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One job requirement I love about being an educational consultant is that I have to get out and visit schools. Although I have seen over 175 different boarding schools, I grab every opportunity I have to learn about new schools so that I can better serve my students and families. After just visiting another five American boarding schools, I am more enthusiastic than ever about the huge range of students served and the opportunities these schools offer. What is so remarkable to me is that each boarding school has its own unique character, culture, student profile, and niche of students they serve. And each school is mature and self-confident enough to know exactly who they are and who they serve best, so they don’t even attempt to be all things to all people. I like this approach, because I feel that ultimately, it’s the student that is best served.

All of these schools welcome international students as well, and do their best to make them feel at home.

Some schools offer fantastic learning support, while others emphasize a classical approach to education while acknowledging that it’s not for everyone. Some schools have a very experiential approach to learning, and all schools seek to take advantage of their geographic locations to maximize learning opportunities for students. I spoke with administrators, counselors, and teachers about the teaching and learning experience at these schools, but it was the conversations I had with students that thrilled me the most.

My favorite question to ask students is, “What will you take away from the experiences you have had at this school?” Here are their answers – let them tell you why boarding school is an option they have loved!

·       College is no longer daunting for me because I know I’m ready

·       I’m more willing to try new things

·       I was exposed to many more experiences as well as culture

·       I’m more open-minded

·       I love the sense of community

·       I got to be in leadership roles

·       The academics

·       I like going away from home and being with my friends in the dorm, and will be a proctor next year

·       I learned organizational skills

·       I became more independent

·       I learned how to manage my time and my things

·       I realized there is always help around from teachers and other students

·       I learned study skills

·    I loved the relationships with my teachers – the biggest class I’m in has 12 students

·       I like being able to build relationships with my teachers and the ability to quickly get help and quick extra study sessions at night

·       Here the teachers really care about their students

·       The teachers are our friends, too

·       I learned how to manage my time and be self-disciplined, and that will help me in college

·       I learned how to find resources on my own, and not just go to my parents and my brothers

·       I have had to relate to other people and groups that are different from myself

·       The work is hard but I’m more interested

·       I like being able to introduce my new friends to my old friends back home

·       With only 8 kids in my class, I’m more invested in my own learning

·       This school taught me how to think

·       I feel good about myself

·       I can participate in a lot more activities

·       I like the family feel here

·       I became a self-starter

·       I now think about something greater than myself

·       I learned how to be a more “faithful, hopeful, loving person”

Contributed by  Rebecca Grappo, an Educational Consultant and the mother of three grown expat kids.  Becky has lived almost 30 years as an expat in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Portugal, Jordan, Oman, the UAE and Israel.  She is now based in Denver, Colorado and blogs at RNG International Educational Consultants

I met God the other day.

She was riding on my metro car, sitting next to me by the window.

I know what you are thinking – how the heck did you know it was God?

Well, I didn’t, at the beginning. She looked like a tired young lady just trying to get home after a long day’s work between Christmas and New Year. She touched my arm and said, “I know you. Actually, I used to know you quite well, but you’ve dropped out of my life lately. I haven’t seen you around anywhere.” 

I did not recognize her at all, and said so immediately. And I made clear that I was an expat and had been traveling around the world for the last few years, so it made sense to me that she would have missed me – if it was true that we had ever known each other in the first place.

She looked me in the eye and said quietly, “You have never seen me before. I am God. That’s why I know you but you don’t know me.” 

“God?” I said. “God Almighty? Maker of Heaven and Earth and inspirator of the Bible?” 

“Yes”, was her simple reply. “And I can prove it to you”.

She leaned over and whispered in my ear for about thirty seconds. And what she told me was so fantastic in the absolutely unbelievable sense of the word that my doubts about this little woman being God Almighty melted away like the proverbial snowball in hell.

“But how could you have not seen me these last years?” I wondered aloud. “I’ve been that tall redhead in China surrounded by crowds of curious children who just want to touch my hair. I was the only white person in that African village, the only gringo in that South American bar. I could understand being missed if I had been living in Ireland, but your tracking skills, however you pull that off, have let you down big time.”

“I’ve had other things to do this year,” she said. “The NSA has made my job a lot easier recently, I only have to go down to one place to find and follow anyone I need to see. My work load will be a lot lighter in the future.” 

“Yeah, I’m not too happy about that,” I replied. “But I do like the Pope Francis thing you did this year. He’s a popular guy, what with that ‘not judging’ and ‘trickle down economy isn’t all it’s cracked up to be’ stuff. You really pulled off a pretty good PR stunt there.”

“Thank you. I’ll pass the compliment on to my guys who worked on that.” 

