The beauty of the Expat community – the global mind
During the past weeks and months, I had so many nice discussions within the Expat / Living abroad – community and I started to reflect on: Why does each of these conversations be so easy to me? Why do I have so much in common with people I never met before and I am only able to talk to via phone or video chat?
How to stay in contact with loved ones during an Expat assignment
Staying in touch can be hard when living abroad. I reveal my top communication tips to feel closer to friends and family back home. Would love to hear your thoughts on that.
Monday thought: Experiencing the worst-case scenario – surgery abroad
Since I am back from Christmas in Germany it was a rollercoaster journey with my health. I went to countless doctor’s appointments…each time assured that everything will be fine and each time I had to go back to just being told that it went worse. You start to prepare yourself for the worst-case scenario: Getting surgery in a foreign country with a foreign health system.
In this blog post, I will give insights into how it feels to be that vulnerable abroad and I give some advice from my experience.
The Expat-Relationship. A real test!
An expat assignment is a tough time as it throws both partners into cold water but due to work in different „buckets“. Read about my personal experience and how to communicate with your partner.
The Expat-preneur: A real deal?
Over the last week, I read a couple of academic papers about expatriation. Many papers are dealing with the effect of expatriation on the relationship and the influence of the Expat Partner on the success of the assignment.
One paper, in particular, caught my attention: „The expat-preneur: conceptualizing a growing international career phenomenon“ by M. Vance, Y. McNulty, Y. Paik and J. D’Mello.
The 5 phases of culture shock and how to go through smoothly
Culture shock is what you can expect when moving to another country. It does not matter if you move to a place similar to your own culture or you are changing continents. No matter the distance, you will still experience a cultural shock and the different phases it comes with.
5 big communication differences between Americans and Germans
Living in the US as a German gives me the opportunity to observe many small differences throughout my day. In the following, I have written down 5 big communication-related habits that are very distinct in each country.
What to do when feeling grumpy abroad
Have you felt grumpy in your new surrounding as an Expat? While in everyone’s life there are good and bad days, some triggers are more intense due to the new foreign surrounding.
Self-marketing overseas: The overwhelming American business culture and how to cope with it
So what are the core differences in our private and business culture? How vital is self-marketing in the American business culture? And how can I as an Expat adopt to my new surrounding in order to be perceived as a valuable and competent business partner?