Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Catherine - posted on 05/07/2013

Hi!
My name is Catherine, we are moving to Jakarta this summer again. I know what jakarta is very well, because I had worked there, but to live with a child there -it is a challenge for me. I'd love to meet new friends there, especially moms with toddlers!

Christine - posted on 01/24/2013

Hi my name is Christine, I am British and I live in Canada, Ontario. My husband is Canadian. I have been here almost 4 years now and have an 8 month old boy. So happy to find this group! I have been looking for an expat mom group for a while.

Susan De - posted on 01/10/2013

Hello from the Netherlands! My name is Susan de Vriend. I have a 4 month old daughter. My husband is Dutch and I am American. I moved to the Netherlands 4 years ago. It has been a very exciting time for us. This past year alone we got married in March and welcomed Evelijn (pronounced Eva-line) in September. I'm looking to meet more Expat Moms who live in a bi-cultural situation. I would love to hear advice on how to raise a dual citizen with two languages, how to respect each others cultures and traditions for our little girl. I am thrilled to hear from others on their experiences raising a child in a different culture and any quick tips you might have!

Tamsin - posted on 09/03/2012

Hi everybody, my name is Tamsin and I'm a SAHM living in Santiago, Chile - you can read my blog here www.mamainchile.com

Laure - posted on 05/01/2012

Hi expat moms!
My name is Laure. I'm French and I currently live in Vancouver, Canada. My two boys were born here. I absolutely love being a mom in Vancouver. But i'll admit, I sometimes find it hard to be so far from my family. And I get very jealous when I hear of my friends who get free babysitting from their family members.
I look forward to participating in this community!

Melyssa - posted on 04/15/2012

Hi there! My name is Melyssa, I'm 27 with 2 children 6 and 3. We recently moved to Mexico from the United States!

Lori - posted on 12/19/2011

Hello! I'm Lori, and Canadian who has one three year old and another to come in three weeks, we have just moved from Turkey to Belgium.
Please come by my blog- www.afamilyslife.blogspot.com and check out how we are getting on in our expat life!

Talia - posted on 11/21/2011

Hi! I'm a Brit living in America, after marrying my American husband. I have an 11yr old son called Alex, and an 8-month old daughter named Tavia, who was born here in the States.
We've been here just over 2 years now and I feel like we've settled in well, though there are definitely still things from back home in England that I miss a lot - not least my family and friends! Grateful for a place to vent and get advice :)

Barbara - posted on 05/28/2011

Hi, I'm American living in Clermont-Ferrand France with my Romanian husband. We've been here for work since 2008 and staying through 2012 maybe 2013. We have a 18 month old that was born in France!

Chérine - posted on 02/03/2011

Hi, I am Egyptian, and living in Marseille, France with my french Husband. i have a baby boy, Eric who is 4 month + 6 days now :)yeah, it is not easy to be a first time mom awy from my country and my family & freinds...anyone living in France? Marseille:Aix en provence?

Valory - posted on 01/06/2011

Hi!
I am an American living in the UK. Going on 4 years now.
We are working on my husbands visa so we can move to Florida with our 14 month old son.
I am looking forward to going back and spending time with my mom and friends.
I hope the move is the right thing for us.

Wendy - posted on 08/30/2010

My name is Wendy and I have two toddler daughters and we're hoping to move to north africa within the next year

Terralynn - posted on 08/22/2010

¸Hi there..My hubby and I are entertaining work through Armaco Saudi Arabia. Wondering if any expat moms on here are living there..We are Canadians. And I need more info on the living conditions safety etc. Cost of living is also something we were wondering about. We have 3 children. Ages 8,6, and 6month daughter. Please contact me if you can regarding this info so I can ask some questions. Im not sure where to find information. And I dont want to move there blind if you know what I mean. Im 34 and hubby is 41 age range as well

Sheila - posted on 06/29/2010

I everyone. I'm Sheila and my family just moved to Shenyang China in March and we expect to be here 7-10 years. We have a 4.5 year old son, James, and a 2.5 year old, Magdalene. As far as I have meet, we are the only Americans with small children here fromt he company my husband works for. There is a lot of expats here but most are French or German and though some speak english I don't have much in common with them, life style already being so different. The French know when they have a new family coming and are waiting with open arms. I was here for over 2 months before anyone said a word to me. Culture shock hasn't ever really hit. So much changed at once I don't have time to thing about the culture. We are not allowed to drive here so that has been a huge change. I've had just over 35 hours of Manderin lessons but haven't seen my teacher in 2 weeks now and next month will miss 6 lessons with our trip home for 2 weeks+. I'm learning to speak it okay but it's very very hard to learn and I can't say the beek follows the best route and there is so much of it I won't use and words I need that are not in the book at all. Shopping is a chore. Metro had a child run over with the fork lift so now no kids are allowed in the store. With almost everything in Chinese charaters there is no writing it down to look up later. Sometimes I take pictures to show my teacher later. Children here are in school at a very young age and school is long hours, 9 hours for the pre school age! So they don't have much activities for young kids here. No swimming lessons, no ball, no ballet, no kid TV. We did hit gold when I figured out that there is an indoors water park about 30 minutes east of town.

