Robin Pascoe's Expat Blogella:The Rest of My Life

Hi Everyone, If you have ever read books written specifically for expats, there is a good chance that you have read one of Robin Pascoe's books.  Robin is well-known for her witty expat books and I know many of you enjoy reading what Robin gets up to. Many of you have also met Robin when she was on the international speaking circuit, championing 'the expat family' for so many years.

Trying to retire from the speaking circuit, last year Robin launched a Successful Living Abroad series of 20 online video lectures, that you can enjoy for free here. And now, Robin has taken a leap of faith and launched her own Expat Blogella: The Rest of My Life.

Robin's new blogella is expat fiction (although when you read the characters, you realize that Robin has based her fiction on people you have probably met in your expat travels, so whilst it is fiction in terms of Robin's family life, it is quite close to the truth for many expats who have either survived or witnessed the heartbreak of infidelity and/or divorce abroad - and for that reason, it certainly makes a good read).

So far, Robin has posted six installments on The Rest of My Life - the blog of her new fictional character, Joelly Schuster. If you are interested, you can read them all here, or if you'd just like a sample, you can read the first installment below. (Thanks Robin for granting us permission to re-post it.)

Happy Friday/weekend reading! Andrea


Installment One

"I have to begin somewhere, so why not today when I have been 53-years-old for just over twenty-four hours? Yesterday wasn’t the greatest birthday I have ever celebrated but it wasn’t the worst either. My lovely daughter took me out to a fancy restaurant because she didn’t want me to be alone.

She’s worried about her old mother in this new life which no longer includes her father since he recently ditched me, in Beijing of all places. Naturally, it was for a woman half his age and younger than our daughter.

There is a reason clichés were invented. Bumper stickers too, like “Shit Happens”. They can be incredibly useful for summing up one’s life.

Maybe I could write bumper stickers instead of a taking a job as a barista at the Starbucks in the market. God knows I have served enough coffee in my life. I keep threatening to become a professional milk whipper because I’m now completely broke and it would seem, unemployable because of my age and a blank CV.

My daughter isn’t the only one fretting about what I am going to do now with the rest of my life (yes, it is the perfect title for this blog if I do say so myself). My son Brian isn’t exactly thrilled about his mother’s new and extremely reduced circumstances.

Barely out of college, the poor guy has his whole working life ahead of him (once he figures out what he wants to work at) but already he’s been offering his mother the money he has been saving up for a car. What a good son I raised. But I’ll crawl to the supermarket before I will let him give me his hard-earned money. 

Brian is so angry with his father right now, but what else is new? He’s been mad at him his entire life because he was simply never there. He was always on a business trip or working late for whatever oil company was controlling our lives at the time, always too tired if he was home on a weekend to coach any of Brian’s school teams.

I suppose I’ll have to get to that story at some point in this cyber diary with its clever title chosen precisely because I haven’t got a ******* clue what to do with the rest of my sorry little life.

Am I even allowed swearing on a blog? Too damn bad if I’m not supposed to since I’ve already been at it. My son isn’t the only one with anger issues obviously or so says the shrink I lined up before I even arrived in Ottawa.

Wait, am I supposed to even say where I’m living? Is there an instruction manual anywhere other than Blogging for Dummies which I saw in the bookstore? And does there happen to be a version for menopausal idiots who can barely remember to finish a sentence?

Please leave a comment and a link, dear reader. All one of you and that does not include you, Deborah (that’s my daughter). You don’t count. It’s your fault for even talking me into this in the first place."

Expat Women October 2010 Home Page

Hi Everyone, Please take a look at, share and tweet about our new October Expat Women home page, which features:

Success Story
Laura Stanbridge
Consultant (Marbella, Spain)
Having moved abroad for her first job out of university, American Laura Stanbridge has crisscrossed the globe and now works as a consultant in Marbella, Spain, where she earned special recognition from the City of Marbella for her contributions...
Read more...

Business Idea
Imports Oriental
Jill Coyle
Four years after setting up home in Beijing, Jill started an import/export business that did so well that her corporate husband quit his job to join the company! In May 2010, Jill was chosen as the People’s Choice Entrepreneur of the Year at the Beijing Women in Business Leadership Awards...
Read more...

New Coffee-Table Book
Thrive
Ruth Kuguru, Lisa Blunt Rochester & Alejandra Guzmán
We talk to the ladies whose new coffee-table book Thrive tells the stories of thirty-four remarkable women who have built new lives for themselves and their families in Shanghai…
Read more...

Personal Branding:
An Expat's Secret Weapon In The War For Talent
Lois Freeke
According to Execunet, personal branding is now the number one career management tool used by executives worldwide. What does it mean to you as an expat overseas?
Read more...

Expat Confession
An Affair Upon Repatriation
Expat Women Girlfriend
My husband and I lived abroad for 15 years – in Amsterdam, Belgrade and Bangkok. We moved home 18 months ago, but my husband continued to travel a lot. Last month my husband told me that for the first time in our 21 years together, he cheated on me...
Read more...

Insights from the 2010 Search Engine Strategies (SES) Conference, Hong Kong
6 Ways To Improve The Success Of Your Website
Andrea Martins
Sara Lander’s clothing design website was up and running and now the whole world was going to starting coming to see and buy her unique clothing designs. Right?
Read more...

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Not A Member Yet?

Just a reminder that our blog is separate from our main site, so if you are reading this blog post online or you are only subscribed to our blog, you will not automatically receive our Expat Women monthly newsletters.

To receive our newsletter later this month 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, and also receive your link to our free e-book of Winning Stories!

Thank you very much and best wishes for a fabulous October! Andrea

Expat Infidelity Abroad: The Story of Alexandra Shakespeare

Hi Everyone, I read today Alexandra Shakespeare's story From Excess to Exes - How My Dubai Dream Turned into a Nightmare.

With a name like Shakespeare, I am sure Alexandra would have been preferred to have become famous for her works of literary art (yes, she is actually a professional writer and was once the editor of the glossy Harper's Bazaar in Dubai). So it's sad that her marriage confession might actually catapult her into more fame than her high-flying job did before.

Doubly sad is it that Alexandra's story of her ex-husband's infidelity abroad is not unique: unfortunately stories like Alexandra's are common... albeit granted, not everyone was an editor of Harper's Bazaar.

Full marks to Alexandra for sharing her story once she found happiness with her new partner in the UK and sending my best wishes out there to every woman going through right now what Alexandra went through in Dubai.

Andrea

Expat Infidelity Support Group

Hi Everyone, An ex-expat wife has set up a Yahoo group to connect with (and encourage mutual support and encouragement to) those dealing with expat infidelity issues. If you would like to join, here is the link to the expat infidelity support group. Thanks.

Documentary On Expat Infidelity

Hello Everyone, If you have experienced infidelity whilst living as an expatriate and would be willing to talk about it to a journalist/ producer doing research on the subject for a Canadian documentary film, please contact Karen Mazurkewich, who wrote to us yesterday and would love to hear from you.

Karen is especially interested in: "What drives people to cheat? How do families cope?" and "What are the consequences for families, children and companies?" Thanks.