So, Are You Thinking About Becoming an Expatriate?

 New this week:

"Expat Women Confessions"

by Andrea Martins

and Victoria Hepworth

 When I was thinking about becoming an expatriate, I had no idea what was involved or how I would do once I went overseas.  I was very lucky to find the Expat Women website because their monthly newsletter, collection of expatriate blogs by women from all over the world, and website features gave me the courage to dream. Expat Women was probably one of my very first information points about everything involved with being an expat.  Reading other women's experiences gave me courage! 

As anyone knows who begins down the path of a research-heavy dream, it can consume a lot of hours poking around on the web to find answers to the thousands of questions involved in any new endeavor.

Luckily, experienced expats Andrea Martin, Director of Expat Women, and Victoria Hepworth, manager of the Blog Directory that is contained within the Expat Women website have teamed up to answer some of the most commonly asked questions women have about what is involved in an overseas life.

This week, these two accomplished ladies are launching their new book: "Expat Women: Confessions." Their one-stop guide to issues related to expatriation covers topics such as how to settle in and deal with culture shock, how to handle a crisis such as medical issues or death abroad (heaven forbid!), what are some of the money and career issues common to expatriates, and most importantly: how will expatriation affect one's relationships with significant others, aging parents, and children.

Andrea and Victoria know what questions people would ask and want answers to before they leap! Andrea talks to expats all the time not only through her web site but also through her professional speaking to expatriate groups.  Victoria wrote her Master's thesis on 'trailing spouses,' the phenomenon where spouses whose other half has been offered an overseas opportunity that decides a couple's path.

They will undoubtedly cover a topic that seems unnecessary before you jump.  I never thought I would need to know about sudden repatriation, but I did.  I wish I had known about that before it happened. That's the beauty of this book.  Expat Women: Confessions answers questions we think to ask and those we don't.

Thanks for reading!

This month brought me the best gift of blogging.  I guess I should say, the second best gift of blogging because the first gift is the wonderful, wonderful friends I have made in real life due to my blog.  This month I have just had amazing conversations with a couple of my blog readers ~ and what a stimulating group they are! Thank you for reading my blog and giving me your feedback.

It's so exciting to hear about the adventures and thoughts of people who read what I write because I get feedback not only on what I've said but I get to see who enjoys it.  Keep reading and writing to me!  I love it.

This month my very best friend from 2nd grade, Nancy, now living in Atlanta, Georgia in the United States, hosted a Czech night at her book club.  She served mead and had Central European food and her entire book club read Bohumil Hrabal's "I Served the King of England" based on my recommendation.  If any of Nancy's book club members are reading my blog for the first time, welcome!  Thanks for cherishing my good friend Nancy and sampling the gorgeous literature of the Czech Republic.  I feel like I did my bit to spread Hrabal's name in America where he is virtually unknown.  Nothing could make a librarian happier!

 I will begin writing longer posts again shortly.  Life is so beautiful and I can't write down fast enough all of the things that fascinate me. Until next time, ciao!

How I Travel: A BootsnAll Resource

If you're interested in starting a life of vagabonding or setting out to see the world and do any kind of internet research, you quickly discover the internet resource "BootsnAll." The site bills itself as the ultimate resource for the independent traveler. BootsnAll offers all of the usual traveler money-making resources like tickets, tours, insurance, and lodging.  What really makes it interesting, however, is all of the travel writing content. I love to read about other people's travel experiences!  The forums, where independent travelers discuss their finds and look for tips from the person who was most recently there, are inspiring in their spontaneity!

 

Me hanging out in Berlin

 "How I Travel" is a new BootsnAll interview series publishing every Tuesday in an effort to look at the unique and diverse travel habits of some of the world's most well known and proficient road warriors. Here's the travel writer, Rolf Potts, who first empowered me to hit the road, plus a couple of other columns to enjoy. 