Katie - posted on 06/13/2010

hi i'm katie and i live in england my fiances job brought us here and i will be here for 3 years or so ... we are having our first baby in jan 2011 and he also has a two year old daughter that we will have 50% of the time... i am finding it very hard to meet new friends here and its scary ... anyone else live in the uk?

Sophia - posted on 05/28/2010

Hi. I'm Sophia. I'm British (and half-Bangladeshi). I lived in France from 1998-2002, where I met my French-Canadian partner. We moved to Australia in 2002 and have been here ever since. We now have 2 kids, Henri aged 2 and Barnaby just 4 months. Even though it's been 12 years now, being away from home only seems to get harder! Is there anyone else here who is a different nationality from their partner AND both living in a country not their own?

Laura - posted on 05/13/2010

Hi, I'm Laura and I've got a 5 year old daughter and a 3 year old son. We were in Tokyo for 2.5 years and in December 2009 we moved to Monterrey, Mexico. It's nice to be closer to home, but I still miss Tokyo and my friends there. We are in Mexico for at least 2 years, I'm thinking it will be closer to 4 though.

Tiya - posted on 05/05/2010

Hello all! My name is Tiya and I have just moved to Singapore, I have 2 kids 10yrs. and 9mths. Moved over from Bermuda and Scotland... :)

Nicole - posted on 05/04/2010

Bonjour! I am an American living in France with my Frenchie husband and my mixed-up baby girl Sabine.

Rachel - posted on 03/08/2010

How wonderful to find all of you! I'm Rachel - my husband and I are both American. We lived in Kenya and Uganda for 4 years, are in the US at the moment waiting for our next posting - maybe Indonesia? I have a 3-year old girl named Eve (born in Kenya) and a 9-month old boy named Noah (just barely born in the U.S.!). We'll be going for my work... I'd love to hear from others. It's been hard overseas, especially keeping kids safe and healthy. I have mixed feelings about going overseas again...

Krista - posted on 03/01/2010

Hi! My name is Krista and I have an 18 month old son, Christopher. I am Austrian and my husband is from California. He is about to take on an assignment in Doha, Qatar and we will be moving there with him.
I am happy to have foud this group and look forward to trade information and stories :)

Kelly - posted on 02/07/2010

Hi, I'm Kelly, im 28 and have 4 children....all boys - Lewis 10, Ryan 6, Jamie 2 & Steven 10mnths.
We moved to Cyprus 3 years ago but we are originally from Liverpool in the UK.
My hubby has a decorating business here, which is hard work but life is far less stressful here and the kids love it here and have even picked up quite a bit of greek

Sarah - posted on 09/13/2009

Hi group! My name is Sarah - we have a 6 week old little girl, Lillian. Hubs & I are Canadian, living in Townsville, Australia. We've been here for 2.5 years, and may stay another 1-3 years. It's been a pretty easy adjustment here, as we've been very lucky to meet & make friends & have decent jobs. Plus, the language barrier has been minimal - moreso a case of tuning in to the accent & learning the jargon & slang. My parents are here from Canada at the moment visiting, & I am very much enjoying the help!

Leah - posted on 09/13/2009

Hi, My name is Leah and my son Nate is 11 weeks old. We are moving to Azerbaijan in the beginning of 2010 for my husband's work. We are both American. We are excited about our new adventure, but a little sad to be leaving all of our friends and family here. H

Krista - posted on 08/13/2009

Hi, my name is Krista and my daughter Mya will be 4 months old on Aug. 22. We moved to the island of Nevis (just off St. Kitts) in the Caribbean mid July from Canada. My husband came ahead as he started working here July 1. I've traveled abroad, but have never lived outside of Canada before.

I'm feeling very disconnected from other mothers as most mothers here work from the time their children are 6 weeks old. I haven't met any other expats with children yet. Does anyone know someone living on the island of Nevis in the country of St. Kitts-Nevis?
Heather - I was a Corporate Trainer before I left Canada as well!

Sonja - posted on 08/05/2009

Hi, I´m Sonja from Finland, living in Beijing, China. I have one child Casper 5, he starts first grade at MSB (Montessori School of Beijing) this month. We have been here over 3 years and we plan to stay at least 1½ years more.

Colleen - posted on 07/06/2009

My name is Colleen. I live in Calcutta, India with my husband, Joe, and our 4 year old son, Sean. We're Americans stationed here for my husband's work and have been abroad for almost 2 years now. This is our first international assignment.

