Hi Everyone, I hope you having a wonderful week! Here are some expat links I have tweeted recently that might interest you...
Can You Live On Social Media Alone? These Two Travelers Swap Cities To Find Out
http://tnw.co/z1zxZK
Expat Belgian Guy Finds Tasmania (Australia) An Unlikely Market, But An Excellent Source Of Ingredients For Chocolate House
http://on.ft.com/yOjcCH
Notes On No Longer Feeling Like An Expat
http://bit.ly/A3oARm
Thinking Of Volunteering To Build Houses In Cambodia? Read Robin Pascoe's (aka Expat Expert's) Report
http://bit.ly/xNEJrK
Big in Japan: A Look At Some Of The Most Popular Western Exports To The Land Of The Rising Sun
http://tgr.ph/zRChuB
When Expats Become Trapped Abroad
http://bit.ly/yW89zK
U.S. Proposing Wide Ranging Plan To Curb Expat Tax Dodgers
http://on.wsj.com/z6SiH0
Expats Flock to India Seeking Jobs, Excitement
http://nyti.ms/yuTEN8
Our Friend Adrienne Graham (aka @talentdiva) Has Turned Her Popular Article "No, You Can't Pick My Brain, It Costs Too Much" Into A Book - Check It Out
http://bit.ly/xjbUFJ
A Powerful Video (For Parents Everywhere, Not Just Expat Parents)...
Photos, Smart Phones And Social Media - A Terrifying NBC Report (2010) - And How You Can Change Your Phone's Settings
http://bit.ly/xCrdOD
New U.S. State Department Warning Maps Out Unsafe Areas Of Mexico
http://lat.ms/xoNhqF
Reminder: Competition for UAE Residents:
"Could You Be The Next Ultimate UAE Explorer?"
http://bit.ly/w1DWFM
Reminder: Expat Partners Wanted To Complete Questionnaire/Research On Career Choices/ Aspirations Whilst Overseas
http://fb.me/1jXycz62D
Reminder: Expat Women In Dubai And Abu Dhabi, UAE: Interested In Part-Time Work With SIRVA Relocation?
http://bit.ly/zwKYbb
And our quote of the week...
“We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will.”
Whitney Houston
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To follow me in 'real time' and keep up with even more great expat links on Twitter, please click here.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Missed Some Great Expat Links on Twitter? (Feb 15-16 edition)
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Missed Some Great Expat Links on Twitter? (February 7-8 edition)
Hi Everyone, I hope you enjoyed a lovely weekend! Here are some expat links I have tweeted recently that might interest you...
20 Most Beautiful Bookstores in the World
http://bit.ly/y2645f
New Expat Novel by Chris Pavone Launching March 6 But Already Receiving High Praise. Expats, Espionage, Deceit... Sounds intriguing...
http://amzn.to/ygNnlr
Expat Competition: Win A Place At The London International Youth Science Forum
http://tgr.ph/yUYPol
On Facebook? Join The Expat Youth Page To Get The Latest Details (Coming Soon) On This Year's Expat Youth Scholarship
http://bit.ly/wr2Eim
2012 Indie Travel Challenge on Bootsnall
http://bit.ly/w7cMeJ
Expatica's Expat Education Fair in The Netherlands is March 24
http://bit.ly/wVX51h
25 Reasons Google Hates Your Blog
http://bit.ly/wEGtj1
How Do You Live Inside A House The Size Of A Parking Space?
http://bit.ly/ytJjco
Competition for UAE Residents:
"Could You Be The Next Ultimate UAE Explorer?"
http://bit.ly/w1DWFM
Expat Show Beijing, China, Scheduled for 28-29 April 2012
http://bit.ly/wOu19H
Interview with Social Media Director of Families In Global Transition's Judy Rickatson
http://bit.ly/zQSGrQ
And A Reminder... Registration Now Open for FIGT (Families in Global Transition) Conference, 29-31 March, Washington DC
http://bit.ly/xJnS7k
Enjoy!
***
To follow me in 'real time' and keep up with even more great expat links on Twitter, please click here.
Expat Women in Dubai & Abu Dhabi, UAE: Interested In Part-Time Work With SIRVA Relocation?
Hi Everyone, If you are based in Dubai or Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, or know someone who is, and you/your friends are interested in a great part-time work opportunity with SIRVA Relocation, please read on...
Introduction from SIRVA Relocation
Global relocations are on the increase and we are actively recruiting Relocation Consultants. We offer the right candidates a great part-time opportunity to use their expat living and moving experiences and be a part of our dynamic team to help our clients' international employees and their families settle into Dubai or Abu Dhabi.
