Expat Women July Home Page

Hi Everyone! We hope you are really well. Our news today is that we just uploaded our July Home Page, if you would like to take a look:

Success Story: Paula Lucas
Founder of the American Domestic Violence Crisis Line
Paula lived what looked like an ideal life in the UAE: A Newsweek photo-journalist husband, worldwide travel, a successful business and beautiful sons. But in reality, she was trapped by domestic violence. Her chance to escape materialized, thanks to a thief…

Globe Women Summit Report
5-7 June, Hanoi, Vietnam
Have you ever wondered what 1,000 women, from 72 economies, would talk about if they were gathered together in the same room? Well, at the recent Globe Women Summit, it certainly was not football, cars or plasma televisions, that’s for sure…

Expat Confession: No Money Left
We answer this confession:
"In a few months, my partner and I will be returning to home base. We have enjoyed postings in Bangkok, Madrid, Berlin and now Vietnam, indulged in amazing holidays, eaten at spectacular restaurants and basically had a lifestyle that was second-to-none. The problem now is that this move home has made us realize that we have no more than two months’ salary saved in our joint bank account – which is virtually nothing. This is causing us both great anxiety, as we now see that we have been a little careless with our impressive salaries abroad and we are concerned that we have not set ourselves up properly for the future. What can we do?"

Eliminating Negative Talk: 5 Easy Steps
Thanks to Rebecca Wells
"At any stage in life you can encounter feelings of self-doubt and lethargy. It is estimated that we each have between 5,000 and 15,000 negative thoughts a day – rearing their ugly heads most prevalently when we are feeling vulnerable. Although moving and living abroad can be extremely exciting and often a positive step to make in life, it can also bring with it new challenges that test you to your limit and can leave you doubting your capabilities..."

Gap Years: Myths & Tips
Thanks to Jenny Early
"Gap Years seem to be like Marmite and world wars: They divide people into two groups - those who believe and those who do not. They may be a mistake for some, but for the majority, I am sure they are not..." Read Jenny's myths and tips...

LARM: Latin American Relocation Management
Valued Partner
Thanks to our friends at Trafimar Relocations (Relocation Specialists: In & Out of Mexico), we now have a relationship with LARM (who we have promoted on our home page for July, then will go on to feature on our Latin American pages for the rest of the year). If you are looking for relocation services in/out of Latin America, please do check out LARM's site first.

"LARM, is Latin America’s leading relocation service company. For the past thirty years, this group of 20 companies, in 19 locations throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, has provided exceptional relocation services to thousands of corporate and individual customers."

Join ExpatWomen
And finally... we are sending out our July newsletter in the next 2-3 days. If you do not already receive our newsletters, please support us by signing up today. New members receive our Free E-Book: Winning Stories.

Thank you very much - and here's wishing you a fabulous July!

Business Networks In Australia

If you are looking for business networks in Australia, here is a great link that we discovered today, on Australian woman Robyn Henderson's website.

Robyn, who spoke at an event recently that we unfortunately missed, is a self-acclaimed networking expert, speaking more than 120 times per year, across 11 countries, without ever advertising.

Robyn generously lists all of her favourite networks (women-focussed and otherwise) in Australia by State and provides this information free on her website. Thanks Robyn!

Moving To Spain?

Thanks to oppSpain.com, who wrote to us recently to offer to contribute, we added three articles to our Spain Links & Expat Clubs page this week:

• Spanish Property Today: Post-Boom Influences
  by Patrick Collins
• Bringing a Car to Spain
  by Ciara Carruthers
• Spanish School System
  by Ciara Carruthers

If your company would like to contribute useful articles to ExpatWomen.com, feel free to drop us a line, anytime. Thanks and best wishes for your weekend! Andrea

WEXPO - A Forum For Women In Business

At their recent Summit of > 1,000 women from all over the world, Globe Women launched their new online directory for women's businesses: WEXPO.

Listing on the directory is free and open to all women, so if you would like to:

• Showcase your product or service;
• Connect with business women worldwide;
• Find a client or supplier; and/or
• Network with established business leaders...

...you might like to check out WEXPO today.

Asian Women Entrepreneurs' Conference, South Korea, September 2008

Hi Everyone, I recently met Moon Kyung Choi, the Director of the Korean Women Entrepreneurs Association (Note: This website is only in Korean). She asked me to please promote their upcoming Asian Women Entrepreneurs' Conference in Seoul, 25 - 27 September, 2008, to our Expat Women members.

Apparently, they are expecting 300 Asian women entrepreneurs to attend, including Asian women leaders and CEOs. If you are an Asian woman entrepreneur, you might like to email Moon Kyung for more information. (She gave me an English brochure, so I know they have the info in English, ready to give out.)

Best wishes, Andrea.

Women Run The World

Do you run, or would you like to? If yes, you may like to check out Amy Montemarano's groovy new website: Women Run The World, which is a new social networking website designed to help women travelers find running partners all over the world.

On the site, travelers can find women running partners, running clubs that welcome out-of-town visitors to their group runs, and upcoming races at their destination. Plans are in the works to add special private online groups to connect women traveling to specific professional conferences and to connect alumnae of women's colleges. Amy says:

"Women account for 40 percent of all business travelers, according to a March 2003 survey conducted by the Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism and Sports Management at New York University (NYU Tisch Center) and sponsored by Wyndham International, Inc.

Yet, women who travel are often left with two unpleasant alternatives for their regular run: hitting the treadmill in a cheerless hotel gym or running solo through an unfamiliar city, often in the early darkened hours before the business day begins.

Women Run The World.com (WRW) offers a way to partner up with local residents or other women travelers (who may be attending the same business conference or meeting). Women travelers can now shake off the jet lag, breathe fresh air, and stretch their legs, while avoiding the tedium of the hotel gym and the security concerns of running alone.

100% of the profits from the site will go to micro-financing programs for women entrepreneurs around the world. Women helping women run the world, so to speak."

Thanks for contacting us Amy and good luck with your site!

Confused About Social Media, Blogs, Wikis, RSS, Podcasts, Twitter And More?