Leonor - posted on 07/05/2009

Hi! My name is Leonor and I have an 8 yr old daughter, Krystina. We just moved to Mexico City from Texas last week because of my husband's job. Looks like we will be living here a minimum of 2 yrs but possibly up to 4. Anyone else in Mexico City?????

Kylie - posted on 06/23/2009

Hi, I'm Kylie and have 1 child, Charlie, 22 months, and a husband, Jeff. We are moving to Madagascar this week. I am so happy to have found this site!

Mabel - posted on 05/17/2009

Don't know if this counts because I'm about to have our first in less than 3 months.

I'm Mabel, Malaysian and currently living in Neuchatel, Switzerland. Have been here since February 2008 with my French hubby. So far, the only Malaysians I ever meet are in Zurich or somewhere else. When I first moved to Switzerland, I had a pretty tough time adjusting - no job (I went from being a university lecturer to a stay-at-home wife with pressure from family to get a job and such in a 30K populated town), language difference, sucky food (sorry) and all that.

But safe to say, I'm adjusting pretty well and am looking forward to having my baby. To be honest, I don't really fancy going back to Asia for a number of reasons. :P Yes, I'm weird - everyone seems to miss family and friends. Me? I miss the food more!!!!

Rachel - posted on 03/26/2009

Hi, I'm Rachel, British and living in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. I've lived here for 13 yrs and been married to my Egyptian husband for 5 yrs, we have 3 boys aged 4, 3 and nearly 2. I miss home more as I get older but seems like we are here for life! Anyone else from Riyadh here, I will start up a Riyadh Mum's group if I don't come across one.

Sarale - posted on 03/14/2009

Quoting Jennifer :

I am finding it extremely hard to be away from my family, friends and the familiar. I feel like everyone is missing out on knowing my daughter and that she's missing out on knowing them. It is challenging living in a culture with different ideas than one's own.

Hi:

I am a Brit who has been living in America for about 9 years.  I have always found it difficult but it seems so much worse now I have a baby (born 5/5/08)

Margaret - posted on 03/12/2009

Hi, I'm Margaret, and I have been rotating in and out of Canada for the last 17 years. My first son was 8 months old when we moved to Moscow, and now he is graduating high school in Kyiv. Our second son was also born in Canada on medical leave, and he will be moving on with us to Cairo this summer while his brother enters university.

Living in strange places has drawn our family closer together, and we have seen places that we would not have seen if we had not been living outside Canada.

Anastasia - posted on 03/12/2009

Hello ladies! My name is Anastasia. I am Russian, my husband is American. Our home is in Maryland, but we are in Jakarta, Indonesia. We have been here for almost 3 months and will be staying for 2 years. We have an 8 year old daughter named Anna. Nice to meet you all!!

Morag - posted on 03/04/2009

Hello, I'm Morag. I'm British but live in Spain. Married to a Finn. I have two daughters, 9 years and the youngest is 13months. I had my eldest in the UK and my youngest in Spain so have experienced having kids in two different countries, which is extremely interesting to say the least. Despite speaking fluent Spanish, I lost this ability when in labour even though I understood it.

We've been here 6 years now and have no plans to move back. Besides it would be like moving to another country. My girls are more Spanish than English, and all my family live here now anyway.

Mariclare - posted on 03/02/2009

Hello, I'm Mariclare. I'm Irish, living in Bali, Indonesia with my husband and two kids aged 10 and 8. We've been in Indonesia since 1995 and are here indefinitely. Its nice to meet all of you :)

Monica - posted on 02/27/2009

Hello. I'm Monica - I'm an American living in Thailand. We've been here for the past year and hope to be here for many more years. We have a 14 year old, a 12 year old and a 9 yr old.

Heather - posted on 02/26/2009

Hi everyone! Sorry I haven't checked in for a while! I was amazed when I saw how many new people have joined! Welcome! I just love reading all of your stories. We must be one of the most international groups on the web. Please feel free to start new discussions on the discussion board if you have any questions or concerns about living abroad. I'm sure someone in this group will be able to relate to you and help you out. I'm honored to be among so many amazing ladies! Looking forward to getting to know you all better. All the best, Heather

Lauren - posted on 02/20/2009

Hi! I'm Lauren...I immigrated to Canada 6 years ago when I married a Canadian. I'm originally from Scotland. I have a 3 month old baby boy. I was so happy to find this group!

Sara - posted on 02/20/2009

Hi, I'm Sara, single mother to son Clay, age 9.  We are long-term American expats living in Beijing.  I'd love to meet other moms in Beijing and offer advice to moms here who are less familiar with Chinese culture with regard to child-rearing issues.  Cheers.

