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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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On Election Day and Flatulence: 500 Words | Day 6

Nov 5, 2014

Welcome to Day 6 of a 31 day challenge to write 500 words or more. For more on that click here: goinswriter.com IT'S ELECTION DAY!! That's pretty much all I have to say about that. I would like to discuss a serious issue however that I have yet to hear addressed...

On Doing Away With Time Zones: 500 Words | Day 5

Nov 3, 2014

Welcome to Day 5 of a 31 day challenge to write 500 words or more. For more on that click here: goinswriter.com I'm really not good at math so Daylight Savings is messing me up both professionally and personally. Let me explain. Not only did I get jilted out of...

On Daylight Savings Time: 500 Words | Day 4

Nov 2, 2014

Welcome to Day 4 of a 31 day challenge to write 500 words or more. For more on that click here: goinswriter.com I am not a huge fan of Daylight Savings Time. It's ok if you are. My reasons are entirely selfish. For starters everybody gets all excited about...

On Korean Donuts and TCK’s: 500 Words | Day 3

Nov 2, 2014

Welcome to Day 3 of a 31 day challenge to write 500 words or more. For more on that click here: goinswriter.com "I hope we go through Korea." "That's what my 10 year old daughter said when we first started talking about the whole family going back to China for a...

On Going Back to China: 500 Words | Day 2

Oct 31, 2014

Welcome to Day 2 of a 31 day challenge to write 500 words or more. For more on that click here: goinswriter.com (For the record - the above sentence is not counted in my 500 words) (Neither is that one) (This could go on for a while) Beginning now....

My 500 Words: Day 1

Oct 31, 2014

I am a writer. I know because Jeff Goins of goinswriter.com told me so. Ok, he didn't exactly call me out by name per se but I know he was thinking specifically of me when he designed the 500 words challenge. That was nice of him. This is how it works. Jeff figures...

Grandparenting Little Expats: Part 2 – Tips and Tools for Long Distance Grandmas and Grandpas

Jul 28, 2014

That said, there is something special about your grandkids who are growing up in a different country. They are Third Culture Kids (that will make more sense later). There is a unique set of challenges that comes with the experience that can, at times, be quite confusing. On the flip side, their experience is rich and shaping them to be the global thinkers and leaders that our world needs desperately for the coming decades.

Grandparenting Little Expats: Part 1 — Tips and Tools for Long Distance Grandmas and Grandpas

Jul 25, 2014

It’s not your fault. You tried to raise them right.

And then those ornery kids of yours grew up, had little ones of their own and moved away. What are they thinking?! This was supposed to be your time. You put in years of hard labor, thinking all along that some day, some glorious day you would enjoy all of the joys of frolicking, adorable children with none of the responsibility. Sugar em’ up and send em’ home. It was a flawless plan.

The Best Definition of Culture I’ve Ever Heard

Jul 22, 2014

I'm a culture vulture unless you go by definitions. I suppose that's the point of this post . . . sometimes definitions are stupid. cul•ture vul•ture a person with an excessive or pretentious interest in the arts. -The Oxford Learner's Dictionary Yeah that's...

Making Goodbyes Good: 10 Tips for Expats and the People Who Don’t Want Them to Leave

Jul 18, 2014

There are 232 MILLION Expats in the world. That's a boat load of hard goodbyes. This is the high season for leaving. Over the next few weeks the same scenes will play over and over at an airport near you. This is how you can tell them apart from the rest of the...

What to Expect When You’re Expecting to Move to China: 6 Tips for Raising Kids in The Middle Kingdom

Jul 15, 2014

Hey good news. No matter what you're feeling right now . . . you're normal. If you are among the thousands of families who are in (or recently went through) the process of packing up your lives and relocating to China then I'm happy to tell you that whatever is...

Better Than Chocolate: One of the Sweetest Perks of Having Lived Abroad

Jul 8, 2014

I asked my son an unfair question that could have gone horribly in the wrong direction. It was one of those questions that, as it came out of my mouth, I thought, "nope . . . I should not be asking a four year old this". I braced for an awkward moment and had zero...

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