Falling in love with China all over again

What attracts migratory humans to take wing in their homelands and alight on a particular foreign shore? Why does an expat move to Italy or Colombia or... to China? What makes some of them stay for years?

I ponder that question every time someone back in the United States asks me: When are you going home? Some people say it with an inflection that seems to mean: When are you giving up on your crazy ideas and coming back to where you belong?

I think that inflection is a little sharper among those who can't imagine living where the history, culture and language are very much unlike theirs.