Culture Shock and the Holiday Season
11/16/22 • 27 min
Expect the Unexpected
Culture Shock
Expats and the Holiday Season
These three topic were planned for separate episodes, but life events meant it made sense to see if I could fit them all into one episode, just in time for the Holidays! I think I succeeded 🤪
I wanted to talk about how strange and different, and sometimes upsetting these special holidays can be for expats living away from their home countries and families.
And the reason these special, family-oriented dates feel so different and sometimes difficult is ultimately down to culture shock!
As for the Expect the Unexpected bit? One of my favourite expat-mentoring mantras is 'Expect the Unexpected'. Some of the ‘unexpected’ is funny, some of it can be a bit frustrating, but we can usually steer ourselves through it all.
Sometimes, however, that unexpected is a complete and utter blind-sider that nothing could have prepared me for.
What happened? Well, listen and find out...
- Get expat life support at every stage of your expat journey - from home to away and back again! Join The Expatability Club: the one-stop-shop for everything expat.
- Want independent advice about your move overseas? For a one-to-one chat, please check my calendar for dates and options here
- Visit ExpatChild.com for more free information about expat life!
- Join my Expat Parents' Support Group on Facebook
- Sign up to receive my Expat Newsletter to keep up to date and in the loop with everything I do
Expect the Unexpected
Culture Shock
Expats and the Holiday Season
These three topic were planned for separate episodes, but life events meant it made sense to see if I could fit them all into one episode, just in time for the Holidays! I think I succeeded 🤪
I wanted to talk about how strange and different, and sometimes upsetting these special holidays can be for expats living away from their home countries and families.
And the reason these special, family-oriented dates feel so different and sometimes difficult is ultimately down to culture shock!
As for the Expect the Unexpected bit? One of my favourite expat-mentoring mantras is 'Expect the Unexpected'. Some of the ‘unexpected’ is funny, some of it can be a bit frustrating, but we can usually steer ourselves through it all.
Sometimes, however, that unexpected is a complete and utter blind-sider that nothing could have prepared me for.
What happened? Well, listen and find out...
- Get expat life support at every stage of your expat journey - from home to away and back again! Join The Expatability Club: the one-stop-shop for everything expat.
- Want independent advice about your move overseas? For a one-to-one chat, please check my calendar for dates and options here
- Visit ExpatChild.com for more free information about expat life!
- Join my Expat Parents' Support Group on Facebook
- Sign up to receive my Expat Newsletter to keep up to date and in the loop with everything I do
Previous Episode
Expat Guilt
Expat Guilt. The one topic guaranteed to fire some people up, the one topic that’s tormenting many of my readers, my groups, my tribe. The topic that gets the most attention, the most comments, the most bitterness, the most sadness and causes every shade of angst you can possibly imagine.
Expat guilt can ruin your life overseas as you’re so busy thinking of others that you can’t truly live your own life. But you're not alone - believe me!
Discover what expat guilt is about, what it’s for, how it can help you see your life choices from another’s perspective, and most importantly, how to manage these heavy feelings. Find out how to deal with your family’s feelings and how to cope with your own.
I’ll give you the tools to help you escape the trap of expat guilt and move forward to a happier life abroad without neglecting your family and friends back home.
Don't let expat guilt get in the way of the exciting life you deserve. You deserve to be happy in your life overseas!
- Get expat life support at every stage of your expat journey - from home to away and back again! Join The Expatability Club: the one-stop-shop for everything expat.
- Want independent advice about your move overseas? For a one-to-one chat, please check my calendar for dates and options here
- Find my special 'Erase Expat Guilt and Reclaim Your Life' master class here
- Read my article on Expat Guilt on ExpatChild.com
- Visit ExpatChild.com for more free information about expat life!
- Take a look at my Expatability site for more details
"Guilt is a useless feeling. It’s never enough to make you change direction - only enough to make you useless."
Daniel Nayeri
Next Episode
The Comedown and How to Get Through It
How to cope with the comedown when you’ve moved overseas.
Not long after you’ve arrived in your new country, there comes a time when it suddenly hits you – ‘Oh, is that it? Now what?’ You feel quite down and flat and wonder if you’ve made a terrible mistake.
We all know that moving overseas is really exciting. It heralds great change, perhaps the hope of a better future and a better life. To most families it represents a new start in their lives both professionally and personally.
But many new expats are shocked that it isn't all happy days and paradise living and begin to second guess their decision.
It’s OK, this is a completely normal experience; and it can often hit harder after the holiday season, which is why I want to talk about it now.
Why does this come-down happen? And what can you do to get through this feeling? Yes, through is the word I mean, because it is a transient feeling; it will pass.
When it happens after you’ve moved, I call it the comedown, or the 6-month slump. And then we have the ‘expat blues’, which is a similar feeling, and is relevant to this time of year. See the links below for articles I’ve written about these.
So, listen to this episode to learn coping methods, and tips to help you get through it, and once you understand why this feeling happens, you’ll be better prepared to power on through!
- Get expat life support at every stage of your expat journey - from home to away and back again! Join The Expatability Club: the one-stop-shop for everything expat.
- Want independent advice about your move overseas? For a one-to-one chat, please check my calendar for dates and options here
- Read my article on The 6-month slump on ExpatChild.com
- Read my article on The Comedown on ExpatChild.com
- Read my article on The Expat Blues on ExpatChild.com
- Visit ExpatChild.com for more free information about expat life!
- Take a look at my Expatability site for more details on how I can support you with your move abroad
Expatability Chat - Culture Shock and the Holiday Season
Transcript
Welcome to yet another slightly different than expected topic for this episode of Expatability Chat. Culture shock is one of the topics that I probably should have done and talked about in season one, but I forgot. And then I talked about reverse culture shock recently in season season two. And so finally finally I remembered what to record. This, however, things changed and I've already altered this one from my original idea because, well, life, basically.
As I explained in my podcast a
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