LIFE ABROAD
Raising children between countries and cultures, parenting in constant transition is confusing and challenging. We don't have our families and friends close by to support us and we are in a new environment that needs to be continuously tamed. At the same time it is exciting and full of new discoveries, a blessing and an adventure. I have experienced it both ways, with ups and downs.
Martinmas is mostly known and celebrated in Waldorf-inspired families around the world but it is a tradition in many european countries. Here are some ideas to mindfully celebrate Martinmas.
We have adopted the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival among our Family Traditions since we have lived in Beijing. I love the values embodied by this celebration…
As a family with different cultural backgrounds who lived in 6 countries, we have gathered so many beautiful traditions and celebrations. And many of them are for Spring! In this blogpost I'm sharing with you many ideas that you can integrate into your own spring celebrations.
When changing countries every two or three years how can we build a group of support? How can we meet other parents without our kids going to school? How do we navigate differences in legislation between countries?
A piece of my heart will always stay in South Korea where we lived for a couple of months.
The celebration I enjoyed most in China was definitely the Mid-Autumn Festival, 中秋节. And not just because of the delicious Moon Cake we ate :)
I took 28 flights in the first 18 months of my daughter's life and amongst them 10 were long distance flights with up to 7 hours of time difference. Here is the thing: I HAVE SURVIVED. Do you want to know my strategies?
« Where are you from?… « where are you from? »
You know that question, don’t you? The question that many Expats and Third Culture Kids don’t know how to answer…
Je suis très heureuse de reprendre ma série d’interviews Mothers’ Voices que j’ai démarée en 2015 et ravie d’avoir Charlotte de Hello, Maman comme première invitée après une si longue pause.
J’ai rencontré Charlotte sur Instagram et nous nous suivons réciproquement depuis un moment. J’aime beaucoup la sérénité avec laquelle Charlotte organise sa vie enfin de pouvoir instruire en famille son petit garçon et continuer son travail d’orthophoniste qui l’amène à dispenser des formations dans toute la France. Dans cette interview, nous parlons de comment ell arrive à gérer “homeschooling” et “vie nomade”, comment l’instruction en famille fonctionne en France, les sources d’inspiration de Charlotte, comment elle prend soin d’elle en tant que maman et plein d’autres sujets.
The first time I traveled with my 5 weeks-old baby I was terrified. I'm sure you know that feeling: you don't know what to pack, what to expect
Here is the reality: no friends, no job and you don’t really like it there … yet. Will you ever like it?
Before my daughter was born people would ask me « In which language you will talk to her? ». The truth is I had no idea. I didn’t have a plan. I didn’t know the answer to this question.In fact, I was also very curious about the answer.
As a nomad family who has already lived in 5 different countries with our baby in 16 months, goodbyes are part of our life. To such an extend that my daughter’s first word was « bye bye ».
As most parents I was petrified when I had to travel for the first time with my baby. She was 5 weeks old and it was a bit more than a trip. We moved from Vienna, Austria to Beijing, China.
26 flights later including 9 long-distance ones I can tell you: it can be fun… sometimes
That's it, leaving Beijing. For good. Not the way I thought I will but because of the pollution of the air, the water and the food.
Before we moved here, I thought I can live anywhere in this world and adapt everywhere. Truth is I can't.
Yep. This is how we call it here in Beijing. This is how we call these days when we wake up, look outside the window and return straight to bed. What's the point in getting dressed anyway?
Picture by Gregor Buchhaus
Hello and welcome! I'm Cristina, the mother of a little girl who lived in 5 countries in her first 16 months. I share here about our multicultural life abroad (in China, South Korea, France, Austria and Germany) and about our natural learning journey.
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I'm a contributing author of:
"Knocked Up Abroad Again: Baby bumps, twists, and turns around the globe"
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FEATURED POSTS, INTERVIEWS AND COLLABORATIVE WORK:
HOW WE MONTESSORI: Montessori Home Guest Post - Cristina from Mothers Abroad
BEIJING KIDS: Surviving in the Jungle of Parenting Books
BEBE VOYAGE: Cristina from Mothers Abroad on Raising a Global Citizen
KNOCKED UP ABROAD: To the mom with the bad birth experience
MATADOR NETWORK: 8 expat moms share funniest stories of raising kids in a foreign country
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All content and images copyright Mothers Abroad, unless otherwise stated. Please contact me by email at mothers-abroad@gmx.at if you would like to use and/or duplicate this material. Excerpts and links to this blog are permitted, providing that full credit is given to Mothers Abroad with clear direction to the original content. Thank you :)
In this Guest Post for Multicultural Kid Blogs I have written about how we celebrate Martinmas in Germany; the story of this celebration, the preparations and about how we can create authentic family traditions.