The Stages of Cultural Adjustment – Part 3 of 3
In part two of the series, we left off discussing stage three of cultural adjustment, adaptation, in which you were beginning to reach a place of understanding and acceptance of your new culture, and you found yourself feeling more like the person you were back in your home country, but with a new twist. As […]
The Stages of Cultural Adjustment – Part 2 of 3
In part one, we left off discussing stage two of the process of cultural adjustment, in which you were experiencing full-blown culture shock and all the frustrations and challenges that go with it. Again, this can be the most difficult stage of adapting to a new culture and the time in which it is most […]
Staying in Milan With Kids This Summer? Stay Sane and Have Fun!
It’s nearly here again…summer! And with it comes the end of another school year and the start of what seems to be both the fastest and slowest season of the year, depending on where you’re sitting. Some of you have summer calendars already jammed so full with plans that you risk whiplash racing from one […]
TCK’s: What Does It Mean?
So many of us grew up with parents from the same country, although perhaps from different regions. Parents who very often had different socioeconomic, political, religious and academic backgrounds, and who undoubtedly had very different family cultures and traditions. In the end, each and every family becomes it’s own version of an intercultural union, even […]
Relocation: A Chance for Reinvention
There are times in life when we all wish we could have a clean slate, a kind of “do over.” For those of you who have moved abroad and begun a whole new life, you know that’s exactly what you get: a completely fresh start and a chance to be a whole new version of […]
Resolute Resolutions
It’s a new year! The time when many of us think – or at least talk – about making some new year’s resolutions. But, why do we think we’re any more likely to resolve to do something new, something different, on January 1, rather than, say, June 29? A new year’s resolution is a declaration […]
Managing Holiday Stress by Managing Your Daily Habits
Here we go again…the holidays! For some, it really is the most wonderful time of the year, but for many of us, it’s more of a mixed bag: stress, added expenses, family (with all the good and all the challenges), travel, illness, and of course, food, fun and festivities. There’s nothing new in being more […]
The Accompanying Partner, aka, The Trailing Spouse
There seems to be no great label for a role that is challenging, hard to define and often overlooked when talking about life as an ex-pat. Historically, the term has been ‘trailing spouse,’ which many feel implies that the one in this role (usually women, but we’re now seeing an increasing number of men) is […]