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The Culture Blend BLOG

If you have EVER lived abroad or love someone who does, there is something here for you.

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Enjoy — and Thanks for Reading!

The Four Relationships You Need if You’re Doing Something New

There's a whole lotta' new going around. COVID shook things up didn't it? Expats have been kicked out or displaced or put on hold. Brick and mortars are morphing into websites and zoom calls. Careers have shifted. Businesses have been reimagined. Paradigms have been...

Little brother syndrome: How expats feel when you badmouth their host country

I never had a little brother ... but I was one. So I know how this works. There is an unwritten bylaw in the "How Family Works Field Guide" that states very explicitly that elder siblings reserve full rights to be absolutely annoyed by little brothers. Because little...

Oops … I forgot myself: Reclaiming your identity in a massive life transition

You know that feeling? It's a sick one. In your gut. Sometimes you catch it early. Two minutes down the road on the way to the airport. "Did you pack the swimsuits?" "Yes." "Socks?" "Yes" "Underwear?" "Yep." "Boarding passes?" "YES! I got everything ok?!" "Sorry . . ....

Transition in a Transition: A few thoughts for making big moves after a big pandemic

You can feel it can't you? Like racehorses lined up at the gate. Like a dam about to bust. Like globally-minded, would be (or former) world travelers and serial expats who haven't been on an airplane (or put on pants) in over a year. The tension is mounting. We're...

Bald Tires and Bad Habits: The right kind of change in a snowstorm year

Facebook did it. Instagram too. All of them. They cracked my code. Not a day goes by that I don't get at least 458 offers for the exact thing that I was just talking about yesterday. Sometimes (and I swear this has happened) all I have to do is think about it. You...

Permission to Netflix: The Power of Intentional Disconnection

There is a MASSIVE difference between "oops" and intentionality. You've been there right? Tell me I'm not the only one. The clock says three hours past your bedtime but your brain is in full-on bargaining mode. One more episode won't kill me. I'll catch a nap...

Ten Years of The Culture Blend

Ten years ago today I hit "publish" for the first time. I had no clue. I had no clear agenda. No long term goal. No 10 step plan for optimizing SEO, driving traffic, managing bounce rate, or maximizing widgets. I barely knew what a blog was. I just knew that cultures,...

The High Hidden Cost of Constant Transition

If you are running, leading, investing in, managing, or somehow otherwise involved in the oversight of an international business, team, or organization, someone in your group is shoveling money out the window. You should do something about that. Transitory teams are...

Pandemics are Stupid (and other things I learned about transition in a 2020 global move)

I'm a Transition Specialist. I know because that's what is on my business cards -- which are outdated -- and in a suitcase -- on a ship -- somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea. Feels like a metaphor for my life right now. My role is to know things. Important things like...

Dear China: A note from a thankful expat

Dear China, You're so much better at goodbyes than I am but let's try to get through this ok? When we first met I was so intimidated by you. You were bigger than life, older than Moses, and more confusing than puberty. But you were so welcoming. I can't say I felt at...

“Yeah, but you’re not Black”

How does a White father from the United States, raising his Black son in China talk about the news this week? That's not rhetorical. It's not hypothetical? I'm asking. Because I don't know. What I do know is that I'm not the only parent this week scrambling for the...

The Best Things About COVID19

How do you even begin to write a blog post with that title? Feels like walking through a minefield of potentially explosive offensiveness and miscommunication while word-twisting snipers lurk in the trees all around. "Did you see that blog post? Some idiot said COVID...

Stop Thief: Getting back what COVID19 has stolen

COVID 19 is a dirty, rotten criminal. Ironically, not even a smooth one. It snuck in and no one saw it coming, but it made a bunch of noise and stayed way too long. Got greedy. Got cocky. Thought it could take everything. Got news for you COVID ... you don't get...

3 Seconds of Insane Courage: A Tribute to Caleb Meakins

"The problem isn't fear. It's being stopped by fear."- Caleb Meakins One year ago my stomach was in my throat and my heart was about to beat out of my chest. I was weighing out a decision that was wrenching my guts. It was one of those "this could be beautiful,...

Expat Disrupted: How to Move Forward When Everything is Going Wrong

This year has been NUUUTS. I had a plan. It was a good one. I was excited. And then . . . Life happened. Sound familiar? In June I quit my job to pursue my passion -- something I've been dreaming about for a long time. So (as one does), I laid out a plan for a...

An Expat in China’s Response to the Coronavirus

Two weeks ago Corona was just a beer. A couple of disclaimers to start: ONE: I'm no doctor, reporter, researcher or a public official and I am certainly no expert in nCoV-2019 (the Corona Virus that everyone around here is talking about). I'm just an expat in China...

