Moving to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia!

Hi Everyone, It has been a little quiet on this blog of late because my family and I are moving next week to international assignment number three: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

From Australia, to Indonesia, to Mexico, to Australia... and now to Malaysia... I suppose I will be what you call an expat-repat-expat... or something like that. For those of you living in KL, please reach out and help me out a little. :-)

For those of you overwhelmed with your own intenational move right now, hang in there - there is usually light at the end of the tunnel!

Thanks and best wishes always, Andrea.

Expat Women August Home Page

Hi Everyone, We uploaded today our Expat Women August home page (a little early) and we invite you take a look at this month's features and interviews:

Success Story
Kim Edwards
Sea English Academy
Since 1979, Kim Edwards has worked and travelled across 59 nations, including disaster relief work in Iraq, Lebanon, the West Bank and Jordan. Now, she runs Sea English Academy International, which delivers training in more than 20 locations across 15 countries worldwide…
Read more…

Business Idea
Ark International
Kate Lorenz
Kate Lorenz is the Managing Director and a Co-Founder of Ark International – a housing and orientation company based in Shanghai, China with a subsidiary office in Moscow, Russia. Kate is a Brit who grew up in Africa and the Middle East. She moved to China seven years ago...
Read more…

Motivational
Living Courageously In An Economic Crisis
Robin Fay McNair
How much fear is too much? In the past eight years there has been an epidemic of fear in just about every walk of life. But should we just stay home and quit doing anything altogether?
Read more…

A Broad Abroad
The Expat Wife's Guide To Successful Living Abroad
Robin Pascoe
We talk to the Expat Expert, Robin Pascoe about the relaunch of her original ‘Culture Shock: A Wife’s Guide’ and what she has learned about support for expat spouses over 20 years...
Read more…

Salary Negotiation
Tips For Women
Kelly Magowan
Studies show that women are highly uncomfortable with salary negotiation and as a result we avoid it. Even when we do enter into salary negotiation we do not actively seek out the best deal for ourselves, but rather look to...
Read more…

Expat Confession
Raising Bilingual Children
EW Girlfriend
We are a British family about to move to Brazil. One of my major concerns about our move is that none of us speak Portuguese. Other people have told me that children are fast learners when it comes to language and it will all work out once I get there, but will it?
Read more…

Not A Member Yet?
If you are not an ExpatWomen.com member yet, please support us by signing up today. Our next members' newsletter should then come to your inbox next week.

Thanks and enjoy your weekend!

Andrea

Happy Planet Index

Hi Everyone, Some of you might be interested in the Happy Planet Index (HPI) that we learnt about it this week when we were approving Rosangela Silva's This Australian Life blog for our Expat Women Blog Directory.

It is not an index of the happiest people or places, but it is an index which aims to measure "what truly matters to us - our well-being in terms of long, happy and meaningful lives - and what matters to the planet - our rate of resource consumption".

Here are the Top 10 countries on the Happy Planet Index:

1. Costa Rica;
2. Dominican Republic;
3. Jamaica;
4. Guatemala;
5. Vietnam;
6. Colombia;
7. Cuba;
8. El Salvador;
9. Brazil; and
10. Honduras.

The positions of other countries of interest include:

53. Sweden;

74. United Kingdom;

75. Japan;

89. Canada;

102. Australia;

103. New Zealand;

114. United States; and

123. United Arab Emirates.

143. (Last position) Zimbabwe

"Download the new report The Happy Planet Index 2.0: Why good lives don’t have to cost the Earth, first published in July 2009. The report presents the results of the second global compilation of the Happy Planet Index, based on improved data for 143 countries around the world – representing 99 per cent of the world’s population. The results show that globally we are still far from achieving good lives within the Earth’s finite resource limits. But although the evidence shows that we are heading in the wrong direction, the achievements of some countries around the world provide reasons to believe that we can achieve true sustainable well-being."

Have a great day/evening! Andrea

Culture Smart Looking For Writer For India

Hi Everyone, The Culture Smart series needs a writer for India...

Quoting Jo Parfitt's blog:

"The ideal author is an English-speaking expatriate who has lived in the country for some time and is thoroughly well versed in the local culture."

"Kuperard’s Culture Smart guides are short introductory books that alert first-time visitors to the values and attitudes of different countries. They do not duplicate the hard information given in conventional guidebooks but rather focus on the human dimension, on a country’s culture, so as to enable foreign visitors both to be understanding guests and to get the most out of their visit..."

"Kuperard plans to publish a completely new volume on India next year. The book will follow an established series format, and the text will be between 28,000 and 30,000 words long. The fee is £1,000, payable half on receipt and acceptance of the manuscript, and half thirty days afterwards."

