Globiana Members Speak: Finding Home

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In my adult life I have moved houses eleven times. It may not seem outrageous but counting the 12+2 years spent in our current home, we did move a lot from the ones that did not last more than two years. What is interesting is what made me move and how I found my new home each time. I believe there is a sweet balance between over-planning and following your gut when choosing a city, a neighborhood, a house. 

Here are my most memorable moving decisions to share. It started with being able to afford a really posh but small place on the 42nd floor overlooking Lake Ontario in downtown Toronto as newlyweds. There was not enough space for our clothes and our combined households, let alone an office. I learned to improvise: the small balcony became our summer dining room, the furniture had to be light and was constantly moved to accommodate office work, dinner parties and other projects. I never minded because the walls of window overlooking the lake and the city were my mansion.

It also taught me that I am not a city person. No matter how convenient the location, I prefer my privacy to not be shared with a 24-hour security guard.

Fast-forward to living with a toddler in crazy expensive California. Before relocating here to temporary housing, I had one day in-between work meetings to explore the Bay Area. We had learned that San Francisco was too cold for our taste, so we had to start our search from scratch.

I put our son in the car and drove south, planning to explore the beach and not worry about housing for now. Heading down Hwy 17 I saw a sign for Los Gatos which I thought was too cute a name, and on pure impulse, drove into town. It was so breathtakingly beautiful as I pushed the stroller down North Santa Cruz Avenue that I never made it to the beach.

Los Gatos, California has been our home for the past 18 years, raising our children and making wonderful friends. Interrupted by four years in India (finding a home in Bangalore is an entire story in itself).

What I remember is that we never questioned settling here. Things fell into place despite many obstacles. We found a great landlady who rented to us because she wanted a little boy to live in her house. We won a bidding war to buy our home because the seller liked us. 

All I can say is follow your instinct. Yes, decide what you cannot do without, such as schools and commuting times, but remember that you have alternatives. Between us, my husband and I have had long commutes lightened by flexible work arrangements, working from home and easy commutes. If you plan to stay, plant roots. If you know it’s only for a few years, ask yourself what kind of lifestyle you would like to experience. My own lesson? Home is where your heart is. 

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Family Health Care and Employers – Expat View

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Globiana Founder and CEO Elena Mosko sits down with Kelley Filice Jensen of Filice Insurance to understand how employers can help employees relocating to the United States master the complicated system of health care and health insurance that can be so different from their home country. Kelley and Elena share more than just professional collaboration. They love books, and can be found pouring over their latest book club selection, while pouring a traditional glass of Californian wine, on Thursdays each month.

Our subscribers tell us that of all the adjustments that they make to the United States, health care is one of the hardest and most confusing changes for their families, why?

Because of the way health care is “purchased” in this country. We have a much different system of paying for doctors and hospitals in the U.S. than much of the world.

What do you mean?

Well, we pay for our health care with health insurance plans, and, for the majority of Americans, these insurance plans are paid for by their employers. This is true even after the Affordable Care Act (ACA), has taken effect. This means that employers often make the first decision regarding health care for families, and that is, how to pay for it.

How do employers educate employees about how their health insurance works?

Ideally, the employee benefits consultant that sells the insurance works with employers to educate employees on health care and health insurance. And we do this in many different ways: Health fairs, educational nights, videos, company benefits websites, phone apps, and of course, pamphlets and collateral. Employers are always looking for new ways to engage employees. We even have one broker that starts all his open enrollments with stand-up comedy! Anything we can think of to help employees learn the esoteric set of terms and conditions of health insurance.

What is the most frustrating thing for employers?

It can be very frustrating to put so much energy into campaigns about health insurance, only to have employees and their families not engage or learn what their health insurance is about and how it impacts the health care choices they make. People tend to have money taken out of their paychecks for a company sponsored health plan, but not learn anything about the plan until there is some sort of emergency, then panic sets in and everyone is frantically trying to learn their health insurance.

What advice does Filice have for employers with employees new to the U.S.?

Many times employee benefits consultants will provide materials that have been translated into native languages as a way to educate employees, but be wary. Ask if the materials have been translated or reviewed by someone in the health insurance business. Health insurance terms often do not translate easily into native languages and may not give employees or their families the most necessary, complete and accurate information. Also, request that someone is available to meet with employees or their spouse in person.

What advice do you have for families new to the U.S.?

Be proactive! Do not wait until someone needs to go to the doctor to understand your health benefits. Ask HR to help you understand your benefits. Spouses can get involved too. Make an appointment with the benefits consultants your Company uses to get questions answered. And, if the education you are receiving about health insurance is not sufficient, make sure to let HR know.

