live in FranceâŠ(60 years ago). For him and others ⊠expatrié⊠is not the same thing at all and does not describe the situation correctlyâŠ
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Thatâs a very satisfying reply, David of Aquitaine, and mineâs a double G & T, the ladyâll have a Bloody Mary and a packet of salt-and-vinegar crisps. And One for Yourself, Maestro.
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As I said.
I have lovely friends in France who correctly by definition call themselves expats and they certainly donât fit some of the descriptions mentioned here. I donât care what you like to call yourself but do object to the derision of âexpatsâ.
I know what the dictionary definitions say but to me, as a former Latin student, being an expatriate means that you are outside your fatherland (ex=out of, from, patria=fatherland), hence if you are away from your homeland it implies you donât consider the country youâre living in as your own country. That is the etymology of the word. So personally I only use it for people who are âaway from their fatherlandâ, ie been sent here on an overseas contract but still consider the UK their home and will go home at the end of it. However I accept that other people donât see this meaning in the word, and use it differently.
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