InterNations Blog

Our guest blogger Julie, recently arrived in Europe, shares her impressions of the first InterNations Event that she and her husband attended.

Having moved from Charleston, South Carolina to Vienna, Austria only recently, my husband and I both joined a networking website for expatriates about four months ago. We were hoping it would help us meet new people and offer the chance to make some friends in an unfamiliar city.

We had no idea how active the group was, for when we went to RSVP for one of the events, the guest list was already full! Finally, after three months of living in Vienna, we were able to sign up before an event filled, and so you can imagine our excitement at being able to attend our first official InterNations event.

On a night with a bit of drizzling rain and glittering city lights, we made our quiet way across the cobblestones of the local Stadtpark to the Intercontinental Hotel Vienna. As we were ushered into the lobby, we were warmed by the soft light of a crystal chandelier that filled the entire room, hanging over the elegant wooden bar.

We had arrived to the One Million Members Vienna Event rather early, so we were lucky enough to find two of the last remaining seats at the bar. My husband handed his blue and white checkered InterNations poker chip to the bartender and ordered a beer; I instead opted for the gin and tonic as my welcome drink.

We toasted ourselves for attending our first expat meeting, and starting scoping out some new contacts. Really we are looking for friends here, but also for professional contacts, especially for my husband, who is looking for a job here now that he has a residence permit.

In any case, we were not disappointed, as we quickly struck up an intriguing conversation with a couple of members behind us. She was a glamorous blonde woman with a chic haircut and red lipstick, and he was a young entrepreneur with a very unique job. We enjoyed chatting with them, about their work, InterNations, and of course, Vienna.

As our first round of drinks began to dwindle, we turned back to the bar to contemplate our next move. We ordered more drinks, and noticed how much the bar was now filling up with what seemed to be predominantly excited professionals.

Before we knew it, we had jumped into a discussion with a young woman from Hungary, who was not only an interesting conversationalist, but was also really friendly. We talked for the better part of the next hour, as it was her first InterNations event as well. The three of us concluded that it was a pretty busy night, with 600 attendees having signed up to come.

But the energy in the group was bright, and soon we had introduced ourselves to two more new faces. One of the most fun things about the group of people at the InterContinental was the variety: everyone had a different story, where they were from, what they did, what they were looking for as members of the expat club. Everyone seemed to have an air of the future, of great things to come thanks to their new-found (and established) connections.

Not only did we celebrate the ambience and company at the One Million Members Event, we look forward to finding great friends and promising opportunities through our new association with InterNations Vienna.

(Photo credit: Olga Stepanova)

Filed under: Guest Author, InterNations Events & Activities, InterNations Stories on November 22nd, 2013 | No Comments »

Our guest blogger Connie, an expat living in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, tells us how she became involved with a local grassroots initiative dedicated to helping the Burmese refugee community. She writes about expatriate life in Thailand on her private blog.

Lots of people spend spring break on a beach in Thailand. Not me. Last spring break, I went to a Thai garbage dump. It’s not that garbage dumps are my thing. Quite the contrary. But thanks to a friend I made through InterNations and a chance meeting with a girl named Suu, I’ve been spending more time at a trash dump than I would ever have imagined.

Last spring break, a group of Rotarians in Chiang Mai, where I live, invited me to join them on a service trip to a medical clinic for Burmese refugees run by a remarkable woman named Dr. Cynthia. Dr. Cynthia is sometimes called the Mother Teresa of Thailand. I was eager to meet her and to see her free clinic.

The clinic is located in the city of Mae Sot on the Thai/Burmese border. The trip to the garbage dump was a last minute add-on. One of the women in our group said she had heard there was a community of Burmese refugees, including many children, working and living in the Mae Sot municipal dump. She had been told the community was very poor and in need of everything.

We bought a bunch of children’s clothes and went to the dump. And that was where I met a little girl named Suu. Suu and her mom, along with 500,000 other Burmese, have fled their country to escape the war that has been wrecking the country for sixty years.