If you politely smile when these topics are mentioned, but are secretly confused about what they really mean and how they might apply to you, try visiting the CommonCraft Show. This online source of quick, user-friendly video explanations "in plain English" is excellent. Bravo CommonCraft.

Thanks go to Martina, an expat woman in Europe, for reminding us about CommonCraft.

Got An Expat Story To Share?

Dear Friends, If you have an expat story to share, we would LOVE to hear from you. Why? Our Expat Women readers' Stories section has nearly 200 self-submitted stories, however, this month we have only had one story submitted and it is very lonely.

We are sure that you all have LOTS of stories to share, so please jump here and submit one for us. Your stories help to build a wonderful free database of experiences for expats of all shapes and sizes - and offer a real sense of global connection and community.

Ideally, we are looking for stories between 250 and 1,000 words. Read more Story Guidelines. Thank you very much and best wishes for your weekend!

Entrepreneurial Women's International Tradeshow, Seattle, U.S., 5 - 7 September

If you are a female international entrepreneur who would like to learn more about selling your goods in either the US market and/or the Japan/Asia market, Eri Takahashi of CUDA Consortium International Inc. has asked us to let you know about CUDA's upcoming 1st Annual Entrepreneurial Women’s International Tradeshow in Seattle, Washington, United States - and the discounts they are extending to Expat Women Members.

The tradeshow will take place in Seattle’s tallest skyscraper, the Colombia Tower Club, from 5 - 7 September 2008. The stated purpose of the tradeshow is to:

• Introduce innovative products;
• Gain feedback from entrepreneurial women colleagues regarding business structures, strategies, and products;
• Expand access to international business markets;
• Access direct consumer product feedback and response via your product display booths; and
• Explore partnering with other complementary entrepreneurial women’s enterprises.

Eri's prices for Expat Women Members (exclusive of airfare, of course) are:

• Participant from the US: US$99 (instead of US$120): including seminar participation, public tradeshow, and concluding celebration. Hotel can be arranged at their discount price for participants from outside Seattle.
• International Participant: US$1,120 (instead of US$1,320): including seminar and workshop, public tradeshow, concluding celebration, hotel (4 nights/person), food (during seminar, tradeshow) and sightseeing.
• International Exhibitor: US$1,420 (instead of US$1,520): including seminar and workshop, VIP tradeshow, public tradeshow, concluding celebration, hotel (4 nights/person), food, sightseeing and one extra complimentary event pass if you would like to bring a friend (however, hotel and food are not included in this price for the additional person).

For more information please Click Here. Thank you.

Special Thanks To You From Robin Pascoe (Family Matters Survey)

Hi Everyone, I talked just now with Robin Pascoe, the Expat Expert, in Canada. She wanted me to send a special thanks to everyone who responded to her requests for help with her recent Family Matters Survey, which we blogged about in February and in May.

Originally Robin was hoping for 250-300 responses from all of her sources. Well, the survey has now closed and Robin has been overwhelmed with 655 workable surveys - from people spread across 62 countries and representing 44 nationalities. Well done Robin - and well done respondents!

One of the wonderful things about Robin's survey is that approximately 30% of her respondents were men - which Robin says is unusual for an expat survey.

Stay tuned for Robin's survey results towards the end of the year, with Robin's e-book due out in November.

Best wishes for your day/evening! Andrea

Are You An Expat Angel?

If you enjoy helping and mixing with expats in your location (much like our Mentors did, when we had that section running on our own Expat Women site), you might like to volunteer on Expat Angels, a site launched last week.

My understanding, from meeting last week in Singapore with the creative force behind Expat Angels (a French-American guy by the name of Sébastien Deschamps), is that this new Expat Angels site will later morph into a dedicated section of Sébastien and his team's upcoming grander site, InterExpat (which is really still in the developmental stage until the official launch in September 2008).

Here are some words from Sébastien:

"The Expat Angels Network is a vibrant network of friendly and active people on expat earth! Expat Angels act as mentors, organizing local events or gatherings, influential in their local communities or simply friendly locals or expats always ready to share their experience. Each Angel can define what area of 'expertise' they are most interested in covering (eg. sports, parenting, events etc).

If you feel that you could be an Expat Angel too, sharing your experience and local knowledge, helping others and having serious fun with the other Angels and the community, come and join us! Thank you very much."

Best wishes, Andrea.

Global Nomads Networking Site & Dinners

If you self-identify as a global nomad, you might be interested in Janera.com, the new online magazine and social networking site which also hosts intimate dinner salons around the world for around thirty guests, primarily "social scientists, business people and cultural thought leaders".

To date, the founder Janera Soerel, has conducted dinner salons in Washington D.C., Rome, Curaçao, and New York City. With local co-hosts, her next events are scheduled to be in Istanbul, Amsterdam, Paris, London, Miami and Buenos Aires. She is also hosting the first Global Nomad Retreat in Tuscany, 7 - 13 September 2008.

If you are interested in the Istanbul dinner on 26 June, co-hosted by Anastasia M. Ashman, co-editor of Tales from the Expat Harem, at which Turkey-based experts will guide a dinner discussion on the evening’s topic: "Turkey's East/West Identity", anchored by: Ersin Akarlılar, the CEO of Mavi Jeans; Neşe Gündoğan, the secretary general of the National Turkish Olympic Committee; Şerif Kaynar, the country managing director of executive recruiting firm Korn/Ferry; Ferhan Alesi, a global intercultural trainer; and Tara Hopkins, an Open Society/Soros Foundation grantee and American activist, please urgently reply here.

To learn more about Janera.com, especially if you are interested in a future dinner, you can watch a 3.5 minute You Tube video here.

Have a great week!

Have You Seen The Expat TV Show?

If you are (or intending to be) an expat in The Netherlands, you might like to check out the Expat TV Show, which we learnt about this week when their Operations Manager sent us the link. The shows we viewed online were very interesting and if you are in the business of targeting expats, what a great way to try to target the 150,000 expats in The Netherlands.

If you would prefer to mingle in-person, the TV show mentioned that the next Feel At Home In The Hague - International Community Fair (profiled in their first episode, and which attracted 4,000 attendees at last year's event) will be held on 28 September 2008. Enjoy.

