Diaspora keeping in touch

[Magic]

What is your relationship with your extended family or friends living overseas? How often do you meet them? How do you communicate with them year-round?

My father being a single child, I don't have many relatives in Asia and my mother's family members all live in the same country. That is why I have never experienced the "scattered around the globe large families" type of gatherings... It would be nice to hear about the way it goes for you?

[purpletrapezoid]

A lot of my family lives in Indonesia. The rest live in random places (Spain, Texas, etc.). I have lots of aunts and uncles, so there are a lot of people in my family I don't know. My mom communicates with everyone using Facebook (at least four hours a day).

[Ganbare!]

Facebook, pretty modern means of communication! I hear some families have a more utilitarian vision of overseas relatives as a gateway to immigration through family sponsorship.

Also helping starting a business or finding employment using their local connections such as banks or their knowledge of the legal framework is also big. Families are responsible of several billion dollars transnational transactions.

Plus there are numerous formal solidarity networks but I don't have any in mind, maybe someone could enlighten me on this matter?

[i move the stars for no one]

FB and e-mail keeps us all in touch.my extended family is in Hawaii,Samoa,New Zealand,a few in Oz,and one or two in the midwest US.the only problem is it's getting a little crazy because i've got a ton of samoan 'friends' that i know i'm somehow related to but i don't have the faintest idea who they are.can't delete them,though,that'd be offensive.
the family in Hawaii seems to do the most traveling,they come to the mainland to go to vegas once a year (the members who come switch each year) and every 3-5 years they go to Samoa and the family from NZ and OZ meet them there.

[Ganbare!]

I don't communicate nor meet my family very often just for particular events but I get in touch with some of them by email, artificial relationship, right?

Regarding formal networks, a friend of mine volunteers in an overseas Chinese investors association in London. They share tips and make business transaction involving real estate speculation in Beijing.

Anyone have an idea of how Eurasians are perceived in such communities?

[admin]

Mar 18, 2010 15:12:20 GMT -5 Ganbare! said:

I don't communicate nor meet my family very often just for particular events but I get in touch with some of them by email, artificial relationship, right?

Regarding formal networks, a friend of mine volunteers in an overseas Chinese investors association in London. They share tips and make business transaction involving real estate speculation in Beijing.

Anyone have an idea of how Eurasians are perceived in such communities?

My friend is in a Japanese-American golf club. He himself is 1/2 Japanese, 1/2 German. Many of the members don't even think he has any Japanese blood (his last name is German). I suppose in this case they treat him like a white person, whatever that means. I am in the same club, and members have bent over backwards to welcome me and help me in not insignificant business matters outside of golf.

[tbw]

Its really hard to communicate with relatives that you don't really know while you are overseas.
For the family that I have had alot of contact with and email every now and again, FB for the younger ones and maybe msn if they are on.
I wish my family traveled out to Sydney, but it seems I have to go to them if I want to see them.
The issues with a distant family.

[quiapo]

I have family in such diverse places as Nepal, Indonesia, Spain, Holland, Italy, China, Mexico etc. We keep in touch mainly with Facebook, and Skype. A powerful linkage exists among my former schoolmates, despite graduating 50 years ago, we help each other as members of an extended familly would.

[Ganbare!]

Last night I went to a runway afterparty with a Korean friend where she introduced me to her friends and after a couple of minutes of chatting I heard them mention a familiar name. I asked who they were referring to, it turns out to be a friend of mine whom I met in Canada. I was stoked, why would Korean designers, creative agents based in Paris know a younger countrymen born and bred in California studying public policy in Montreal? I didn't dare asking not to sound impolite, while I'm familiar with the upper class clubs and international schools socialization being exposed to those during my time at the UN, I seriously wonder how ethnic diaspora networks function.

[quiapo]

Koreans networks include school and university attendance, and birthplace towns. Their concept of extended family seems more extensive, even by Asian standards, with titles for degrees of relationship not labelled in other societies.

[Ganbare!]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge on the issue. Nonetheless the majority of the small contingent of Koreans or Japanese in Paris either work in fashion and creative industries or were seduced by the quality French lifestyle. Their approach is different than refular Asian businesspeople and engineers immigrating to North America or Britain because of better financial opportunities/stability so they most likely didn't attend the same universities. Apparently they were from Seoul which is a huge city therefore I don't really understand how a Korean-American would know native Koreans, especially since there is a 5 years age gap between them.

I was surprised quite a few times to see on Facebook people I was acquainted with had mutual friends from different regions, occupations.. initially the thought crossing my mind was: small world but now I know certain groups spread across the planet remain linked through networks despite the distance, I'd like to find out how they are established so if someone has a personal anecdote then by all means share it.