Happy New Year - with Expat Celebrity Supermodel Gail Elliott

Happy New Year to Everyone, all over the world! It is already 1 January 2008 here in Australia and waking up this morning to the possibility of a sensational new chapter in your life is a wonderful feeling. It is like we all get to wipe the slate clean again every January 1. What an opportunity.

Our January Home Page is now online. We are very excited this month to feature our interview with Celebrity Expat Woman - Gail Elliott. Gail is a British Supermodel who rose to fame in the 1980s. She is a friend to the likes of Cindy Crawford, Yasmin Le Bon, Elle Macpherson and Helena Christensen and has lived the high life - strutting the global catwalks for famous designers such as Gianni Versace, Calvin Klein, John Galliano, Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Ralph Lauren, Gucci, Prada and Marc Jacobs to name just a handful. She has graced magazine covers such as Vogue, Bazaar and Elle, but now spends her time developing her own fashion label and stores for Little Joe NY. I talked to Gail about her first expat experience in Japan - which stands out to me as an example of why we should never give up - despite when it gets tough abroad and people take advantage of you. If Gail had given up when she came across obstacles in Japan, she never would have made it to the top!

For the record, Gail was a truly delightful woman to interview. She always answered her emails personally and was incredibly humble. I wish her every success with her new fashion label. In my opinion, she deserves success.

Other features this month include:

Jill's interview with Rebecca Kousky - the founder of Nest, a nonprofit with a mission of giving micro-finance loans to female artists in developing countries and an online artistic community. Nest’s micro-finance loans allow women to create and/or maintain small arts-and crafts-based businesses. Nest raises funds for loans via its online store. Nest sells clothing, accessories and home merchandise created by successful international artists and designers to discerning customers who want their purchases to make a difference.

My interview with US travel personality, Marybeth Bond, of The Gutsy Traveler, who recounts her experience of being on the Oprah Winfrey show... as well as discussing the book, A Woman's Europe, which she edited for Traveler's Tales (Publisher).

Jill's interview with Hilly van Swol-Ulbrich & Bettina Kaltenhäuser who wrote the great book, 'When Abroad Do As The Local Children Do', aimed at 8-12 year olds who are moving abroad.

And my interview with our Mentor of the Month, Andreea G, in Brussels, Belgium. Andreea moved from Romania to Belgium many years ago to study International Affairs. She loves it so much that she is still there and shows no signs of leaving just yet. Find out why...

Congratulations to Lula, for winning US$100 for her Winning Story of the Month, Pencils and Apples: A Clash of Cultures.

The five winners of the giveaway book, The World Is A Kitchen, will be announced in our Member Newsletter, which will be sent out on January 3 or 4.

If you are not yet a Member, please support our site and sign up now for our monthly newsletter. We would love to welcome you into the ExpatWomen Online Community.

Thanks and Best Wishes for a Healthy, Happy and Prosperous 2008,

Andrea.

Happy Holidays

Dear Expat Women around the world,

Thank you for your support this year. We all know that moving to a new country and even returning home after a long absence can be stressful. We want to thank all the women who have visited our site and found help in our pages.

I especially want to thank the expatriate womens clubs and local expat country websites all over the world who have listed their link in our Country Links section.


I wish you all the very best over the holiday season and may 2008 be incredibly successful for all!


Warmest wishes,


Jill Lengre

End of Year Reflections

As 2007 draws soon to a close, I am feeling very reflective. I read this quote today that I wanted to share with you, to help us all remember that whatever we have been through in 2007, there is still surely something for which we can be grateful. The quote was cited as an anonymous "Old Saying", so maybe you have heard it before:

"I once was sad because I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet."

And while I'm sharing quotes, here is still my favourite this year, from one of our Expat Women Bloggers:

“At the table of life there are knives in the back, and forks in the road. I keep a spoon handy, in case life dishes up dessert.” In Search Of Dessert

May 2007 conclude for all you with a big plate of dessert!

Warmest wishes Everyone, Andrea.

Glocals, Expat Research & Happy Holidays!

Greetings everyone! Apologies for the lack of blog posts lately. Like you (we are guessing), this whole festive season (if you are in a location and/or culture that considers this a festive/holiday season, of course) is quite mad. Lots of commitments. But lots of good, quality, catch-up time with friends/family.

GLOCALS: We saw the term 'Glocals' on this site recently and we just loved it. Has anyone seen it used before? It sounds so simple, globals and locals, but we confess that we have never seen it used online before. The site was formerly known as GenevaOnline, and they describe the site as "a community of friendly globals (expats) & locals in Switzerland".

EXPAT RESEARCH: Nina Cole, who you may remember had a spot in a newsletter a few months back, has asked us to make a mention that she's now looking for more help please: "You can contribute to improved HR management of expats and their families! Your input as an expatriate is essential to a research study currently being conducted by Dr. Nina Cole from Ryerson University in Toronto Canada. Please go to my website and click (up the top) on ’07-08 Sabbatical in Asia’. If you are the spouse of an expat, then click on ‘Spousal Questionnaire’, and take 5 minutes to complete it. If you are an expat employee, then there are three short ‘Expat’ questionnaires to click on, which will take 15-20 minutes to complete. Please email me completed questionnaires via n2cole@ryerson.ca. Copies of the results of the study, due mid-08, will be available upon request. Thank you for supporting this effort to improve the management of expat employees and their families." Nina Cole

HAPPY HOLIDAYS: For those of you preparing to close that laptop and enjoy some well-deserved time-off this December/January, we wish you all the very best. May you return refreshed and ready to live amazing lives abroad in 2008!

Warmest wishes,

December Home Page - Online Now

Our new Home Page for December is online now. Be sure to check out our interviews and the winning Story of the Month (Congratulations Apple!). The December newsletter should be sent Monday 3 or Tuesday 4 December (US time). Have a great December!