Moving schools is always hard. Moving schools mid-year is even harder. We moved our daughter half way through a term when we moved to Bangkok. My advice based on this? Avoid it if you can. And in an ideal world, we would avoid it. Every move would be timed to coincide with the start of […]
moving overseas
The Expat Wife and the Career Breakdown
I was thinking a lot about being an ‘expat wife’, and then I came a cross an article which talked about how Frida Kahlo was described as the ‘Wife of Master Mural Painter’. The point of the article was that if someone as legendary as Kahlo was described in terms of being ‘someone’s wife’, and yet […]
So, you might be moving overseas?
One of the things I personally find hard about being an expat is that tricky stage when you think you might be moving overseas, but nothing is confirmed. I wrote about this in my post ‘We Might be Moving’ (see here). Judging by the comments and messages I received, it’s clear that I am not […]
Dealing with Ambiguity or ‘We Might be Moving…’
‘We might be moving…’ How many times have you said that, or heard it from a friend? If you’ve been an expat for any length of time, the answer will be a LOT. And the worst bit about this sentence? Managing the ‘might’. Living with uncertainty and doubt – whether it’s about moving or any […]
On the Wrong Side of the Tracks: Driving in Germany
Driving in Germany. On the one hand, I was looking forward to it. In Thailand I didn’t drive, and after the long, hot school run I would fantasise about having my own little car and not having to wade through flood waters or flag down taxis. It somehow doesn’t seem real to me now, but […]
Expat Move with Kids?
So, we all know that making an international move can be stressful (click here for more on that…). But looking back I realise the thing that stressed me out the most was concern about my children. Are we doing the right thing? Will they be happy? Will they like their new school? Will they hate […]
The Expat Move – aka ‘The Third Most Stressful Thing’
When planning our first expat move, I read an article which said that in terms of stressful life events, moving house ranks third – behind the death of a loved one and divorce. Our first expat move was a big one – from England to Bangkok. And I was definitely super-stressed. My daughters were young, […]
Pack it up…
…pack it in. That’s it, we’re packed up. We arrived in Bangkok with 134 boxes and a hefty dose of culture shock. The girls were just tiddlers, aged two and four, and my husband’s hair was only slightly greying. Two and a half years later we are leaving with 211 boxes, a seven year old, […]