Main purpose of the Relocations Consultant role
• Work closely with the SIRVA in-house team of Global Assignment Consultants
• Accompany our clients’ expatriate assignees on their: Look-See / Pre Assignment Trips; School Search; Home Search; and Settling-In Program
• Complete an end-of-program report
Ideal candidates would possess the following attributes:
• Personal experience and/or knowledge of international relocation industry
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Initiative, independence, well organized
• PC literate with good knowledge of MS Office
• Must have and maintain up to date knowledge of the local and expatriate living and life style issues within the UAE’s international community with schooling information in Dubai or Abu Dhabi
• Languages a distinct advantage
• Real Estate knowledge and contacts is essential
• Training will be offered to the right candidates.
Please urgently send your resume to: Kashish.Navlani@Sirva.ae
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Thank you.
SIRVA, Inc. is a leader in providing relocation solutions to a well-established and diverse customer base around the world. The company has redefined the relocation industry by offering innovative ways for customers to achieve their individual business goals, while providing global end-to-end relocation services, including program development and management, home purchase and home sale services, household goods moving, and mortgage services.
SIRVA conducts more than 300,000 relocations every year, transferring corporate and government employees and moving individual consumers. The company operates in more than 40 countries with approximately 2,600 employees and an extensive network of agents and other service providers in over 175 countries. With our global reach and local expertise, people trust SIRVA to listen to their unique needs and deliver seamless relocations every day.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Missed Some Great Expat Twitter Links? (October 12-13 edition)
Hi Everyone, I hope you are having a sensational week! Here are some expat links I have tweeted recently, that might interest you...
Love it! Expat Creative Solution For When Locals Stare At Foreigners
"'You Lookin' At Me? Fake Book"
http://bit.ly/o10wZn
Expat Entrepreneurs Sowing Seeds of Success Abroad
bit.ly/raazI2
27 Tips For First Time Expats
http://bit.ly/oEqfqb
Thailand Overtakes Bahrain As "Best Expat Destination" In HSBC Explorer Survey Results
http://bit.ly/r3L7YX
Want To See A Preview Of HSBC 2011 Expat Explorer Survey Results?
(Full Report Available November)
http://bit.ly/mRDqWG
10 Tips for Successful Expat Living: Flashback
http://bit.ly/n4g6Vo
"Why Aren’t Gulf Expats Saving Any Money?"
http://tgr.ph/rcuWxR
Hats Off To Becky! “From Career Breaker to Expat”
http://bit.ly/qL0zkG
5 Expat Types You May Meet When Living Overseas
http://bit.ly/pvZiY3
"Julia Child's Curiosity About French Cuisine Led To A Displaced Life"
http://bit.ly/r0ylvp
7 Deadly Sins of Expats and Social Media
http://bit.ly/mToamS
…And finally, a great reminder for repatriates! "Never let your memories be greater than your dreams." Doug Ivester (quoted on Twitter by @GreatestQuotes)
***
To follow me in 'real time' and keep up with even more great expat links on Twitter, please click here.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Expat Women: Confessions - Launch Party Photos
So instead, I hijacked the first night of my dear friend Nan Singh's girls' getaway weekend (6-8 May) to a beach resort here in Malaysia, asked my friends to dress in black, happily gave them all a free copy of the hot-off-the-press book, in a pretty pink bag with Teuscher chocolates, and took some photos.
And so with this, yes, we had a small launch - and here are our photos! (Victoria was with us in spirit, as was Gisella Apicella.) Andrea x
| The Gorgeous Expat Women at our "Launch Party" |
| Elle and Hana |
| Front Row: Left to Right: Hana Moafi Abdel-Razek (Egyptian); Andrea Martins (Australian); Duyen Nguyen (Vietnamese); and Elle Bowe (Singaporean). Back Row: Left to Right: Bhaven Singh (Indian); Nan Singh - the Birthday Girl (Canadian); Francesca Gasparrini (Italian); Britta Kirkegaad Lustig (Danish); Deborah Willsher (British); Renee Beasley (Australian); Shontelle Allwood (Canadian); and Maaike Kolthek (Dutch).  |
| Francesca modeling the book with the groovy pink bag |
 |
| Deborah - completely engrossed ;-) |
Haven't entered our US$5,000 book launch competition yet?
Be quick... there's only 9 days left in our competition... Details here.
Thanks for your generous support and efforts to spread-the-word!
Andrea
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Taking Expat Women Around The World: An Update, Some Thanks, and Lessons Learned: Andrea Martins
Hi Everyone, A few times each year, I have the very good fortune to travel to some wonderful places to promote Expat Women.
