Category: BECOMING AN EXPAT
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Why Become a Part-Time Expat?
Pop quiz: What creature do you see below? OK, now what other creature can you see? Originally printed in a German humor magazine in 1892, this sketch has become a litmus test of mental flexibility. By now you’ve probably noticed it can be viewed as either a rabbit or a duck. (If you’ve identified any other…
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Meeting People & Making Friends Overseas
I love this greeting card but have to admit I’m puzzled; who are you supposed to send it to? A friend or relative who identifies as a psychopath? Your barista, with a note thanking her for not shooting your companion when he actually did order a quad shot, non fat, vanilla soy, extra foam light…
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Preparing for Your Year Abroad: a Checklist
“And suddenly you just know… it’s time to start something new and trust in the magic of new beginnings.” — Meister Eckhart, 13th century German mystic Eckhart’s sentiment seems intensely romantic, especially in a flourishing font superimposed over an exotic landscape. Cast your fate to the winds! Live your life, take chances, don’t wait! Leap and…
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Homecoming: It’s Always Something
There’s a splendid, dizzying moment, known to every expat and many travelers, when you arrive back in your home country and see it with fresh eyes. You become a bedazzled stranger in your own neighborhood, an intrepid explorer in your own backyard. Stepping across your familiar threshold, you feel like Neil Armstrong setting the first…
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Learning a Second Language at Age 77
A few days ago Rich bellowed “Karen!” with an urgency I haven’t heard since that time the pine tree in our front yard caught on fire. I raced down the hall to find him holding up a small, irregular piece of cardboard. It was the missing piece from a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle, which we’d recently…
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There’s No Place Like This for the Holidays
What holiday songs do you find teeth-grindingly irritating? Is there one that makes you want to clap your hands over your ears and run screaming out of the department store? The public-spirited editors of USA Today compiled a list of the worst of the worst, the top ten most horrible yuletide carols of all time.…