First of all just wanted to say how much I enjoyed your last podcast discussing boarding schools. When you were talking about how Kirsty’s daughter led such a sheltered life in Qatar I was thinking hmmm, that wasn’t what it was like for me. And then I realised probably because I went to boarding school when I was 13! I was very independent from then on, we used to roam the streets of Caracas at night (not at 13 – when I was 17/18) get lifts from strangers…my poor mum used to be waiting up for me when I got home after midnight and I couldn’t work out why she was worried! So be prepared for that too – she might become just a little TOO independent for your liking 😉
Secondly, Kirsty I sent you the details for my book the Expat Partner’s Survival Guide to your other account (kirstyrice online) along with a gift card so you could purchase it if you wished to review it. However I can’t tell whether that was ever received or not! Apologies if it has been – and also if you have got it but don’t want to review it that’s fne too. I just wanted to make sure you were aware that I had sent it…..
Just listened to one of your podcasts and loved it! I’ve been an expat in 4 countries over the last 20 years and am about to embark on my next, and possibly most difficult, international move. I’m sure your podcast will help to keep me going and add a little humour too. Keep on recording! Px
NZ. It’s a semi-repatriation! My hubby’s a kiwi and our kids are half kiwi, we have property and a business there, but I’ve never actually lived there. Also, moving alone initially with 2 reluctant teenagers! Wish me luck!
Nikki
I know a couple who live in Bagara. Barbara is into golf and Rod is into Sea Rescue. They moved there a few years ago. I might be able to arrange an intro for you through his local relatives. Not sure I can guarantee it but it might be a toe in for you.
(BTW I have been listening to the podcast for ages, having once been an expat.)
Hi, I just tried to leave a voice message but I get all tongue tied and sound terrible! So written message it is!
SO, the new format…I love it. First show sounded a bit scripted though so it was nice to hear this second episode you sounding more chatty and personable again. I always relate to Kirsty’s discussion regarding her girls at boarding school because I also have two girls back in Australia in boarding school. Except for me, that means I don’t have any left at home so we have entered empty nest syndrome sooner that I ever expected. That’s a whole other story. It always makes me feel better to hear that other expats kids also have struggles in boarding school – not in a horrible way but in a “thank god it’s not only my kids and maybe it is not so bad after all”. Kirsty saying how her daughter was begging to come back to Doha……I will never forget the day my girls started at the boarding school. I was hanging around to sort out their uniforms etc and when they came back for lunch my youngest daughter was a blithering mess. Bawling her eyes out, rocking backwards and forwards and saying over and over “I can’t do this, I can’t do this. Take me home, please Mum just take me home. I don’t fit in here”. It just ripped my heart out. It has been a rollercoaster of a year last year and we are still struggling this year. My eldest daughter, who is the one that we thought we would have trouble with, has actually settled in really well but my youngest still has her issues. She says that the oldest one was always a bit Australian and that’s why she struggled overseas but fits in back in Australia, whereas she feels that she is more of an expat and does not fit in with the way Australians think and act. So she is constantly calling with ideas of how to get out of the situation – giving options of different schools, in different countries (!) or home schooling. I’m not sure if that means being an expat has made her adaptable and resourceful or shown her that if things don’t work out in one place you just move onto the next! After six school moves and her now being in Year 11 it is hard to know what to do. It’s all very stressful! Anyway, moral of the story is that it is good to know that a lot of kids seem to have similar issues. And like Kirsty’s girls, they NEVER talk about their expat life. They think it makes them seem different and that is the LAST thing they want.
I look forward to your podcasts. Love them all. From tips on other podcasts to listen to and TV shows to watch, to the stories from other expats. Just love everything. So don’t stop. 🙂
Hi Janine, thank you for your message and your voice message, thank you so much for listening. Your story about your daughters resonates as well, especially after our most recent episode. Good luck with following the right outcome for your family. Nikki x
A bit behind on the podcast – but could so relate to the episode talking about Skype and kids and it just not working with relatives. When we were expats in Singapore, I wanted my elementary aged kids to have a relationship with their grandparents (all four were in their 80s) and Skype just didn’t work for so many reasons. I ended up going out and buying Singapore postcards (and others from our travels) and would have the kids write a quick postcard to their grandparents every few weeks (and they learned how to address them too:) ). Both sets of grandparents have now passed away and when cleaning out their houses, we found many of the old postcards saved and it was comforting to us and a bit of fun too to go back and read the postcards and see that both set of grandparents had saved them too. We found it was a great way to stay connected and at my mother in laws memorial service, one women came up to me and told her how my mother in law would bring each new postcard to their bridge game and how they all loved following our adventures. It wasn’t easy to always get the kids to sit down and write a few things about their week, but so worth it and much better then the before and after Skype lectures about their behavior! 🙂
Hi Jeanne, Kirsty here – beautiful story, loved it. Hope it’s okay if I mention this week on the podcast, such a gorgeous reminder that it doesn’t have to be huge to be meaningful. xxx
12 Comments
Clara Wiggins
Hi Kirsty and Sarah
First of all just wanted to say how much I enjoyed your last podcast discussing boarding schools. When you were talking about how Kirsty’s daughter led such a sheltered life in Qatar I was thinking hmmm, that wasn’t what it was like for me. And then I realised probably because I went to boarding school when I was 13! I was very independent from then on, we used to roam the streets of Caracas at night (not at 13 – when I was 17/18) get lifts from strangers…my poor mum used to be waiting up for me when I got home after midnight and I couldn’t work out why she was worried! So be prepared for that too – she might become just a little TOO independent for your liking 😉
Secondly, Kirsty I sent you the details for my book the Expat Partner’s Survival Guide to your other account (kirstyrice online) along with a gift card so you could purchase it if you wished to review it. However I can’t tell whether that was ever received or not! Apologies if it has been – and also if you have got it but don’t want to review it that’s fne too. I just wanted to make sure you were aware that I had sent it…..
