BEING AN EXPAT: Whether you are a young person wanting to travel the world, a family transferring to another country for experience/work, or an international retiree, it appears you can never be too old to be an expat. While expat life still retains a somewhat glamorous, jet-setting image, you should know that it is not […] Continue reading →
EXPAT LIFE IN AMERICA: As much as I have tried to avoid sounding American in my own parochial way, it’s almost impossible. After seven years, there are many routine words from the local’s vocabulary that have crept into my everyday speech. Here are a few examples of common American expressions that I say frequently: Candy A very […] Continue reading →
EXPAT LIFE: I won’t be wishing for a White Christmas this year – just a cool one. Unbelievably, for the first time since we moved here to the USA, we will be having an expat family Christmas in Australia. Yep, that’s right: a hot, sunny Christmas, where the temperatures can go so high Santa has […] Continue reading →
EXPAT LIFE: The first hint that my Australian accent might not be ‘easy’ to understand for Americans, came on our second day here. We were in a CVS chain pharmacy, and I was searching for a cheap mobile phone. As there was nothing I could see instore, I asked a shop assistant where I could […] Continue reading →
LIFE IN NEW JERSEY: If you haven’t read any of my other blog posts on the DMV or the NJ MVC yet, then you may be forgiven for thinking getting your NJ driver license is a shoe-in. Not to disillusion you too soon but there are many expats who could disagree. They, like myself, know from […] Continue reading →
RELOCATION: Moving to another country nearly always requires a number of documents. No matter where you are moving to, there will always be specific important documents needed for immigration, employment, school enrolment plus others. The USA is certainly no different. If anything, moving here will possibly require more paperwork than you could even anticipate. For a […] Continue reading →
EXPAT LIFE: My teenage son has just turned 15. This is a major milestone in his life. Sure, you could think it’s because he would be starting Year 10 at school if he was in Australia or for several other reasons. But these are not the real reasons why turning 15 is a milestone. This […] Continue reading →
EXPAT LIFE: We’ve just returned from another home visit to Australia. It was short but still very enjoyable. As with other visits, we saw our friends and family and looked at our house in Sydney’s Inner West. Nothing seems to have changed much except for one big exception. Somewhere, somehow between this year and last […] Continue reading →
EXPAT LIFE: What’s as American as apple pie? How about the American diner? This may be an icon in the US but even people outside of America have been absorbing diner culture since the advent of ‘Happy Days’ and the Fonz, into our living rooms, way back when. Since the late sixties, countless movies and TV […] Continue reading →
EXPAT LIFE: Tipping in the USA has to be one of the most confusing things to deal with for the new inexperienced expat. There are no exact guidelines and it’s no exaggeration to say there is a huge amount of variety in local behaviours, traditions and practices. And here lies the difficulty. As an […] Continue reading →
BEING AN EXPAT: Whether you are a young person wanting to travel the world, a family transferring to another country for experience/work, or an international retiree, it appears you can never be too old to be an expat. While expat life still retains a somewhat glamorous, jet-setting image, you should know that it is not […] Continue reading → 
EXPAT LIFE IN AMERICA: As much as I have tried to avoid sounding American in my own parochial way, it’s almost impossible. After seven years, there are many routine words from the local’s vocabulary that have crept into my everyday speech. Here are a few examples of common American expressions that I say frequently: Candy A very […] Continue reading → 
EXPAT LIFE: I won’t be wishing for a White Christmas this year – just a cool one. Unbelievably, for the first time since we moved here to the USA, we will be having an expat family Christmas in Australia. Yep, that’s right: a hot, sunny Christmas, where the temperatures can go so high Santa has […] Continue reading → 
EXPAT LIFE: The first hint that my Australian accent might not be ‘easy’ to understand for Americans, came on our second day here. We were in a CVS chain pharmacy, and I was searching for a cheap mobile phone. As there was nothing I could see instore, I asked a shop assistant where I could […] Continue reading → 
LIFE IN NEW JERSEY: If you haven’t read any of my other blog posts on the DMV or the NJ MVC yet, then you may be forgiven for thinking getting your NJ driver license is a shoe-in. Not to disillusion you too soon but there are many expats who could disagree. They, like myself, know from […] Continue reading → 
RELOCATION: Moving to another country nearly always requires a number of documents. No matter where you are moving to, there will always be specific important documents needed for immigration, employment, school enrolment plus others. The USA is certainly no different. If anything, moving here will possibly require more paperwork than you could even anticipate. For a […] Continue reading → 
EXPAT LIFE: My teenage son has just turned 15. This is a major milestone in his life. Sure, you could think it’s because he would be starting Year 10 at school if he was in Australia or for several other reasons. But these are not the real reasons why turning 15 is a milestone. This […] Continue reading → 
EXPAT LIFE: We’ve just returned from another home visit to Australia. It was short but still very enjoyable. As with other visits, we saw our friends and family and looked at our house in Sydney’s Inner West. Nothing seems to have changed much except for one big exception. Somewhere, somehow between this year and last […] Continue reading → 
EXPAT LIFE: What’s as American as apple pie? How about the American diner? This may be an icon in the US but even people outside of America have been absorbing diner culture since the advent of ‘Happy Days’ and the Fonz, into our living rooms, way back when. Since the late sixties, countless movies and TV […] Continue reading → 
EXPAT LIFE: Tipping in the USA has to be one of the most confusing things to deal with for the new inexperienced expat. There are no exact guidelines and it’s no exaggeration to say there is a huge amount of variety in local behaviours, traditions and practices. And here lies the difficulty. As an […] Continue reading →