Suu and her mom had learned that there was work and a safe (compared to their home) place to live in Mae Sot. The place was the Mae Sot municipal garbage dump. They decided it was better to live with trash than to be treated like trash in their native country. So they moved to the dump, constructed a shack as shelter from the rain, and now sift through the trash to make some money from recycling bits of plastic.

Hundreds of other Burmese refugees also live at the dump even though there are no toilets, food is scarce, and the water is polluted. Often people get sick. The recycler does not pay much, so everyone, including Suu and the other children, work long into the night. Despite working hard, people go hungry. Suu and her mom get by as best they can.

They invited me into their “house” and offered me — by the way they handled it– a precious cup of soda pop. We couldn’t speak the same language, but we communicated anyway. I was touched by their generosity.

Many of the people who flee Burma have little but the clothes on their backs. They labor as illegal immigrants in Thailand and elsewhere and live as unwelcome guests wherever they can. They do the backbreaking labor no one else wants to do. The situation in Burma is changing, but it is still not safe for many refugees, like Suu, to return home due to continued military action over there.

Many people visit the dump when they come to Mae Sot. They take a lot of pictures as though they were in a zoo. “How can people live like this?” they ask with disgust. “Why don’t they go back to their own country?” Suu and her mom and the others at the dump are friendly to all the visitors, even though they do not ask permission to take photos or understand why the refugees live at a dump. What I learned from Suu and her mom is that no one wants to live in a garbage dump, but it is safer and offers more opportunity to work than their home.

At the dump, Suu and her mom and the others can live with less fear and more freedom. At the dump, they have a community. But what they do not have is clean water, sanitation, or much food.

The stench and flies overwhelmed the group of visitors I was with. In addition to the squalor, the fact that the people living at the dump were refugees made the situation seem too complicated to do anything long-term to help. The group also knew that many well-meaning people in the past had seen this poverty and tried to assist but had failed. Unfortunately, the well-intentioned projects the people brought were not discussed with those who lived at the dump. Not being of or rooted in the community, the projects did not gain ground and withered.

After meeting Suu, her mom, and the others, it was impossible for me to walk away without trying to do something that would be effective and not repeat past mistakes. Through a process of trial and error and a lot of research, I eventually met an expat named Christina here in Chiang Mai through InterNations, who had international development experience and an approach that made sense to me.

It’s an approach that is deceptively simple: in order to do effective development in a community, it’s important to communicate with the people who live there. It’s vital to find out what kind of help the community thinks will be effective and then to partner with it to bring about change.

Raising pigs at the dump for extra income to help alleviate hunger is the community’s idea and goal. Pigletsforprogress.org is a grassroots group of progress-minded people, including Christina, the community leaders at the dump, and others like me who want to help the community reach its goal.

I think of it as a piggy bank for Suu.

(Image credit: 1)-3) Connie M. 4) Piglets for Progress)

Filed under: Adventures Abroad, Guest Author, International Aid on November 21st, 2013 | No Comments »

For many of you, the holiday season is coming up. Especially if you moved abroad with your partner or your family, you might start getting a little pensive and missing your old friends from back home. Our guest author Paul has a couple of helpful tips on how you can make new friends abroad more easily.

As you start to blend in a new city, you start to realize how critical it is to build your social circle. You feel like it’s an essential element of your success and happiness in the new community. And you probably get more sensitive to this around holidays and your birthday.

But, that fantasy of being entirely integrated, with a group of friends that support you, celebrate with you, and make your life more fun and animated, is probably easier to have than you think. Now is the time to stop just fantasizing about it, and start to actually do something; this article will help you start right.

The Key to Success Is to Adopt New Social Habits

If you look closer into the lives of socially successful people, you’ll see that they don’t socialize and get in touch with people once in a while … they do it on a regular basis. The key to success here is repetition.

