Expat Women December Home Page

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Hi Everyone, We have just uploaded our Expat Women December home page and we invite you to take a look at our new features:

Success Story
Michelle Greene
Johnson Controls
Michelle Greene is the IT Director at Johnson Controls. She has also been honored as one of the Most Important Blacks in Technology (MIBiT). Michelle shares with us her career advice and talks about how her assignment in Sweden helped to get her to where she is today...
Read more…

Business Idea
Events & Company
Rachel Kaplan
Rachel Kaplan is an expat woman in France who has tremendous energy and business nous. She oversees five successful businesses specializing in customized tours, events and concierge services. She has hosted Hollywood celebrities, a former US President and more...
Read more…

26 Travel Tips
Making Friends On The Road
Evelyn Hannon
Evelyn's travel website, JourneyWoman.com, connects 67,500 women in 128 countries around the world. Evelyn kindly shares with us her top 26 tips for traveling solo, so you can make plenty of friends on the open road...
Read more…

Career Help Abroad
Finding Professional Career Help Abroad (For Accompanying Spouses)
Jennifer Bradley
You have arrived in your new location and the whirlwind of moving is starting to settle. Now your thoughts can turn to some of the issues that you have had to shelve while you addressed other urgent issues, such as "What about my career?"...
Read more…

Global Nomads & College
A Global Nomad's Guide To College Applications
Kristina Dooley
Families whose children have spent their school-age years living abroad can often reach a state of frustration or panic when embarking on the college application process. Questions abound such as: "Will my child's transcripts make sense to the admissions committee?", "Will they understand why my son has not completed the full IB diploma?", or "Will the fact that my daughter has not been a club president be viewed negatively?"...
Read more…

Expat Women Confession
Special Needs Children
Expat Women Girlfriend
We are considering taking on an expatriate posting. My question is about special needs education. We have two young children: our 4 year old has dyslexia and the youngest, 2½, has just been diagnosed with autism. I am torn with guilt between wanting to go abroad and jeopardising our children’s education. Is it unrealistic for us to consider an expat posting...
Read more…

Not A Member Yet?
Just a reminder that our blog is separate from our main site, so if you are only subscribed to our blog, you will not automatically receive our ExpatWomen.com monthly newsletters.

To receive our newsletters and to go in the running to win our monthly prize of a complete set of Explorer Publishing's Mini-Guides, please sign up today to our main site, ExpatWomen.com.

Note: In this month's newsletter, we will also be giving away our free, updated E-Book which compiles our winning stories from February 2007 to December 2009. So, join today. :-)

Thank you very much and we wish you a fabulous day/evening! Andrea

Julie & Julia: The Movie For Expat Women

Hi Everyone, If ever there was a movie that expat women could relate to, I think Julie & Julia might just be it. Aside from it being a delightful way to spend your afternoon, this movie has just the right ingredients (pardon the pun) for anyone who has ever:

* Trailled their partner abroad

* Come up with crazy ideas to keep active/fulfilled abroad

* Been in a boring day job

* Started a project that seemed impossible

* Considered themselves a wannabe-chef

* Started a blog and hoped people would read it

* Struggled to figure out their place and passion(s) in life

For those of you unfamiliar with the story, here's the background from Wikipedia:

"Julie & Julia is a drama comedy film written and directed by Nora Ephron. The film depicts events in the life of chef Julia Child in the early years in her culinary career, contrasting her life with Julie Powell, who aspires to cook all 524 recipes from Child's cookbook during a single year.

Ephron's screenplay is adapted from two books: My Life in France, Child's autobiography, written with Alex Prud'homme, and a memoir by Julie Powell. In August 2002, Powell started documenting online her daily experiences cooking each of the 524 recipes in Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and she later began reworking that blog, The Julie/Julia Project.[2] Both of these books were written and published in the same time frame of 2004 to 2006. The film is the first major motion picture based on a blog.[3]

Ephron began filming Julie & Julia in March 2008. Meryl Streep portrays Julia Child, and Amy Adams appears as Julie Powell. The film officially premiered on July 30, 2009 at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City and opened throughout North America on August 7, 2009.[4]"

Click here to watch the Julie & Julia trailer and/or click here to read Julie Powell's blog. I highly recommend it.

