Consciousness is constructed by narratives that we 'create' and then nurture. We literally become the stories we tell our 'self'.

Living for a time in a foreign country is particularly dangerous for the construction of beliefs based on a small number of 'anecdotes', events that have occurred in our short time in a new culture. This anecdotal 'evidence' becomes our 'understanding' of that country. Two Chinese cab-drivers drove the 'long way'; ALL Chinese are crooks. I've rented three apartments in China; ALL Chinese landlords are idiots.

When you combine a disoriented and arrogant ego with an anecdotal understanding of his 'new world', you create an Ex-pat.