Writer Forever

Heidi Vaughan - Diary of an Oil Expat Family - Writers Club Press (2001)

In “Diary of an oil expat family”, Heidi Vaughan, married and mother of two children, wrote about her daily life when settling in Stavanger, Norway. Her husband worked for an oil company, Conoto. After having lived and worked in Chicago and then Houston, the whole family left for a new adventure in the country of Vikings. Her book started on February 28, 1998 few days before the great departure and it ended on March 1, 1999 after one year of expatriation in Norway. The reader discovers through her diary the evolution of her feelings: after the honey moon, the storm arrived and then a break in the roller coaster of her emotions. Heidi Vaughan does not only explain her own experience. This adventure is the one of a couple and its two young children. She writes about the difficulties of learning Norwegian, the hard adaptation to cold climate, the discovery of a new culture and different traditions, and finally the way Norwegian kids are raised. « Diary of an oil expat family » is then a very good example of testimonials on cultural shock during expatriation. Families who contemplate to live abroad will be able while reading this book to understand and anticipate what such an experience is. In the same time, the reader will learn a lot about the Norwegian culture and society.

Veronique Martin-Place. Published on 08/30/2010. Copyright © 2010 Writer Forever.

Robin Pascoe - Raising Global Nomads. Parenting Abroad in an on-Demand World - Expatriate Press - (2006)

Some authors are coming into your life and will never go. Robin Pascoe is part of them with her book « Raising Global Nomads. Parenting Abroad in an on-Demand World ».

In the tradition of Dave Pollock and Ruth E. Van Reken, Robin Pascoe examines all the issues about family expatriation in a global and ever changing world. She studies in a systematic way the steps that expatriated families encounter, i.e. the announcement of the departure to an unknown country, the settling, the search of the school, the health abroad, the repatriation to the (unknown) home country, etc. …

But Robin Pascoe’s book is much more than a simple guide for expatriate families and their children. On the basis of her own experience (she is the spouse of a Canadian diplomat and lived in several countries in Asia) and numerous testimonials scattered with humor and perceptiveness all around her book, the author gives smart and practical advice in order to be better prepared to the challenge of parenting abroad and in a context of recurring expatriation.

The positive aspect of this book is also the contributions of two expat experts. Lois J. Bushong deals with the too often taboo topic of expatriate families’ mental health (depression, drug, alcohol, divorce, etc. …). Barbara F. Shaetti writes about TCK’s identity development. She gives solutions to parents in order to tackle this step with serenity.

« Raising Global Nomads » is then a comprehensive, useful, lively and exiting book. A must read without moderation!

David C. Pollock, Ruth E. Van Reken - Third Culture Kids. The Experience of Growing Up Among Worlds - Nicholas Brealey Publishing - (2009)

I was advised to read this book. I took my time before buying it. But once I started it, I couldn’t help stopping to read it. I hold the book only with one hand. The second one was too busy either to underline the essentials passages or to catch a tissue box. Because reading the Pollock and Van Reken’s book is like holding a mirror: the authors tell you about your own family history, past and present and even future. The numerous testimonials and anecdotes from TCK strengthen this feeling of empathy.

After having defined the notion of Third Culture Kid, the authors examine the characteristics of the TCK experience and its consequences on the child, teen and adult development. This part of the book addresses to the TCKs themselves. While reading those pages, they will better understand their dilemmas, their questionings, and their internal conflicts. Then the book deals with advice to benefit the TCK experience. The TCKs, their parents, the adult TCKs and their enlarged family and friendly networks will find lots of advice and solutions to better understand themselves or to help those who are their beloved.

This book will be then extremely helpful for TCKs, their parents, the professionals in the expat field but also companies or organizations that send their employees and their families abroad.

Veronique Martin-Place. Published on 06/14/2010. Copyright © 2010 Writer Forever.