White Expat Privilege

Photo by bruce mars So this happens. A lot. I get into a taxi and say "ni hao" ("hello" in Chinese). The taxi driver's eyes get wide and he says, "Waaahhh, your Chinese is SO good!" My daughter, on the other hand, could get in the exact same car, with the exact same...

Addicted to Change

Hi. My name is Jerry. And I'm addicted to change. Hi Jerry. Glad I got that off my chest. I know I'm not alone (come on expats -- fess up). I've seen you out there and you're just like me. You get itchy if you go three months without getting on an airplane. Your life...

A Christmas wish for ALL people

Christmas has become a convoluted affair, hasn't it? Frankly. I'm confused. As an expat, I'm admittedly behind the curve on the most current culture wars and feather ruffles. I lose track of what I'm supposed to say and what I'm not supposed to say. Let me see if I've...

Stop wasting your time abroad: Recovering what you came to do

This blog post will change your expat experience -- if you let it. Grab something to write with -- and something to write on. We're about to go to work. Remember that time you moved abroad? You were so ready to take on the world and you had big plans to do it right....

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One Man’s Trash is a Little Girl’s Playground

Jan 13, 2012

Grandpa has a junk pile that puts Disney World to shame. For at least two months we have been gearing up for this trip to the States and the most anticipated spot in the country for my daughter has been the hill behind her Grandpa's shed where old machinery goes to...

International Travel Tip #13: When Flying – Embrace Bad Parenting

Jan 12, 2012

My wife and I have decided that we become freakishly horrible parents when we are traveling. And we're ok with that. I noticed it first on the 13 hour 39 minute and 24 second plane ride from Hong Kong to Chicago. This is the flight that I have been dreading for...

English Overload

Jan 9, 2012

I really miss speaking Chinese. As much as I routinely butcher it, I miss it. We've been visiting friends and family in the States for three weeks now and my senses are still being blasted. It happens every time we come back. It's like a switch gets flipped and...

Congratulations St. Louis Cardinals, 2011 World Champions . . . of the “World”

Oct 30, 2011

Since I was 9 years old I have been a Cub fan . . . but not the disgruntled kind. I'm not mad that the team I pledged my lifetime allegiance to in the prime vulnerability of my pre-pubescent youth hasn't been to the World Series since World War II (stupid goat)....

The End of My Blog: Everything You Want to Know About China

Oct 25, 2011

Here it is. Everything I want to tell you about China in ten minutes . . . with pictures. No need for me to keep writing. Well done piece....

You May Not Actually Be Cool: Please Read This Before You Get a Chinese Tattoo

Oct 19, 2011

This poor guy thought he was getting a very cool "OUTLAW" tattoo but instead came away with "HIDING CRIMINAL" which basically carries the meaning "RAT FINK". Not as cool. I have never been cool. I've spent nearly 4 decades just behind the trend curve and the closest...

The Day Grandma Got Us Kicked Out of Mexico

Oct 17, 2011

My dear Grandma (who is presently enjoying heaven) was once described by my mother (her own daughter) as being (and I quote) "about as cheerful as diarrhea". She rarely spoke (and she was rarely not speaking) without mentioning someone who had recently passed on or...

Zai Jian Jezza

Oct 15, 2011

Jezza eating scorpion in his first week in China. That's when I knew I was going to like him. I love the sweet simplicity of "goodbye" in Chinese. "Zai Jian" Go ahead . . . You try it. I'll wait . . . Nope, you said it wrong. The "Z" actually has kind of a "dz"...

The Day Doritos Came to China

Oct 14, 2011

There was much rejoicing and jubilation the day Doritos came to China. I remember it vividly because my fingertips were stained orange for weeks. I was deep in the trenches of my first battle with culture shock and longing, begging, aching for something . . ....

Thank You Adoptive Mothers for Getting Rid of Osama Bin Laden . . . Again

Oct 12, 2011

This just in . . . A courageous band of mothers who have adopted from China have taken down Osama Bin Laden.I still consider myself a rookie when it comes to this blogging thing but I'm having a boatload of fun with it. I think the truest quote I have heard so far...

You Want Birds With That? Humbling Moments for a Language Faker

Oct 10, 2011

I got blasted with a dose of my own indignance this week. Chinese is tonal. If you haven't tried to learn it then that means nothing to you. It's pointless trivia, like "celery has negative calories" or "bats always turn left when they exit a cave". All true...

Lost and Found in Translation: Baby on Road

Sep 24, 2011

Go ahead . . . date yourself. Do you remember when "Baby on Board" signs first started popping up on rear windows? Remember that one summer when they were on every other car and everyone drove just a wee bit safer. It was like a traffic trump card that gave the...

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