I consider this travel an incredible privilege and I owe a belated but sincere thank you to everyone who has helped me and/or hosted me in my travels of late, plus every sponsor, advertiser, peer, partner, member and blog reader (ie. you!) for supporting Expat Women and making this all possible.
Thank you!
**
Here is an overview of what I have been up to... and what I have learned along the way...
1st Stop: Hong Kong, China
In September, I attended the first Search Engine Strategies conference in Hong Kong. Afterwards, I wrote up some insights and learnings from the conference, which I encourage you to read about here: 6 Ways to Improve the Success of your Website.
Lesson learned in Hong Kong... keynote like Avinash Kaushik - with passion - and equally importantly... with simple, creative and minimal-text slides!
A big thanks to my friend Linda Yan for accommodating me in Hong Kong and another big thank you to our wonderfully generous friends at SIRVA Relocation for hosting us one fine evening! If you are looking to be relocated, anywhere in the world, please contact SIRVA Relocation and support the company that supports us. Thank you!
**
2nd Stop: Shanghai, China
I then travelled to Shanghai for the 3-day Expat Show Shanghai. It was great to meet so many (mostly new) expats in Shanghai - and I thank all the women who signed up as Expat Women members at that Show. It was also lovely to meet the friendly and dedicated volunteers at Lifeline Shanghai (from the exhibition stand next to ours). I applaud their commitment and the difference they are making to so many expat lives in Shanghai.
Coincidentally, our featured Thrive authors (Ruth Kuguru, Lisa Blunt Rochester and Alejandra Guzmรกn) were holding a 'Meet-the-Women-of-Thrive' event at the Glamour Bar while I was there, so I got to meet all three women in person, plus some of the women featured in their book, which was fantastic.
Lesson learned in Shanghai... If an airline sells you a ticket with a different name in brackets after the main city name, such as "Shanghai (xxx)", do not assume that this airport is close by: be sure to Google the "xxx" name in brackets, so you do not find yourself like me and unable to get to the "xxx" airport (apparently 3-4 hours away) without having pre-purchased a train ticket several days prior.
**
3rd Stop: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Two weeks at 'home' to spend time with my husband, children and friends.
Lesson learned in KL... Time away from your family and inner circle of friends makes you realize just how good you have it. Try not to ever take these wonderful people for granted.
**
4th Stop: Dubai, UAE
This was my first-ever visit to Dubai - and I could not get over how similar Dubai was for me to Las Vegas: grand hotels; dancing water fountains; desert; shops, shops and more shops; lots of 'big' buildings; a great array of visiting artists/musicians/celebrities; and lots of Westerners.
One of the highlights was meeting our Expat Women team member and my co-author for our first upcoming Expat Women book (due for release early 2011), Victoria Hepworth! Thank you Victoria for taking me to that groovy Lebanese restaurant where we enjoyed hummus while watching the skiers whiz by on the indoor ski slope!
Another highlight was joining in on an American Women's Association (AWA) Dubai meeting. (Thanks to Donna Haas for arranging for me to speak there, briefly!) The room was full, with about 160+ women (8 per breakfast table, so that was a lot of tables) and was very, very impressive. Congratulations AWA Dubai and keep up your great work!
Finally, I really enjoyed meeting our long-time friends Explorer Publishing, who donate our prize book pack every month. They produce the most gorgeous books for residents/expats in various cities around the world and if you have not checked for your expat location yet, I highly recommend you do so!
Lesson learned in Dubai... Avoid toy shopping there. The Barbie that my daughter wanted that was US$18 on Amazon.com and US$30 in Malaysia, was US$70 (!) in Dubai.
**
5th Stop: London
On to London (I love London!) to meet up with: the London arm of SIRVA Relocation; an upcoming new sponsor (who will hopefully be on our site soon); good friends and contacts in the relocation scene (including Corinne Hearne, who took me to a City Women's Network event - thanks Corinne!); as well as our long-time Gold Sponsor, Aetna Global Benefits. If you are looking for international health insurance, please check out what Aetna (a huge, very reputable, global company) can do for you. Thanks!
Lesson learned in London... never laugh at those signs in the Tube trains that say London has bed bugs: I did; London does; I got them. Not fun. :-(
**
6th Stop: Geneva
Now, this was a special treat: I got to stay with a family (Jo and Lee Heeson and their children) who were one of our favourite families during our posting in Mexico City, years ago. Jo and Lee are now living in Lausanne, and when Jo was not helping me at the Geneva Expat Expo, she was generously taking me on a lovely afternoon boat ride, a long walk through vineyards looking over the water, and for a traditional Swiss fondue dinner along Lausanne's waterfront. It felt surreal and I loved every minute of it - thanks Jo!