If you are interested in this project, please email Jo Parfitt in the first instance. Thanks.

Expat Women: Got A Story For Us?

Hi Everyone, If you have a little time over this holiday season, please consider helping us out by submitting a story to our Stories section.

This is a well-read section of our site but we always need more contributions. If you are not sure what to submit, please jump onto our Story Guidelines page for some direction.

Many, many thanks! Andrea

Amsterdam Uitburo (AUB) Needs English-Speaking Web Editor For Amsterdam

Hi Everyone, If you are a native English speaker who also has an intermediate level of the Dutch language, you might be interested in the 24-hour week web editor position (to start 1 September 2009) at Amsterdam's Uitburo.

"The Amsterdam Uitburo (AUB) is the collective marketing organisation for the cultural sector in Amsterdam. The mission of the AUB is to encourage people to make use of the city’s extensive range of cultural activities including; exhibitions, dance, music, theatre, opera and festivals."

Sounds like a fun position... but be fast, applications close 17 July.

More details on iamsterdam.com here. Good luck to you if you apply!

Expat Survey: Italy & The Netherlands

Hi Everyone, Chiara Giordano is looking for expats in Italy and The Netherlands to complete a survey for her thesis research...

"My name is Chiara, an Italian 24 year-old girl living near Milan. I'm currently enrolled in the master of social and political communication at the "Università degli di Studi di Milano".

At this moment I'm involved in my degree thesis concerning the expatriates coming in Italy and in the Netherlands: the process that the expatriate and in particular their family goes through while adapting and adjusting to the host country.

I have prepared a short survey about the move of the expatriate to Italy and the Netherlands... and... I really need your help because it is difficult for me to reach expatriates. Thank you in advance for your cooperation!"

Here are the links with the survey:
Expats in the Netherlands
Expats in Italy

If you can help Chiara, please do. Thanks.

Work Opportunity For Expatriates Or Repatriates In The United States

Hi Everyone, If you are currently an expatriate or repatriate in the United States, are you interested in the opportunity to work as a Destination Services Consultant for Coppergate International?

Kerrie Wiseman, Managing Director of Coppergate International, is currently looking for either expatriates living in the United States who could draw on their personal experience of relocating to help others move into their current location or for American Citizens who have relocated overseas and returned to the US.

With flexible hours, the role is perfect for spouses accompanying their partners on assignment or anyone without full-time work commitments.

Employees for all locations within the US will be considered, as Coppergate International’s business is growing rapidly.

However, the most urgent locations are:
IL: Chicago
FL: Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Orlando, Tampa and Sarasota
CA: Santa Clara Valley
GA: Atlanta, Savannah and Marietta
TX: Midland, Burleson
DC: Washington DC
MA: Attleboro, Boston and Lexington
NY: New York City
PA: Pittsburgh

If you are interested, please urgently:
(1) Visit Coppergate International's site to learn more about Coppergate International’s business; then
(2) Introduce yourself to Kerrie directly; and
(3) Kindly give Kerrie an overview of your expatriate experience, together with your reasons for being interested in this exciting role.

If you are not interested, please feel free to forward this to anyone you know who might be interested.

Many thanks, best wishes and good luck! Andrea

Disclaimer: Kerrie has generously agreed to make a small donation to Expat Women for each Destination Service Consultant appointed. Thanks for your support, Kerrie!

Want To Win A Laptop? Denmark.Net

Hi Everyone, Remember Denmark.net (the company that recently gave away a trip to the famous Copenhagen Jazz Festival)?

Well, this time they are giving away an Asus laptop, or "netbook" as they call it. Entries are welcome from all over the world and yes, they will "ship the prize free of charge" (we checked with them) to wherever you are located.

To enter, visit Denmark.net today. Entries close 1 September 2009.

We wish you all the best of luck! Andrea

Best Top 50 Companies For Women (UK)

Hi Everyone, Entries close next month for Aurora's 2009 Where Women Want To Work TOP 50 with The Times. Companies with 1,000+ staff in the UK are eligible to apply.

To register your organisation's interest in entering and to receive further information, please click here. Organisations will then receive the full entry details. Good luck!

Globe Women Newsletter: Croatia's New Female Prime Minister & More...

Hi Everyone, Two interesting segments in Globe Women's newsletter yesterday that might interest you:

Croatia's New Female Prime Minister

There is a new addition to the elite group of women who lead nations. The Honorable Jadranka Kosor became Croatia’s first female Prime Minister on July 6, 2009, after the mid-term resignation of former Prime Minister Ivo Sanader who had served for six years. Her ascension increases the number of women serving as Presidents or Prime Ministers to 18 or 9.2% of the total number of leaders holding these titles – a sharp increase from 5.4% in 2004 when the Global Summit of Women first started tracking these numbers.

