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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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Erasing Expat Ignorance: part 3 of 3

Aug 18, 2016

Ignorance is not just for expats. Oh no, no -- it's universal -- but we do it so very well don't we? We typically get the chance to practice and showcase our ignorance more often than others. Like daily -- maybe hourly -- more for some. The goofy little...

Embracing Expat Ignorance: part 2 of 3

Aug 9, 2016

Warning: The following is a true story . . . and the ending is very sad. We were down by two with 1 second left to play in the championship game. I stood at the free throw line and the entire game rested on my shoulders. It was intense. I swear this is how I...

Facing Expat Ignorance: part 1 of 3

Aug 4, 2016

Expats struggle. We strain. We may even fail and do significant damage NOT because we don't understand something but because we INSIST on proceeding as if we do. This might sting a little. "You are ignorant." I mean that in the nicest possible way (as if that...

“Crawl in a hole” and other great advice for new expats

Jul 26, 2016

You finally made it. You're a foreigner . . . in a foreign land. So now what? There is nothing quite like your first days abroad. It's magical. All of the anticipation and excitement with none of the baggage (unless you count the actual baggage that you're living...

Why Expats Hate June: Retropost

Jun 1, 2016

In honor of June . . . (excuse me, I just threw up a little in my mouth) . . . here is a repost of one of my favorites. Enjoy. Life as an expatriate is tainted by a single word. "Goodbye." By nature, the move TO a foreign country is launched with a massive,...

Yeah . . . We Blend

May 26, 2016

My family's not normal but let's be honest . . . neither is yours. I swear this happened one time -- in America to boot. I was at my hometown mall watching my daughter (a toddler at the time) trip around the foam rubber, indoor playground just outside of the...

The Seven Lies of Repatriation

Apr 18, 2016

Ahhh "Repatriation" It's one of those words that you don't even look up in the dictionary until you start going through it yourself. For those less traveled it may not even make sense that we would coin a special word for returning to your country after a time away....

“Hello Again” — The Unanticipated Bright Side of Perpetual Goodbyes

Feb 14, 2016

We are expats. We say goodbye. A lot. I could end this post right there and know that I have struck a chord. But I won't. If you're living far from home (or you instinctively use finger quotes when you even say the word "home") you've noticed it. You started this...

The Five (Ironic) Enemies of Living Cross-Culturally

Jan 25, 2016

Ironically, this post is based entirely on an outright assumption. My assumption is this. If crossing cultures is a part of your life then you probably have some comprehension of the things that prevent you from doing that well. You don't need a blog to tell you...

Going Nowhere: Ten tips for expat Stayers who want to stay well

Jan 13, 2016

In the expatosphere we tend to focus on the bookends of our cross-cultural experience. Starting well. Ending well. Moving on. Between Stayers, Goers and Newbies the Stayers tend to get the least attention. But the space between the bookends are where the books...

Should I Stay or Should I Go? 12 Things Expats Should Consider When They are Considering Leaving

Nov 9, 2015

Expats are big decision makers. It's what we do. It's how we roll. This whole cross cultural experience started with a decision that impacted every aspect of our lives. "Hey honey, how would you feel about about moving." "Ooo -- yes. There's a really cute...

The transition that never ends: The ongoing cycle of expat Stayers, Goers and Newbies

Nov 3, 2015

I hate June. There is a reason for that. Where I live people come and go . . . a lot. That's the part that they don't put in the brochure when you move abroad . . . "Adventure of a lifetime -- Explore exotic lands! Learn new languages! Say goodbye to 20% of your...

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