Vikram Seth translated (or helped translate) the poems of three T'ang dynasty poets. One of the poets (I can't remember which one) wrote frequently about traveling and leaving, which presented more problems then as it does now. Friends visiting from distant lands could not assure their host of a second visit. In some ways, it's fantastic that we (or those who can afford it, at least) have the luxury of mobility. On the other hand, I think we've lost something beautiful and poignant when we can choose to avoid difficult, permanent goodbyes.
But this is all tangential to your point, which is more about the traveler/immigrant immersed in societies and communities. Yeah, definitely: different spaces, different levels, different kinds of interactions. I wish there was a way to be able to talk about or visualize these new possibilities... actually, I suppose that's one of the things I could work on [in my residency]!
To prepare for my move to Canada next year, I've been practising something for the past year or so. I've been consciously superimposing my "Canadian headspaces"—the internal worlds I carried within while I lived in Vancouver, Montreal, and Victoria—with whatever my current headspace is at any given time. I try to summon emotions and ideas from that North American past to the here and now, and I work with both sets of headspaces at the same time. I suppose what I'm trying to do is come up with more unified approaches to interacting with (and inhabiting) the world as a whole.
I think this experiment has suggested some concrete strategies I can use. For example, I have resolved to drop as much of my North American accent as I can when I return to canada, but also not try to force it out my speech patterns while living in Manila.
I'm hoping that I can generate complementary strategies to building what you so accurately call "'temporary' communities of mutual support".
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