A former Minister of Family, Veterans and Inter-generational Solidarity, Ms. Kosor also served as Croatia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Vice President of the Croatian Democratic Union. She is credited with doubling the number of female candidates in her party during the 2000 elections. In her recent speech to her parliamentary colleagues to secure their support, she made a direct appeal to the women MPs: “"Women should be given a chance where there is real power and money. This is a right opportunity for that," she said and added further: “I will lead both the government and the (HDZ) party with a strong female hand.”

A lawyer by training who built an exemplary career as a journalist prior to entering politics, Prime Minister Kosor faces an economic crisis as well as the challenge of reviving Croatia’s stalled efforts to become a member of the European Union. (Source: Yahoo.com, 7/6/09).


Xerox's Newest CEO: Ursula Burns

At Xerox’s May shareholder’s meeting, Ursula Burns was named as the successor to current CEO Anne Mulcahy, who was stepping down in a well-planned transition. Burns will be the first African American female CEO, making Xerox the first Fortune 500 company to be headed back to back by two women. Mulcahy is credited for turning Xerox around and saving it from near bankruptcy. She has also successfully executed a smooth succession in the leadership of the company, providing continuity of the turnaround she spearheaded. The number of women CEOs of U.S. Fortune 500 companies remains, however, at 15, or 3%.

Burns has played a pivotal role at Xerox in recent years: overseeing corporate strategy, global accounts, IT and human resources. She worked alongside Mulcahy during her efforts to revitalize Xerox. Burns successfully negotiated with the company's unions to cut thousands of jobs. While Xerox's share price is still low, the company is profitable again and has expanded its market. At a speech at Oregon State University in September, Burns commented on Xerox’s turnaround: "We are poised for greatness and for success. We have pulled ourselves back from the brink of bankruptcy and taught ourselves that we can do just about anything we aspire to do, if we work hard and put our head down." (Source: NPR News, 5/22/09)

Expat Schooling Abroad

Hi Everyone, School Choice International are asking "What makes a successful or unsuccessful expat schooling experience?"

If you would like to contribute your experiences on their blog, they are currently rewarding contributors with a free, one-week subscription to their Global Education Explorer - "the only web tool that enables families to compare and understand education across the globe".

So, if you have an experience to share and/or you would like to look inside their new Global Education Explorer product, you might like to visit their blog while the offer stands.

Best wishes, Andrea.

ExpatFinder.com Relaunched: Now Offers Product Comparisons & Quotations

Hi Everyone, Our friends at ExpatFinder.com have just revamped and relaunched their site. They now offer product comparison and quotation request features to help expatriates find cost effective solutions. Here's some info from their press release:

"More expats are now facing greater challenges abroad as a result of cut backs caused by the economic recession. ExpatFinder.com are addressing these needs in five key products channels which are Housing & Real Estate, Finance, Insurance, Relocation services and Education. The services are introduced in a new product comparison and quotation request offering as part a major design overhaul of ExpatFinder.com.

...The new website comes with an extensive offering of detailed tips and advice articles as well as more than 40 free downloadable city guides to help the international employees and their families in every step of their move and life abroad."

Francois and Sébastien, we wish your new-look site all the best. :-)

PS. Their expat web search tool still exists on the site, even if it is a little harder to find. You need to click on Web Search at the top of their pages (or for now, just click here).

Expat Advisory Site Now Global

Hi Everyone, Expat Advisory Services have announced this month that they have turned global - now listing over 200 countries - and they have added more functionality for users to promote their businesses, events and/or general awareness via listings and articles, such as reviews or interviews.

"After 6 years of having to update and post on behalf of others we thought that it was time to hand control over to you. Users will the ability to: add a business listing -with full details including web links; participate on the forums; and create events - with links to your business listing; directly submit content (articles) - for approval; list their blog; and add a discount coupon for your business."

If you have a business to promote, anywhere in the world and/or you are interested in submitting content for publication on expat sites, EAS's new changes might be of particular interest to you.

Cartier Women's Initiative Awards: Finalists

Hello Everyone, We saw today that the finalists have been announced in the Cartier Women's Initiative Awards for 2009.

The winners will only be announced on October 19, but in the meantime, if you are interested in who is in the running to receive an award and/or you would like to learn more about the competition for yourself, just visit the Cartier awards site here... and best of luck if you enter next year!

Reminder: Stevie Awards For Women In Business - Early-Bird Deadline 31 July

Hello Everyone, Just a reminder that entries are now being accepted for the 2009 (6th annual) Stevie Awards for Women in Business.

There are 54 categories this year: spread between both company categories and individual categories, for executives, employees and entrepreneurs.

