Customer Reviews

Expat: Women's True Tales of Life Abroad (Adventura Books)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
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2 star:		(1)
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Expat: Women's True Tales of Life Abroad is a refreshing mix of points of view - motherhood, lesbianism, academia, the working world, religion.

It is also a wonderful patchwork of unique and pleasing writing styles, diverse cultural experiences, and even varied outcomes. Some women stayed and fully embraced the countries they lived in. Some returned to the United States with a broadened vision of the world she thought she knew. But each woman continued on her life-path filled with new sight - a renewed acceptance of her spiritual or cultural identity, perhaps...or an enlightened recognition of her role as mother, partner, student, teacher, or daughter.

As a traveler, a woman, a mother, and a former expat, I found myself nodding in agreement with so much of what I read in this book. When she finally sat back and watched her daughter flourish in Cairo, Laura Fokkena discovered a comfortable extended-family mothering atmosphere - somehow attentive yet intentionally disconnected at the same time - a far cry from the eagle-eyed, over-protective, Click-It-Or-Ticket parenting drilled into busy American families. This Egyptian philosophy I have vowed to make my own.

Other contributors, too, wrote from places in their lives that felt familiar: Karen Rosenberg, who comes "from a family of reluctant Jews," followed a path from Amagi, Japan, back to her spiritual roots. Stephanie Loleng found her own Asian identity in Prague, where the food of home would have to be prepared herself. And Emmeline Chang, raised in the United States by Taiwanese parents, struggles to belong on either continent.

And perhaps most recognizable, each woman in Expat expresses her frustration at linguistic difficulties. Each woman is a writer, after all, someone who depends on language - perhaps more than on people or money or timing - to make things run smoothly. And, certainly, as a foreigner, that taken-for-granted skill is slippery at best, even for bilingual expats. Editor Christina Henry de Tessan folds this phenomenon easily into her introduction: "...accustomed to being efficient, competent, articulate, and able to navigate the various logistics of American life," these women found themselves at sixes and sevens with everything around them.

But armed with determination, great tolerance, a readiness for change, and often dozens of books, they learn to color outside of the lines they used to know, to create themselves anew.

Headed abroad on your first expat experience? Wondering what expat. life is REALLY like? Curious whether the expat. lifestyle is for your family? Christina Henry de Tessan's collection of over twenty superbly written "true tales" about expat. life reveal the jagged mountain ranges and desert plateaus of the emotional geography known as the "expat experience." Six months into my own family's first expat. experience, I wish I had had this book to read and reflect upon prior to stepping onto that jet to Mexico. Especially for those undertaking an international move for the first time without adequate or knowledgeable corporate support, the no-holds-barred accounts of these women's experiences will help you consider your own emotional,physical, spiritual, and intellectual needs as you plan your move. A must read.

Compiled and edited by Christian Henry de Tessan, Expat: Women's True Tales Of Life Abroad is an engaging and impressive collection of true stories about women who have lived in diverse nations around the world, and learned firsthand the delicate balance between keeping true to oneself while accommodating the ways of a different culture. Life in Mexico, Borneo, Japan, Egypt, England, Croatian, the Mediterranean, and more is brought to life from unforgettable perspectives in this original, fascinating, very highly recommended anthology.

This compilation of short stories written by expat women is entertaining, inspiring, funny, and poignant. Exploring cultural idiosyncrasies through these stories forgivingly reminds the reader of her/his own faux pas in foreign lands.
Ultimately, each story is surprisingly varied in its endpoint, but they share a nostalgia for the experience of living abroad, especially for the first time. This would make a great gift for someone about to move abroad, study abroad, or even someone considering it. For those who already have, it certainly is a lovely opportunity to reflect on these experiences...or even write about them!

It is a nice collection of tales from around the world and how it is to be an Expat at that location. Funny insights into things that an expat might miss or why we recreate things that are important to us from our passport country. Aa very good read.

This book is a collection of first-person experience narratives, written by women who chose to live the ex-pat life. The contributions from various age groups and cultural settings make each of the stories stand out. Yet, together they weave a very full picture of the heart transitions that occurred in the lives of people who accepted the challenge of leaving the familiar.

I laughed aloud at the story of the first purchase of a live chicken for dinner, and I felt the pangs of loneliness experienced by another woman who struggled to make friends. I also shared the joy of those who found and treasured the beauties of cultures that they had not previously known.

I am a woman considering retirement abroad. This book has helped me to set my emotional expectations more realistically than I would have done otherwise.

This book, unassuming though it may appear, is a powerhouse of writing, emotion, adventure and literature. The women writers are strong voiced, sure of their actions and their words and they range across our globe in nimble sentences...looking for blankets, looking for chicken, looking for the quintessential puzzle pieces that make it all fit--the pat and ex-pat selves-- together in one... On the way they write of finding new identities, loosing old identities, and becoming who they really are. It is American travel writing at its beat best--On The Road, Travels With Charlie, Dharma Bums.... It's modern travel writing at its best, too--Bryson can't write as well as some of the writers in this anthology could--especially as these women are ex-pats, not merely tourists. My favourites were "First The Blanket" (Kate Baldus), "Never Never" (Juleigh Howard-Hobson) and "Before and After Mexico" (Gina Hyams) All in all, after reading these essays, you felt as if you, too, had just gotten back from where they were....ninety thumbs up, womyn!

I read this for a company diversity-themed book club. Most of the chapters are really worth reading, making the book a definite buy. You'll be challenged to enjoy all of them, but everyone's taste and experiences are different. Plus, it really makes you thing about the life you take for granted, and where you call "home."

I found this book to be lacking in depth of emotion. I didn't feel drawn in to the author's lives or the countries that they were in. Most stories were lacking in description and depth. I would have liked to read from women who were in each country for longer time periods. I am an expat and didn't learn anything about culture shock or how women came through it. Most endings were trite. Like mine.