A Matter of Choice

This week for Flashback Friday I'm handing you over to my Mum, as she shares her Childhood Christmas memories. As a child on Christmas morning, my presents would always be at the bottom of my bed  in a pillowcase. If I woke up during the night, I would chose  one of the presents to open  and snuggle down in bed again till the morning, although I wanted to open them all, I  would have hated to have nothing to  open when I got up. I always had a selection box, normally books or games from my Aunts and Uncles, things that could be made or drawn and usually  something doll related.  My Dad was always the last to open his presents and  did so with the use of his penknife. In memory of those days every  Christmas Dad’s penknife is still put on the unit and if it is used we always thank him.   Mum and Dad always made Christmas exciting, Chicken was always on the menu (turkey was not a traditional dish then), and to have chick...

Since I started my blog I've enjoyed reading many others. Like most people I follow those who I can relate to so since I found Mum Reinvented   I've been a big fan. As a fellow ex-pat Brit we can appreciate how annoying mosquito bites are and how rubbish BBC Entertainment is among other random conversations.  I was very excited when she kindly agreed to guest post for me and can totally agree with her subject. I'll go and be quiet now though as I'm supposed to be having a day off ....... Expat loneliness Something that nearly all expats are likely to feel in their new home country is lonely, regardless of whether they have emigrated alone or with immediate family. Wherever you move you will always be leaving behind friends and family, not to mention a life that despite perhaps you are keen to leave for whatever reason, will no doubt be very much different to the new life you will be entering into. A new country, new language, new culture, new job or possibly ad...

Even before emigrating I have always been interested in other peoples tales of travel and living an Ex-pat lifestyle, so I was very pleased when Cressida from The Book Analyst agreed to write a post about her ex-pat childhood. Out, Down Under, and Back Hi, I’m an ex-expat child – having been brought up in Brussels from aged 2 to 12, before we more or less settled ‘back’ in the UK. The year I turned twelve I went to three different secondary schools in three countries on three different continents in a year.   Actually for most of that year I managed not to be at school at all – sound good?  Not quite so good in reality. The plan was to leave Belgium, where we’d had three consecutive three year postings and return to Australia – as my father was a journalist for the ABC (the Australian version of the BBC).  We packed up the house, let the cat go live on a farm, said tearful farewells to my friends at the big international...

Today, I've got Christine, a fellow expat whose blog 'Expat Mum in Portugal' I've been reading for a while.  She has very kindly written today's guest post on a subject I can certainly relate to.  I'll hand you over... An Expat friend. When you are an expat, friendships are a little different.  People are drawn together, especially at first for support and familiarity, often meeting through other expats or expat groups and events.  Less often through work or other social places like playcentres or bars etc.  Expat friends can be quite transient, more so than friends in your home country, as they are more likely to move on, particularly if they are ‘serial expats’ or their job demands it.  Many expats I know spend a lot of time with their families, sometimes just because of the way they are, sometimes because they don’t have the social network that they had at home.  One day you can be a strong friend but once that friend moves ...