Lifestyle - Expat Magazine
Whether you've been living abroad for a while or you have just arrived, if you have an expat circle of friends, then you have definitely met the following types of expats. And if there is a type you cannot quite assign to anyone, then it is probably you!
P.S: We did not need to carry a study to find this out, we have enough expats here in our Expat.com's team ;)
Numbeo has just released its list of the safest and the least safe cities in the world. Abu Dhabi, Doha, Taipei, Quebec city and Charjah in the UAE are the safest cities while Caracas, Port Moresby in New Guinea, Pietermaritzburg, Pretoria and Durban in South Africa are the least safe, Numbeo found.
But should the safety levels of a country stop you from living your expat dream? Realizing your dream expat destination is not as safe as you might have thought doesn't mean you can't still have an amazing time. It just means you have to be smarter about it.
Read on for some helpful tips on how to settle in and stay safe after you've moved.
When we think of “moving abroad”, we often think of living the big life in a big city. There does not even seem to be a need to explain why moving to a big city would make sense. Everything is just easier in a big city. In small towns, everything is more complicated. Do the residents themselves not “go up to the city?” But, far from the clichés, small towns have many advantages.
New year, new decade. Time for some change, something fresh and new. Have you decided to relocate this year? Or have you, finally, decided to learn the language of your host country? Here are what the expats we have contacted have said…
In many places around the world, the holiday season is an opportunity to share good times with family and friends. However, each country has its own peculiarities! Here are some traditions that make Christmas and New Year's Day super exciting...
No matter where expats are, they are always striving to go home for Christmas. Afterall, nothing beats being with family and friends during the holidays. Airfares are the most expensive during the time and the holiday rush is enough to drive anyone crazy yet home is still the best place to spend Christmas.
One of the worst times of the year to buy tickets for a flight is around Christmas. Ticket prices usually hike up to three times as much as its regular rate. This is because there is usually a mad rush for travelers around the world to get home in time for the festive season. While some expats have no problem shelling out that much for tickets just to go home, some ride out the Christmas rush and wait until the peak passes instead. This means traveling on Christmas or New Year's day itself.
Music makes the season even merrier no matter where you are from the world. It has the ability to spread the festive cheer and make anyone's mood instantly lighter. We looked into various songs from different nations around the world to check out the famous Christmas songs.
Some countries in the world do not celebrate Christmas such as those in the Middle East. Such countries are Saudi Arabia, Oman, United Arab Emirates and the rest of the Gulf States. Other non-Arab countries that do not celebrate Christmas are: Mongolia, China and Brunei. However, these countries are also most frequented by expats from all over the world. While some countries are stricter than others, a number of these are also receptive of Christmas celebrations.
Christmas is a season where expats feel the blues the most. The nostalgia of spending the season surrounded by family and friends, reliving traditions passed on from one generation to another, gift giving and the sumptuous food on the table are all enough for one to go mad when away from home. Unfortunately, sometimes expats have to stay in their host countries over the holidays. But who says this means you cannot offer presents to your loved ones?
In this feature we interview a first time expat, Mary Christianne who recently made a big move from Manila, Philippines to Pennsylvania, United States. In our Expat.com interview with her, she talks about how it is spending the holidays alone for the first time in her twenty plus years in life, her plans for the holidays and how she will cope with being away from home this Christmas.
Food has always been one of the most important and most common means of exchange between people. It is a never-ending trend as it borders between necessity and pleasure. Food represents comfort and a moment of happiness, as some even say that “love comes through the stomach”. Our fond memories of tastes and smell enable us to travel through time and space and to feel what we felt in one moment of bliss.
Denmark has just launched a six-month programme to help expatriates integrate. Indeed, leaving everything behind to settle in an entirely new country is never an easy thing to do. Just like Denmark, some countries seek to make things a little easier on expats by providing them with integration courses. Here are the countries that do and the different forms these programs take.
France
Lyon is France's oldest and second largest city, a leading silk producer in Europe and was also known for its printing presses and mercantilism. To this day, this French city is still a financial and business hub as recognized by Arthur Loyd Law Firm when it ranked it top most attractive city in France for the third year in a row. For expats searching for a place to settle, Lyon is an excellent option to work and reside.
Canada
Recent developments suggest that Canada has not only already established itself as another Silicon Valley but is actually also promoted and acknowledged by major technical giants as a good alternative to the existing Silicon Valley in the USA.
Turn on a television, open a newspaper, click on social media and it feels as though everyone is talking about terrorism. As the Institute for Economics & Peace releases its Global Terrorism Index 2019, we take stock of the situation and we ask the question: “Should the prospect of terrorism deter anyone from settling abroad?”
Moving to a new place can be stressful. Juggling between a new job, the feelings of homesickness, a -sometimes difficult- integration to a new environment. Here are a few tips on how to take care of your mental health.
Studying abroad is not only fun, it also promotes personal growth like no other experience does. It is more and more common for young people to study outside of their country of birth or the country where they have completed their primary and secondary studies. While there has been a democratisation, there is still a perception that studying abroad is a “rich people's thing”. Expat.com attempts to bust this myth.
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