Meet the Expats

Meet Emily in Paris,

No, Emily Cooper is not on the show!

In this series of short episodes of Meet Emily in Paris🇫🇷TRUE/FALSE I review the brilliant (or not, not judging here) Netflix show, with my Parisian eye👀to debunk myths and laugh about our reality. 

In his first episode talk through a couple of scenes regarding the french lifestyle and philosophy of life. This covers:

• 🚬The Smoking in the show, sooooo overdone!

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Meet Nicole, 

Journalist ✍️ and author, who only a few months after meeting her partner embarked on an adventure to live in 🇨🇳 China! First Hong Kong, as a “housewife” as states her visa and then to Xian. Think remote, traditional China! She tells us all about the culture shock, how she had to learn to get around, a lot about the chinese culture, society, traditions and censorship. 

Her top recommendations in Xian are:

🍣 Mai restaurant  a shushi restaurant within the Westin hotel, where she lived https://www.marriott.com/hotels/hotel-information/restaurant/details/xiywi-the-westin-xian/5973133/ 

🍹 Peter’s Tex Mex - unfortunately it has closed 🚫 since

📍Carte balnche: City wall and the muslim quarter

And her nostalgia song 🎤  sung in the back of the car when a child during road trips but also in the back of the car with the chauffeur in Xian! Take me home country roads by John Denver https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4jxUVhR1X8

To buy her book 📚 and read more about this great adventure in China, 

👉 https://nicolewebbonline.com/books

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Meet Martina,

Born and raised in Germany🇩🇪 she caught the travel bug early on and jumped on the opportunity when her husband landed a job in Melbourne, 🇦🇺 Australia, country she had always had a link to. So they packed up in Germany and moved✈️ down under. Little did she know that looking for a job in Melbourne 🐨 was going to be so different than in Germany, starting with CVs. She tells us about the major differences she came across and how to overcome the challenges and adapt to succeed. We then explore the major coffee ☕  and breakfast scene Melbourne has to offer, she shares a few of her favorites:

☕ Higer ground lovely loft style café brunch place in the CBD https://darlinggroup.com.au/venues/higherground/

☕  Brighton Soula Espesso  tiny coffee & lunch place near the Brighton Beach Cabins

🍸 Gin Palace for your Gin cocktails https://www.ginpalace.com.au/

🍸 Madame Brussels for a quirky drink with a view, go for the tea garden style http://www.madamebrussels.com/

And tells us about the relaxed way of life🏝️, her favortie stroll being along the Yarra river.

After 4 years they made the move to Silicon Valley, where it took some getting used to driving everywhere and realising you weren’t going to be going to San Francisco 🌉  as often as you thought unless you plan to spend an hour in traffic, we also touche on how covid has made it harder to build friendships with recent connections.

We end the episode with Martina's expat 🎵 Song Sky full of stars by Coldplay, for it's views of Melbourne and many more reasons.

Make sure to check out her beautiful blog https://almondsandsunset.com/ for expat tips and more recommendations in the USA and Melbourne ❤️

Related article: how to find a job abroad

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Meet Emily,

Founder of Expat Parenting Abroad.

In this 10th episode 🎉 Emily, mum of two 👨‍👩‍👧‍👧  and expat coach tells how after being an expat 🌎 for 10years in Asia, following her husband to Hong Kong, India, and Taipei, where she could not always work 📚 in a traditional sense, at some point needing more in her life she came up with the idea of Expat Parenting Abroad. Through this business she supports and coaches, mothers and parents in their first expatriation through both group sessions and individual coaching sessions using curated resources📚 and digital courses to come.
Throughout the episode Emily shares valuable tips and perspective on a variety of topics ranging from supporting your teens in their transition when abroad, to the logistics of moving ✈️ your family to a new country, and the hassle of finding the right school when you have a choice. From Third Culture Kids (TCK) qualities to finding yourself, feeling empowered 💪 and what you need to feel complete and balanced.

An episode rich in learnings and full of laughter, you can listen to the two 🎵 songs emily mentions

• I’ve had a life that’s good

• Have it all by Jason Mraz

Related articles:

Expat parenting tips

Meet the Expats the Blog

Credits:

Musique proposée par La Musique Libre

Not The King - Ice Tea : https://youtu.be/xYI0Rrnk1Jo

Not The King : https://soundcloud.com/coreygagne

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Meet Pierre,

Who, freshly married 💍, and not specifically attracted by Asia, decided  within one week to move across the world to China 🇨🇳with his wife, and ended up falling in love with this magical continent, leading the way to their next move to Vietnam 🇻🇳.