Dubai Documentary: Night Secrets

When visiting Dubai Sunshine (a blog on our Expat Women Blog Directory) today, we found this interesting Frontline World documentary by Mimi Chakarova: Dubai: Night Secrets - The Oldest Profession In The Newest Playground.

This documentary is actually not unique to Dubai. If you have lived in Asia (or other places with similar issues), you will know what we mean. It only runs for 12 minutes and it is quite well done.

So, what is Frontline World? After viewing the documentary, we were curious, so we checked out the Frontline World site and it says that it "is a national public TV series that turns its lens on the global community, covering countries and cultures rarely seen on American television." Other fascinating-looking documentaries include:

• Guatemala: The Secret Files - How Silicon Valley Helps Uncover a Dirty War
• Mexico: Crimes at the Border - The Business of Human Smuggling
• China: Out of the Rubble
• Zimbabwe: Shopping For Survival
• Burma: No Turning Back
• Egypt: Food Riots
• Pakistan: Student Resistance
• and many more...

If you are looking for some interesting features and alternative news sources, you might like to add Frontline World to your list.

500 Expat Women Blogs

A very sincere thank you goes out today to our Expat Women Bloggers, who by self-listing their blogs on our site, have helped us pass our 500-blog milestone on our Expat Women Blog Directory.

If you have not checked out the directory, I encourage you to do so, as Bloggers share a wealth of information and insights about their expat locations - that you just cannot get elsewhere on traditional expat content pages. It's on blogs that you'll usually get the 'real deal'.

Here are our running category totals in the Directory:
Oceania 14
Africa 26
Middle East 48
Asia 73
Americas 78
Europe 241
Service Providers to Expats 21

Living as an expat woman and got a Blog to list? Please list your blog Here, so we can grow the directory to 1,000 Blogs and beyond...

Thank you so much, Andrea.

Just Checking In...

Hi Everyone, Just a quick post to explain why it has been so quiet.

As mentioned in a previous post, I came this week to Hanoi, Vietnam, to attend the annual Global Summit of Women, which is rotated around the different global regions each year. For example, the previous three years were in Germany, Mexico and Egypt. Next year's conference will be in Chile. Mark your calendars if you are interested. :-)

More than 1,000 women attended. 300 women were Vietnamese, so a strong local contingent. Plus many women from neighbouring Asian countries. Around 70 countries were represented in total. I will write more when I am back at home base.

Best wishes for your week, Andrea.

Expat Women June Newsletter

Hello Everyone. Earlier today, we sent out our June newsletter - packed yet again with some really interesting interviews and articles. In addition to our June home page features listed in a previous post, the newsletter also included:

Samantha Honey's article: Oil Wives Save The Planet - 7 Ways Expat Women in Oil-Rich Countries Can Help

Ginnie Bedggood's article: Whoever Told You Mañana Means Tomorrow? mentioned in a recent blog post.

Sondra's Winning Story: Experiencing France (written in the format of a poem, but it still takes the prize this month). Congratulations Sondra, an American living in France.

The name of the winner of this month's fabulous Explorer Publishing giveaway.

An advert for Going-There - Global Destination Services, who are looking for expat women interested in becoming relocation consultants in their expat location. (Great idea!)

...and more...

If you did not receive a copy, you can view it online here. If you believe you should have received a copy, please write to us, with the name and email address that you believe we should have on our database.

Thanks and best wishes!

Global Talent Management Summit

The IQPC (International Quality & Productivity Center), a true leader in bringing together the best possible speakers for conferences worldwide, is hosting this year a Global Talent Management Summit, branded Winning The Global War For Talent, from 25 - 27 August, in Chicago, Illinois, US. Exact venue yet to be confirmed.

Some time ago, we agreed to promote the conference for them (which is why they are featured on our Expat Women home page for the month of June) in exchange for our logo being on their site, because the conference sounded very useful and relevant to (particularly) the HR Managers in our audience.

However... when we read their updated list of speakers just over a week ago, we very, very impressed and now we are even more pleased to help promote the conference. Take a look:

Matthew Paese, Vice President, Executive Solutions, Development Dimensions International
Casey Clemence, SVP HR, International Assignments, Bank of America Corporation
Lisa Lindores, Director, Global Leadership Capability and Talent Management, Technology Solutions Group, Hewlett-Packard Company
Phil Hendrickson, Manager, Global Talent Sourcing Strategy, Starbucks Corporation
Andrew LaValle, Executive Director, Entertainment & Networks, Worldwide Recruitment & Executive Search, Time Warner, Inc.
Anthony Cerquone, Global Head Management Development, Novartis AG
Stacy Reyan, Senior Vice President of Human Resources, APCO Worldwide
Mark Murata, Global HR Director, APCO Worldwide
David A. Binkley, Senior Vice President, Global Human Resources, Whirlpool Corporation
Rebecca Nelson, Manager, Development Management, Microsoft Corporation
Julie Martin, Learning and Development Group Manager, Microsoft Online Services, Microsoft Corporation
Denise Broz, Director, Global Talent Management, McDonalds Corporation
Banks Lowman, Global Learning and Development Organization: Succession Planning Executive Development, Intel Corporation
John Balkema, Global Talent Manager, Caterpillar, Inc
Stephanie Lilak, Human Resources Director, International, General Mills, Inc.
Nancy Turner, Global Director, Leadership and Professional Development, Nike, Inc.
Kevin Cowherd, Learning Transformation Leader, IBM Corporation
Sheri Stolp, Director of Human Resources, Thomson Reuters

Conference prices:
US$1,799 if you register and pay by 20 June
US$1,999 if you register and pay by 25 July
US$2,199 standard price

If you are in the business of sourcing, advising and/or managing talent in your organization, and you are interested in taking part, we encourage you to Click Here to download a PDF brochure today. Maybe we might even see you there!

Expat Women June Home Page

Hi Everyone, We have uploaded our June Home Page features a little early, as June 1 falls over the weekend. Here is a quick summary:

Success Story: Anna Catalano
In 2001, Fortune Magazine crowned Anna Catalano as one of the most powerful women in international business. At the time, she was in London serving as a Group Vice President, Marketing, for BP. These days, Anna serves on several high-profile Boards, juggling Board duties for a global insurance broker, a consumer products company (whose main products are condoms and footcare/footware products), a chemical company, a finance company, a biotechnology company and a diabetes foundation. Anna is amazing.