Enjoy the movie and enjoy your week! Andrea

Fifty Percent Of New Expats Leave China Early

Hi Everyone, There was an interesting article of this title by Lara Farrar in the China Daily/Asia News Network recently. It starts...

"Almost half of new expatriates leave China early because they have difficulty adjusting to the lifestyle, a consultancy firm said.

China Transition Institute (CTI) president David Israel-Rosen said most foreigners are unprepared for what life will be like when they arrive in China. "It is moving from the West to the East," he said. "It is not like moving from Chicago to Denver."

"If you look at the literature, between 30 percent and 50 percent of expats go home early. The failure rates are astonishing."

Alan Kahn, vice president of marketing and communications for United Family Healthcare, said identity loss and depression are more widespread than many people realize.

"These are very real issues and they do have a significant impact," Kahn said. "It is very hard to ever fit in fully and that can cause lots of serious problems," he said."

Click here to read more.

Deadline Reminder - 30 November: Scholarship Applications Due For IE Business School

Hi Everyone, If you have thought about enquiring and/or applying for the four half-scholarships that the IE Business School is offering to qualified women in our expat women network... you only have just over one week left to do so, as the deadline for applications is 30 November 2009.

To learn (or refresh your memory) about this fantastic opportunity, please read (or re-read) our previous blog post for further details.

Then if you are both interested and qualified, please contact Yvonne Sanchez, their Associate Director of Top Management Programs.

Thank you and good luck!

Researcher In The UK Looking For Expatriate Survey Participants

Hi Everyone, Another research request today... This time for Bruno Arba who is studying International Human Resources Management at the London South Bank University.

Bruno's dissertation is about the management of expatriates and expatriate family issues by MNCs. He is looking for expats who can spare 10-15 minutes to complete his 2-page (Microsoft Word document) questionnaire. If you can help, please kindly request the survey documents directly from Bruno here.

Completed surveys need to be submitted by 30 November. Thanks.

Expat Mini-Survey For Trailing Spouses

Hi Everyone, Job and Career Transition coach Jennifer Bradley, Ph.D. is seeking input for her presentation for the upcoming Families in Global Transition Conference in March 2010.

If you are a trailing spouse (accompanying partner), have 5-10 minutes to spare and would like to help Jennifer by completing her quick, online survey about your experiences abroad, please click here or email Jennifer directly if you have questions. Thanks.

2009 Winners: The Stevie Awards For Women In Business

Hi Everyone, If you are looking for a motivational kick-start to your week, check out the newly-announced winners of the Stevie Awards for Women in Business.

Jump onto the websites of the women that spike your interest, and whallah... get inspired by some fantastic women.

Have a sensational week, Andrea.

Global Giving's "Give More - Get More Challenge"

Hi Everyone, It's our pleasure to give a shout-out again this year to Global Giving - a wonderful site making it relatively easy for needy projects to promote themselves to donors, and for donations (large and small) to reach needy projects around the world.

Right now, Global Giving have a "Give More - Get More Challenge" that runs through December 1. Donate to your favorite projects - the more they raise, the more matching funds they can earn. Projects that raise the most money, or get the most donations, can win bonus funding as well.

"GlobalGiving is changing the way people give, offering donors a transparent, high-impact giving experience. You choose where you want your money to go, and we get it there, quickly and efficiently. Locally-run projects with creative ideas that would never be funded through traditional structures also have access to new sources of funds. And finally, we make sure donors get feedback about how their contributions have been put to work and the results achieved - with satisfaction guaranteed through the GlobalGiving Guarantee."

