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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. 

Scroll through below or click on “Blog” in the top right to pick a category.  Hit the magnifying glass to search. 

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...
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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...
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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 . . ....
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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,...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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“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...
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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...
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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...
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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,...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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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Dear Expat . . . You Are Normal

Dear Expat . . . You Are Normal

Oct 3, 2015

  Dear Expat,   Let's be honest.  You are weird.  No offense. It's not a bad thing.  You're just -- what's that word? -- odd.  No matter where in the world you go, you don't quite fit.  You're a foreigner where you live and a visitor where you're from. You're weird....

Why Transition is Like Puberty

Why Transition is Like Puberty

Jul 16, 2015

  I was teenager once.  It was awkward.   I was pretty run of the mill.  Unfortunately the mill that year was cranking out knobby kneed, gangly armed, pimply faced manboys who, despite devoting every waking moment to the art of faking cool, squawked like a chicken...

When Transition Gets The Best of You

When Transition Gets The Best of You

Jun 8, 2015

  Ahh transition.  I teach this stuff.  I do seminars.  I write a blog for crying out loud.  So I hate it when it actually applies to me.   Some of the best advice I ever got about transition (from a friend who also teaches this stuff) is that we are all like a cup...

Transition and Stuff

Transition and Stuff

Jun 1, 2015

  Two years ago exactly we were in the process of repatriating (moving "home" to the U.S. after 7 years in China).  Our lives became consumed with the quest to reduce all of our belongings into 8 suit cases.  We failed but just barely.   Part of my transition back to...

Repatriating Normally: 10 Things That Make Coming Home Feel Weird

Repatriating Normally: 10 Things That Make Coming Home Feel Weird

Apr 21, 2015

  Repatriating is weird. It shouldn't be but it is. It should be awesome -- and easy -- and the complete redemption of every challenge, every irritation and every bumbling misadventure you have trudged through in your life as a foreigner.  You are being unshackled...

Introverts on an Expat Team

Introverts on an Expat Team

Apr 14, 2015

  Introverts are finally getting a LOT of attention. That's pretty ironic. So many writers are addressing the challenges that introverts face in a world built for extraverts.  There is a trend . . .  a wave . . . some would even call it a revolution of information...

The Seven Lies of Living Cross Culturally

The Seven Lies of Living Cross Culturally

Apr 10, 2015

  People who live cross-culturally, for any significant portion of their lives, are often duped. When we first choose to live as foreigners we are prime for the suckering.  We are wide eyed and overflowing with enthusiasm.  We soak up everything that Lonely Planet,...

Why We are Moving to China . . . Again

Why We are Moving to China . . . Again

Mar 27, 2015

  This post is especially for those of our friends and family who are curious to know details about our upcoming transition that would just be boring overkill on facebook.  Don't feel bad if that's not you but if it is . . . thanks for wanting to know more (we like...

Moving Well: Ten Tips for Highly Transient People

Moving Well: Ten Tips for Highly Transient People

Nov 8, 2014

  There have always been nomads but there are more now than ever. Maybe you are one -- those people who are going to live their entire lives 3-5 years at a time (give or take).  By choice, calling or mandate you will encounter multiple, major transitions in your life....

Twenty Four Reasons I Love the Fact That My Kids are TCK’s

Twenty Four Reasons I Love the Fact That My Kids are TCK’s

Nov 5, 2014

  The original title of this post was "Ten Reasons I Love the Fact that My Kids are TCK's." I couldn't stop. My kids are TCK's and I love it. I was re-reminded of this simple fact as we traveled back to China together last month.  By definition they qualify for full...