 

Rolf in Ethopia

How I Travel: Rolf Potts
author of the wonderful travel book "Vagabonding"

 

Don Wildman on the Road

How I Travel: Don Wildman
host of the History Channel show "Underground Cities"

 

Stephanie Izard making friends in Honduras

How I Travel: Stephanie Izard
Chicago chef and winner of the Top Chef competition

BootsnAll writer Steve Bramucci is interested in hearing from you.  Who would you like to see spotlighted in a future "How I Travel" interview? You can tell him here.  I'm nominating one of my favorite expat bloggers for a column: MaryAm from the gorgeous design blog My Marrakesh.  Her last business trip took her to Kabul.  Now don't you want to know how she travels?

Kari's Excellent Adventure

A vibrant young TEFL student has just arrived in Prague from the great state of Minnesota.

I had initially hoped to be there to greet her. I'll have to do the next best thing which is read her blog.

Kari is on day three of her Prague discovery. I've created a link to "Kari's Excellent Adventure" on my list of Czech expat blogs.

Kari, pictured here with her mom, is the daughter of my childhood friend and neighbor Julie Waters.

Update on 9/6/2009: Kari has graduated with her TEFL certificate from the Language House and is now off to mainland China to begin her teaching year. Because the Communist Chinese government censor Blogspot and Facebook from their citizens, Kari has had to restart her blog at an uncensored site. You can access it there. Here is the link to her first blog describing her Prague adventures.

'Empty Nest Expat' Among the Best Expat Blogs according to Tripbase

Yea! All bloggers need is a little positive reinforcement that people are reading and appreciating what they're writing to keep at it. I was astonished when I got an email that said my blog made the list of best expat blogs as chosen by Tripbase, a top travel website.

What is Tripbase and what is their mission? They use over 3,000 blogs and travel websites plus 22 million individual reviews to help travelers create a matching vacation destination to their wants. LA Times calls it "the Match.com of Travel."

I've taken a look at many of the other blogs that made the list - wow, I feel honored to be in such company.

Here's their press release about top expat blogs.

And here's their selections in other categories.

What a great place to find exciting new blogs to read. The amount of winnowing and reading the editors had to do to come up with this list is substantial. And hasn't the Internet made you appreciate the work of editors more than ever? Show me the cream! I have only so much time! I'd like to thank whichever one of my readers suggested me for this too. It made me day!

Futurista Builds Upon the Past

After falling in love with Josef Gocar's Rondo-Cubism architectural style at the LegioBank building, I was eager to learn more about the wonderful design history of Czechoslovakia. Very near to where I lived in Prague was an ultra-hip design shop that showcased the best of Czech decorative arts and design from mid-century in addition to the current generation. The shop is called Futurista and is near Old Town Square.

A Czech cubist tea set

Can't you picture it in a
Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers
elegant NY penthouse?

These cubist tea set designs were created by
Pavel Janek
who worked with Josef Gocar
to create Rondo-Cubism

I was delighted to learn that
one of his other well-known designs
is Palace Adria
a gorgeous building near Mustek
where you can go and sit on the balcony
and enjoy the promenade of Prague people below.

Vlatislav Hofman designed
the cubist vases
housed in this ultra-hip
cubist breakfront.

Hofmann also designed
over 300 sets theatre sets.

One way Futurista exceeded my expectations
was the well-founded patriotic pride
of the young staff in their decorative heritage.

Lucie knew her country's artists
and loved sharing the beauty they created.

A cubist chair

What flowers would you arrange
in these vases to do them justice?

For me, if it was autumn,
dried bittersweet and sumac.

How it must delight Czechs
to have a design movement
that is all theirs.

In addition to his own Czech design heritage,
Miracek was crazy about Delft design
in the Netherlands.

The building that houses Futurista
is ancient
and has undergone countless remodelings
through the centuries.

If you go,
enjoy the glass bottom in the first floor
looking down to the gothic basement
where all the furniture is kept.

See the bottom of the window well
in the picture above?
That used to be the door jamb
for the first floor
back in medieval times.

David loved talking about
the modernist furniture
for sale in the basement.

I didn't understand the point
of this cheesy Communist poster
but David said native Czechs love to buy it
because ugly baby
and Dad with excessive sideburns
are very familiar to them as a
humorous memory of those times.

Mod meets art deco

An art deco breakfront

A way-cool white leather
executive table
and chairs

More modernist office furniture

I love this modernist plant stand.
I just need a super cool modernist
Prague apartment to go with it.