And if you find it all a little overwhelming, Paula Lucas (a previous success story interviewee on our main Expat Women site) would gladly welcome any donation you could make to the Americans Overseas Domestic Violence Crisis Center via the Global Giving program.

Thanks and have a wonderful day/evening! Andrea

Expat Women November Newsletter

Hi Everyone, If you are a member of our main site, ExpatWomen.com, and you did not receive our newsletter for November 2009 this week, please let us know here. If you have not signed up to Expat Women yet, please do so now. Your support really does make a difference when we are trying to raise money from sponsors and advertisers to keep Expat Women growing strong.

November Newsletter

In addition to our home page features, our newsletter includes:

• The name of our Explorer Publishing mini-guide pack winner;
• Our winning story Round and Round It Goes...Which Country Nobody Knows, from Liz - an American in Spain; as well as
• The names of our two lucky winners in Malaysia who signed up at the KL expo last month.

Article Contributions

If you would like to contribute an article for potential inclusion on our site and/or in our newsletter, please send us your new, original, 1000-word, quality article for us to review, anytime.

Story Submissions

Our Read The Stories section of ExpatWomen.com is one of the most-read sections of our site, but we are always in need of more quality stories from wonderful women like you. Please consider helping us by submitting a story. Story guidelines are available here.

Thank You

Thank you very, very much Everyone! Andrea

Goodhealth Worldwide is now Aetna Global Benefits

Hi Everyone, You may have noticed a new name on our site today: Aetna Global Benefits. This is in fact our loyal Gold Sponsor, Goodhealth Worldwide, but with a new name. Aetna Global Benefits took over Goodhealth Worldwide a little while ago and the rebranding has just taken place.

"Aetna Global Benefits (AGB) is a specialist provider of international health insurance for expatriates. We offer a full range of worldwide health insurance plans and whether you are looking for individual, family, group or company cover, we have an international medical insurance plan to suit your requirements. Aetna Global Benefits makes sure you have access to the finest medical facilities worldwide, enabling you to obtain the best possible treatment whenever and wherever you need it.

As experienced specialists in international health insurance, we understand that, living abroad, expatriates require comprehensive worldwide medical insurance. Our international travel medical insurance plans ensure you are not faced with large medical bills, and provide a valuable range of additional international healthcare services."

The good news is that Aetna Global Benefits is still proudly supporting Expat Women! So in return, if you need international health insurance, please consider supporting Aetna by making an enquiry and/or receiving a personal quote today.

Thank you muchly, Andrea.

Can You Help? Passport Career Is Still Looking For Short-Term Researchers

Hi Everyone, It's been a couple of months since we last updated you on PassportCareer's search for short-term researchers. If you can help in any of the following locations, please do so...

Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belize, Bolivia, Bosnia, Botswana, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chile, Comoros Islands, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Democratic Republic of Congo, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, French Guiana, Georgia, Guyana, Honduras, Kuwait, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Montenegro, Namibia, Nicaragua, Oman, Pakistan, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Senegal, Seychelles, Slovenia, South Africa (Cape Town), Sri Lanka, Suriname, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, Uruguay and Zimbabwe.

Or, if you are in the United States, they are looking for researchers in the following (old and new) locations:

Albuquerque, NM; Baltimore, MD; Buffalo, NY; Charlotte, NC; Cincinnati, OH; Cleveland, OH; Columbus, OH; Detroit, MI; Fairfield, Stamford, Norwalk, CT; Hartford, CT; Indianapolis, IN; Jacksonville, FL; Kansas City, MO; Little Rock, AR; Louisville, KY; Memphis, TN; Milwaukee, WI; Nashville, TN; New Orleans, LA; Tulsa & Oklahoma City, OK; Orlando, FL; Palo Alto, CA; Phoenix, AZ; Pittsburgh, PA; Portland, OR; Richmond, VA; Rochester, NY; Salt Lake City, UT; San Antonio, TX; San Jose, CA; St. Louis, MO; and Wilmington, DE.

