Successful Living Abroad, a Wife's Guide (Culture Shock! Practical Guides) [Paperback]

Robin Pascoe (Author)

Book Description

Series: Culture Shock! Practical Guides | Publication Date: April 1, 1993

With bags packed, crates shipped out, children briefed, parents consoled, you are ready for life in a foreign country. All is fine until initial excitement gives way to fear and doubt.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

At one time or another, almost everyone has entertained the fantasy of living abroad. In one's dreams, language is no problem, the natives are always friendly, and every day is another adventure in paradise. The reality, however, is quite different--especially for the dependants of people whose careers take them overseas. Suddenly, the tag-along spouse finds him or herself in a strange land, without friends or family, and often without a job. There's a household to be set up and run, social events to be navigated, and often children to be raised--all in a foreign culture whose rules the spouse may be struggling to understand. For those transplanted better halves, help is on the way in Robin Pascoe's Culture Shock! A Wife's Guide. Though Pascoe has obviously written her book with traveling wives in mind, the sound advice she gives is applicable to partners of either sex. From dealing with pre-departure jitters to hiring household help, from making the cultural transition to fighting off boredom, Pascoe's suggestions are equal opportunity. So if your life's partner is about to head overseas for a long-term assignment, get Culture Shock! A Wife's Guide to help ease you over the rough spots of getting adjusted.

About the Author

Pascoe is well known to travelling spouses around the world for her inspirational and humorous culture shock books about being a wife and parent. She also speaks to expatriate communities and human resources groups about the challenges of expatriate and repatriate life facing the spouse and family.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Graphic Arts Center Publishing Company (April 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 155868123X
• ISBN-13: 978-1558681231
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,588,554 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Robin Pascoe's reputation as a funny, engaging and inspirational international speaker on the subject of her five books on global living was earned as a former Canadian diplomatic spouse (on postings to Bangkok, Taipei, Beijing and Seoul); raising two third culture kids, and by traveling globally to over 25 countries for more than a decade from her home base in North Vancouver, Canada.

Robin is also the go-to expert for corporations interested in understanding the needs of expats and their families and making recommendations for family-friendly relocation policies.

Her website, which went up over a decade ago, has tons of articles also to read if you are preparing to move abroad so have a visit at http://www.expatexpert.com.

She recently posted a video lecture series based on the themes of all of her books called "Successful Living Abroad" which can be viewed at http://www.expatexpert.com/video_lectures. You can watch one of them directly below this biography.

If you are a social media person, she tweets most days with links to articles or information about expats at http://twitter.com/expatexpert. She's also on Facebook as Expat Expert at http://www.facebook.com/pages/ExpatExpertcom/43896605366 and and part of the Linked In network http://www.linkedin.com/in/expatexpert.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally someone understands....., June 28, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Successful Living Abroad, a Wife's Guide (Culture Shock! Practical Guides) (Paperback)

For those of us who are veterans of countless overseas moves, and perhaps particularly for first-time expats, what a relief it is to find this book, which so movingly and wittily defines the expatriate process. Yes, there are countless benefits to an international life, but there is also the pain and heartache of upheaval, rootlessness, missed loved ones and a career set indefinitely on hold. Robin Pascoe holds a mirror up to the expat soul, and shows it for what it is: delighted, resentful, joyful and miserable, and often all on the same day. The glue that holds every overseas assignment together is the accompanying spouse, and Ms. Pascoe's book is the best how-to guide a girl ever had. Don't leave home without it.....

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A good starting place in preparing for a move abroad, May 23, 2000

By 

Carrie K. Clarady (Washington DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Successful Living Abroad, a Wife's Guide (Culture Shock! Practical Guides) (Paperback)

We are planning a move to the UK within the next year, and I bought this to prepare myself for what it might be like. The book is helpful in the broadest sense, in that it gives one an idea of what one woman's emotional experiences have been like. However I found it lacking in the practical detail that I craved - how to estimate standard of living differences, how to navigate school systems and make schooling choices, even how to decide what household objects to take with us and what to leave behind.

That said, though, I still think that this is a book worth buying and holding on to if you are comtemplating an international move for your partner's work. I expect to find it useful *after* the move as well.