Lifestyle - Expat Magazine
Arrived in autumn 2021, amidst the pandemic, Hanna Lindl, from Germany, shares her experience as a physics intern living in Madrid. Besides the blue sky, she tells what are the pros and cons of being an expatriate during the Covid-19 pandemic, gives some advice and more!
The pandemic has impacted expats with international partners, as travel restrictions imposed long-distance relationships for many of them. Being apart led some couples to end their relationship or to strengthen by managing to see each other through digital tools and social media. Australia and New Zealand were some of the most strict countries in terms of Covid-19 travelling measures to control the disease. Now they are opening their borders between them and for expats overseas, and couples feel relief.
Germany
Germany's approach to contracts is known for being un-customer-friendly. It usually takes consumers three months to be able to cancel services, for example. But, the German Federal Parliament, Bundestag, has passed through a new law that seeks to reduce minimum contract terms and shorten notice periods to facilitate consumers' lives.
Australia
Expats living on the Southern Australia coast must be very scared. The New South Wales coast has been hit by dangerous weather with heavy rains and strong winds in the last week leading to severe floods on the Australian coast. The Bureau of Meteorology in Australia has expanded its warning zone for towns and communities, stretching Coffs Harbour south towards the Victorian border. The NSW State Emergency Service has warned of dangerous conditions and asked for evacuation at large parts of the coastline, including Sydney.
Alicia has lived in different countries on different continents and had a taste of different working cultures -- which made her realize that she needed to work towards something more meaningful. She has always had a passion for couture, so she decided to earn a living from it. Now an expat in Barcelona, she talks to Expat.com about her journey and the challenges of being an entrepreneur in a new country, especially when you don't speak the language perfectly.
When companies send their employees abroad, it is usually still the men who are asked for these projects. Despite ubiquitous discussions, it is still mostly women who leave their own job and follow their partner abroad for his job.
Most countries currently have their borders open to people vaccinated against Covid-19. To contain and fight the pandemic, they also require quarantine, PCR tests, tracing applications, health declaration, etc. Still, no country is safe from another epidemic outbreak - which is why other vaccines (against hepatitis, rabies, etc.) remain essential for travellers.
Thursday, February 24, 2022, will be a memorable day for Ukraine and the rest of the world. Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa and Dnipro are attacked by the Russian military forces. The Russian president decided to ignore the warnings of the UN Security Council (convened to resolve the crisis between Ukraine and Russia) and announced the beginning of a military operation while the Ukrainian president called for peace. The rest of Europe condemn an unfair war started by Russia. Locals and expatriates in Ukraine are plunged into uncertainty and fear. One week has gone by, and the population prays for peace. Here are some testimonies from members of the Expat.com community.
New Zealand is reopening its borders to international travellers but in five stages. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern presented the reopening plan on February 3. So who can now travel to New Zealand, and under what conditions? When will expats be allowed into the country?
Love is one of the strongest feelings in the world. It is a game where heroes show that they are stronger than time, distance and adversity. This occurs every day, even if we don't know it, but now it happened on a large scale as a consequence of the pandemic. The closed borders and the difficulties to see our loved ones made this situation almost unbearable for many, but the protagonists in this story, nothing less than heroes, work hard to overcome the difficulties and are here with their valuable testimonies.
Netherlands
Originally from the Netherlands, Angelique had been an expat in Belgium since 2008 until she moved to Taiwan in 2017. As her husband's two-year contract was renewed, she stayed for two more years until August 2021 when they finally moved back to their home country. She talks to us about the challenges of returning home, especially amid the pandemic, and the positive side of it.
Are Ukraine and Russia about to go to war? While countries like Britain have urged their citizens to leave these countries and U.S embassies have pulled their non-essential staff out of the country, expats currently in Russia and Ukraine are either choosing to fly home or staying put while waiting for further information. Russian and Ukrainian expats around the world are also holding their breaths.
An ultimate weapon to constrain countries, embargoes affect all spheres of the economy. While most negotiations are done between central economic and political authorities, little consideration is given to the population, including expatriates. Yet, they are direct victims of these measures that often result in a lack of resources, shortage of raw materials, medical emergencies, insecurity, etc.
"Expatriate", "immigrant", "migrant". These words are intriguing for foreigners who live abroad for various reasons: crises – migratory, economic, political – adding more tensions. How do we define an expat and an immigrant? What about those who have moved abroad indefinitely? And why is this topic debated with such passion?
The coronavirus pandemic has impacted expats lives around the globe, and it still has implications on the plans of people who are planning to move abroad. If travel conditions and visa processes were not very fun, it can currently cause a lot of distress and even make some give up on their plans. Still, there are things to consider before moving abroad during the pandemic.
January 20, 2021-January 20, 2022. Since Joe Biden swore in as the new President of the United States, he has faced a lot of challenges, both nationally and internationally. Trump protested against the results and had his supporters' back. After the invasion of the Capitol, Joe Biden promised to reunite Americans. Today, Biden has engaged to unravel Trump policies, bring the population together, revive the economy, among others. While his ambitions are high, the opposition is strong too. Add to that a never-ending pandemic, inflation, etc. What should expats expect from Biden for 2022?
Although the Omicron variant is still strongly present, particularly in Europe, and a "BA.2" sub-variant is spreading like wildfire, many countries are gradually shifting to a new normal by lifting their restrictions in an attempt to revive their economies. In Denmark and England, there are almost no restrictions, while in Quebec and France, many of them no longer apply. However, scientists doubt whether now is the right time to drop the mask obligation. What are these countries strategies to fight Covid in 2022?
For decades, societies have conveyed the image of women as trailing spouses, but things are changing worldwide. More and more women are travelling and moving abroad alone, as a couple, as a family. Indeed, women no longer have to hide their ambitions in a patriarchal world. Today, more and more men are encouraging their spouses to follow their dreams and careers, sacrificing theirs. Who are these men, and how do they get along with their new role as trailing spouses?
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