What requests from employees new to the U.S. might an HR team not have anticipated?

Extended family. Many times, mothers and fathers or other family caregivers will move with the family or stay in the U.S. for extended periods of time. What is the best way for them to acquire health insurance if they cannot be considered dependents eligible to participate in the company sponsored health plan?

How does Filice help HR teams accommodate these extended families?

We have an individual insurance team that is certified by Covered CA to sell such health plans.

What about Covered CA, what do people new to the U.S. need to know about Covered CA?

Covered CA is a good option for anyone in the family that cannot be on the employer sponsored plan. People new to the U.S. will need to have their immigration status handy and they must be mindful of open enrollment dates and qualifying events for purchasing individual plans.

 

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Are You a Little League Parent Now?

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Baseball is one of the traditional American sports, and Little League is where many children learn to play. The game is a relatively slow paced game, so learning the basics of it should not be too difficult. The game is played with two teams.

Game Format

There are nine players on each team, and the game is split into nine segments, called innings.

Each inning consists of two halves, one half “the top” is when Team 1 is in the field and Team 2 is batting. The second half “the bottom” is when Team 2 is in the field and Team 1 is batting. When a team is batting, they are the offensive players, attempting to score. When a team is in the field, they are defensive players, trying to stop any scoring. If the game is in the first half of the fifth inning, the terminology for saying what part of the game is currently going on is “the top of the fifth”.

The Field and Defensive Players

Outfield – The field has a grassy area called the outfield. Three players are positioned in the outfield, one each in right field, center field and left field. These players are collectively called the outfielders, and individually are called the Right-fielder, Center-fielder and Left-fielder.

Infield – The infield has the diamond, and everything inside the diamond. The diamond itself is the four corners and the links between the four corners. Each corner has a base. Home base is where the batter hits from. First base is to his right, second base is towards the center field, and third base is to the left of home. Each base has a player guarding it. First, second and third base are covered by the First-baseman, Second-baseman and Third-baseman. Home base is covered by the Catcher. An additional player is positioned between second and third bases, since many hits go in this direction. This player is called the Shortstop.

Pitcher’s Mound – The pitcher’s mound is located in the center of the diamond, and is slightly raised from the rest of the field. This is where the Pitcher stands to throw the ball.

Foul Territory – The line connecting home plate to first base is called the first base line. Similarly, the line between home plate and third base is the third base line. Anything inside those two lines, extending beyond the back wall, is considered in bounds, and anything outside that is considered foul territory.

Offensive Players

Hitter – The hitter is the player that is currently attempting to bat the ball. There is only one hitter at a time.

Runner – A runner is a player that has already hit the ball, and has reached one of the bases safely.

Game Play and Scoring

The team that is batting has one person at a time attempting to hit the ball. Once the ball is hit, the batter runs to a base, trying to get there before the other team retrieves the ball and touches the base. If the batter gets to the base before the ball, then he is “safe”. If the opposing team gets the ball to the base first, then the batter is “out”.

If a batter gets to a base safely, he can either stay there, or try to get to the next base. When he cannot safely proceed, he stops and that “play” is over. The first batter is now considered a “runner”. The next batter then goes to home plate to hit. When this batter hits the ball, the batter and the runner both attempt to get to the next base safely. Either player can be called out if the ball gets to the base before them.

If a batter touches all four bases, returning to home, he scores one point. It is called a run if he gets there when a different batter hits. It is called a home run if he touches all four bases after hitting the ball himself.

A batter has several attempts at hitting the ball. Each time the pitcher throws, there are four possible outcomes:

  • Hit – the batter hits the ball, and it lands or is caught inside the extended lines between the first base line and third base line.
  • Strike – the batter swings at the ball and misses, or the batter does not swing at the ball when it was a perfectly good pitch.
  • Ball – the batter does not swing at the ball, because the ball was not pitched well. There is a specific zone that the ball needs to be pitched into, and the umpire decides if it was pitched in that zone or not.
  • Foul – the batter hits the ball, but it goes outside of the field of play.

Each team is allowed three “outs” before their turn “at bat” is over. At the end of nine innings, the team with the most points wins.

If this is confusing, just give it some time, sit back, relax and enjoy watching the game.

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How Does American Football Work?

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American football may seem as complicated as solving a Rubik’s Cube, but once you have a general understanding for the game, it really is rather simple.

The sport is generally played at four different levels: Pop Warner (children aging from 6-14), high school, college, and professional (National Football League or NFL is the most common professional football group).

