Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Authors (Other), Blogging, Change, Creativity, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Authors, Expat Life, Expat Transitions & Change, Global Issues, Identity, Repatriation, Third Culture Kids (TCKs), Expat Teens, Writing, tagged Ann Baker Cottrell, Anne Copeland, Apple Gidley, call to action, Colleen Reichrath-Smith, creative, cross-cultural, Cultural Integration and the Illusion of Closeness, cultural intelligence, culture, culture shock, doers, Duncan Westwood, Elizabeth Vennekens-Kelly, emotional intelligence, emotional resilience, expat life, expatriate life, expatriation, experiences, Families in Global Transitions, FIGT, FIGT 2013, ideas, innovative, insight, intercultural, international, Janet Bennett, Jo Parfitt, Judy Rickatson, Julia Simens, Kathleen Gamble, Katia Vachlos, Kilian Kroll, Laura J. Stephens, Leila Buck, living abroad, Maria Foley, networking, Norm Viss, perspective, Pico Iyer, projects, Rachel Yates, Rebecca Grappo, Repatriation, research, Ruth Van Reken, social intelligence, TCKs, topics, transition process, Trisha Carter on March 30, 2013 | 4 Comments »
Last weekend I had the opportunity to attend the annual Families in Global Transition conference (aka on Twitter as #FIGT2013). The theme this year was ‘Cultural Integration and the Illusion of Closeness.’ It was, in a word, exhilarating. Inspiring. Tremendous. Thought-provoking. Reassuring. Okay, it was many words, all those and more. Two thought-laden days dedicated to exchanging [...]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Blogging, Change, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Doing What I Can to Help, Expat Life, Global Issues, Guest Posts, Writing, tagged Barack Obama, civil rights activist, democracy, Ethiopia, guest blog, inauguration, jaded, Jijiga, Martin Luther King, momentous, naivete, nostalgia, peaceful transition of power, President of the United States, progress, promise, refugee aid worker, refugees, Somali, Somalia, strength, Tracey Buckenmeyer, UNHCR, writing on January 21, 2013 | Leave a Comment »
On this momentous occasion when we observe the strength and inspiration of the peaceful transition of power in a democracy with the inauguration of Barack Obama for his second term as President, and we celebrate the life’s work of civil rights activist Martin Luther King, it is only fitting to share another guest post from Tracey Buckenmeyer. All three [...]
Posted in Blogging, Change, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Life, Family & Friends, Global Issues, United States, Writing, tagged 2012 elections, badmouth, Barack Obama, blogging, cast your ballot, conservative, cross-cultural, culture, decency, democracy, Democrat, demonize, economy, election coverage, Electoral College, electoral process, global, international, liberal, media, Mitt Romney, national security, politics, Republican, respect, social media, trashtalk, United States, US Presidential election, us vs. them, violence, vote, voting, war, We the People, writing on November 7, 2012 | 16 Comments »
Husband woke up at 4:45 this morning and got up to follow reporting on the US Presidential election returns. I went back to sleep and didn’t join him until a more civilized 5:45 am, but regardless, there we were, foregoing much-needed sleep to studiously eye the electoral college estimates and state-by-state tallies. Why? Because we care. [...]
Posted in Change, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Doing What I Can to Help, Emotional Resilience, Global Issues, Light Bulb Moments, Writing, tagged appreciation, conflict, Edna Lemle, emotional resilience, freedom of speech, grateful, gratitude, international strife, Martin Seligman, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, optimism, positive psychology, religious differences, research, Sri Chinmoy, thankful, UN Mediation Group, violence, World Gratitude Day, writing on September 21, 2012 | 8 Comments »
Glancing at headlines in the news yesterday, one in particular caught my eye. It seems today, September 21st, is World Gratitude Day. The seed of an idea planted in 1965 has grown and taken on a life of its own over the past five decades. It seemed rather fortuitous that the concept of gratitude was raised since I [...]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Blogging, Change, Creativity, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Life, Family & Friends, Food and Drink, Global Issues, Light Bulb Moments, Netherlands, Travel, United States, Work, tagged art, artistic, blogging, connectivity, creative spark, creativity, cultural, culture, design, dreaming, entrepreneur, entrepreneurial, Facebook, family, friends, Google it, Google+, imagination, innovation, innovative, inspiration, internet, internet connectivity, jewelrymaking, LinkedIn, music, Netherlands Radio Choir, painting, search engines, social media, social media venures, Twitter, Vizify, writing on September 6, 2012 | 10 Comments »
I must confess that it still astounds me how, in this day and age and in the comfort of my own home here in the Netherlands, internet connectivity and the various social media venues it has spawned allow me to maintain contact with friends and family and build associations with others. Like the old Bell [...]