“And I guess you had to take Nelson Mandela. His passing sure gave the world an amazing 10 days. Did you have anything to do with that sign language interpreter guy?”

She smiled. “Of course not. That you would even ask! By the way, how’s 2013 been for you?”

“Not bad, thank you for asking. I ended my stay in China and moved on to Argentina. Did you know China was ranked as the #1 expat location by the HSBC Expat survey this year? It’s booming economically and is a great place for a good work-life balance. And a surprisingly good place to raise children

I’m not so sure about Argentina, I’m still finding my way around. The economic situation isn’t so great, but that makes the cost of living a bit cheaper, if you are careful. What I really love already so far is the entertainment. It’s wonderful!” 

“Glad to hear that. I’ve always enjoyed those local South American bars, restaurants and night clubs myself, when I have a chance to get there, which hasn’t happened this year. It’s been a frustrating year for me. You people can’t seem to get the economy going in the West, and the wars in Syria and Sudan leave me disgusted.”

“I was going to ask you about that. Why don’t you do something about war, starvation, sickness, AIDS, poverty etc?”

“Actually, I came here to ask you the same question. When are you all going to do something about those problems, for Heaven’s sake? I’ve given you all the smarts and resources you need. You’ve landed a little car on the moon this year, and cloned human stem cells. Those of you that have garbage disposals throw enough food down them to feed millions of poor people. I’m not blaming you personally for that, because you don’t have a garbage disposal. But when are you going to get your act together, and why are you waiting for me to do something? You know I don’t work that way!” 

“Wow, I hadn’t thought of it that way before. I was figuring that you as God Almighty could just reach down and fix things for us. Are you on Twitter yet?”

“Well there are a couple of impostors pretending to be me: @TheTweetOfGod, @god, @TheGoodGodAbove, @GodPosts. I see they all have thousands of followers, so I must be popular. There is talk of a Twitter Bible, but I think that is fake also. Sounds like fun, though:

In the beginning, God tweeted:
Day 1: Lighting system installed. BRB.
Days 2-6: Some assembly required: sky, plants, cows, people. Left humans in charge, LOL. 
Day 7: Siesta

But no, I’m not on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or You Tube. I have been investigating Mashable lately. Sounds like a concept I could use, but I don’t really understand how it works. It’s a generation thing, I’m afraid.

Anything I can do for you or expats in general in 2014?”

“As soon as I found out who you were I was going to mention a few things. We don’t like Christmas when it is hot. Sometimes it’s impossible to get the sports or TV shows we like. Skype is great for communicating back home, but it doesn’t substitute for a real hug. Homesickness is an issue, as well as the Centigrade/Fahrenheit thing. And the language problem is killing us. Why couldn’t you have thought of another solution to the Tower of Babel problem?”

“Sorry about the Babel thing. I acted in haste and regret it now, but once the deed was done there was no turning back….”

I interrupted. (Imagine that, interrupting God Almighty!) “But all those things seem a bit petty now. I feel kind of bad even mentioning them.”

God gave me a friendly wink, touched my arm again and said, “Well here’s my stop. Got to get off. I enjoyed chatting with you. Have a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous 2014! And – make a difference this year, OK?”

And with that, God got off the bus, opened her umbrella, gave a short wave and smile and disappeared in the crowd.

I wondered whether I’d ever see her again. I hoped so.

I resolved that if we did meet again I would be able to tell her that I had. Made a difference, that is.

Contributed by Norman Viss, an expatriate coach who has many years of broad international experience working with people from a wide variety of cultures, including a 10 year span of living in Nigeria, West Africa, and 22 years in the Netherlands. Currently he lives in the Philadelphia, USA and blogs at the Everyday Expat Support Center

I am a Christian, BUT I have to say if behavior demonstrates beliefs; then you could be forgiven for thinking that what Christmas means to me is a shopping list!

I am changing. Had enough! Enough already, as my New York friends say. This year we celebrated Advent- not bad for Brethren Boy (husband) and Baptist girl (me). We aren't big on anything hat smacks of established church. Maybe our fore-parents wanted to make it clear that we weren't .........................................(fill in the blanks as to your personal choice of established faith). I am descended from Amish on one side and French Huguenots on the other. 

What has this got to do with baking? Everything.

I reflected on my actual behavior around this season, and decided to make changes. BB (husband) and I attended a beautiful Advent Service to kick off the season. It’s a big deal to forgive the Anglicans for hundreds of years of persecution; but don't they do a great Christmas service?!