If you think you might be able to help by completing a short-term research project for one of the locations above, please read this previous blog post (important), then please urgently email Passport Career's founder Susan Musich

Please feel free to pass this around to any other contacts that you have who might (also) be able to help. Many thanks... and good luck!

Lonely Planet's Top 10 Cities 2010

Hello once more, If you're looking for holiday destinations next year, take a look at Lonely Planet's list of their Top 10 Cities for 2010.

If you are too busy, you can scan the summary here, but the Lonely Planet list shows beautiful images and explanations that are much more enticing the humble list below...

1. Cuenca, Ecuador;
2. Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina;
3. Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates;
4. Kyoto, Japan;
5. Lecce, Italy;
6. Cork, Ireland;
7. Singapore;
8. Vancouver, Canada;
9. Istanbul, Turkey; and
10. Charleston, United States of America.

Happy vacation planning! Andrea

Hola Mexico Film Festival: Australia

Hello Everyone, A quick mention of the Hola Mexican Film Festival this year in Australia, which is supporting Misión México - which is the orphanage in Mexico that one of our previous Success Story women, Pamela Skuse, so selflessly runs with her husband, Alan.

Opening night in Australia is Wednesday 18 November in Sydney at Dendy Opera Quays. To find out the tour dates for other Australian cities and to see the program, please click here.

How To Be A Global Grandparent

Hello again, Many months ago I was sent a review copy of the new book How To Be A Global Grandparent: Living With The Separation, by Anne Huscroft and Peter Gosling.

Finally, I had a chance to read through this book last week and I would like to recommend it to any new grandparents out there who have not been expats themselves and who are simultaneously trying to understand both the world of grandparenting and the expat world that their children now live in.

For grandparents new to emails and the internet, this book also walks readers through how to use each of these online technologies, in an effort to encourage grandparents to keep up communication from afar, in a way that fits into their children's busy lives.

Permits Foundation Looking For More Company Support From CEOs in India

Hi Everyone, Last week I finally had the pleasure of meeting Kathleen Van Der Wilk and her colleague Francoise van Roosmalen from the Permits Foundation.

Kathleen and Francoise are currently in need of more CEOs and local MDs in India to co-sign the executive summary they wish to present to the Indian authorities, with regards to the issue of employment visas for accompanying spouses, to demonstrate a wide basis of support among companies operating in India.

Do you know someone who could help? If yes, please urgently email Kathleen and Francoise. Many thanks.

Expatriate Research Survey: Looking For UK Repatriates

Hi Everyone, Claire Hardy (Doctoral Researcher at the University of Nottingham) is looking to contact UK employees and their spouses who have returned from an expat assignment of 12 months or more (even if they have subsequently left UK shores again).

If you can help, or know someone who can, here are the 20 minute online anonymous survey links:
Survey link for assignees
Survey link for accompanying spouses/partners

If you have any questions, please email Claire or contact her via LinkedIn. Thanks.

W.I.N. Mobilizing Women Event, Istanbul, Turkey

Hi Everyone, The wonderful women at W.I.N. (Women's International Networking) invite you to come, be inspired and join influential thinkers and experts from business, entrepreneurship and academia meeting in Istanbul to address the future of women and business.

The program features presentations by:

• Prof. Dr. Sirin Tekinay, Vice Rector of Özyegin University
• Kristin Engvig, CEO of W.I.N.
• Selma Aliye Kavaf, Secretary of State for Women and Family Affairs

Plus a panel of exceptional women speaking on “The Role of Women in Global Economy and Competition”:

• Moderator – Prof. Dr. Erhan Erkut, Rector of Özyegin University
• Ümran Beba, President of South East Europe Region of PepsiCo
• Ebru Çerezci, Winner of "Woman Entrepreneur of the Year" Award by Garanti Bank and Ekonomist
• Arzu Kaprol, Fashion Designer
• Gülseren Onanç, President of Woman Entrepreneurs Association of Turkey, KAGIDER

Date: Friday 11 December

Time: 13.00-17.30

Venue: Özyegin University, Auditorium 2, Kusbakisi Caddesi 2, Altunizade 34662, Istanbul, Turkey

Cost: Free, but registration essential.