This is the case because making friends is not a mechanical activity. What you do with one friend will be different from what you do with another. No two relationships are the same. This is why you need to have add the simple tweaks to your habits, and these will get you the friends you want. The ideal situation is to implement these weekly and monthly habits in a way that fits with the rest of your life.

As an expat, the most important part is that you take ownership and control over your social life, instead of leaving it to chance. This means that you get conscious and curious about friendship and how it works; consciously make time, every week, for meeting new people, staying in touch, and hanging out with them.

Step One – Make a Habit of Meeting New People

Let’s face it, you won’t become friends with all the people you meet, no matter how skilled or interesting you are. Not everyone will be compatible with your personality or your style. Add to that the fact that many people have too many friends already and can’t handle any more.

This is why it’s not enough to go meet new people once in a while and expect those friendships to stick. You need to be doing it regularly in order to find the best people for you. This is why I suggest that you develop a monthly habit of going out and meeting people. Of course, you can do this with your Local InterNations Community. You can also look for other communities around specific areas of interest, like business, sports, or hobbies.

The most important thing is to not make this “something you do when you have time”. Just put a reminder in your calendar with the events’ dates, and consider it part of your life. If you only do it when you’re pumped, then it won’t work – you have to attend, month-in and month-out.

Step Two – Make a Habit of Connecting Up Your Friends

It’s a fact: people prefer to hang out in groups of more than two, especially around the weekend. Let’s say that a certain John has three friends that don’t know each other (group 1) and three others that know and usually hang out with each other (group 2).

Let’s say that it’s the weekend and John wants to go out; what do you think is easier for him to do? Call the folks in group 1 and see if he can manage to get them all to have the same plans … or call one of the people in group 2 and just jump in whatever plan they already have. After all, the folks in group 2 are friends and might be doing something together anyway. From my experience, most people will go with group 2 and contact those who are already connected with others, because it’s much easier, and more likely to lead to fun and interesting experiences.

This doesn’t mean that you’re doomed if you don’t have any friends yet. It just means that you need to gather up the people you meet, and introduce them to each other. All you have to do is get them to meet once or twice, form small circles of three to four people, and the rest will take care of itself.

If you want to make it even easier for you to blend in a new country, it’s best to connect with both locals and experienced expats. This is important because the social circle that you’ll have will include people with different perspectives. If you only hang out with locals, you might feel very different from them; but if you also hang out with other expats, at the same time, it makes it more natural for you to share your unique experiences, without feeling alienated. But don’t limit yourself to the “expat bubble” only!

This will make your social life much easier, as these people will connect and start to suggest plans on their own. You won’t have to be the one making all the calls and arrangements.

Final Words

I hope you’re starting to realize that making friends and building a friend circle is much simpler and easier than it seems. Making friends is a skill, everyone is at a different level, and there is no shame about learning how it’s done. The beauty in these habits is that they work especially well for busy people who don’t have a lot of time and tend to forget to call and make plans others. With a few simple adjustments and habit changes, you can entirely change your social life.

Good luck!

(Paul Sanders writes about how to overcome shyness and loneliness, master conversation and social skills, make friends, and build a social circle. His runs his own website giving advice on how to get the friends you want.)

(Photo Credit: iStockphoto)

Filed under: Expat Advice, Expat Families & Relationships, Guest Author on November 18th, 2013 | No Comments »

One week ago, on November 8th, one of the most intense tropical storms ever recorded hit the east coast of the Philippines and cut a swathe of destruction through the central regions of the country. Since then, we have all heard of Typhoon Haiyan (or Yolanda, as it is called in the Philippines), and numerous images of the resulting devastation have gone around the world.

Here at InterNations, we’d like to extend our deepest sympathies and condolences to those affected by the catastrophe, especially to our members currently living in the Philippines and all Pinoy expats worried about family and friends back home.