Thanks and best wishes,
Clara
P
Just listened to one of your podcasts and loved it! I’ve been an expat in 4 countries over the last 20 years and am about to embark on my next, and possibly most difficult, international move. I’m sure your podcast will help to keep me going and add a little humour too. Keep on recording! Px
Sarah Derrig
Thanks so much for listening. Where is your next move? Good luck with it all. Sarah x
P
NZ. It’s a semi-repatriation! My hubby’s a kiwi and our kids are half kiwi, we have property and a business there, but I’ve never actually lived there. Also, moving alone initially with 2 reluctant teenagers! Wish me luck!
Wendy
Awesome ladies, I am in the process of tweeting, pinning and sharing any way I can. Fantastic podcasts!!
Louise
Nicki you are a great addition to the podcast. I can’t believe you were nervous! Ladies you are sounding like Sales and Crabbe….high praise indeed!
Nikki Moffitt
You are so kind Louise. That is high praise indeed. Nikki x
Marg
Nikki
I know a couple who live in Bagara. Barbara is into golf and Rod is into Sea Rescue. They moved there a few years ago. I might be able to arrange an intro for you through his local relatives. Not sure I can guarantee it but it might be a toe in for you.
(BTW I have been listening to the podcast for ages, having once been an expat.)
Janine
Hi, I just tried to leave a voice message but I get all tongue tied and sound terrible! So written message it is!
SO, the new format…I love it. First show sounded a bit scripted though so it was nice to hear this second episode you sounding more chatty and personable again. I always relate to Kirsty’s discussion regarding her girls at boarding school because I also have two girls back in Australia in boarding school. Except for me, that means I don’t have any left at home so we have entered empty nest syndrome sooner that I ever expected. That’s a whole other story. It always makes me feel better to hear that other expats kids also have struggles in boarding school – not in a horrible way but in a “thank god it’s not only my kids and maybe it is not so bad after all”. Kirsty saying how her daughter was begging to come back to Doha……I will never forget the day my girls started at the boarding school. I was hanging around to sort out their uniforms etc and when they came back for lunch my youngest daughter was a blithering mess. Bawling her eyes out, rocking backwards and forwards and saying over and over “I can’t do this, I can’t do this. Take me home, please Mum just take me home. I don’t fit in here”. It just ripped my heart out. It has been a rollercoaster of a year last year and we are still struggling this year. My eldest daughter, who is the one that we thought we would have trouble with, has actually settled in really well but my youngest still has her issues. She says that the oldest one was always a bit Australian and that’s why she struggled overseas but fits in back in Australia, whereas she feels that she is more of an expat and does not fit in with the way Australians think and act. So she is constantly calling with ideas of how to get out of the situation – giving options of different schools, in different countries (!) or home schooling. I’m not sure if that means being an expat has made her adaptable and resourceful or shown her that if things don’t work out in one place you just move onto the next! After six school moves and her now being in Year 11 it is hard to know what to do. It’s all very stressful! Anyway, moral of the story is that it is good to know that a lot of kids seem to have similar issues. And like Kirsty’s girls, they NEVER talk about their expat life. They think it makes them seem different and that is the LAST thing they want.
I look forward to your podcasts. Love them all. From tips on other podcasts to listen to and TV shows to watch, to the stories from other expats. Just love everything. So don’t stop. 🙂
Nikki Moffitt
Hi Janine, thank you for your message and your voice message, thank you so much for listening. Your story about your daughters resonates as well, especially after our most recent episode. Good luck with following the right outcome for your family. Nikki x
Jeanne
A bit behind on the podcast – but could so relate to the episode talking about Skype and kids and it just not working with relatives. When we were expats in Singapore, I wanted my elementary aged kids to have a relationship with their grandparents (all four were in their 80s) and Skype just didn’t work for so many reasons. I ended up going out and buying Singapore postcards (and others from our travels) and would have the kids write a quick postcard to their grandparents every few weeks (and they learned how to address them too:) ). Both sets of grandparents have now passed away and when cleaning out their houses, we found many of the old postcards saved and it was comforting to us and a bit of fun too to go back and read the postcards and see that both set of grandparents had saved them too. We found it was a great way to stay connected and at my mother in laws memorial service, one women came up to me and told her how my mother in law would bring each new postcard to their bridge game and how they all loved following our adventures. It wasn’t easy to always get the kids to sit down and write a few things about their week, but so worth it and much better then the before and after Skype lectures about their behavior! 🙂
kirsty@shamozal.com
Hi Jeanne, Kirsty here – beautiful story, loved it. Hope it’s okay if I mention this week on the podcast, such a gorgeous reminder that it doesn’t have to be huge to be meaningful. xxx