There’s an interesting thread that has really taken off this month on a new site for expatriates called Inter Nations. It’s a social networking site, a bit more formal than Facebook, but not as business focussed as LinkedIn.
I’ve no doubt that when Global Coach Margarita Gokun Silver started the thread, asking about the most common issues faced by expats, she expected maybe half a dozen replies at best. To date the thread has over 60 responses and almost 1,000 views! It’s a fascinating window into the expat experience with contributions from people all over the world. Some are career expats, some are immigrants, some are TCK’s. If you read through the comments there’s bound to be something that will resonate with you. Here’s a taste . . .
There are some really interesting comments here, particularly about TC-kids. I’m British, met my Greek husband in Germany and we are now bringing up our children in Greece. They were born in Germany, but are clearly foreigners there. They have never lived in the UK, but feel a definite affinity to the language and culture. They love living in Greece – but do not expect to work here as the culture is still foreign to them – after 3 years. I always thought they were quite privileged having such a background – but sometimes I wonder whether they will ever have a real “home”.
How about expats being expected to answer for the decisions of their home governments?
Well I am not moving from one country to another on the regular basis but have moved once from Russia to Canada and must say that I overestimated my abilities to adapt when I was making the decision to move. It has been over half a year and I still feel the tense being involved in those little conversations you have to keep with cashiers at stores.. LoL
In order to access the site you need an invitation to join, so if you’ re interested, please contact me through Twitter or my About me page. I’ll need your full name and email address in order to issue you an invitation through the website.
No comments:
Post a Comment