Business Idea: Fiat 500 Touring Club
We talk to Brit Sophie Bye about her innovative business idea to set up a touring club in Italy, with a fleet of vintage 1950’s and 1960’s Fiat 500 cars. We ask Sophie her Top Five pieces of advice for expats setting up a business abroad.

Expat Confession: My Trailing Man
One of our Expat Women Girlfriends answers this confession:

"I moved to Europe 14 months ago for my career. I was offered a once-in-a-lifetime job and my partner agreed that it was just too good for me to refuse, so he happily supported our move and came as my ‘trailing spouse’. Before I accepted the assignment, we talked long and hard about what options there might be for my partner here, given that he enjoyed his field of work and derived a great deal of satisfaction from it.

Having worked for 20 years already, he assured me that whilst he would possibly seek out work opportunities upon arrival, he saw this as the perfect opportunity for him to take some time out of the rat race and explore his interests of golf, photography and medieval castles.

The problem is, he seems to have exhausted his interests in non-work pursuits and now keeps complaining to me that he hates it here because he is “a nobody”. I confess that I do not fully appreciate what he is going through… all I know is that I need to do something. Help."

Overcoming Conflict... Especially When Moving Abroad
Moving house is certainly a stressful life-experience, but when coupled with moving country too, it really does take some beating. Stress can cause tension and disagreement, particularly between you and your partner, as you plan and execute your plans to relocate. Thanks go to Rebecca Wells for contributing this article, in which she share six simple coaching strategies for you.

Featured Book: A Career In Your Suitcase
We talk to Jo Parfitt about the third edition of her must-have portable career guide. This is the one that we did the book review for recently for The Telegraph UK. We are Jo Parfitt fans anyway, but this book is fabulous: it is jam-packed with so much useful information and it really does prove why she is an expert in the field of developing your own portable career.

We will have a few more new features in our upcoming June newsletter. If you do not already receive our newsletters, please support us by signing up today (you will also receive our free E-Book: Winning Stories). We will be sending our June newsletter out early next week.

Thanks and have a fantastic weekend!

$10,000 Competitions

If you an Australian or New Zealand resident, here are two fantastic competitions that have come across our desk in the last 24 hours...

Lonely Planet and Expedia (together with a few other companies) have teamed up to offer a Gourmet Adventure for two to San Francisco, valued at AU$10,000. They are looking for the best on-the-road food and wine experiences, each 25 words or less. (Australian and New Zealand residents only.) The competition starts 19 May 2008 and ends 30 June 2008. For more details, Click Here.

Club Med are also running a $10,000 competition. First prize is a 7-night all-inclusive holiday for two people at a Club Med Ski Resort in Europe, including airfares to Paris with Air France, ski passes, ski lessons with highly-qualified instructors, three gourmet meals per day, open bar and snacking, plus nightly entertainment. Click Here to find out more. (Their Terms and Conditions link did not work, but we are guessing it is for Australians and New Zealanders also, as it seems to be mentioned on Club Med Australia's site only.) The winner will be announced 20 June 2008.

Disclaimer: For the record, we are not receiving anything from these featured companies... although we wish we were. ;-)

10 Favourite Networking Questions

If you have ever been unsure what to say in a networking situation, then Joe Gregory's My 10 Favourite Business Networking Questions article is for you.

We read Joe's article earlier this month in his Lean Marketing Champions newsletter. We thought his advice was so simple, yet so useful, that we have now put his article on our Expat Women main site (thanks Joe, for giving us your permission) and we hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Expat Women in Pretoria, South Africa?

Hi Everyone, we received a plea for help this week from Chrisna Groenewald. She is looking for any expat women living in Pretoria, South Africa who might be able to help by volunteering to teach life skills to destitute mothers.

Chrisna works for SA Cares For Life, a Public Benefit Organization with the vision of changing the destiny of children. If you are interested, please contact Chrisna. Thanks.

Third Culture Kid (TCK) 1st-Ever Teleclass with Ruth Van Reken

Brice Royer, the Founder and Admin Guy of various TCK Communities such as TCKid.com and the TCK Facebook group, has asked us to invite you to an upcoming special event for Third Culture Kids (TCKs). Here is some of the official text:

"Are you a "Third Culture Kid" or adult? Are you a parent, family member or teacher and feel like you want to learn more about this Third Culture way of life? Just about every TCK we talk to has occasional questions and some frustration when it comes to belonging, their relationships, and the Third Culture way of life.

What do you think Ruth Van Reken, co-author of Third Culture Kids: The Experience of Growing Up Among Worlds, and Paulette Bethel, an international transition coach, have discovered over their careers serving expatriate communities through various forms of trainings, on-site workshops, and writing, that can help you? Plenty.

In this teleclass, you will learn:
1. How do I sort out who I am and where I belong when I can't get past the feeling of belonging "everywhere and nowhere?"
2. How can I make and maintain friendships with non-TCKs and TCKs?
3. How do I deal with the grief I still feel from long ago losses of country and friends?
4. How do I stop restlessness, and the cycles of separation and loss I continue to create for myself because I can't seem to stay in one place more than 2-3 years?
5. How do I learn to recognize and develop fully the gifts I received from this TCK experience?
...and there is more on the site.

This is an exciting event because it's the first teleclass held for TCKs. It has never been done before. You can ask Ruth and Paulette your questions live by email or on the phone. It's like a conference but without any travel or conference fees -- you can listen to it online or on the phone. And it's completely free. You can get all the details about this teleclass (and a list of some of the questions they are going to be answering) here. Hurry, spaces are filling fast. Date: Soon!"

To read ExpatWomen.com's 2007 interview with Ruth Van Reken, please Click Here.

To read the ExpatWomen.com TCK Expat Confession featured this month, please Click Here.

Want To Write As A Freelancer?

In Jo Parfitt's latest Monthly Inspirer newsletter, she included this very interesting link to Suite 101, which appears to be a great site for anyone wanting to write - and get paid for it!