So far, the extent of the disaster cannot quite be fathomed. The United Nations is talking about an estimated 4,500 casualties killed by the storm, but this number is expected to rise further as the cleanup efforts are progressing. About 11 or 12 million people live in the areas where Haiyan wrecked its havoc, and over 900,000 of them may have become homeless due to the typhoon.

Various national governments, NGOs, and charitable organizations, as well as countless generous individuals, have already sent financial or material aid. However, relief workers and government officials are faced with several obstacles: Transport connections to and on the islands of Leyte and Samar, where the typhoon hit first and hardest, have broken down; the increasingly desperate mood among the survivors has lead to sporadic outbreaks of looting and violence, and the fact that many victims couldn’t yet be buried increases the risk of epidemic diseases.

Nonetheless, there is some good news. Yesterday, international aid finally started to reach some of those people who need it most – particularly in the area of Tacloban, the most populous city in the Eastern Visayas region. The surviving residents are in urgent need of clean drinking water, medication, food supplies, disinfectants, and other basic necessities, but relief efforts will probably take a long while. Large parts of the city have been reduced to debris and rubble.

If you too want to help, here are some recommended relief organizations, which are already active in the region.

• The Philippine Red Cross has deployed assessment, rescue and relief teams to the affected islands. They also cooperate with the Spanish Red Cross and the German Red Cross to augment their relief efforts.

• The American Red Cross has already begun distributing emergency supplies. They also help to reconnect families with missing persons. They are currently accepting donations, which can be made in honor of or in memory of a specific individual.

• The World Food Program is an organization dedicated to bringing food to refugees worldwide, or to those facing hardship after natural disasters. They are, for example, flying out high-energy biscuits, rice, and canned goods to families in the Tacloban area.

• The International Rescue Committee responds to humanitarian crises around the globe. In the Philippines, they focus on providing healthcare, safe water, hygiene and sanitation kits.

• Doctors Without Borders is sending at least 100 staff members and several planes with supplies to the affected areas. As most local health facilities have been destroyed, they will offer to address urgent and immediate medical needs. For instance, plenty of people will require immunizations to protect them from typhoid fever (often caused by drinking contaminated water).

• UNICEF will be part of the process of rebuilding the Philippines. They care especially for the needs of families and children, mothers and pregnant women. For example, they have already delivered dozens of tents which can be used as improvised schools and safe spaces for kids. Among their aid supplies, there is e.g. folic acid (essential for expecting mothers) or special food to prevent malnutrition in children.

If you should have any information on people living in the affected areas or the whereabouts of a potentially missing person, there are several channels to spread the news:

• Most foreign embassies in the Philippines (e.g. the diplomatic missions of Australia, Germany, the UK, and the US) have set up emergency hotlines for enquiries about expats from the respective nations.

• Google Person Finder has a new section for Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda.

• There is a group for registered Facebook members where Pinoys worldwide can make enquires about people in Tacloban and surroundings.

• Or just send a tweet to @philredcross via your mobile phone, or post using the hashtag #TracingPH.

If you would like to share specific information with other InterNations members, please leave a comment in this forum thread. Thank you so much for all your support!

(Photo credits: 1) Philippines Flag by Wikimedia Commons user Mike Gonzalez (aka TheCoffee) 2) Map of Leyte Showing Tacloban by Wikimedia Commons user Mike Gonzalez (aka TheCoffee) 3) Red Cross Flag by Wikimedia Commons users Hirski and Joonasl)

Filed under: International Aid on November 15th, 2013 | 2 Comments »

The results of HSBC’s annual Expat Explorer survey are in again! We described the methodology and reported last year’s findings in autumn 2012, so check out our previous post for a brief recap of how it works. Based on these findings, the Expat Explorer site publishes a league table of expat destinations according to their relative popularity.

The high-ranking “winners” of 2012 were Singapore and Thailand, part of a clear shift away from the Eurozone to Asia, as well as the Middle East. However, Thailand is no longer among the overall top three. And Singapore, the original “Asian tiger” state, had to cede its pole position to … China and Germany. What accounts for the sudden prominence of these two rather different countries?

