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Post by iamkristinl16 on Jul 30, 2018 20:36:01 GMT
I think if you went to Walmart, you should definitely go to target.
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Post by Delta Dawn on Jul 30, 2018 22:41:11 GMT
I have more questions if you don’t mind.
Do you have access to English speaking doctors, good medicine and diagnostic machines? Do you pay for parking? Is it expensive? Is the city clean? Is there a large homeless population? Do the locals look at you funny? Do you have any local friends? Do the women not get overheated wearing black abayas? Does anything grow there? Dates? Coconuts? Is most food imported? Does halal food taste better? Is the call to prayer annoying? Can it be heard at 4 am? If so do you wake up to it?
when I have more questions I will think of some! Thank you so much!
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Post by scrappintoee on Aug 1, 2018 2:45:24 GMT
I think if you went to Walmart, you should definitely go to target. I totally agree! It's been SO interesting to read all of these stories! Let's hear more!
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Post by scrappintoee on Aug 1, 2018 2:48:33 GMT
My goal is to stay out of the stores, especially after he tried to convince me to buy a cupcake shaped piñata at Walmart 🤣 OOps! I take back my agreement about taking them to Target ! Wayyyy too many cool things there! It is SO fun to hear what peoples' first reactions are to places and things they've never seen before!
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Post by ntsf on Aug 1, 2018 3:03:22 GMT
we were expats in Hong Kong for a couple of years. we had a part time maid (98% are live in and filipino).. local chinese lady. if you were american, you were still a "european". I used to sit and listen to british bankers talk about how great it was to send their 8 yr olds on a plane alone to England to go to boarding school (this was when hong kong was british). everyone knew eveyone else.. so you had to watch everything you said. If I went to a sat. bbq.. I wore a dress and pearls.. no one looked at their watches when out to dinner.. the maids took care of the kids and you didn't have to get home. when I got back home, I could hear the difference between native cantonese speakers and those who learned it in saturday school.
my first kid was born there.. but we moved back soon after that. SF is in its own world.. when we went on road trips, we always kidded that we were now in Walmart country.. we don't have walmarts.. and we would visit them on road trips.. kids thought it was a foreign country.. also a lot of places we went had few minorities.. and this also made them uncomfortable (we are white).
I always wanted to do the expat thing again-we almost moved to japan 7 years later, had the kids signed up for school, had an apartment rented.. my dh went there for 6 months and it was decided that japan was way too far behind technology wise, there was a recession there and it did not make business sense to have a full time staff person there. so my dh came home, and spent the next 6 months commuting to vietnam.. working with the japanese partner to generate a deal with the govt. nothing came of it in the end.. but dh really loved vietnam and the people. he also got to spend 6 months in malaysia alone.. working for this same company.
now that he is retired.. we are starting traveling a lot more.
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Post by scrappintoee on Aug 1, 2018 3:15:28 GMT
If I went to a sat. bbq.. I wore a dress and pearls.. I enjoyed your entire post; and the example I quoted you on is why this topic is so interesting !!! Not only a dress, but pearls, too! ---WOW! I think it'd be very cool to see everyone dressed up so nicely for a BBQ. Wayyy better than seeing some of the horrible/ tacky clothes some people wear in public!
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Deleted
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May 20, 2024 18:23:45 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 1, 2018 3:19:09 GMT
I think if you went to Walmart, you should definitely go to target. Oh good lord.....no! Dd received a gift card for her belated birthday. I actually asked an employee if we could have our mail sent there as we were in the store so long because she could not make a decision. This was her first visit to a Target.
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Post by Really Red on Aug 1, 2018 3:26:41 GMT
Went we move to the Alabama from Switzerland my youngest was two at a time and a couple of years later we went to grand Teton national Park and he ask me mom what’s that white stuff on the ground ,it was snow Of course 😁I thought it was hilarious a little Swiss citizen not knowing what snow was but I remember telling the story to my father who in a very serious tone told me that it was time for me to bring my children back to Switzerland . That is hysterical! My kids are Swiss citizens and we spent summers in Switzerland until they were in their mid teens. When they were young - 7 or 8 ish, they loved that they could go to the store by themselves and get what I needed. They had such freedom there, that they didn't have even in my safe neighborhood! I love hosting my nieces and nephews. When they were little everything amazed them. @expatindubai I love your stories! How long has it been since you've been back to the US?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 1, 2018 3:27:54 GMT
The movie theater here has recliners in them. I took my son to see a movie and you would have thought we were the Clampetts come to town! We kept making the footrests go up and down. We were sooooooo impressed.
I think we have ODed on Chick-fil-a. I am ashamed to say just how many times we have eaten there.