The early-bird entry deadline (for discounted entries at US$95) is July 31. The final entry deadline is August 31, but late entries will be accepted through September 30 with payment of a late fee.

Good luck to any expat women interested in the awards!

Silver Lining Entrepreneur Awards: American & Canadian Residents

Hi Everyone, This Silver Lining competition is relatively small, but still might be a good one if you are a resident in the US or Canada and looking for a bit of well-earned recognition for your entrepreneurial pursuits.

"With our belief that in every cloud there is a silver lining – we want to encourage and support individuals who successfully demonstrate true entrepreneurial spirit. If you, or an entrepreneur you know, has passion for what they do, is working hard towards their big goals, and has successfully overcome adversity to achieve their dreams, we want to hear from you."

Prizes include:

• An all-inclusive weekend trip to a tropical location;
• BlackBerry® smartphone™;
• Rogers High Speed Internet Stick;
• Intuit® Quickbooks®;
• A feature on Citi Cards Canada's, BusinessOwnersGetIt.com, website;
• Silver Lining (or SLAP™) Seminar with Carissa Reiniger;
• One-Year Membership to The Site For Entrepreneur;
• A chance to meet other passionate entrepreneurs;
• ...and more from Hewlett-Packard and Staples.

Entry deadline is 15 August 2009. For competition details, please click here. All the best!

Just Released: Mercer's Worldwide Cost Of Living Survey 2009

Hi Everyone, Mercer have just released the results of their latest cost of living survey and according to their press release, the cost of living in Tokyo has risen to 43% higher than that in New York!

Osaka came in second, then Moscow third, Geneva fourth and Hong Kong has risen this year to 5th place. Moscow is still the most expensive European city for expatriates.

Australian and NZ cities dropped right down the list, with the most expensive city, Sydney, falling from 15th to 66th place and the next city, Melbourne, sliding from 92nd to 36th place.

Here are the official survey headlines:

"Tokyo knocks Moscow off the top spot as the most expensive city for expatriates; Johannesburg is the cheapest.

Asian and European cities dominate the top 10.

Significant currency fluctuations and strengthening of dollar cause major reshuffle in the ranking.

London drops 13 places to rank 16, New York joins the top 10 list."

To see their Top 50 list and maybe find the city in which are you living, just click here.

Expat Women July Newsletter

Hi Everyone, If you are an Expat Women member and you did not receive our Newsletter for July 2009, please let us know here.

In addition to our July home page features, our newsletter includes the name of our Explorer Publishing mini-guide pack winner, as well as the personal Adapting Back Home essay which I wrote for Suzanne Kamata's new book, Call Me Okaasan: Adventures in Multicultural Mothering.

Best wishes to all of you - especially new arrivals - as well as those of you repatriating now, Andrea.

Expat Women July Home Page

Hi Everyone, We hope you are really well! We invite you now to check out the new features on our Expat Women Home Page for July:

Success Story
Suzanne Garber
International SOS Assistance
Suzanne Garber is a global nomad success story. She grew up in Spain, Mexico, Algeria, Egypt, the Dominican Republic and various US states, lived in Brazil when working as the Managing Director for FedEx in South America, and now looks after expats via her role with International SOS...
Read more…

Business Idea/Entrepreneur
La Tavola Marche - Agriturismo in Italy
Ashley Bartner
After years of travel and eating their way through every state and country they visited, Ashley and Executive Chef Jason Bartner decided to share their love for food with others by setting up La Tavola Marche, an agriturismo establishment in Sant'Angelo in Vado, Italy...
Read more…

Expat Couples
Coaching for Expatriate Couples: Can It Help You?
Andrew L. Miser
No matter how much preparation or training expats have prior to their move, a couple will not know what life will bring until they have taken the bold step and moved abroad. It is only after couples relocate...
Read more…

Moving Soon?
Picking The Right Removal Company
Rob Fenn
Moving abroad is undoubtedly an exciting experience, but one element people often do not enjoy is the planning stage of moving their belongings to their new home. There are a few things you should do...
Read more…

Expat Confession
Will Culture Shock Happen To Me?
Expat Women Girlfriend
My husband and I are on the verge of our first assignment to London. I think this will be an easy transition for us... However, a friend warned me that sometimes it is more difficult to settle into English-speaking countries...
Read more…

Military Brats & TCKs
Brats: Our Journey Home
Donna Musil
Donna was raised an Army brat and relocated 12 times as a child and 19 times as an adult. Seven years and 500 interviews in the making, we talk to Donna about her insightful documentary film and ask her about her recent Brats projects...
Read more…

Not A Member Yet?
If you are not already an Expat Women member, we would love to have you in our community. Click here to sign up to our monthly inspirational newsletters.

Thanks and have a great July! Andrea