In both cases, the current state of their national economy partly explains their new claim to fame. China’s economic growth – though not on par with the record highs of previous years – remains comparatively strong, and the expats who took part in the survey often rated the local job opportunities in favorable terms. It might also account for the above-average proportion of high-income respondents from China. But even those laowei who don’t earn a top salary often have more disposable income than expatriates elsewhere: Many report lower spendings for everyday essentials such as utilities, groceries, or public transport.

If China is the leading destination in the Far East, Germany is the unexpected European highlight. Just like Switzerland, it boasts a fairly stable economy amidst countries hit much harder by the Euro crisis. Fortunately, the solid incomes of expats living in Germany don’t suffer from the same elevated cost of living that make the Swiss way of life well-nigh unaffordable for some residents. And while the German angst concerning job security and the Euro zone affects a good number of expatriates as well, almost 60% still trust the Germany economy enough to make retirement provisions there.

What is even more surprising, though, is the general acclaim for Germany among expat families with kids. The national media regularly feature jeremiads regarding the low birthrate, rigid gender roles, a lack of childcare options, and falling educational standards. On the other hand, parents in the Expat Explorer survey do not only state that their kids feel at home in Germany. They also commend the availability of high-quality care and education for comparatively low costs. How viewpoints vary…

However, in one respect, Germany does not even make it among the top 10 of the league table. As far as the expat experience is concerned, it languishes among the middle rankings on #11. Its healthcare system and local transport networks managed to impress with stereotypical efficiency, but for the sunny side of life you have to look elsewhere.

Friendliness, delicious food, beautiful weather, and amazing scenery account for Thailand’s top performance in this category. The Expat Explorer even tells you where you might have the best chance for romance. Most expats found the love of their life in Italy or Brazil. We hazard a guess and assume that German just isn’t a good language for flirting and that clichéd Teutonic bluntness doesn’t lend itself to charming compliments. Schade eigentlich.

(To see a full-size version of the survey info graphic, please click directly on the image above. To read more about the poll results, have a look at the Expat Explorer site, and to find out about HSBC’s international banking services, please go to the HSBC Expat welcome page.)

(Image credit: 1) Giant Panda by Flickr user Rob via Wikimedia Commons 2) HSBC Expat Explorer 3) German Shepherd by Wikimedia Commons user Ra Boe)

Filed under: InterNations Recommends, Moving to Another Country, Polls & Surveys, Press & Media on November 8th, 2013 | No Comments »

As you may remember, we celebrated a major milestone for the InterNations Community last month – welcoming the 1 millionth member of our worldwide expatriate network. It is this global mind that we would like to introduce to you today.

Our “Expat One Million” is called Laurence, and she is a French national who has been living in the UK capital for several years. Originally from Brittany, the beautiful Atlantic northwest of France, she crossed the Channel in search of a new career in the UK. “London has such a lot to offer with regard to job opportunities,” she says. “Also, I like its fast-moving pace of life.”

Before starting expat life in London, Laurence moved a lot within France and the UK, as well as spending a few months in Montréal, the center of French-speaking Canada. But when it comes to her favorite memories of life abroad, she remembers her time in Alaska with particular fondness. What made her stay there so special? “I had the chance to meet some extraordinary people with a strong sense of adventure and freedom.”

In a more mundane setting than the spectacular Alaskan wilderness, Laurence attended her very first InterNations get-together in London last week, an activity hosted by our group for inspired international women in the UK’s most bustling city. Fittingly enough, she was introduced to InterNations by another French expat woman, her good friend Céline, who used to live in London until last year and is now running a coaching business in Paris.

In her professional life, Laurence is an online marketing consultant in charge of her own company. She very much enjoys helping people to develop their business online or simply exchanging and sharing knowledge and ideas with others in the field.

