EXPAT LIFE

Tips for wives- how to survive and thrive living abroad

Most of people tend to think that expat wives spend all their days shopping, attending coffee mornings, expensive golf lessons and shopping for little pricey black dresses for dull evening receptions where they will sit bored, play Stepford Wives and exchange small talks with people that would normally never choose to socialize with.

However, life is much different than it appears from the outside. And-as the author of the very intelligent and funny book "Diplomatic Baggage", Brigit Keenan said-"The fact is that no one understands expat wife life except another expat wife ."

Careers on hold

Changing countries and meeting new people certainly has a lot of appeal and the advantages but every new move bring a lot of stress - becoming a housewife after putting their careers on hold to accompany their husbands abroad, exhausting search for schools, apartment, managing unpacked boxes, adjusting to the fact that from now on English is their only way of communication and everyone expects them to speak a perfect language and laugh and tell jokes on it, finding the friends and company all over again to replace the gap that occurred once they left the family and friends back home. Most of them feel dislocated and frustrated after an international move.

Moving to a new country is never easy. Sure, there might be some fabulous moments, but overall, statistics show that you are likely to experience a bit of a rollercoaster ride as an expat - with very high highs, and very low lows. This is normal. Culture shock is a very genuine emotion and few expats escape some level of culture shock abroad. It could be called a "transition shock" instead of "culture shock," because it includes so many more challenges than just culture -mainly searching for personal identity!

Ornela Prskalo, CDC Columnist on expat life in Croatia

Making the best out of new role

Some of them choose to do away with negativity - they hate the country where no one is speaking their language, where is colder of hotter then back home, they hate a local food without trying it properly, everything goes to their nerves - from radio station in local language that plays in their car on the way to school to the fact that local shops are far away from Harrods or Bloomingdale. They don't mix with locals, they refuse to try and learn the language, they are cautious about inviting people to their homes. However, negativity is never useful -only counter-productive - people who choose to live away from home with these attitude often end up with depression, broken marriage or spread the negative vibration on the next place they move.

The other group tries to stay positive. They decide to make the best out of their new role and become great mums, supportive wife's and good friends. They land in new country, dust themselves off and try new things - learn a new language, travel around the new country with their spouses and family, use local markets and local transport , develop new interests and hobbies, mix with locals, meet new and positive people, find charity organization and devote some of their time to serve them, enroll themselves to international women clubs and similar. It is not necessary that ones are better persons than others, it is just the fact that each person cope in their own way with anything in life and moving abroad is no difference to any other experience in their life. However, a positive approach helps and, without doubts, could seriously change the perception of the country you are living from hell to paradise.

International Women's club Zagreb
1st floor of Sheraton Hotel, Kneza Borne 2, Zagreb
Internet : http://www.iwcz.hr/
Phone : 461 1660
Fax : 461 0143
http://www.internations.org/expats/guide/croatia/zagreb

Socialising/Expats in Zagreb:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&gid=41415719768

Charity opportunities in Croatia:

Volunteer centre Zagreb; http://www.vcz.hr/english-info/
SOS children village Croatia: http://www.sos-dsh.hr/en/
Hrvatski Caritas: http://humanitarne-organizacije.croinfo.org/zagreb/hrvatski-caritas/english
Croatian Red Cross Society: http://www.hck.hr/?path=en

Croatian Language Classes
If you are looking to study Croatian, many local universities offer summer schools and short courses, including the University of Zagreb.
Croatian Language School
(020 8948 5771, www.easycroatian.com.)
UK-based company that offers semester-long tuition in Ealing, London, plus immersion courses in Zagreb and Lošinj.
University of Zagreb
Trg maršala Tita 14 (01 45 64 111, www.unizg.hr).
Month-long summer courses for three level