Today’s prompt in the Expat Blog Challenge is “something I left behind”. The list is endless. I left behind my country, my city, my family, my friends, my spiritual community, my cultural community, my cat, my bed, my mementos, clothes, accessories, many books, and many knick-knacks. But the “something” I’m prompted to write about today is …
Today’s prompt in the Expat Blog Challenge is a day in photos so I thought I’d share my photos from my visit to Docklands and a ride on the Melbourne Star. My brother and sister out-law gave my partner Theo and I tickets to the Melbourne Star for our birthdays. The Melbourne Star is a giant …
Today’s prompt in the Expat Blog Challenge is to respond to the following quote by T. Crossley: ‘Expat Syndrome’ is a condition whereby many expatriates see mostly either the best of their own nationality & the worst of the locals, or see the opposite. I work on viewing cultural differences as just that, differences. I …
Today’s prompt of the Expat Blog Challenge begins, “I was at the airport, and…”. I wish I had a funny or clever story to share. My airport experiences have all been very mundane. I think the most exciting thing that’s ever happened to me was that the airline broke my suitcase once. The whole side …
The second prompt of the Expat Blog Challenge is to respond to the line, “Not all those who wander are lost.” Are expats wanderers? Are we lost? This is the second line to a poem by J.R.R. Tolkien titled “All That is Gold Does Not Glitter”. It appears in The Lord of the Rings. All that …
Earlier this week I wrote a guide on how to speak Australian because although Americans and Australians both speak English, we speak different versions of it. Similarly, Americans and Australians equally enjoy meeting our family and friends for coffee or a meal, but eating out in Miami is very different from eating out in Melbourne. Here are some tips …