What happens when the (desperate) expat wife goes back to work? On and off throughout her expat (wife) years – and all of a sudden there are quite a few of them and she of course has no idea how that happened – the desperate expat wife has looked longingly into offices, missing the office […]
Marathon of memories
07/09/2014 by Leave a Comment
When you’re an expat, you need to come back to places of good memories: Walk the streets of the city love of your life, slightly puzzled that people keep smiling at you then realising you have this constant, possibly goofy, smile on your face yourself that you somehow can’t wipe off. The same streets you trotted […]
A red, white and blue high
19/05/2014 by Leave a Comment
When you visit your home country after many years abroad, do you feel: a) like a stranger/foreigner b) patriotic to the point of bursting c) like a funny/good/awkward mix of a) and b)
The To Be Another Machine
26/03/2014 by Leave a Comment
Haven’t we all wished we could creep into somebody else’s head and under their skin? New technology might bring us one step closer, through “The Machine To Be Another”.
You look smashing!
01/03/2014 by Leave a Comment
March 1st is World Compliment Day. That makes me think back to my first time in New York, where people threw compliments at me on the street and I was completely caught off guard. Especially coming from a deeply rooted small town mentality of “who do you think you are?” and “you must not think […]
The business of relationships
05/02/2014 by Leave a Comment
Which came first – the chicken or the egg? That’s an ages old philosophical question. The same can be asked about personal relationships and business relationships. The way people arrange who they spend time with parallels how companies structure their manner of doing business. This is not to suggest that people enter relationships strictly as […]
Worry
10/01/2014 by Leave a Comment
Are you alive? If so, then you worry. Do you have a job, kids, friends, possessions? If so, then you worry even more. Worry is an inevitable aspect of living. It is something we like to do as humans. The idea that people like to worry isn’t so far-fetched. Worry gives you a sense of […]
Home after Christmas
06/01/2014 by 2 Comments
If you just returned from your home country after a Christmas break, and you’re wondering where you actually feel at home – don’t worry, you’re not alone. Very many expats experience mixed feelings about where home is. Visiting family and friends is always quite emotional when you’re living abroad, especially when you don’t do it very […]
Third Culture Kids
15/08/2013 by Leave a Comment
Third Culture Kids (TCKs). Does this term sound familiar? Sociologist Ruth Hill Useems came up with it in the 1950s as a way to describe children who grow up in a country (or countries) different from where their parents were raised. Military kids, international business people’s kids, and diplomats’ kids are the primary livers of […]
Totally Texas!
24/07/2013 by 3 Comments
When you move to another country there is a lot to learn; rules, regulations and school systems just being a few. This column was actually a college assignment when I lived in Katy, Texas. It’s about my Norwegian friends trying to adjust, written with humor and a little twist. No offence to my American readers! […]
CLEW 