David said this sort of plastic office desk
with side fold-out drawers is so familiar to Czechs
they hate it and never want to see it again.

To a foreigner like me,
it's just one more fabulously cool
modernist experiment.

Futurista has started a web page. So far it only has one page to it, and it's in Czech, so I've linked in my title to the only store in North America that is devoted to mid-century Czech furniture and design. It's in New York City, of course; it's called the Prague Kolektiv.

Digital History Being Made This Weekend

Wow, if you aren't on Twitter yet, I can't recommend it enough. It has been absolutely fascinating to see the power of social networking sites when it comes to getting news out about the contested Iranian election. I spent all Sunday "watching the election" on Twitter and the difference between what's on TV and what's on Twitter is fascinating.

On Saturday, one of the huge trending topics on Twitter called "CNNFail" was "where was CNN coverage of the election?" Moment to moment reports of what cell phone networks, satellite networks, landline networks were being censored by the Iranian government were constantly reported. Citizen journalists and real journalists are twittering and videoing and letting the world know what's going on based on what platform isn't jammed and censored.

So here's the questions I have based on the explosion of Twitter reports that provides "power to the people!" It's fascinating to watch various Twitter streams come in from folks in America at the Lakers game, while meanwhile the Iranian students in dorms are worried about their safety, and yet other people around the world are organizing sympathy support by asking the world to wear green tomorrow to show support for the people who feel the election wasn't fair.

My question is "how do we judge credibility of those tweeting? It seems pretty darn easy to set up an account and pretend you are an Iranian student or demonstrator, but how do we know? Where's the corroboration? And my second question for all citizens of the world is "gee, if they were to shut down all these networks in your home country, how would you deal with it? How would you communicate?"

I Miss My President!

Černý Kennedy means "Black Kennedy" in Czech

The Obamas go to the White House

My new President was so inspiring on a daily basis during the campaign that I've gone through Obama withdrawal since moving to the Czech Republic. I miss hearing his constant 'commitment to excellence' on TV. Luckily, the campaign continues to email weekly videos and recent news updates so I can hear his views direct from him.

This week the campaign sent an 11-minute video of Obama announcing his new Council of Economic Advisers. The way President-Elect Obama is using email to directly interact with his millions of supporters is unprecedented. Being overseas, I appreciate it now even more than when I was home.

Are Czech women some of the least-stressed in the world?

A write-up of the Global Women's Conference in Hanoi, Vietnam in this month's Expat Women's Newsletter shares research presented by Xiaoyan Zhao, Senior Vice President & Director, Global Research & Consulting, Gfk Roper (USA).

According to Expat Women, Gfk Roper conducts annual studies throughout the world, with 30,000 respondents per wave. A PDF file of the entire presentation is at the Expat Women website.

• Eastern European women score the highest, in terms of the percentage wanting more money, versus more time.
• The percentage of women reporting the highest frequency of stress are in: 1. Australia; 2. Poland; 3. Japan; 4. Egypt; and 5. United Kingdom
• The least stressed women (self-identified) are in: 1. Indonesia; 2. China; 3. Czech Republic; 4. India; and 5. Taiwan.
• Television is the medium preferred most in Thailand. People in India read the most. Those in Argentina listen to radio the most. And people in Taiwan spend the most time on computers.
• Bargain hunting is greatest among Brazilians, Americans and South Africans. While Russian, Japanese and Polish consumers are least likely to look for or be satisfied by deals.

So, Czech ladies, are you surprised by this or did you know it all along? What contributes to making your life so stress-free?

I'm surprised ladies in Oz identify themselves as the most stressed. Heck, there's only 20 million people on that great big piece of land. What is stressing Aussies out?

Expat Women is a wonderful resource, by the way. I get the newsletter mailed to me every month. My favorite part of the site is the blog directory of expat female blogs around the globe. It's how I discovered Czech off the Beaten Path and Adventures in the Czech Republic.

Official Website of the Czech Republic

The Czech Republic has an official website that is extremely well-done and user friendly. I enjoy having their weekly newsletter sent to me. It's a great way to get a feel for the country prior to arrival. Link to the site via my title.