The top tip for expats starting off in a new country is always to learn the native language. As an American expat living in Germany, I took this advice to heart. When I came to Germany for the first time in 2011, I had already taken nearly five years of language courses. Fresh off the … Read more
Being an expat and moving to exotic locations around the globe can be exciting… yet, often terrifying and sometimes lonely. Advice on how to make friends in new places abounds on expat forums, and I’ve even pontificated myself on blogs and in my book on how to get settled in Dubai. The truth is, no … Read more
One of the less vaunted aspects of adapting to life abroad is getting to know your neighbours. Not the human ones, with whom you can decide the degree of interaction you’re mutually comfortable with. I mean those household occupants we live cheek by jowl with who don’t share a surname or the rent (or any … Read more
Positive Change Is Why We Choose to Be Expats One of the great things about being an expat is that nothing is the same as it is “at home”. Expats have intentionally chosen this life for multiple reasons, not the least of which is that it wakes up all your senses and very little, at … Read more
I recently wrote a post, The Perils of Expats Writing Fiction about an unexpected difficulty for long-term expat writers. Your internal editor is muted (or confused) because after living somewhere long enough it’s difficult to remember if they say taps or faucets, or both, if they say ‘what’s on the cards for today’ or if … Read more
If they call French the language of love they should call Thai the language of simplicity. Not because it’s easy to learn, because, believe me, it isn’t, but because they don’t waste words or include a litany of bothersome little connecting bits or complicated tenses. The downside is, not wasting words also means the same … Read more
I read a charming post the other day that really got me thinking. Ms. Caroline, who writes the Asia Vu blog had just returned to Seoul after spending the summer in the States. As many of us do (wherever we live) she was having a bit of a moan, and recognized that, like many expats, … Read more
I have a confession to make. Contentment and I are not good friends. I’m good at starting new things. I’m not good at long-term maintenance, whether it’s a job, a house, or a geographic location. I envy those who are content with where they are, but I’m not usually one of them. Even before I … Read more
The F1 circus has rolled into Singapore this week as grown men go weak at the knees at the thought of seeing a famous driver or watching the cars speed around the street circuit. The Singapore GP, or the 2013 Formula One Singtel Singapore Grand Prix to give it its official name, is a pretty … Read more
Since we moved to our Spanish mountain village, we’ve discovered that the Spanish are incredibly resourceful and find ingenious ways to recycle items that Brits happily throw away. The previous owner of our house used an upside-down frying-pan to cap one of the chimneys to stop the rain coming in, and sparks flying out. Itʼs … Read more