Thus, Laurence should be able to make good use of her life-long Albatross Membership that we gifted as a surprise treat to our one millionth member. At our InterNations Events, she will meet plenty of like-minded people with a similar experience and interests, make new business contacts and find more global-minded friends.

Would she describe herself as a “global mind”? Laurence would like to think of herself as a “citoyen du monde” – a citizen of the world. “I have traveled quite a bit over the past couple of years and found myself being able to adapt almost anywhere,” she explains. “Living in London also gave me the chance to meet people from all parts of the world. I am now proud to have friends with many different nationalities. This has really enriched my life.”

We hope that InterNations can make another great contribution to her international life-style. Her expat journey is far from over, after all. As Laurence herself would tell everyone who is planning to move abroad: “Life is an adventure. Just keep exploring!”

To find out more about Laurence, her work, and interests, have a look at her InterNations profile!

(Image credit: 1) Laurence Masseron 2) Whitehall Street Traffic by Wikimedia Commons user Joseph Plotz)

Filed under: InterNations News, InterNations Stories, InterNations Website on November 7th, 2013 | No Comments »

After last week’s guest blog entry explained why leaving the expat bubble is important, this week’s guest author — Andrea, a German expat in the US — ponders the differences between friendships among expats and friendships with locals. Below, she also provides tips on making new friends abroad, so don’t miss out on her advice!

You did it: you packed your bags and moved abroad. Maybe you followed a dream job or the love of your life or just that adventurous inner voice – hooray for a new phase of life! After the first rush of adrenaline has subsided, however, you notice that one thing is lacking. It didn’t quite fit in your luggage and now you miss it terribly: a set of good friends.

Sooner or later many of us expats have to deal with loneliness abroad, and finding this new circle of friends is oftentimes easier said than done. As a matter of fact, there is actually some finesse to making lasting friendships abroad, and I am happy to share my hard-earned wisdom with all fellow friend-seekers.

Every time “newcomers” land in their new home country, they do what all of us have done – they make friends with fellow expats. Nothing wrong with that; it is perfectly normal: we understand each other; we know similar joys and struggles; we “get” each other. It is therefore not surprising that throughout history, immigrants from similar countries settled together and formed Little Italys and Chinatowns along the way.

Not only do we share comparable experiences, we also find sympathy for our complaints about all the things that we may not like about our new “home” – we can vent our frustrations in a group setting. Call it group therapy: it certainly helps dealing with the numerous emotional and practical hiccups on our path to integration into our new society.

Expat friends are a fantastic gateway to a new culture, as they make your landing just a little bit smoother and – well – friendlier. If you only plan on staying abroad for a few years, this can be your best and fastest way to make connections.

While these expat friendships are valuable, you have to venture out of your comfort zone if you plan on staying abroad for the long haul. I even dare to argue that ultimately your commitment to integration could be measured by your friendships with local folks.

Why, you ask? Because you have to get past the bickering about the oddities in your new home – open up and find acceptance for the differences. You have to actively turn on this switch in your mind that says you want to be there and want to be part of it.

Early immigrants frequently shed their old identity altogether and conformed to their new life in a seemingly brash way in order to blend in as seamlessly as possible. While we value our original identities more today and would often not consider such an abrupt change, we do need to be able to find joy in our new reality, unless we plan to remain outsiders forever. I am not suggesting turning a blind eye to the peculiarities of your new home – seeing things from a different point of view is worth a lot – but you could begin by shifting your mindset from “this is how we differ” to “this is what we have in common”.

Ultimately, we are talking about an identity question: imagine that your personality is a mosaic of all the things that make you, well, you. You enjoy good food, you are ambitious, like to dress smart, you may be agnostic – and now you find yourself in a country were people tend to take life a bit easy, wear sandals on all occasions, define food by its nutritional content rather than its culinary finesse and seem to incorporate religion into each and every aspect of their lives. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that this may cause a little friction along the way if you stick to your definition of yourself.