Posted in Blogging, Change, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Doing What I Can to Help, Global Issues, United States, Work, Writing, tagged Beyonce Knowles, Department of Defense, drought, Ethiopia, famine, global issues, human trafficking, humanitarian assistance, humanitarian organizations, I Was Here, Iraq, peacekeeping, refugees, Sergio Vieira De Mello, Susan Rice, terrorism, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, UN Mission to the UN, United Nations, United States, violence, war, World Humanitarian Day 2012 on August 18, 2012 | 2 Comments »
Okay, today’s post is both global and deeply personal in nature. August 19th is officially designated World Humanitarian Day 2012, marking the 9th anniversary of the bombing in Baghdad that took the life of Sergio Vieira De Mello, then serving as both the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Secretary General’s Special [...]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Blogging, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Doing What I Can to Help, Global Issues, Guest Posts, Travel, United States, Writing, tagged Africa, blogging, Ethiopia, geography, gingerbread man, going 'home', guest post, kindergarteners, Kosovo, Ohio, paper cut out, photographs, postal system, postcards, Pristina, refugee children, refugees, Tracey Buckenmeyer, travel, UNHCR, United States, writing on July 14, 2012 | 7 Comments »
Recently, fellow Adventurers were introduced to Tracey Buckenmeyer in her initial guest post here, Tough Neighborhood. Tracey has made a career of helping refugees and displaced persons, working for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. She’s worked in many different countries, and currently is posted to Ethiopia. She’s returned to tell us a little [...]
Posted in Blogging, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Doing What I Can to Help, Expat Life, Global Issues, Guest Posts, Light Bulb Moments, tagged aggression, Al Qaeda, Al Shabat, blogging, civil war, Djibouti, drought, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gry Tina Tinda, guest post, homeless, Kenya, referendum, refugees, Republic of South Sudan, Somalia, Sudan, Tracey Buckenmeyer, UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees on June 19, 2012 | 2 Comments »
A couple days ago I shared a bit about my own corner of the world, life on quiet little Ten Hovestraat, in This Little Straat of Mine. Today we’re going to head further south, all the way to Ethiopia, for a guest post from Tracey Buckenmeyer. I ‘cyber met’ Tracey through fellow expat and guest blogger, Gry Tina [...]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Blogging, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Global Issues, Life Balance, Light Bulb Moments, Sandwich Generation, Writing, tagged age, children, contentedness, crosscultural, culture, Economist, education level, Expat Focus, extroversion, global, happiest at beginning and end of our lives, happiness, introversion, marital status, parents, U-Bend of Happiness, U-Bend of Life, U-Bend of Wellbeing, unhappiest in middle of our lives, wellbeing, worldwide, writing on May 24, 2012 | 10 Comments »
It dawned on me the other day that when I do a post that includes a link to an article I’ve recently had published, some readers may think it screams ‘Yay me! Look at what I’ve done.’ That’s certainly not the intention, and I apologize if it appears that way. The thing is, I like [...]
Posted in Blogging, Change, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Dutch Life, Expat Life, Global Issues, Netherlands, United States, Writing, tagged austerity measures, blogging, cultural issues, differences, Dutch politics, economic issues, elections, Euro, gay marriage, global issues, global recession, governments, human trafficking, international affairs, local politics, Netherlands, policy wonk, political issues, refugees, similarities, United States, writing on May 10, 2012 | 23 Comments »
Two confessions up front. First, credit where credit is due. A comment about my post on Bridge-Building in the city of Peace and Justice, left by fellow expat and talented writer/blogger Russell VJ Ward*, served as the impetus for this plea post. Second, I am a self-confessed policy wonk and international affairs junkie. I’ve studied it, worked [...]
Posted in Change, Expat Life, Global Issues, Netherlands, tagged Carnegie Foundation, Charles Taylor, City of Peace and Justice, crimes against humanity, Eurojust, Europol, International Court of Justice, International Criminal Court, International Criminal Tribunals, Netherlands, OPCW, Peace Palace, Permanent Court of Arbitration, Slobodan Milosevic, The Hague, United Nations, war criminals, Willem Post on May 8, 2012 | 12 Comments »
One of the most interesting aspects of living in The Hague is its international flavor. Today I’m not referring simply to the large number of people living here who come from other lands. I’m talking about its strong ties to global issues. The Hague is known as ‘the City of Peace and Justice’ for a reason: [...]
