Expatriates

Amel Derragui thought her past nomadic experiences would equip her with all the skills she needed when she chose to follow her partner to a new country. However, she did not expect how her independence would be compromised, and found […]

Ilaria Vilkelis is a Culturs Expert and the founder of Thriving Beyond Cultures, a resource to help ex-pats, B.R.A.T.s, and TCKs take time to process the dramatic changes they are experiencing. Ilaria believes that how we cope with change affects […]

  There are several ways to eat a bowl of soup. You could use chopsticks, or a spoon, or you could slurp it right out of the bowl – and often these tactics are culturally coded. For a kid growing […]

With every new technological development, we get closer to a common global lifestyle. Maybe not all of us are TCKs or have any plans to ex-patriate any time soon, but new advances in communication and social media are evolving our […]

It’s that time again. I can hear the buzz, the excitement and the unbridled wishes for time to move forward a little more quickly. The Families in Global Transition (FIGT) conference is coming around the corner, and the call to […]

Growing up in a religiously-blended household, Erin was never “enough.” Not Catholic enough, not Jewish enough, and she even experienced a brief identity crisis when she realized that being white in her predominately Hispanic hometown of El Paso, Texas set […]

In the American movie “Dirty Dancing,” Frances “Baby” Houseman, played by actor Jennifer Grey, pointed out that about a foot of air space between her and Johnny Castle (played by actor Patrick Swayze) differentiates what is YOUR dance space from […]

“Since cross-cultural preparation is widely accepted to improve expatriate performance and 83% respondents believe it has good or great value, the lack of a practice that makes the benefit mandatory is disappointing.” Brookfield Relocation Report I have been an expat […]