Live among other cultures!

One of the great blessings and challenges of leaving our country of origin is living with people from different cultures. However, this is not an easy task for anyone; requires patience and the ability of knowing how to respect the habits and characteristics of other people.

Challenges of an expat partner!

Contrary to what many people may think to be an expat partner has its ups and downs. Moving to another country is an adventure for the whole life. It’s scary, exciting, intimidating and inspiring in equal measure. There are ups and downs in every moment of planning, packaging and moving.

Bilingual children and the value of languages!

As I wrote in the post "raising children in another culture," raising children in another culture involves many changes and challenges for both parents and children. A frequent concern of parents is bilingualism, but not only about possible language difficulties with the use of two languages, but how to make the child or even the teenager value this new language and realize the benefits that this new language brings and the cultures it gives access to.

Family Migration: Talking about Losses!

In this week's post I continue to treat the issues concerning family migration. If you haven't seen any of the posts yet, I invite you to read old posts, ‘Third Culture Kids' and ‘Raising children in another culture. 

If like me you went to live in another country, or even have friends and relatives who went living abroad for whatever reasons, know that you're not the only one. Since the 1980s more and more men, women and whole families have left their country of origin.  The US, Canada and Japan are the most sought after countries.

World Play Week!

Altough I don't live no longer in Brazil, I keep track of events related to infancy and I'm happy with initiatives like this one. The "World Play Week" began yesterday and will end on May 28th, and it's a week of mobilization encouraged by the Aliança pela Infância no Brasil (Alliance for Childhood in Brazil) and by the partner counties.

Raising children in another culture!

As I wrote in other posts, leaving your home country involves many gains and losses. Most of these will not be so noticeable and it may take you some time to get everything in perspective. 

When a family with children, whether they are small or not, leaves its country of origin, it also affects the pros/cons and new challenges appear.

Games around the world!

Playing is fundamental during infancy because it's one of the expressive languages of the human being. It provides communication, discovery of the world, socialization and integral development.

According to Adriana Friedmann, "playing" is made of various elements: a structure (beginning, middle and end), means (how to play), purpose (why play), content (playing themes), rules, space, time, toys, partners and a ludic behaviour (actions and reactions of those who play). Historically, man always has played, but over time, the ways of playing, spaces and times to play, the playing objects and the players gradually transformed. 

So Where’s Home?

Continuing the POLH theme (I suggest reading that post), I'd like to share a short documentary by a Georgetown University student with you.

The documentary explores the different perspectives and construction of the personal identity of the so-called 'Third Culture Kids', people who have spent a significant part of their development years outside their country's culture.