Expats in Austin

Expatriate parents face special challenges, in addition to all the normal challenges of parenthood.

Culture, family history, extended family, languages, religion, values, and principles, all are taken for granted in our home country.  But expatriates often find themselves reexamining and questioning virtually one of these issues, and parents even more so.

What IS culture, anyway?  
Is it a group and social concept?  Or is it an individual choice?  

Is it something we carry with us?  Does it change as we move across borders and through time and space?  Or is it a foundation that never - ever - changes?

Csilla Somogyi comes to grips with these questions and more.

https://www.csillawear.com/

Want to start a business? 
Are you afraid that - as a foreigner - the hurdles are too high and too many?

Meet Marco Silvestrini.  He, his sister, Francesca, and her fiancé, Leo, are co-founders of Dolce Neve Gelato of Austin.  

His story will give you useful tips and information to help you realize your dream.
https://www.dolcenevegelato.com

Green Card? Employment Visa? Temporary? Permanent?
I thought I knew what I knew.  After all, I have extensive personal experience with several "Green Cards".   
I was extremely surprised: I knew virtually nothing.
Jason Finkelman opened my eyes.  Immigration to the United States is complex.  It can be very expensive, too, especially if you don't know what you are doing. 
Regardless of your reasons, resources, or knowledge, your first step should always be to speak with an Immigration Attorney.

Helpful links:
start here: the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services https://www.uscis.gov/
For some statistics,  click here: https://fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/R45938.pdf
To speak with Jason Finkelman, click here: https://www.finkelmanlaw.com/

Why make the Expats In Austin Podcast?
Why me?
Why now?
Are you an expatriate?  Do you live in Austin, Texas?
As outsiders, as expatriates, we have a special paradigm.  Our points of view of our home country, as well as of our adopted country, are nuanced in ways only an expatriate can understand. 
These unique observations and opinions are extremely valuable, especially now.
Here are some of my more obvious favorite Austinites:
Richard Linklater http://www.detourfilm.com
Matthew McConaughey https://greenlights.com/
Willie Nelson https://willienelson.com/

What is an "expatriate" really?
What was your relocation process like?  If you did not have a Destination Service Consultant like Anna, it was probably, well... a bit "difficult". 
Just what is a Destination Service Consultant?
What is the first thing you should do before you even start packing?
What is the one thing you must do after you arrive?
Got a strange question?  I bet Anna has already heard it and answered it.

Anna Zieleniewska
Destination Service Consultant
+1 512-920-8927
[email protected]

https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/mckinney-falls

Expatriates are unique.  Austin is unique.  
We meet the very special people from around the world who have chosen to leave their country and live here, in Austin.  

• Individuals with amazing stories
• Entrepreneurs who overcame the struggles of starting a business
• Professionals who help expatriates with The Big Jump and with Settling In

Culture. Languages. Family Life. Schools. Laws. Taxes. Health Care. Employment.  We cover all these challenges from the perspective of The Expatriate.
Why me? I have been a professional expatriate for or 40 years in Europe and the Middle East.
Why now?  Because I often feel like an "outsider".   Yes, I am "American born and raised".  Yet I feel different.  Almost as an Expatriate.  This feeling of displacement and disorientation here - in the country of my birth - prompted me to reach out to other expatriates to search for answers.
Join me, Kurt Russell, as we discuss what it means to be Expats In Austin.