We focused on the light in dark places I was a little concerned lest I burn the hair of the person sitting RIGHT in front of me at St Andrews as we all held our candles in the night, singing Silent Night. We came out of that service with not a little awe; and wondering what we missed all these years when we skipped this season to head to the High Streets. (Main Street, but the UK English gets the alliteration)

And for presents....we are not stoics. We love presents! I think my husband actually has a spiritual gift when it comes to presents. And I was bold to ask for my present from him this year: six cooking lessons!

I am married to someone who was/is a European Master Chef before it was a television program and I am honoured that he agreed. What you see above is my first effort at real bread making. My life is transformed in an entire area of creativity! He is a patient teacher and we have fun in the kitchen-never thought that would happen as his standards are high, high,, high. 

Now here is the Cross Cultural bit: my husband is teaching me baking using a scale. I am happy with this when it comes to learning his remarkable recipes.....but I am firmly holding on to my measuring cups when it comes to bringing out the Better Homes and Gardens Christmas cookies. Years and years ago, when I first started this expat life; you couldn't just buy those American items at your local grocers or dry goods store. I carried them lovingly in my carry on luggage across the Atlantic. It's a memory of my nomadic life, and I'm sticking to them-except for when Master Chef demonstrates his next lesson.

Contributed by Kathleen McAnear Smith, speaker and author of Parents on the Move and Beyond Broken Families. Kathleen divides her time between Florida, the UK and Italy and blogs atKathleenMcAnearSmith.com

The David C. Pollock Scholarship Fund pays tribute to international educator, sociologist and co-author of Third Culture Kids, David C. Pollock, whose tireless support, vision and dedication to families in global transition impacted countless people in every corner of the globe.

It provides highly motivated individuals working or studying in the intercultural or global family support field the opportunity to attend the FIGT conference. Attending the Families in Global Transition conference can be both career- and life-changing. The scholarship can help you get there financially and it can open even more doors for you.

Here are 5 reasons why you might want to apply.

1. The FIGT community members are quick to take you under their wing, offer assistance, engage in thought-provoking discussion, as well as recognize what you bring to the (kitchen) table (discussions)- I even got an FIGT joke in there! ;)

2. If you want to network, the FIGT conference is the place! This is the network that keeps on going. There is no stopping their willingness to reach out to their contacts in order to help you in your career path.

3. Conference attendance can be amazing, but being a part of it's success through volunteering makes it an extra special experience. It is the best way to really feel connected. 

4. Often times, we go into an experience with one idea of what we will get out of it. My experience as a Pollock Scholar opened up a world of possibilities beyond what I had imagined. It was magical.

5. As cliche as it may sound, the opportunity to make new friends. Even when I am super busy with life, the warmth and passion of my FIGT friends takes me back to an empowered part of myself.

More information at http://figt.org/pollock_scholarship.  Applications are due at 5pm EST on December 15th.

Contributed by Mary Margaret Herman, a dual-citizen with an Irish and U.S. passport who has taught in France and works in the post-graduate education sector.  She is currently serving on the board of directors for Families in Global Transition. 

I have just listened to the wonderful interview hosted by Paulette Bethel in her global teleseminar series, in which she talked to Kilian Kröll about FIGT, the annual conference and the process of submitting a presentation proposal. As ever, Kilian was articulate, erudite and passionate in input, but one thing that really struck me was a comment by Paulette.

She referred to her own RFP (Request For Proposal) submission, and how she didn’t expect to be selected. Which made me laugh out loud, because that was exactly how I felt when I put in my first proposal. The goal was to complete the paperwork and submit, never thinking that a global organization like FIGT would be interested in hearing what someone like me, a so-called ‘trailing spouse’ had to say.

One of the unique things about FIGT is the diversity of its community, not just in terms of cultures, geographical locations and backgrounds, but in terms of experience. Yet it manages to greet each individual with a warm welcome and find value in every voice, every experience and every journey.

It’s one of the reasons you should consider submitting a proposal to present at the 2014 annual conference. This year’s theme, The Global Family: Redefined, aims to unite the expertise of those serving the expat community with those who are living a life in global transition, from the perspective of thought leaders, authors, researchers, educators, cross-cultural trainers, destination service providers and expats and their families themselves.

For me personally, it was a voyage of discovery. Past conferences have showcased the talents and tales of diplomats, corporate employers, parents, partners, Third Culture Kids, talking around topics from resilience to repatriation, mental health to moving on, and everything in between. But what I gained was confidence; both in the validity of my story and my ability to participate in shaping the transition experiences of people I will never meet.

There is only one thing missing; you and your story. Whether you want to share insight, innovation, inspiration or information, here’s your opportunity. I can’t wait to hear what you have to say.

Listen to Paulette and Kilian discuss their FIGT experiences here.

