My latest column for Expat Focus... Accept the challenges so that you can feel the exhilaration of the victory. George S. Patton This month I've chalked up three years in the mighty Kong - my third anniversary symbolizing a colorful and (often) crazy journey towards living life as a fully-fledged, 'fair dinkum' expat! A friend said to me "You should be really proud of yourself" -- I hadn't thought about it that way, but when I cast my thoughts back to those early days when I felt like a ‘fish out of water’ in Hong Kong's fragrant harbour, to today, I am swimming with the crowds and making a few splashes…. yep! I guess I've come a long way! Looking out of my lounge window in Hong Kong, I see a similar view to that which I saw from my hotel room the day I arrived -- it never fails to jolt those initial feelings that fluttered frantically inside me (along with 16 week pregnancy hiccups). Angst, anticipation and excitement, coupled with the absolute terror of the unknown! To be honest, I didn't think we'd stay much longer than18 months - at least that's what I made my husband promise (in blood)! It was to be the great adventure - a stint overseas to shake things up a bit. Hurling me out of my comfort zone in Sydney where I was happily cruising into my tenth year at Sky News, surrounded by all the creature comforts of friends, family and familiarity (not to mention life as a fancy-free, newly-wed couple) tossing me unceremoniously into a city heaving with high-rises, humidity and high-waisted maternity clothes! To continue reading, click here for Expat Focus>>> … [Read more...]
Reinventing the Wheel: From Television News Reader to Expat Mum in Asia
Last day on air as a News Reader for Sky News Australia My column for online magazine Coping with Jane…. I want my old life back! You know the feeling right? That nagging little voice in your head -- sometimes it's not so little though, it's screaming out, desperate to be heard. I suppose it’s all par for the course when you’re catapulted out of your comfort zone into a foreign land where no one speaks your language and everything from the climate to the culture is about as alien as eating a fish ball on a stick! The initiation into expat life is not all that different to those frenzied days as a new mum. To say everything feels unfamiliar is probably a gross understatement right? Babies definitely don’t speak your language and working out their culinary desires can be a far cry from your usual dinner date. I copped a double whammy. From television news reader living the (sort of) glamorous life in the harbour city of Sydney, to the unknown fragrant harbour of Hong Kong, unemployed and up the duff! I’d been with Sky News for ten years and I’d worked hard for my dream job. I always assumed when or if I was lucky enough to have a family, I’d simply do what I’d seen the other mums do before me – come back to work after a year or so of blissful baby-dom, and slot into a few shifts a week on the tele. Perfect! That was until I threw a spanner in my own destiny. Click here to read more on Coping With Jane >>> … [Read more...]