The football field has a very simple lay out: it is 120 yards long with each end of the field containing a 10 yard end zone. Behind each end zone is a free standing “upright”.  The objective of the game is to progress the ball down the field into one of the end zones thus scoring a “touchdown”. The team that scores the most points by the end of the playing period wins.

The game starts with one team being assigned the ball via a coin toss. Once it has been decided who will be “receiving the kick”, the kicking team will kick the ball to the receiving team and the receiving team will attempt to move the ball towards the far end zone. After this initial “kickoff”, the regular plays of the game will start. The team that starts the play with the ball is on “offense” while the team attempting to stop the offense from scoring a touchdown is on “defense”.

The offense has four tries (called “downs”) to progress the football 10 yards.The 10 needed yards are displayed by a marker, generally shown on the side of the field by two orange signs standing about six feet tall and connected by a thin chain (these markers are referred to as the chains). A third orange marker with a number displayed at the top shows which down it is and where the ball was placed at the beginning of each play.  Each time this ten yard marker is reached, the number of tries the offense gets to reach the next 10 yard marker resets.

If the offense is unable to progress the ball the 10 needed yards, they will generally use their last down to kick the ball as far as possible (called a “punt”). The team that punted the ball now switches to defense while the team that was punted to is now on offense.

In the event that a team is within a reasonable distance to one of the end zones, they may elect to attempt to kick the ball through the uprights (called a “field goal”) for three points instead of the six awarded for a touchdown. One different version of the field goal (called an extra point) is generally exhibited after a touch down. In the case of an extra point, after one team has scored, the ball is kicked from 10 yards away from the end zone and is worth a single point.

In regards to fouls, every time a player breaks one of the many rules of the game a referee will throw a yellow flag in the air. Minor fowls lead to a change in the placement of the ball in comparison to the chains, making it either easier or harder for a team to gain the needed ten yards depending if the foul was on the offense or defense.

By far the most important aspect of American football is how loud fans are in the stands. Be sure to support your team with as much cheering as possible and you will be sure to enjoy with great American pass-time!

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What is “Going Green?”

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The color green is associated with the colors of the natural environment, therefore “going green” is the movement of being as environmentally friendly as possible.

At this point in time, the planet is experiencing a climate change as a direct result of human activities. This is referred to as global warming. When we burn coal and oil to create energy in electricity plants, drive our car to work, or even burn natural gas to heat our homes, we release toxic gases into the atmosphere. These gases go through a process commonly referred to as “the greenhouse affect” where heat from the sun is trapped between the earth’s surface and these gases. With the immense quantity of gases being released, this process is expedited and thus the earth is heated more quickly than is naturally intended, leading to problems like flooding and drought. Other issues facing our planet involve pollution of clean water sources, excess waste in landfills, air pollution, etc.

The idea behind this movement of “going green” is to minimize the impact you have on the environment. A lot of these changes are occurring because of things the common individual cannot control, however, every person working to decrease their impact on the environment makes a difference.

One of the most widely practiced forms of “going green” is recycling. Nearly every plastic container can be recycled, as well as aluminum cans, cardboard, and glass bottles. In regards to using less energy, many people have purchased CFL’s (compact fluorescent light bulbs) which can use up to 90% less electricity than a standard lightbulb, installed energy star appliances (use substantially less energy), and refrain from using electricity at unneeded times. Water pollution and overuse are also very pertinent issues. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) suggests showers should take no longer than five minutes, lawns should be watered in the morning or at night (to reduce the amount of water lost to evaporation), and sinks should be turned off while brushing one’s teeth.

These are just a few examples of things that can be done to help the environment. Other ideas of how to become more environmentally friendly and “live a greener life” can be found online at: http://simplemom.net/tips-to-go-green-at-home/

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I was asked to join a Home and School Club. What are they about?

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Your child’s Home and School club may be your best source of information about school events, activities, programs, goals, budgets and more. It is an opportunity for parents to become actively involved with the way the school is run, how funds are raised, and what activities are planned for the children.

Home and School Club provides an excellent avenue for parents to be involved in their student’s education. The more you stay in touch, the more your student stays in touch. They organize events, help out on testing days, and bake cookies and treats for special school events. Most importantly they raise money for teachers to purchase essential items for their classrooms, they would otherwise not have. Being a Home and School Club member gives you a voice, and a vote on important decisions affecting your child’s school environment.

There are usually once a month meetings to handle general Home and School Club business agenda items. There are also many helpful presentations given throughout the school year that benefit you and your student’s educational needs.

Another huge benefit to joining is the opportunity to meet the parent body, get to know the families of your student’s classmates and make new friends to support you through your daily parenting issues in the new country.

Please check out our Group “Mothers with an Accent” and forum to join our community discussions on this and other parenting issues!

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