I try to stay away from the expat crowds mostly because they usually did not put in much effort to be where they are. They often get sent overseas by their company, everything is arranged and they are generally (not all of them) people who have little appetite for risk but like to paint themselves as the adventurers.

they also do not mingle with locals. Even in the South of France I knew many Brits who did all their shopping at the "British groceries" store to buy "Australian wine" and they generally do not welcome non-native speakers or much preferably also Brit (note native speaker to the colonialist always means the person does not speak another second language - e.g. Indians will never be "expats" in their eyes)

Have seen many Australians, Kiwis, Canadians who actively tried to avoid that specific expat crowd, but Brits/Americans (or also Japanese) are _very_ rare to mix with locals outside their work environment.

It doesn't mean they're bad people. I have many friends who would never bother to go abroad unless it's a 5-star wellness trip isolated away from all the reality (and locals) of the country. They're just not the most interesting or adventurous people and so it's OK if they stay in their own little bubbles without bothering the rest of us imo :)

Usually if I hear my mother tongue in a foreign country I usually change to the other side of the street.