Here is an overview of the site:

"Suite101.com's door is open to the curious novice looking for a "101" intro to any of our 400 topics, but it's also a meeting place for 7 million readers and 500,000 members each month to ask 101 burning questions of the day.

With 12 years online, over 100,000 articles and 1,000 professional, paid contract writers, Suite101.com is dedicated to delivering quality expertise and writing increasingly rare in the online world.

Suite101.com Media Inc. is a private Canadian company based in Vancouver, British Columbia with an office in Berlin. It has been a successful consumer internet operation for over 10 years and has an international full-time staff of 14. "

If you have got a burning desire to write and/or you are looking to start a more portable career, you might like to click here to find out how you too could become a Suite 101 Freelancer.

The Telegraph: Expat Networking Article & Portable Career Book Review

Anyone interested in reading the Expat Networking article A Little Help From My Friends and/or the book review for the newly-released third edition of A Career In Your Suitcase that The Telegraph online (UK) published for me on the same day as the book review for Get Ahead By Going Abroad (blogged about in a previous post), please just click on the links above.

In terms of the date, I could swear black and blue that only one of these was on their site until earlier today when magically, all three appeared - dated 14 May. But I suppose there is nothing wrong with a touch of magic each day... is there?

Enjoy your day! Andrea

Help Wanted: Got An Interactive Idea?

Earlier this year we removed the Forums from our site (mainly due to the high frequency of spammers and associated maintenance).

We said at the time that we would look out for alternative, more manageable ideas, to continue the vision of facilitating an online community for expat women.

Help Wanted: The problem so far is that we have not found any other great ideas. Do you have any?

If you have seen a site that offers a great interactive feature that we could use for our intended purpose, please drop us a line as soon as you can. We are still looking for ideas and maybe you might just hold the key... Thanks.

Have You Helped Robin Pascoe Yet?

Hi Everyone, this is just a quick post to kindly request that if you have not already completed the Family Matters! Survey of the iconic Robin Pascoe, please consider giving 30 minutes of your time to a woman who has done so much over the years to help, educate, inspire and connect expats all over the globe.

When we announced this survey in a previous post in February, Robin was hoping for 250-300 responses from all of her sources. The great news is that she has been overwhelmed now with 435 (perhaps a testimony to how well she is regarded around the world). But let's help Robin get to 500, because don't you think 500 would be much more powerful when she is presenting her results to corporates and academics than 435?

If you have already done the survey, could you possibly help out by forwarding Robin's survey link to friends, partners, family members (aged 14 and over) and to your local expat associations? I know Robin would truly appreciate it. Thanks Everyone!

Whoever Told You Mañana Means Tomorrow? Living In The Dominican Republic

Congratulations Ginnie Bedggood! Ginnie wrote to us this week to tell us that she followed our link in a previous post and has now successfully had her Dominican Republic expat experience, entitled Whoever Told You Mañana Means Tomorrow? published in the May/June 2008 edition of Belgium's great (A)WAY Magazine.

Thanks again go to (A)WAY's Editor, Elena Bucciero, who also kindly published Jill's and my experience, Double Vision in Mexico, in their January/February 2008 edition. Regards, Andrea.

The Power Of Working Abroad

If you need any affirmation that working abroad can help your career, look no further than Stacie Nevadomski Berdan and C. Perry Yeatman's book, Get Ahead By Going Abroad: A Woman’s Guide To Fast-Track Career Success.

We featured an interview with the book's authors last month and I was so impressed with the book that I wrote a review for The Telegraph (one of the biggest news players in the UK), which they kindly published a couple of days ago. (Thanks Gill.) If you are keen, you can check out the review here.

Have a wonderful weekend! Andrea.

Expat Parent in Thailand?

Hi Everyone, I just visited the Expat Blog website and this Forum post (featured via a link on their home page) caught my eye:

"I work for a consulting firm and we are currently studying international schools in Thailand. We are trying to get in touch with expat parents... [to] help us by filling in a brief 15 minute survey. We will compensate you with a $25 American Express gift certificate (given that you meet our target demographic screen). I... appreciate everyone's help with this... Many thanks."

I cannot vouch for the person or the survey, but the link page appears legitimate. If you can help, you might like to check it out.

Best wishes, Andrea.

PS. To visit our Expat Women Blogs, please click here.

2008 GMAC Global Relocation Trends Survey Results

We received a Press Release yesterday from GMAC Global Relocation Services announcing that this year's annual survey report has now been released. The well-respected annual GMAC report has been quoted in many articles and forums since its inception in 1993.

We even quoted last year's report in two of our articles last year for the ERC (Employee Relocation Council)'s Mobility Magazine: Expat Networking: Helping You Improve The Success of Expat Assignments; and From Chennai to Shanghai: Expat Executive Women Working in Asia.

Here is some of the info of interest from yesterday's press release:

"Now in its 13th year, the annual Global Relocation Trends Survey has become the definitive study of companies’ employee-relocation practices, policies and projections. As it does each year, the newly released survey paints a comprehensive picture of evolving trends and emerging issues facing companies of all sizes that rely on an international workforce. For information on how to receive the full survey [click here]."

"The company will be presenting key findings of the 2008 Global Relocation Trends Survey on May 29 – 30 during a complimentary webinar designed to provide a comparative analysis of the key global mobility issues facing today’s business world. The interactive webinar presentation, open to the first 100 registrants, is available in the following regions:
The Americas: Thursday, May 29th at 9 am (CDT)
Europe, Middle East & Africa: Thursday, May 29th at 3 pm (BST)
Asia Pacific: Friday, May 30th at 10 am (SGT)
To register for the webinar [directly with GMAC, please click here]."

Whether you are interested in the GMAC survey for work or for pleasure, you might enjoy reading this year's report.

Samantha's Expat Tale

Some of you might remember that earlier this year, we blogged "Are you an Aussie Expat abroad?" - which was a call from a major newspaper for expats to feature in their Expat Tales section.

Well, Samantha Honey, the author of this month's ExpatWomen.com feature: Feng Shui Your Way To Relocation Success, wrote to us a few days ago to let us know that she saw that blog post and contacted the newspaper directly. The result was Samantha's very own Expat Tale this month! Congratulations Samantha (in Qatar).