In this episode he tells us about the tough beginnings arriving in Shenzhen, China, regarding work, the new management styles, food🍲, his wife’s integration and how step by step they came to enjoy life there and then after a short break in France moved to Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh with their two young children. He explains how having this previous experience in China made the move to Vietnam much easier, and takes us through Ho Chi Minh, chaotic, 🌪️ vibrant city, swarming with motorcycles🛵 that you discover through your senses: smell, noise, lights 💡and the life on every street.

His top recommendations for the city are

🍸Bar: Snuff bar https://www.snuffboxspeakeasy.com/ a speakeasy cocktail bar with great whiskies

🥩Restaurant: l’atelier des rêves french cuisine https://www.facebook.com/adrbistrot/

🛵And the best activity to do in Saigon, aka Ho Chi Minh: the old vespa tour https://vespaadventures.com/

🎤And his classic Karaoke song: Take me to your heart https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbLT12eg-lw

Music credits

Musique proposée par La Musique Libre

Not The King - Ice Tea : https://youtu.be/xYI0Rrnk1Jo

Not The King : https://soundcloud.com/coreygagne

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Meet Bastien,

French man who grew up abroad in Burkina Faso and Morocco, very early on Bastien became an expat and learned to adapt and adjust. He straight away caught the travel bug leading him to live a life of adventure around the world🌎. Moving every few years, for him the people you meet make the experience, and as long you have good friends around you, you can feel home 🏡anywhere. 

After highschool he took off with his own wings , literally, by first moving to Canada🇨🇦 to become a pilot ✈️and then moving to his next planes and dreams, flying over Africa in Botswana and most recently a sea plane in the Maldives 🏝️.  Bastien breaks down the bad press the French may have about the Maldives, of it being a closed and strict  country, and gives us a few tips and recommendations to navigate the islands, travel on local islands and live your best life in paradise.

🍣Restaurant: Isoletta at the Vakkaru resort is the best for fresh sushis with a sunset view

🍺Bar: bars are a tricky one, as no alcohol is allowed on local islands each one has a "Boat Bar" that leaves the island for drinks. They don't have name, ask the locals to find them 🙃

His favorite 🏄surf island 🏝️ for the weekend: Thulusdhoo

And as song Bastien chooses Emmenez-moi by Charles Aznavour, as it's a song about travel, looking for a sunny and better place https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OrKMaeQUx0

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Meet Stasi,

As a Bulgarian woman, she grew up under ae communist regime and has since then well caught up in terms of travelling! With 16 years of living abroad, 12 of them all being over 🇩🇪Germany: Rakenburg, Koln and Frankfurt; Stasy tells us about all the german clichés,🥨 🍺and stereotypes. Are they all true? What she likes and dislikes in this country, her personal timeline to master a whole new city, which pieces of Germany, Ireland and Bulgaria she cherishes and keeps in her heart ♥️to create her own unique culture, and how it’s like to give birth and bring up a child abroad. You maybe fluent, your native language will come out in some situations!

And of course she recommends a few spots in Frankfurt:

• 🍺Applewine pub: Gaststätte Dauth Schneider http://www.dauth-schneider.de/?lang=en try the applewine with a schnitzel with green sauce

And shares the 🎵song she listens to each time she moves city or country: Monday morning https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWGUmcFLdu8 by Melanie Fiona, have a listen and see if it makes you want to pack a suitcase 💼 and go on an adventure! 

Music credits

Musique proposée par La Musique Libre Not The King - Ice Tea : https://youtu.be/xYI0Rrnk1Jo Not The King : https://soundcloud.com/coreygagne

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Meet Perrine,

French woman who has now spent 7 years abroad between Switzerland and Chicago. When in need of a career change Perrine decided to go back to school and do a PHD in Switzerland. She tells us how she embraced the swiss outdoorsy lifestyle making the most of the lakes and 🏔️ mountains both in summer and winter, giving us a few hot spots along the way. 