More Information: Please email W.I.N. or call +41(0)21 6120354.

Chicago Residents: Job Opportunity at IOR Global Services

Hi Everyone, IOR Global Services is looking for a new Global Relocation Coordinator in the Greater Chicago Area.

"The Global Relocation Coordinator is responsible for serving IOR's client base by coordinating cultural training and destination services programs from authorization to completion, ensuring client satisfaction along the way. This client services professional interacts with destination services consultants, cultural and business consultants, cultural trainers, client human resource contacts, and IOR team members to deliver outstanding expatriate support programs. The individual provides excellent administrative support to all participants in IOR’s programs. This position reports directly to the Director of Client Services. (Local candidates only)"

"International experience living/working abroad and foreign language a plus."

If you are interested, go ahead and take a look at the skills required and good luck if you apply! Andrea

A Story About Never Giving Up

Hi Everyone, Whenever I talk to someone about not giving up, I tend to quote the Chicken Soup for the Soul guys (Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen) who I remember at a conference I attended once in the United States, (Mark) said that they had been rejected by 147 or 149 publishers, before finally they found a publisher to take a punt on their book idea. I always wonder how they kept up their stamina and I question if/when I would have given up.

Well, now I have a new story to share. Did you read about the lady in Korea today that finally passed her written driving test after 950 attempts?

I ask myself... is this story really true? How long is it going to take her to pass her physical driving test? And, dare I say it, is it safe for this woman to drive...?

Well, I'm going to give her the benefit of the doubt and believe her story. This woman, who apparently needs a driving licence for her vegetable-selling business, never, never, never gave up.

Think about your own life: are you making excuses or giving up before you should...?

Andrea

Global Mobility Jobs In The UK And Beyond

Hi Everyone, If you are looking for a job in the Global Mobility / HR Management / Relocations field, do not forget to check Re:locate Magazine's online job pages from time to time.

Right now, they have more than 200 jobs listed - mostly based in the UK, but with a sprinkle of overseas positions as well.

Re:locate Awards Open For Nominations

Hi Everyone, Re:locate Magazine had their snazzy launch party this week to officially launch the opening of nominations for their 2009/2010 Re:locate Awards.

The Seven Award Categories

1. Best Relocation Strategy/Policy;
2. Technological Innovation in Relocation;
3. Inspirational HR Team of the Year;
4. Relocation Service Provider or Team of the Year;
5. Best Property Provider or Solution;
6. Rising Star in Relocations; and/or
7. Relocation Personality of the Year.

If you think you could compete in one (or more) of these categories, go ahead and grab your entry form here. You can enter free of charge in up to two categories. Additional entries incur entry fees.

Entries close 15 February 2010.

Good luck!

Thanks To Some Wonderful People And Groups In The Netherlands

Hi Everyone, I am back home again in Malaysia after a fabulous trip to the Netherlands and London and I want to give a thank you and shout-out to some of the wonderful people and groups that I met along the way....

Firstly, to the groups who invited me to speak, Expatica, European Professional Women's Network - Amsterdam (special thanks to Katharina Pohl) and Connecting Women - I say thank you for your hospitality and warm reception. Plus to IWC Amsterdam, for allowing me to get up at their meeting and introduce Expat Women.

Secondly, congratulations to Expatica for the success of their 'I Am Not A Tourist Fair' on Sunday 25 October, which attracted nearly 4,000 people!

