Expat mama tribe??

[splunky]

Is there a tribe already formed for this? I would love to chat with other mamas who have experience being an expat for significant amountn of years, as well as help those just beginning there journys!
Whaddya think?
I should say, I don't know how a "tribe" works, just know they exist.

[mamamille]

I was just looking... did you find anything?

[welsh]

I'm here too!

We could start our own??!!

[amitymama]

There have been a couple expat tribes but I'm not sure when it was last posted on so it might be hard to find. You can always start a new one!

[MamaRabbit]

There was one a long time ago but haven't seen it in a long time. I've lived overseas for 7 years now and it feels like home!

[east carolina]

Hello!

I consider myself an expat since I'm a US citizen living abroad, but I'm bicultural/bilingual and am now living in my other culture's homeland. I'm in Prague, Czech Republic.

My DH is 100% Czech, my DS was born here and is a dual citizen, bilingual kid. I've lived here for 8 years now, and while I love it, I often fantasize about moving and would love to live somewhere else in Europe for a change. Or somewhere else in the world, for that matter, I love moving around.

[summermay]

Hello,

expat here. Well, currently again and adjusting, adapting and enjoying life. I am a SAHM and do some studies besides. :

It feels so much like being on holiday..... much more relaxes, things are going easy and there is so much to explore.

Hope you other mamas enjoy it too!

[amma_mama]

Ooh, can I join?! I think that there have been some threads in the Multicultural forum, but they do not appear to be very active...

We are expats, living in the Middle East (and my DH was, anyway, a South Asian expat in the US). We are here for my job, while DH has just finished his PhD and will be doing short-term consulting work. We have been here one year and are enjoying it. Our 4yo DD speaks Arabic fairly fluently now (and is teaching us some vocabulary now). Life is much more relaxing than back in the US though I am with the same employer. Much better work-life balance, which is one of the reasons we decided to be expats for a while (as well as to improve our financial situation). I do miss the US (and US "culture") sometimes but am fine with being here for another year. I would like to go back to the US for a while, then perhaps do another 2-year gig overseas, depending on location.

[Rawa]

Hi I am an Australian married to an American living in Singapore.

[expat-mama]

Hi there,
Fellow expat here. But not a mama yet! I've seen this topic pop up a few times since I've been on MDC but haven't seen a full-fledged tribe form. This one looks like it might be taking shape. Cool!
We're Canadians and we've lived in a couple of places around East Asia for a bunch of years and traveled extensively in Asia, Europe and Africa. But we're moving back to Canada in the spring so dh can do his PhD and we can start a family. We hope someday to get back "out in the world" again though.

[fishymama]

Hi, I'm an expat living in Hong Kong. Have been all over Asia as an expat for most of my life but as an expat mama? Only 8 months!

[peaceatlast]

Can I join?

I'm an irish expat mamma now living in Cyprus with my OH and 2 boys and one dog!
Only been here 2 months though and OH works A LOT so going through the feeling isolated stage....

Any advice or tips would be great girls!!:

I'd love to feel like I belong somewhere as at the minute I feel like I am just hovering over the planet!!!:

[expatmommy]

Give yourself 6 months. Spread your net wide; join every group or activity you are offered & eventually you will meet someone who you will click with. I've been living this expat life for almost 10 yrs now, in 4 different countries. This was advice given to me early on & it has always worked for me. I met my best friend at a truly horrible coffee morning after our eyes locked partway thru in agreement each knowing the other was having a miserable time! It was the beginning of a great friendship.

My intro: Almost 10 yrs, 4 countries, currently in Asia with my dh, 3 kids, #4 on the way & our 2 cats. We have signed on for another 2 years & then we'll see where we are at. Our older 2 are starting to ask to return to Canada permanently, so we'll reevaluate at the end of our contract.

[Miss 1928]

: Buon Giorno!

I'm joining the roll-call.

I'm a Californian (I would say California Girl, except that I'm not really a "California Girl", you know, tan, blond etc...) who fell in love with an Italian and so now I'm living in Rome. I've been here since 2000, but was sort of an "illegal alien" 'til we got married in March 2003.

I feel pretty well adapted to life here, but there are still things I have a hard time understanding or getting used to, and there are still lots of things I miss about my former life in California. It's funny, because Rome feels like home now, but I also think of Marin County as home too. Can I have 2 "homes"?

How often do you all get back "home"? I try to get back twice a year, but now it maybe only once a year.... since Ela will be 2 soon and won't be able to be a lap baby anymore. It makes me sad that my folks don't get to see their only grandbaby very often. I wish they would come out here more, but my dad really dislikes flying.

[aussiemum]

I think that you can definitely have two places that you call home.

It's a funny thing, when I visit my parent's house (where I grew up) & I catch up with old friends who I haven't seen in ages, then I feel like I am 'at home'. Yet when I get back to my house in Australia where I have lived for the last 9 years, after a 15 hour flight across the Pacific Ocean, I also feel 'at home', because this is my home now, iykwim.....



Anyway. Great thread.

[daileyjoy]

Originally Posted by peaceatlast

I'm an irish expat mamma now living in Cyprus with my OH and 2 boys and one dog!
Only been here 2 months though and OH works A LOT so going through the feeling isolated stage....

Any advice or tips would be great girls!!:

I'd love to feel like I belong somewhere as at the minute I feel like I am just hovering over the planet!!!:

Expat mama here too ( for at least 2 more weeks )
We were just in Cyprus this past May for 2 weeks on Holiday

[Natalie's Mama]

I'm a new expat! We just got our visa's last week actually. I moved to Hong Kong from Canada with my 2 month old baby girl. DH spent a month in Australia before we met him here. That was 4 months ago already! I love it here and we get a chance to do a few temporary moves to places all over the world which I can't wait to do.
So far I've been home once and we're going again next month. The first time was for a death in the family though, I have no intention of flying solo across the world with DD every 2 months! I wish DD had more family around too, I grew up really close to my family and I'm sad she won't get the same chance.

[MamaRabbit]

That's one thing we struggle with. We go home every other summer for 6 - 7 weeks. We don't see anyone any more frequently unless they come out to visit. My dad came first and saw it was an easy place to travel to. Then my parents visited together a couple years later. My sister came for DS's birth. My BIL for Christmas (he lives in Guam so it's closer). My mom came for the twins' birth. But that's it for almost 8 years.

It is so rough leaving when visiting in the USA because so many of our relatives are getting older and we never know when it will be our last visit with them. I love love love my DH's grandmother and I cry every time!

(Now there are some that I don't mind living so far away from and 12,000 miles is a perfect distance for our relationship )

[demetria]

hi

Another one... in Switzerland.

Originally Posted by splunky

Is there a tribe already formed for this? I would love to chat with other mamas who have experience being an expat for significant amountn of years, as well as help those just beginning there journys!
Whaddya think?
I should say, I don't know how a "tribe" works, just know they exist.

[calynde]

And another one...also in Switzerland. Originally from California, my dh is Swiss. I've been here for 7 years, but we will move abroad in 2 years for dh's work...we don't know where yet. I'm hoping for sun and coconuts.