Best Food In China Blog

If you are an expat in Shanghai or Beijing, you might be interested in the Best Food In China Blog link that was sent to us today by this blog's founder, Simon Pan (to whom we have no personal connection).

We had a quick look at his site... which he described in his email as a rare site that gives professional English food reviews about food in China to help expatriates and travelers order local food... and the reviews look quite useful.

You just need to remember to click on the title of each blog entry that you are interested in, so the full review displays correctly. Enjoy!

PS. If you are looking for more links for China, please visit our ExpatWomen.com China links page. :-)

Want To Speak At The FIGT Conference?

Dear Talented Women, If you think you've got what it takes to speak at next year's Families In Global Transition (FIGT) Conference (and I know many of you do), here is the newly-released link for downloading a submission proposal for 2009.

The conference will be held in Houston, Texas, March 5-7, 2009. I went last year with Jill. It's full of really friendly people - who would make a great audience for any interesting and informative presentation that you might like to propose. I encourage you to put your thinking caps on and take advantage of this great opportunity.

Best wishes, Andrea.

How Are Your Leadership Skills?

If you are someone who "influences outcomes and inspires others", I highly recommend that you check out LeadStar's website and/or sign up to their mailing list, because every email that I get from this company seems to ooze motivation and/or just darn good advice.

Here's some background on LeadStar:

"Lead Star was founded in 2004 by Angie Morgan and Courtney Lynch, best-selling authors of the business book Leading from the Front (McGraw-Hill), who made a commitment to provide practical, relevant, and inspiring ways to grow and develop leaders. Lead Star teaches leadership based on Angie's and Courtney's experiences as Marine Corps officers, private sector professionals, and entrepreneurs."

"Through Lead Star, Angie and Courtney have shared their leadership message with more than 50,000 professionals worldwide. These include employees, managers, and senior executives in Fortune 500 companies, nonprofits, law firms, and educational institutions. Lead Star's numerous clients include Wal-Mart, Dell, FedEx, Merrill Lynch, Charles Schwab, Cisco Systems, Baylor College of Medicine, the National Association of Legal Professionals, and the Network of Executive Women. Lead Star's empowering message resonates with men and women everywhere."

"The firm's leadership expertise has been highlighted by FOX News, CNBC, and CNN. Angie and Courtney's efforts to spark a national dialogue on the topic of women and leadership have been noted in publications ranging from BusinessWeek to the Chicago Tribune, Financial Times, Inc., and The New York Times."

...Not a bad effort for the wife of an active-duty Marine and mother to a very active toddler (read more about Angie Morgan) or the mother of twin toddlers, the primary caregiver of her 95-year-old grandmother and the wife of a firefighter (read more about Courtney Lynch). Congrats Angie & Courtney.

I hope you enjoy the site! Andrea

Expat Women May Newsletter

Hello Everyone, We have just finished sending out our May Newsletter, packed with lots of great interviews and articles to read.

In addition to the May features listed in our previous post, our Newsletter includes Ali Wallace's article Shop Like a Parisian, showcases Saskia's Winning Story: Integration and names the lucky winner of the Explorer Books Mini-Guides.

As a special gift to our Members, we also included a link to our first-ever E-Book: Expat Women Winning Stories, February 2007 (our first winner, as we only launched in January 2007) to May 2008.

If you are not yet a Member, but would like to join and get our monthly dose of inspiration, plus your free E-Book, please Click Here - it's fast and it's free.

Thanks Everyone and enjoy your weekend!

WIN Conference - Sitges, Barcelona, Spain. Registration Now Open

Are you interested in joining hundreds of outstanding women in Sitges, Barcelona, Spain for the W.I.N. Global Leadership Forum this year? If yes, then you are in luck -registration opened today, May 1.

W.I.N. stands for Women's International Networking. The annual conference for women is the brainchild of the ever-inspiring Norwegian, Kristin Engvig, who we featured as a Success Story on our site in 2007. This single mum seems to never run out of energy!

Last year, I travelled from Australia to Norway to attend the W.I.N. Forum in Oslo. It was a wonderful experience. Rooms full of women wanting to share, learn, inspire others and be inspired. I highly recommend it - especially if you are based in Europe and it's just a hop-skip-and-a-jump.

Dates: (17) 18 - 20 (21) September 2008
Venue: Hotel Melia, Sitges, Barcelona, Spain

If you would like to find out more about what went on last year, I invite you to read our W.I.N. 2007 Reports - Part One and Part Two.

If you would like to find out more about the upcoming 2008 W.I.N. Forum, please click here to go directly to the official W.I.N. site.

Regards, Andrea.

Expat Women - May Features Now Online

Hi Everyone! We uploaded our new May features onto our home page and elsewhere on our site earlier today. Here's a quick run-down:

Success Story: Lyndall Sachs
Lyndall is currently Australia's Ambassador to Lebanon. She has led a fascinating life and we ask her about working as an Ambassador, working previously for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and about her experiences abroad.

Studying Abroad: Settling-In To An International School
No One Said It Would Be Easy
Special thanks go to Jenny Early, who helped us out recently as an intern, while on her gap year in the UK, for sharing with us her experiences of moving to an international school in The Netherlands for two years.

Feng Shui Your Way To Relocation Success
Samantha Honey kindly contributed an article for us on how to follow Feng Shui principles abroad - to cleanse and balance your new environment.

Adult TCKs (Third Culture Kids)
Our Expat Confession this month was written by one of our Expat Women Girlfriends (a trained psychologist), myself and TCK guru, Ruth Van Reken. If you are a TCK and you wonder if you can ever really 'fit in', take a read.

Courage To Fly
Robin Fay McNair talks about the 'fear of flying' - discussing 'trigger words' and giving us some great tips to help us gain more courage to fly.

Planet Germany
Jenny Early talks to Cathy Dobson about her experience trying to adapt to the local German culture, after a decade of living in Germany. (A very witty and entertaining book, by the way.)

And... if you want more... you will have to wait for our newsletter at the end of the week. Best wishes for May!