Thirdly, to these friends for welcoming me:
Toma Haines, The Antiques Diva
Shirley Agudo, Shirley Agudo Photography
Jacqueline van Haaften and Leo, Global Connection
Antoine van Veldhuizen, Expatica
Carolyn van Es-Vines, Black and Abroad
Melody Biringer, The Crave Company (more to come on Melody, later)
Kathleen van der Wilk and Francoise van Roosmalen, Permits Foundation

Fourthly, to two of our site's Sponsors, who I met with in London:
Goodhealth Worldwide (soon to be rebranded as Aetna), who have Gold Sponsored us since our launch in January 2007. We are indebted to Goodhealth Worldwide, for believing in us from day one, so if you need health insurance, please do try Goodhealth Worldwide.
Exchange4Free, one of our Bronze Sponsors, who offer a fantastic service for anyone wanting to send money abroad.

Last but not least, my trip would not have been possible had it not been for the generosity of my host and good friend Jo Parfitt. Jo has been on the expat rollercoaster for many years and is probably most renowned for her book, A Career In Your Suitcase, now in its third edition. She has written 26 (!) books in total, her latest being her collection of poetry about life as an expat, A Moving Landscape. Her passion at the moment is running workshops on Writing Your Life Stories, but she provides writing, publishing and consulting services as well, so if you need someone to help make your writing dreams come true, please get in touch with Jo.

Thanks and best wishes for your day/evening, Andrea.

Breaking News: IE Business School Scholarships Offered To Expat Women Network

Hi Everyone, We are very excited to announce that the prestigious IE Business School in Madrid, Spain, is offering four half-scholarships to qualified women in our Expat Women network, in their upcoming Advanced Management Programs.

"IE Business School is an international institution dedicated to educating business leaders through programs based on our core values of global focus, an entrepreneurial spirit and a humanistic approach. Our 500-strong, international faculty teaches a student body composed of more than 80 nationalities on their Undergraduate (IE University), Master, and Doctorate degrees, and Executive Education programs. Our alumni, now numbering over 37,000, holds management positions in some 100 countries worldwide. IE promotes an investigative, multidisciplinary and integrated form of education, always oriented towards the market where students use innovating methodologies of combined learning, in-class and online."

The Financial Times ranked the IE Business School as fourth best in the world this year for “Executive Education – Open Programs”, following only behind the Harvard Business School, University of Virginia (Darden) and IMD, Switzerland.

The three (English-speaking) program options where half-scholarship applications are invited from qualified women in our Expat Women network are as follows:

1. Advanced Management Program (AMP) Blended
This program is aimed at high-potential directors in transition towards the top executive level and at entrepreneurs who are currently launching a new project. Work focus should be clearly international.

First In-Class Module: 15 – 22 February 2010
Intersession Online Module: 29 February – 8 May 2010
Second In-Class Module: 17 – 25 May 2010

2. Advanced Management Program (AMP) Intensive
This program is aimed at managers and entrepreneurs who are preparing themselves to make the transition to general management or broader responsibilities. They would bring to the program over 10 years of experience in management.

In-Class Module: 1 – 23 July 2010

3. Global Senior Management Program (GSMP)
This is a joint program with the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. The program is aimed at members of the Managing Committee and Administrative Councils, presidents, company owners, managing directors, vice presidents, negotiations directors, country managers and other senior managers, whose responsibilities are strategic affairs within their companies, whose focus is clearly international and who each would bring to the program over 15 years of experience in senior management.

First In-Class Module: 16 – 21 May 2010 (Chicago)
Intersession Online Module: 24 May – 19 June 2010
Second In-Class Module: 20 – 25 June 2010 (Madrid)

Full tuition fees for these programs range from €16,900 - €18,900. So, half-scholarships range in value from €8,450 to €9,450.

This is a fantastic opportunity for professional women in our Expat Women network and we encourage all qualified applicants (expatriate and non-expatriate women) to apply.

The deadline for Expat Women network scholarship applications is: 30 November 2009.

All enquiries and applications should be directed please to Yvonne Sanchez, Associate Director of Top Management Programs at IE Business School.

Warmest regards and good luck to applicants! Andrea