Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
Last week a neighbor popped over to give my children the toys she had earned through her grocery store purchases. That gesture, entirely mundane and unremarkable...
Category: Culture Shock
The Opportunity of Opposites
My pasty white skin and blonde hair stand out wherever I go. People constantly tell me my blue eyes remind them of a cat’s. I have five kids, which...
Yellow Shirts and Wobbly Knees {The Grove: Welcome to Culture Shock}
I always thought choosing what color I’d wear was an individual right of sorts. I could choose according to my mood, my preferences, my style. But...
Laughing in the Face of Culture Shock (and a giveaway!)
“Culture shock is rarely terminal." Seven years ago we pasted this Paul Hiebert quote on our concrete wall in Cambodia, right next to silly photos of...
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Then and Now: Lessons Learned With Culture Shock + Little Lemonies
We just re-entered our host country a few weeks ago after a year-long home assignment (our longest one in almost 9 years). I knew there would be some culture...
Stewarding Yourself During Change
I feel like a farce. I am attempting to write an article on stewarding ourselves well. But as I write, my life is nothing close to an acrobat gracefully...
12 Days of Expat Life
The first week of January, I gave my kids the option of putting the Christmas tree away with me or leaving it up 2 more days, then I would put...
Fitting In and Standing Out In a New Culture
How often have you heard the words “cultural differences” or “culture shock” since you moved? I bet it’s a lot, because – and I try to say this without any...
Healing Humor Only Heaven Could Deliver
“Do you care if we have to steal something?” This was the question my neighbor asked me one night at ten p.m. when our bathroom pipe had burst, water...
Overcoming My American Self
There are so many things my American self had to get over living overseas. So many. So many times I had to...