Andrea

PS. For anyone who wonders why we are featuring two Australian Ambassadors in the space of three months, here's the answer...

Last year, I scoured the UK government website seeking women Ambassadors to approach for this Success Story feature. Not only were there very, very few women Ambassadors abroad for the UK at the time, but unfortunately, those that I wrote to all declined the invitation. This year, I wrote to four Australian women Ambassadors (hoping that at least one would say 'yes'), and three out of the four agreed to participate! So, Lyndall is number two being showcased and later in the year, true to my word to the third generous Ambassador who participated, we will showcase the lucky third. :-)

UK Expats Thinking Of Going Home?

If you are a Brit living abroad who is thinking about going home to the UK, then Angie Cox at Fever Media is looking for you:

"ITV1 are making the second series of 'No Place Like Home?' about British Ex-Pats who are considering moving back to the UK. We're keen to hear from Brits who are living abroad, but who are now thinking about returning permanently to Britain. Perhaps you miss your family and friends, maybe you are struggling with the language, or very simply you yearn for a bit of British culture. You'll be flown back to the UK and given the opportunity to 'test-run' the reality of living in the UK. We'll give you the information and experience to make an informed decision on whether to remain an expat or come home for good. If this sounds like you, or anyone you know, please contact Angie via email as soon as possible, or call 00 44 (0) 20 7428 5768. To watch segments from the first series please click here and then click on programmes in the menu. I look forward to hearing from you. Kind regards, Angie Cox."

Angie said in her email to us today that they have 30 episodes to make. So if you are interested - go for it! :-)

Heard of Tomorrow People?

Last week, I came across an interesting site for the Tomorrow People Organization (TPO):

"Tomorrow People Organization is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping young people to become educated and ethical, globally aware professionals, committed to inflicting a positive change in the world. Our focus is on leadership and cross-cultural studies. By inspiring young people to develop new ideas and teaching them the skills necessary to put those ideas into action, we are creating new generations of responsible and successful global citizens - future leaders. "

"Tomorrow People Organization was founded in 2002 by a group of enthusiastic young people in Belgrade, Serbia and by now has grown into an internationally recognized organization with numerous respectful academic partners, references and academic programs held in dozen countries and 4 continents. In its academic programs, Tomorrow People Organization has hosted participants of more than 60 different nationalities..."

I see that they have a 3-day women's conference coming up at the end of next month. If anyone is in or close to Korea, or interested in attending, please click here to get more information from their site. In the meantime, here are the basics:

Women's Leadership Conference 2008:
25-27 May 2008, Busan, South Korea

280 Euros before 2 May (or 180 Euros for Student Observers)
320 Euros from 2 May onwards (or 220 Euros for Student Observers)

If anyone goes, please drop me a line afterwards to let me know more about the conference.

Thanks, Andrea.

Have You Joined InterNations?

If you have joined FaceBook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Naymz, WAYN and 2BalanceU (Go Heidi!) and you still have an appetite for more, the relatively new InterNations site might be right up your alley.

InterNations was started (I am told, in September 2007) by three Europeans: Christian Leifeld, Philipp von Plato and Malte Zeeck.

The site claims to be "the first international online Social Network exclusively for people living and working abroad". The idea is to build a network of trust, "where its members can interact with other internationally-minded individuals sharing the same situation abroad, similar interests, and needs. Members of InterNations can get and keep in touch with private or work-related friends and acquaintances on a global and local level and exchange trustworthy and relevant information on specific topics with each other".

It's an invitation-only network, but if you'd like an invitation, just click here and go for it!

5 Key Points For Writing A Book

If you have some ideas that you really want to get out into print, take a read of Jasmyne Boswell's article 5 Key Points For Writing A Book , which we published on our site today, to get you motivated.

As Jasmyne says, " Writing a book is similar to starting any project. It takes planning, preparation, focus, commitment, and most of all a passion for what you’re doing. If you implement all five points, the odds of flourishing are in your favor."

Thanks go to Jasmyne for her voluntary contribution.

World's Most Expensive Cities

Every so often, a survey comes out naming the world's most expensive cities, the world's best cities to live in etc. I just read an online news article on my local news site that was quoting ECA International's latest annual survey results, which surveyed 92 cities worldwide, in an effort to compare the cost of expatriate housing. Take a quick look to see how your city ranks in terms of the most expensive cities in the world to rent a three-bedroom apartment:

1. Hong Kong
2. Moscow
3. New York
4. Tokyo
5. The news site accidentally missed this one!
6. Mumbai
7. Seoul
8. Caracas
9. Singapore
10. Ho Chi Minh City
11. Paris
12. Shanghai
13. Dubai
14. Bogota
15. Istanbul
16. Beijing
17. St Petersburg
18. Lagos
19. Rome
20. Amsterdam

Career In Your Suitcase

Great news, the long-awaited third edition of Jo Parfitt's Career In Your Suitcase book is now out! Jo sent me the PDF today and I spent more than an hour scrolling through its 298 pages. (Aren't e-books just amazing... the fact that you can get access to that much information without needing to touch a hard-copy any more?)

In short, this book is truly like a bible for anyone wanting a portable career and I wish I had read it years ago when I started the song-and-dance-trailing-spouse-routine. It is jam-packed with so much advice, that I look forward to reading every single page, when time permits. Do not be surprised if we feature this book on our home page in the coming months. It fills a genuine need for so many women in our audience, and it's practical and inspiring to boot.

If you're in need of a portable career, or just needing a motivational lift, you can order/pre-order your copy from the following sources:

Bookshaker (E-Book, immediate version)
Amazon.com (Hard-copy version)
Amazon.co.uk (Hard-copy version)

Note: The release date on Amazon is only 4 May 2008, so this truly is 'hot off the press'!

Happy reading, Andrea.

Bloggers: Heard of Voki?

I saw something very, very cool on a blog tonight that I have never seen before: a Voki. What is a Voki? Basically, a speaking avatar that you can use on your blog for free!