Contributed by Rachel Yates, a so-called “Trailing Spouse”, who gave up her own career as a lecturer to relocate her life, her family and her dog on her partner’s first international assignment to Kenya, supposedly for a year. Ten years and three continents later, she is now in San Francisco, re-establishing her identity.  She is currently serving as an FIGT Board member and writes at Defining Moves.

I did a brief presentation at the Families in Global Transition conference in Washington, DC, for internationally mobile families about taking special needs children overseas. These are my “top 5″ tips based on years of experience working with international families as an Independent Educational Consultant (IEC).

 

1. Do not expect that international schools will always offer services for children with learning disabilities. Furthermore, even though the school may be known as “the American school”, American schools overseas do not have a federal mandate of IDEA to provide special education services like they would in the United States.

2. Many children with learning disabilities also need other wrap-around services, i.e. physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, that may or may not be available overseas. This must be investigated.

3. Those who offer services are often expats themselves – if you identify their services, they may not be there when you arrive, or may not stay in the foreign location for the entire time of your stay, or have openings for new students. Check before going.

4. Some families realize their children are struggling after they arrive. Sometimes this is due to transition and resiliency issues, so you want to give things time to settle down. However, it is also important to get these students a quality psycho-educational evaluation as early as possible. The younger a child is when his/her needs are identified, the more effective the intervention can be. Do not wait too long before getting help.

 

5. The most successful students are those whose parents are extremely well-informed and pro-active – researching options, finding resources, getting their kids help, and if no adequate resources are there at that location, then a boarding school that specializes in learning differences, or offers support to students with learning differences, may be a viable option.

 

Here another article on this topic, or go to http://rnginternational.com/articles-interviews-blog

 

Special Needs and Schooling Abroad

Contributed by Rebecca Grappo, an Educational Consultant and the mother of three grown expat kids.  Becky has lived almost 30 years as an expat in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Portugal, Jordan, Oman, the UAE and Israel.  She is now based in Denver, Colorado and blogs at RNG International Educational Consultants

There are many considerations when launching an international job search. You need to think about including what you want to do versus what opportunities are available, who are your potential contacts, where to look for potential openings, and how to apply for jobs. Here are a few tips you may not have considered:

1. Understand your competition. When searching for a job as an expat in another country it would be helpful to remember that your competition will mostly likely consist of locals. There are many foreign-educated localscompeting for the best jobs in most countries; even though there may not be many expats in the market, and despite the fact that in some countries scores of locals may be leaving the country to pursue better lives abroad, there is still a good base of qualified locals to fill the best positions.

2. Be prepared to negotiate in a culturally-appropriate way. Getting things done in some countries can be tricky. Negotiating can come in handy when dealing with government employees and tough employers. Just be careful not to cross the line; cash is often considered a bribe, but gifts may be appropriate in some countries and cultures. Learn the culturally-appropriate ways to negotiate in your destination country, including how to communicate appropriately, how to ask for someone’s time, how to negotiate a salary, and how to find out about job openings. You can find some information online, such as at Kwintessential, for tips on how to do this.

3. Create a solid network of contacts. The old saying, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know” is very applicable in most countries. Meeting people in a new country can be challenging, but in most cases, there should be no shortage of chances to make contacts. You can most likely find exhibitions, conferences, seminars, and roundtable discussions open to the general public. Finding them is relatively easy if you know how to connect with the expat and professional community. Attending the events is a perfect opportunity to make new professional contacts on neutral turf. Expat Women has an excellent list of expat groups around the world.

4. Know the business environment. More and more international companies and organizations are entering into emerging markets, creating opportunities for expats and locals alike. Stay connected with what has been happening through the Chambers of Commerce in the country.

5. Market your expat status. As an expat you have certain qualities and skills that will be valuable to many companies. Your knowledge of the business environment in your home country could be very useful in another country. Your language skills or university education can be very attractive to potential employers, and your different take on business, ethical, cultural, and political issues will certainly help your colleagues to develop a more well-rounded view of the world. Living and working in another country will allow you to learn and teach at the same time.

We’d like to hear from you! What tips do you have to share with others on an international job search?

Contributed by Susan Musich, Executive Director & Founder of Passport Career, a comprehensive, online global job search support system.  She is currently serving on the Board of Directors of FIGT and blogs atPassportCareer.com

•    Four of Jupiter’s moons

•    Hundreds and thousands of stars that had never been seen before

•    The rings of Saturn

•    That Venus has phases also, just like our moon

Eppur si muove.

Contributed by Norman Viss, an expatriate coach who has many years of broad international experience working with people from a wide variety of cultures, including a 10 year span of living in Nigeria, West Africa, and 22 years in the Netherlands. Currently he lives in the Philadelphia, USA and blogs at the Everyday Expat Support Center