If you look a little deeper, though, there may be pieces in your mosaic that overlap well with your new culture: You like sports, they like sports; you like music, they like music, and so on. You see, you don’t have to change completely, but instead emphasize common values more and stress differences less.

You shouldn’t give up who you are, just look at all aspects of yourself, not just the ones you are most comfortable with. Some cultures even bring out an array of unknown personality traits or behaviours that we didn’t know we had or liked but that feel so right. Dancing, singing, staying up late at night, eating 5-course meals on a regular basis… Embrace them!

If you still don’t find masses of people running down your door wanting to be your friend after you have made the mental leap, here are some practical tips:

Moving to or near a university town usually makes things easier. Not only are you more likely to find fellow expats to ease you into your new culture – the atmosphere around university towns is often fairly open-minded and offers many opportunities, like sports, music, or art clubs to mingle with like-minded people. On the top of your to-do list: take a class or join a club of something you truly enjoy or have always wanted to try but didn’t get around to in your former home. This will help you feel a sense of gain rather than loss.

While it is easier today than ever before to go back to our home country on a regular basis and “touch base”, so to speak, be aware that you don’t fall into the trap of just living trip by trip if your goal is to remain living abroad. While this is tempting, you may wake up one day only to realize that you have never made your new country your home while your old home is not the one you left behind. You will realize that you have lived “at” a country but not in it and that your mental detachment has brought about your emotional distance from its people.

Be open – to society, to culture and to all aspects of yourself, and you will find a group of people that matches your personality and interests. Until then – start with your group of expat friends to get warmed up for the plunge!

Andrea is working as a free-lance author and blogs – mostly in German – about her life in the US on Andrea J Larson.com.

(Photo credit: 1) Good Friends by flickr user Juliana Coutinho 2) Friendship by flickr user Nono Fara 3) Friends Forever by flickr user DaveOnFlickr)

Filed under: Expat Advice, Expat Families & Relationships, Guest Author, Intercultural Differences on October 29th, 2013 | 2 Comments »

InterNations guest blogger Benjamin wonders if the self-imposed isolation of the “expat bubble”, which might seem like a blessing at first, is actually more of a curse…

I’m sure everyone on this blog, as well as in the InterNations Community, would agree that one of the greatest aspects of traveling is the ability to meet new people and learn about new cultures. Living and working abroad has the added advantage of providing you with more opportunities to get to know the local society on a much deeper level than a holiday ever could. You have the luxury of time, which allows you to really probe and explore another point of view, instead of just scratching the surface with superficial understanding.

Unfortunately, I have witnessed many foreigners and expats who only surround themselves with friends from their own countries, who speak their own language and never mingle with local people in their new home. It is especially common here in Hong Kong, and I must admit that I’ve been guilty of it from time to time.

I understand the rationale behind this phenomenon completely. You’ve just arrived in a new city with an unfamiliar language and culture. The experience can be intimidating. It’s natural to seek out people who are from the same country and speak the same language as you, people who are, in general, more “like you”. And once you find each other, you bond.

As you slowly settle into your new environment, go to your new job in giant glass and steel towers, figure out your daily routine and spend your free time with friends that are “like you”, you lose the impetus to meet local residents and understand the culture you are supposedly emerged in. That is when you have fallen into the “expat bubble”.

The “expat bubble” is just so easy and comfortable. You think, “I’ll be here for a while, so I have plenty of time.” But then the days turn into weeks and months, and after a few years, you realize, “I don’t even know the local language.” By that time, you figure, “I’ve already survived here for so long and I am doing fine, so why bother trying?”

However, I feel this is a big mistake that many expats make too often, including this particular expat. Living in the “expat bubble” deprives you of so many eye-opening and memorable experiences. You get to understand the local mentality and are able to see the world through new eyes. And most people are happy to share more about themselves, you just have to ask. It is as simple as befriending that one person who is willing to open the door, take you into his or her world and show you what it is really like.