Posted in Blogging, Doing What I Can to Help, Global Issues, Life Balance, tagged Alice Pyne, Alice's Escapes, bone cancer, bone marrow donorship, Bucket List, Cumbria, Luke Tillen, terminally ill, THHN, War Horse on March 18, 2012 | 8 Comments »
Adventurers who’ve been following along for quite some time will recall the story of Alice Pyne, the English teen with terminal bone cancer who is inspiring others with her story and her Bucket List. [For newer readers, if you're interested you can have a look at series to date - A Teen's Bucket List, Teen Bucket List Update, [...]
Posted in Blogging, Change, Doing What I Can to Help, Global Issues, Life Balance, tagged disease, education, illness, International Women's Day, poverty, theme confusion, underemployment, unemployment, United Nations, violence against women on March 8, 2012 | 4 Comments »
Today is International Women’s Day. It’s an officially recognized day (March 8th) trumpeting the economic, political and social achievements of women. When I went to check to see what the actual theme is for 2012, little did I know what I was getting into. Confusion abounds. Here I was thinking that whoever the original group was [...]
Posted in Authors (Other), Change, Doing What I Can to Help, Global Issues, tagged A Walk Across the Sun, action, change agent, Corban Addison, human condition, human trafficking, International Justice Mission, John Grisham, pain, slavery, suffering, victims on January 11, 2012 | 6 Comments »
When I sat down to write this morning, I was all set to tell a different story. That is, until I saw this video. It’s a short trailer of Corban Addison discussing his new book A Walk Across the Sun. Set primarily in India, Addison’s novel addresses the issue of human trafficking. The plot centers [...]
Posted in Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Doing What I Can to Help, Global Issues, tagged education, forced marriage, Girl Effect, GirlEffect.org, health, improving quality of life, Nike Foundation, social investment, social media, writing on October 5, 2011 | 12 Comments »
I tend to read a whole host of websites and blogs around the world on a wide range of topics: news, expat life, global issues, international development, writing, marketing, business and more. I also operate in a number of social media venues. Well, I woke up today and found tweets, messages and no fewer than four [...]
Posted in Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Doing What I Can to Help, Emotional Resilience, Expat Life, Expat Transitions & Change, Global Issues, tagged change, depression, emotional resilience, expat life, living abroad, loss, Mayo Clinic, sadness, transitions, WebMD, writing on September 29, 2011 | 16 Comments »
During the summer I was approached by an editor at a new site, AdaptingAbroad.com, to write two companion articles on expats and emotional resilience. The first article was to focus on what expats may risk if they find themselves lacking in emotional resilience.* I agreed, and found the experience particularly stimulating because I tend to write from [...]
Posted in Change, Doing What I Can to Help, Global Issues, Writing, tagged human trafficking, International Justice Mission, Luke Dowler, Silence is Shameful, slavery on August 27, 2011 | 8 Comments »
Yesterday I was sent a Twitter message from Luke Dowler saying he hoped I’d take a look at this video on human trafficking. What I saw blew me away. Luke is a talented musician from Montana; he’s played in variety of musical genre (folk, rock, ska) in places as diverse as Japan, the California coast and Washington, DC. In the [...]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Doing What I Can to Help, Emotional Resilience, Expat Transitions & Change, Global Issues, tagged emotional resilience, Expat Backup, international aid worker, Liberia, Senegal on August 17, 2011 | 8 Comments »
One of the greatest gifts I’ve received from my writing is experiencing the connection that can be forged between two people based entirely on the words that they write. It never ceases to amaze me. Several weeks ago I received an email from Elie over at Expat Backup. Her tagline is ‘aid workers need assistance, [...]
Posted in Doing What I Can to Help, Global Issues, tagged Alice Pyne, bone marrow cancer, bone marrow registry, Make a Wish Foundation, Teen Bucket List on August 9, 2011 | 2 Comments »
Longtime Adventurers will recall when we first learned about Alice Pyne in A Teen’s Bucket List. Alice is a 15 year old English teen dealing with terminal bone cancer. She’s on a quest to get everyone to sign up for the bone marrow registry to help others like her. (If you’re new to Alice’s story, you may [...]
Posted in Change, Doing What I Can to Help, Global Issues, Light Bulb Moments, Writing, tagged charity, donations, humanitarian crisis, severe drought, Somalia, UNHCR on July 10, 2011 | 9 Comments »
As many of you fellow adventurers know, I like to write on a variety of topics. Often they will be about expat issues, or some aspect about living overseas. Other times they will be about human nature, personal challenges, self-improvement. Or perhaps about something going on in this global world we call home. Sometimes, as is the [...]
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