The official Voki definition goes as follows: "Voki enables users to express themselves on the web in their own voice using a talking character. You can customize your Voki to look like you or take on the identity of lots of other types of characters… animals, monsters, anime etc. Your Voki can speak with your own voice which is added via microphone, upload, or phone.Voki lives on your blog, social network profile and will soon be integrated in various instant messaging platforms. You will also be able to download it to most video supported phones. "Voki" is a combination of "vox", which is Latin for voice, and "Loki", which, is a prankster character in Norse Mythology."

Thanks go to our newest Expat Women Blog Directory member, Tamara of American Girls in Moscow, for introducing me to Voki. If you would like to see Voki(s) in action, check out Tamara's blog, as she features one for herself and one for each of her two beautiful daughters. :-)

Warmest regards, Andrea.

New Trailing Spouse?

If you are a new 'trailing spouse', or 'accompanying partner' as some prefer to be called, you may like to check out this super-useful guide that we stumbled across today on the web, written by the Family Liaison Office (FLO), US Department of State.

The guide is entitled Spouse and Partner Guide to the Foreign Service and it was only just published in February (which explains why we have not seen it before when surfing the FLO website).

Now, you might be neither American nor in a foreign service, but if you are new to the role of trailing spouse, there should be at least something in here that you can find useful, as the PDF document consists of 39 pages - sharing lots of useful advice and links.

Thanks go to the FLO for posting this information onto the 'open' internet, rather than onto just a 'closed' intranet site, so that expat women everywhere can benefit.

There Has Never Been A Better Time To Be An Expat

Robin Pascoe's article with this title was published last week in the Telegraph.co.uk. To read why Robin believes this, and what she thinks has/has not changed over the 20+ years that she has been covering the "global living beat", click here.

To read our interview last year with Robin about her book 'Raising Global Nomads', click here. To read our interview last year with Robin about her book 'Homeward Bound', click here.

Happy reading!

Living in the Olympic City?

Bustling Beijing, I have been told, offers countless new experiences for resident expats. Flicking through two review copies of books that arrived on my desk this week, Insider's Guide to Beijing 2008, by Immersion Guides, and a preview copy (that was distributed at the Beijing Expat Expo this week) of Beijing Explorer: The Complete Residents' Guide, by our friends at Explorer Publishing, who kindly donate our great monthly giveaway, I have to agree.

Is there anything this city does not have to offer? Maybe clean air is hard to come by, but I would hazard a guess that you could even find some clean air in Beijing if you needed it, via 'drop in oxygen bars' or something similar.

In short, if you are in Beijing, or moving to Beijing, I definitely give these books the thumbs up for helping you to make the most of your time in Beijing. From what I saw, there is just no way that you could discover all of the options presented in the books by yourself... or even through your local expat club... or even if you married a well-connected Beijing local. These books are a feast for the senses. Check them out if you are in, or moving to, Beijing. :-)

Warmest regards, Andrea.

Disclaimer: Expat authors and publishers sometimes like to send us review copies of their books. If we consider the books useful to expatriate women, we typically list the books on our ExpatWomen.com Country Books pages. We may also mention the books here in our blog and/or feature them in our newsletter. For the record, we are not paid for these mentions.

Repatriation: Going Home Is Not Easy

If you are a repatriate, you will know that going home is not an easy transition. In addition to the physical requirements of setting up a new home and settling children into new schools (if applicable), repatriation can stir up a pot-full of mixed emotions - especially if it was not your choice to return home.

Repats need to re-establish their support networks at 'home', adapt (read: usually downgrade) their lifestyle and habits, re-shape their language to try to fit back into the typically more domestic-centered mind-set of the people that they meet, accept career changes , re-mould their identity and more.

If you are a repatriate, you may be interested in two women that I talked to in this past week:

The first is Kirsten Terndrup Hammarkvist, the founder of The Repatriation Network of Denmark and the Coming Home Network. (Note: These sites are in Danish.) Kirsten lived in California, US, for 8 years, before returning 14 years ago to Denmark. She recounted to me the struggles that she went through, thinking at times "What was wrong with me?", which led her to follow her passion and set up a network for repatriates in Denmark.

Several years on, some media articles and even a TV feature in Denmark, and Kirsten now has 262 members on the network's mailing list, who not only identify with her vision, but want to connect. Hats off to Kirsten!

If you are Danish and would like to get involved, or if you are a repat elsewhere and would like to talk to Kirsten about her experience setting up a network for repatriates, please contact Kirsten here.

The second woman is Madeleine Dobson. Madeleine is a PhD student in the UK at Royal Holloway, University of London. She was an expat in Singapore when her family moved there in the mid-nineties. When her family moved back to the UK she became interested in what it is really like to repatriate and how people negotiate this and the challenges and opportunities it presents. To avoid simply focussing on the economic ‘lead’ migrant, she is looking for households including dependent children who might be willing to take part in her research.

Madeleine is primarily interested in UK citizens who have lived at some point in Singapore as expats. If you can help her with her research, please visit her website and/or email her via this address. Thanks.

If anyone else is doing similar repatriate research work and/or managing repatriation networks, feel free to drop me a line - I would love to hear what you are up to.

Thanks and best wishes, Andrea.

Expat Women April Newsletter

Warm greetings Everyone! We sent our April newsletter out earlier today. In addition to our home page features, the April newsletter also includes:

(1) Families In Global Transition (FIGT) Conference 2008 Highlights - thanks to Robin Pascoe;

(2) This month's Expat Women Confession - Job Restructure - talking about how to handle a shock decision such as a job restructure – especially when you have only recently expatriated;

(3) A plug for Robin Pascoe's (aka "The Expert Expat"'s) "Family Matters!" Survey - as mentioned previously on this blog. Please help Robin;

(4) This month's Winning Story - On Life, Being Busy and Moving On - written by Anita, an Indonesian in Scotland;

(5) An advertisement for a cool new site - My Week In. Take a look if you are in Paris, the Loire Valley, London or Edinburgh; and

(6) The announcement of our first winner of the fantastic Explorer Publishing book giveaway.

Important note: If you are an Expat Women Member and you have not received our April newsletter, please check your spam folder - as sometimes it can go straight to there. If it is not there either, just jump onto our online version and then drop us a line and we will investigate why you do not seem to be receiving it.

Thanks and enjoy your weekend!