Lesson learned in Geneva... if you are lucky enough to be riding in a flashy car and people keep looking at you... remember, they are not looking at you, they are looking at the car. ;-)
**
7th Stop: Washington, D.C.
On to Washington for Clements International's Expat Forum 2010. This was panel discussion, with author and former WSJ.com "The Expat Life" columnist Alan Paul, adult TCK and Foreign Service Youth Foundation (FSYF) representative Alyson Rose-Wood, Maureen Johnston from the U.S. Department of State's Overseas Briefing Center at the Foreign Service Institute (FSI), and myself. The audience was about one-third expats and two-thirds organizational representatives servicing expats. It was lots of fun. Videos from the panel discussions will be available soon (I will let you know).
A huge thank you to Clements International for organizing everything for this event at the U.S. Navy Heritage Center and providing breakfast as well! Serving expatriates for 60+ years, Clements International offers insurance coverage in over 170 countries for automobile, personal property, life, health, as well as businesses, international schools, and relief and development organizations.
Clements also run the annual Expat Youth Scholarship (EYS) - an initiative to be applauded and supported. If you have children who would like to get involved next year, follow the EYS on Facebook and be among the first to learn about next year's scholarship competition!
Shout-outs also go to the World Bank Family Network (WBFN) and the U.S. State Department's Family Liaison Office (FLO). I met the warm and wonderful teams in both of these organizations and it is so heartening to learn just how much these organizations are helping support the families of global relocatees.
Finally, to my good friend (from our Jakarta days), Steffi Stallmeister: thank you for taking me out for your birthday dinner. And for hosting me in Washington, I need to thank the awesome Susan Musich and her gorgeous children. Susan left the World Bank to develop Passport Career - a dynamic global job search tool for organizations to support accompanying spouses/partners of international assignees - which, if your organization does not offer this yet, I encourage you to ask them to get in touch with Susan. (Thanks also go to the 60+ of our members who helped Susan with research for her new venture!)
Lesson learned in Washington... You do not have to be American to get a thrill out of being inside the State Department and the World Bank's Washington D.C. office, and/or standing outside the White House. ;-)
**
8th Stop: Las Vegas
Las Vegas was BlogWorld: the world's largest blogging and social media conference. It was full of well-known names from the new media world, like: Survivor creator Mark Burnett; ProBlogger's, Darren Rowse; Ms Facebook, Mari Smith; Unmarketing's Scott Stratten; and more. The schedule was like a smorgasbord: I mean, have you ever been to a conference where for each session, there were 12+ track options to choose from? Incredible.
When I get a spare day (smile), I will go through all my notes and write up some of the great things that I learned from my three days at BlogWorld, to share with you, I promise.
Also, it was really nice to catch up with my expat friend Annabel Candy again, the author of our feature article this month, Successful Blogging: 5 Steps to Planning a Successful Blog. Annabel has just released her first e-book about blogging, Successful Blogging in 12 Simple Steps. I have read it: it's excellent. Congratulations Annabel!
Finally, big thanks to the Queen of CRAVE (a fabulous events and self-publishing company), Melody Biringer, for being my BlogWorld buddy. Melody is a self-described "start-up junkie" who has started 20+ businesses. Her memoir, recounting all the business lessons she has learned from each of her businesses, will be out very soon...
Lesson learned in Las Vegas... Tech-savvy audiences (like the ones at BlogWorld) are changing the way presentations are being delivered and received. At every presentation, a good three-quarters (!) of the room were always either blogging, typing, foursquaring, tweeting or reading tweets about what was being presented either in that room, or another room at the conference. It was a real eye-opener - and I found myself mimicking this multi-tasking behaviour - tweeting things I was learning and/or reading the tweets of everyone in the audience around me, commenting on what was being said up front. One ear was listening to each presentation and one ear was listening to was being said online. It was never boring.
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9th Stop: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Three weeks to recover and then in a few days I will be in...
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10th Stop: Singapore
I am honoured to have been invited to speak next week at the American Association's Career Resource Center for Expatriates (CRCE) event on Wednesday 10 November, and the PrimeTime: Business & Professional Women's Association event on Thursday 11 November, details here.
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11th Stop: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Home, sweet home... at least until Christmas, then it's back to our other 'home' for the holidays!
**
THANK YOU to Everyone who made my recent travels so memorable.
I will try and upload some photos another day, when my internet connection is not so slow. (It took six hours just to write, insert all the links and complete this post... which would be funny, if it wasn't sadly true.)
BEST WISHES to all of you and enjoy your weekend!
Andrea x
