Expat?

During our class we were able to meet with a lot of people with a wide variety of experiences, from native Indians, to global leaders, to Americans on expat assignments for 1-2 years.  One of the leaders we met with last week talked about becoming an expat, moving to another country, the opportunities and challenges with a global lifestyle.  He talked a lot about patience.  This is something I’ve seen tested just over the past 3 weeks!  I have had to completely change my measure of time, of waiting, of success.  It’s all relative, right?  Back home I operate practically to the minute.  If I have to be somewhere at 10:00, I am pulling up somewhere between 9:59 and 10:01.  Traffic is for the most part predictable, as are the expectations of my counterparts.  Here I’ve had to take a deep breath and tell myself, “Who cares?”


He also talked about becoming an expat with family involved.  This trip has definitely made me more interested in some sort of global opportunity.  For any of you who are considering, here are his basic rules:

1. Choose infrastructure (e.g. house, car) that is comfortable/similar to your family
2. Deal yourself with all externalities (e.g. paying bills) and don’t rely on your family/spouse to do this
3. Find some way for your family/spouse to network and vent with people with whom they have a commonality
4. Create networks!  Book club, knitting club, international school, hobbies, lifestyle
5. Maintain equidistance between your home, your work, and your children’s school (if applicable) - make this triangle as small as possible so everything is somewhat closeby - take time out of the unpredictable commute
6. Build a support system both at work and socially
7. First get up on a cell phone, then a car/driver, then get a banking account, then focus on housing.  These are the things to focus on, in that order.
8. Make sure you understand the value of what you’re doing, as this is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
9. Again, be patient!  Patience is the only thing that will help you survive.  It will be tested, but it WILL be worth it.