Gaëlle Goutain and Adelaïde Russel - L’enfant expatrié. Accompagner son enfant à travers les changements liés à l’expatriation - L’Harmattan (2009)

« L’enfant expatrié » (The expat child) is a wonderful guide about the life and the psychology of child living in expatriation. According to me, this book is a must-read not only for parents planning to expatriate themselves with their children but also for all the professionals in the expat field (coaches in expatriation, HRM of French-speaking companies, and Foreign affairs).

In a little bit more than 200 pages, the authors answer to all the questions parents ask themselves before a departure abroad. When shall we announce him/her our decision to leave? How to prepare him/her to this new departure? How to help him/her to adapt himself/herself? Each step of the expatriation process (preparations – arrivals – stay – return to the home country) is analyzed according to the age of the child (young children, pre-teenagers, teenagers). In other words, this book is a bible for future expat families and even those who are more used to the everyday life abroad. They will find lots of practical advice and testimonials in which they will probably find themselves.

Published in 2009, this book fills up a gap in the French literature about expatriation. Obviously, the English literature has already dealt with this topic through books such as Third Culture Kids by David C. Pollock and Ruth E. Van Reken or Raising Global Nomads by Robin Pascoe.

This book, that is very easy to read, brings a new perspective to the subject and targets the French-speaking expatriate community all around the world.

Veronique Martin-Place. Published on 05/24/2010. Copyright © 2010 Writer Forever.

Julia Child with Alex Prud’homme - My life in France - Anchor Books - (2007)

If you are American or if you live in the US, you certainly know Julia Child. Otherwise, you discovered her thanks to the actress Meryl Streep by watching the movie “Julie and Julia” from Nora Ephron.

Julia Child introduced millions of Americans to the French cooking through her book Mastering The Art of French Cooking (1961). She became a star with her TV show The French Chef broadcasted on the American public TV from 1963.

Aniket and Akash Shah - Club Expat. A Teenager’s Guide to Moving Overseas - (2005)

This book was written by two brothers, Aniket and Akash Shah. American originally from India, they have been living in several US cities before moving to Europe and Asia with their parents when they were teenagers. They know what they are talking about. From their own experience and those of young expatriates they surveyed, Aniket and Akash Shah investigate the different steps of expatriation from the teenager’s point of views. They don’t miss a thing: the news of departure and the different reactions within a same family, the move, the discovery of a new culture and a new educational environment. At each step, the authors give good advice to young readers to better manage the situation. They will appreciate the practical information of this book: which objects do I have to keep with me during this long transitional month when we are not at home anymore and not yet fully at home, how to manage the cultural shock, how to manage a move back home when we are not really from this home anymore?

In spite of targeting mainly young American expatriates, this book is much more than a practical guide. It portrays rather widely what expatriate teenagers live and feel. This book can not only help them in their daily life, especially for a first expatriation, but also make them think about their young expat identity. A work on themselves they will have to do one day or another.

Veronique Martin-Place. Published on 03/23/2010. Copyright © 2010 Writer Forever.

Brigid KEENAN - Diplomatic baggage, the adventures of a trailing spouse (2008)

Brigid Keenan is a British journalist married to a diplomat from the European Commission. In this book full of humor and anecdotes, she describes her trailing spouse life from the seventies to early two thousands. This is then more than thirty years of expat life that she explains with many details by rising to the surface moments of happiness but also of doubts. Every expat women will recognize themselves in this lively testimonial because the author sums up well what is the trailing spouse problematic: what about her professional life? How to raise children and then teens in this context? How to help aging and old parents when you live extremely far away from them? How to deal daily with cultural differences? Though the expat life is a wealthy one (financially and intellectually), it is still a much more complicated life than if you would stay in your home country.

“Diplomatic Baggage” must then be read by all those who since a long time follow their spouse all around the world. The less experimented ones must stay critical and keep in mind that this is only a specific experience, the one of Brigid Keenan. Relocation abroad in a specific country can be lived very differently from a person to another.

One of the moral of the story is that a relocation abroad as a trailing spouse is successful when you become the main character of it, when the words “spouse of" disappear from your social life. This is an accomplished mission for Brigid.

Veronique Martin-Place. Published on 02/17/2010. Copyright © 2010 Writer Forever.