Latest column for Expat Focus When you get the call to uproot your life and relocate to a new, foreign country, the shellshock of packing up your ‘life as you know it’ and heading into the unknown abyss, is more often than not followed by a fast and furious ‘Google’ of the new ‘home’ in question. First things first:  Location: Check! (Yes it is right where you thought on the map; or Surprise! who knew it was so close to Timbuktu!?)  Population: Check! (Mighty important to know what you’re dealing with here - are you one of hundreds, thousands or millions?) Language: Check! (Just how much brainpower is this assignment going to require?) So, with the basics ticked off - you’re in business.  Next on the relocation agenda, the things that make your world turn - jobs, real estate, schools, medical facilities and supermarkets. If you’re a couple making the move into the expat world, usually one of you gets the job of heading into uncharted waters first and it’s usually the one with the new job. For us, it was my Hotelier husband, who arrived cold turkey in Asia’s World City. We’d both had a brief taste of the city that never sleeps in a past life but for all intents and purposes, those trips (for me) were about shopping, eating and sightseeing, not so much focused on the unknown fact that my future might involve living amongst the madness that is Asia’s Manhattan. For more click here >>> … [Read more...]