Customer Reviews

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

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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.....

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.