Margarita - posted on 02/18/2009

Hi Girls! I'm Margarita! I'm half Russian and half Italia, grew up and lived most of my life in UK and 5 years ago we moved to South Africa and then to Ghana (West Africa). My husband is half Ghanaian and half South African. I have a little boy Oliver who will be 3 in June and expecting a second baby in July this year. Look forward to meeting you all!

Iris - posted on 02/05/2009

Hi Regina! I suppose you are in the south, right? We live in Meppel, which is 15 min north of Zwolle.

Anonymous - posted on 02/05/2009

Hello, my husband is in the AF and we are in the Netherlands. We have a 1yr old son and thinking about another. We are here for 4yrs and love it so far. Just a little isolating being so far from all my family and friends.



where are you at Iris? I see you're in holland as well

Kim - posted on 02/04/2009

Hello! I'm Kim, 44, married to Manzoor, 46. We have 6 children between us - 4 boys, 2 girls. My husband's kids are Abraham, 23, and Tahira, 19. Mine are Bob, 21, Chelsea, 19, Edward, 14, and Aaron, 9. We are moving from the US to India next month. My husband is from Kashmir, where he has his entire (huge) family, and businesses in import/export and tourism both there and in Delhi. I cannot wait! But the hassle of moving overseas is quite the ordeal, what with the Visa requirements and parental consent from the ex to move abroad. But it's coming together. Glad to find a group of expat moms!

Iris - posted on 02/03/2009

Hi everyone. I'm Iris, 29, have 3 girls: Anna (4 1/2), Julia (3) and Eva (15 months). Although I am Dutch, my parents moved to the US when I was baby. I came to Holland when I graduated college for what was supposed to be a year, met my husband, and have been here for 8 1/2 years now. Although I have extended family in Holland, the rest is still in the States and I miss being able to see them on a regular basis. If the opportunity ever came we would love to have a chance to live there.

Joanne - posted on 02/02/2009

I'm Joanne, a Canadian living in Milan with my Italian husband and our bi-cultural 9 year old son.  I work as a translator blog about food at http://muchadoaboutpictures.wordpress.co....

I came to Italy just out of college to experience a different lifestyle before taking on the world and ended up a permanent fixture!

Lorry - posted on 01/15/2009

Cool to see all the Danish connections!  No, I haven't had any classes yet but I have been picking up a bit of the language here and there.  I can kinda trudge through some news articles and things, but it feels very slow-going.  I found out I was pregnant about a week before I had my CPR number, and my pregnancy was awful, so it just wasn't a good time for classes.  And of course now I have a baby!  I just found out there are e-learning courses near me, and I'd only have to go in every other Saturday so I will be signing up for that soon.  I am still nervous about having to pump and leave my munchkin for several hours, but I really do have to take these classes!  Otherwise I will be denied permanent residency when the time comes for that (plus I think it drives my in-laws nuts – their English is only marginally better than my Danish).

Rebecca - posted on 01/13/2009

Hi, I'm an Australian living in Thousand Oaks, California. My husband is American and grew up just 20 minutes from where we live. We have 2 children 5 and 3. My husband comes from a large family and a lot of them are pretty local, yet we only seem to see them for a few holidays each year.

I miss not having my mum and dad around, and all my siblings. I also wish my kids could get to know their cousins, aunts and uncles more. We have been back 3 times with the kids but they were young. The oldest remembers a lot from the last trip but his little sister is not so sure.

We are here for at least another 15 years (when my husband can retire from his federal job). So I am working on trying to get back home for a month each year. As our oldest is now in kindergarten I have to learn to spell in American and can no longer just rely on the spell checker on my computer. I wish that I could stay at home with our kids like my friends and family in Australia.

Lesley - posted on 01/12/2009

Hi, I'm an American living in Toulouse, France. I have 3 children...12, 9, 7, 11 months. We've been here for 3 years, my children have adopted the language quite easily..another story for me but I am working hard! My husband is French and we have his family nearby...he travels during the week, so I bombard him with English on the weekends! Glad to be here to get my English fix and hear from others far from home!

Gail - posted on 12/18/2008

Hi Everyone!

I'm Gail, mother to 2-year-old Atreyu. Believe it or not, his father is Danish (Steffensen.) Are there enough Danes on this board? :-)

I'm from NYC but live in Prague. I hardly feel like an expat anymore as it's been 6 years and I'm pretty well-assimilated but I never felt as out of touch with home as I did during my pregnancy. So many little things - craving Saltines for morning sickness (no crackers here), wanting to name my son something strange (name had to be approved), happy being a working mom (frowned upon to not accept the 3 YEAR[!!!] maternity leave) etc.

Now he's in school and despite speaking decent Czech I have to learn all the child vocabulary. After all, Czech cows dont say "moo." Then again, neither do Danish ones :-)