Being willing to learn the local language is a great start to opening that door. Not only does learning the language offer you the tangible benefits of communicating in your host country, it also conveys your willingness to understand people on a deeper level. Even by knowing a few simple words or phrases, you demonstrate genuine effort and respect, and barriers will come tumbling down.

I remember my first winter in Poland when I didn’t have a great relationship with my flatmate. All my friends were other expats, and I spent most of my free time with them. When we were in the flat together, we basically kept to ourselves, but when I started asking her how to say certain things in Polish, suddenly the floodgates opened and we became good friends. I was even invited to spend Christmas with her family and experience an authentic Polish Christmas. It was a truly spiritual occasion.

When you find yourself in the “expat bubble” for too long, I encourage you to escape!

(Photo credit: Benjamin W.)

Filed under: Adventures Abroad, Expat Advice, Guest Author, Moving to Another Country on October 22nd, 2013 | 3 Comments »

After half a dozen years of successfully connecting expats and “global minds” around the world, InterNations hits another major milestone. We’ve barely blown out the candles on our birthday cake, but now we have yet another reason to celebrate. This week, we reached the 1 million member mark – a historical achievement for our social network, which went online in September 2007.

InterNations was founded as a small, Munich-based start-up six years ago, with the aim to make life abroad easier for expatriates, i.e. all those temporarily moving to another country for professional and family reasons. We support expats worldwide, in nearly 400 cities and virtually every country, by providing them with various opportunities to establish new business contacts, make local friends, and find relevant information.

We are proud of bringing over one million mobile and global-minded people together, in an exclusive international environment and a network of trust. Our top five Local Communities, with 20,000 to 35,000 members each, are based in London (UK), our “hometown” Munich (Germany), expat hotspot Dubai (UAE), Paris (France), and business hub Singapore. The biggest shares of nationalities on our platform include expats from the US, Germany, the UK, Switzerland, and France.

However, our global approach goes much further: We unite people of all nationalities, and we are active in places from Almaty (Kazakhstan) to Zaragoza (Spain).

In around 350 of our 400 communities, our InterNations Ambassadors (committed members with good connections to the foreign community) regularly organize official events. These are the perfect occasion for socializing with other expatriates in town, as well as internationally minded locals, at least once a month. From mid-October till the end of November, our InterNations Events will have the “1 Million Members” theme to honor the current occasion, e.g. at the Sky Lounge Club in Munich.

The great success of our community depends on the fact that networking is not limited to the computer screen: mixing and mingling happens offline, which makes it easier to meet other newcomers or find people who share your interests.

Especially if you want to make new friends who share your hobbies, or meet’n’greet those working in the same field, the InterNations Activity Groups area a newly introduced feature that addresses these very needs. They help members to socialize in smaller, more specific settings, both for business and for leisure. You can attend classical concerts in NYC together, find a partner for ballroom dancing in Munich, play tennis in Hong Kong, have dinner in Melbourne, or join a Yoga group in Johannesburg – to name but a few examples.

Among the InterNations Activity Groups, the ones dedicated to our Charity Program are particularly dear to us. In a growing number of cities across the world, we cooperate with local NPOs to support various worthy causes, e.g. food security among the elderly, education for impoverished children, or aid for asylum seekers and refugees. Our members provide material donations, financial resources, their advice, their time, and effort.

Last but not least, our website also offers all the information that expats might need to prepare their relocation or upon arrival in their new home. Our Country and City Guides include essential facts about over 130 expat destinations, and we are always adding new places and topics to our editorial content section. Moreover, online discussion groups, local forums, and address directories are additional features for sharing tips on local life abroad.

Of course, we are continually striving to the InterNations Experience for all our members. Here’s to future endeavors and the next million members!

(Photo credits: 1) & 3) InterNations, 2) Sky Lounge München)

Filed under: InterNations News, InterNations Website on October 16th, 2013 | No Comments »