My youngest child just got her driver’s license. I know it shouldn’t be that big of a deal, but this time it was — for me. My daughter was just a couple of weeks past her sixteenth birthday and she was sure that if it didn’t happen now, it would never happen… I wasn’t in […]
While the globally mobile workforce tends to report higher rates of satisfaction with their work situation compared to the general population, they also report being less happy when it comes to personal health and wellbeing. In the long-term, employee concerns regarding health, mental health and general wellbeing can have a significant impact on creativity, productivity […]
As adults, so much of how we see ourselves is tied to our professional lives. “What do you do?” is one of the questions we ask when first getting to know someone. When we get that question we typically take it to mean: “what’s your job?” not “what are your interests?” Your profession gives you […]
Vacation time is, in my view, one of the biggest pieces in trying to make the expat life puzzle work. I wonder if it isn’t also one of the least discussed topics pre-departure. I know for a fact it was for me – I hadn’t given it a single thought before following my husband as […]
With an increasingly integrated global economy and more people than ever moving abroad for work, gaining a greater understanding of what it is that makes a multicultural workplace function well is an important task. What are the best practices for creating an environment where cultural diversity becomes a catalyst for innovation and growth, and how […]
It’s not unusual for me to wake up from nightmares this time of year and they have almost exclusively to do with taxes; more specifically being late and/or incorrect with taxes in one form or another: not finding all the right documents and being late, using the wrong color pen to fill out forms and […]
I belong to a professional group that meets once a month for networking and socializing in conjunction with a presentation of some kind. We typically get together at the offices of our presenter and there is always a full house and there are always new faces in attendance. The evening starts with mingle and light […]
About a year after arriving in Silicon Valley as an accompanying partner I went to my first job interview. I remember feeling thoroughly out of place without quite being able to put my finger on the reason why. I had dressed up for the interview as best as I could and it didn’t dawn on […]
Yvonne Ericsson is a Swede who’s been calling Silicon Valley home for the past seven years. Yvonne and her husband Jörgen, decided to relocate to Silicon Valley with their two children when Jörgen was offered an expat contract with his then employer Cisco. I have known Yvonne casually for a few years and was curious […]
About a year and a half ago I interviewed Danielle Kim about her upcoming move back to South Korea after having lived in the United States for most of her adult life. Back then we discussed her concerns about moving her children who were in elementary school, and her hopes for reconnecting with family back […]
My oldest daughter is finishing up her last semester of undergrad studies – it’s a busy time of life, and an exciting one. Not only is she taking the last of her classes, she’s also starting the application process for her postgrad programs, with all that that entails of deciphering websites, meeting deadlines, gathering references, […]
There is something particularly sweet about winter break and I am usually a bit down the days before school is about to start again. It always comes as somewhat of a shock that it’s almost over – how can it be, already? I am convinced there must be another week off, that the calendar has […]