We then take a leap across the pond and fly to Chicago, as she pursues her postdoc with a grant, but this time with her husband and 1 year old child! 👨‍👩‍👦 Perrine gives us a few practical tips on planning your move with a young child, a glance at what it’s like bringing up a child in Chicago, and the best spots to hang out.

As always we go through few recommendations both in Geneva and Chicago

Switzerland - around Geneva

🍹Bars

Les Voiles https://les-voiles.ch/ for a fancy cocktail by the lake

Tropical corner - Au bord de l'eau for a relaxed drink feet in the sand

🍳Restaurant

O Calme, cozy spot perfect for your sunday brunch in Carouge

🏊 Les bains de Lavey for the perfect relaxing spa day with an incredible view (thermal baths) https://www.bains-lavey.ch/en/

Chicago

🍹Bar London House Rooftop bar for incredible views of the city 

🍳Restaurant Summer House in Lincoln Park: https://www.summerhousesm.com/chicago/

📚 French Alliance for the homesick frenchies missing the culture https://www.af-chicago.org/

And her expat song 🎵 is Heart of Gold by wonderful Neil Young whom she saw play at Montreux Jazz Festival https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3IA6pIVank

Intro & Outro music credits

Musique proposée par La Musique Libre

Not The King - Ice Tea : https://youtu.be/xYI0Rrnk1Jo

Not The King : https://soundcloud.com/coreygagne

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Meet Ying, 

Young malasian who grew up in Singapore. When in need of some independence and an adventure, she decided to go live abroad 🌎 in Europe and in Africa for a few months. What started with a few months in Maun, Botswana turned out to be 5 years! 

She takes through her radical change of life from Singapore’s skyscrapers, and Haussmannian Paris to Maun; small town where 🐂 cattle and chickens run freely in the streets of the city. Describes her day to day as a 🦁 safari camp marketing manager, and takes us on a wonderful tour of the unique Okavango Delta, sharing a couple bush stories along the way, the magic of a 🦒 safari experience, as well as her favorite restaurant and bar in Maun:

🍹Bar: the Old Bridge Backpackers, great for cocktails https://maun-backpackers.com/

🍗Restaurant: Marc’s eatery, mostly open for lunch but experiments new recipes on friday nights and makes the best duck terrine!

As always, I asked for a 🎤song, and Ying shares Am I Wrong by Nico and Vinz, as the video clip was filmed in Maun, to promote Africa and give a better image of this continent. To discover Maun and see nice views of the Old bridge watch this video.

And her top recommendation when on a Safari in Okavango Delta, find a nice spot to watch the 🌄 sunset, and enjoy this present moment.

Credits:

Musique proposée par La Musique Libre Not The King - Ice Tea : https://youtu.be/xYI0Rrnk1Jo Not The King : https://soundcloud.com/coreygagne

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Meet Mado, 

An Island girl who grew up in paradise between 🌴 Tahiti and Malaysia. In this episode she shares with us her expat experience in Singapore 🇸🇬, how it changed her way of approaching work, and also the move back to Paris.

We start with her decision to leave Paris to move back to Asia. From the rocky beginnings, where finding a job didn’t turn out being as easy as expected to finally settling in, meeting locals and living the stress free life in the Island state. From tasting the fine asian cuisine 🥡, and going on your typical weekend in Bali 🐚, to discovering a work environment and culture giving you time and space to do the things you enjoy, Mado tells us everything there is to know about living in Singapore, the “safe bubble” and shares her favorite places to visit:

• 🍱 Din Tai Fung: a Restaurant chain to sample local cuisine https://dintaifung.com.sg

Her favorite neighborhoods 

• Haji Lane + Arab Street : lovely stroll through an area of Singapore with beautiful shophouses (no high-rise buildings!) and a very hipster vibe https://thehoneycombers.com/singapore/guide-to-haji-lane-singapore/

And the song 🎤she heard during Ramadan, taking her back to her childhood in Malaysia: Selamat Hari Raya  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QY2qEfMpTs

She takes us on her introspective journey 🧘: going through a set back, finding clarity in her career and life direction. And putting it all in action  a few years after her return to Paris, with the creation  of Lumina Travel, a well-being retreats company with a former colleague she met in Singapore.

Credits

Musique proposée par La Musique Libre Not The King - Ice Tea : https://youtu.be/xYI0Rrnk1Jo Not The King : https://soundcloud.com/coreygagne

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.