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Post by scrappysurfer on Aug 1, 2018 5:13:13 GMT
We just finished our first expat year in Roatan Honduras. Our kids were 14 and 11 when we moved here. It was a serious culture shock when we moved here. They went from 1000+ kids in their school to less than 80. The langauge barrier, the lack of infrastructure, the poor economy, all were a huge adjustment for all of us. But one of my main motivators for moving my family was to be able to give them the experience of living immersed in a different culture.
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Post by AussieMeg on Aug 1, 2018 8:13:46 GMT
Great story, I love hearing about your expat life! <<<Shows a photo>>> "Ah, oui. I see she has done also the t*ts." OMG that is too funny! 😂
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Post by jenjie on Aug 1, 2018 10:48:25 GMT
The movie theater here has recliners in them. I took my son to see a movie and you would have thought we were the Clampetts come to town! We kept making the footrests go up and down. We were sooooooo impressed. I think we have ODed on Chick-fil-a. I am ashamed to say just how many times we have eaten there. Not for nothing, the reclining theatre seats are relatively new, in the past 5 years or so. I think everybody did what you did the first time. I know we did! “you would have thought we were the Clampetts come to town!”. That’s awesome I love the word picture.
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Post by smasonnc on Aug 1, 2018 13:16:56 GMT
we were expats in Hong Kong for a couple of years. we had a part time maid (98% are live in and filipino).. local chinese lady. if you were american, you were still a "european". I used to sit and listen to british bankers talk about how great it was to send their 8 yr olds on a plane alone to England to go to boarding school (this was when hong kong was british). everyone knew eveyone else.. so you had to watch everything you said. If I went to a sat. bbq.. I wore a dress and pearls.. I had a part-time Indonesian woman. My apartment had a "helper" room with a bathroom but we just used it for storage. It's not quite as formal anymore, but I still a higher standard of dress. I wouldn't wear shorts if I went to Central. Activewear is for hiking. Teenagers go to Koh Samui, Thailand on their own for spring break and hang out in clubs in the Lang Qui Fong party area drinking and dancing in clubs on the weekends. They don't drive and there are no muggings so nobody cares. Those who can't afford the pricey tables at Dragon Eye hang out at "Club 7-11" which means they buy drinks at 7-11 and hang out in the street. They all go to Rugby 7's which is the biggest thing in the world there and it's a huge costume party punctuated by some good rugby. The head of school joked about seeing the condition of many students at 7's in his graduation address. It's all taken pretty lightly.
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Post by ntsf on Aug 1, 2018 16:04:41 GMT
my dh went to the rugby 7's.. he worked for a british firm in partnership with Jardine Matheson.. so we got all the expat benefits of that.. the company houses and flats all over.. but only a tidy british salary supporting a san francisco house mortgage. so we had to be careful. He was the token american and maybe one of the few american expats in the company. the worse part is we got no income tax help.. and it was a nightmare to figure it out on our own.
the last time I went there..25 yrs ago, we actually were invited to our Amah's house.. I was very honored. the friends were stayed with had two maids...such was the life.
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Post by Basket1lady on Aug 1, 2018 17:05:04 GMT
This brings back so many memories! We were active duty and assigned to Korea, but had the choice to stay in the states while DH went alone. We chose to go with him because we wanted to stay together and thought the experience would be good for all of us.
We had an Adjamah (lady in Korean), Mrs Seo, come twice a week. She was a Korean War widow and it felt weird to have an older woman work for us, but I was told that their pensions were small. This way they are fed 3 meals a day and are warm for the time they are with us. She did laundry, cleaned, cooked, watched the kids, whatever I needed. My BFF called her my wife, the kids called her their Adjamah Grandma. She was a godsend, as DH worked so much. Every Monday, she would come and stay with DD and I'd volunteer in DS's kindergarten room, then run errands or go to the fabric market. It was hard to maneuver a stroller around and DD would get touched so much when we were out, so I usually left the kids on base. She would also come off base with me if I needed something and needed a translator. She would wear tees and a skirt in the house to clean, but would change into nice clothes to take the kids to the park or when we went off base, or to travel to and from us. She could read and write at about DS's level (kindergarten), but would have a friend of hers write letters to us after we moved back to the states.
When I took the kids off base, I'd put hats on them or put their hoods on their jackets up. They had blond hair and people wanted to touch it. I have red hair and I would frequently feel people petting it if I was standing in a crowd, like on the subway. DD didn't mind it, DS hated it. It was kind of weird, but their culture has a different sense of personal space than we have in America.
Men are called Attachi (man in Korean) and one man would bike around the housing area, offering to wash cars. We would see him out there and we would pay him about $8 to wash the car. It was dirty there because they use kerosene for heat/cooking and it emits a lot of soot.
I sometimes took DD out to the accessories market because the flower market was there and she loved it. The workers would give her flowers that had broken off the stem and when I'd stop to buy something, they would feed her little tangerine oranges, juice, or little hard candies. Frequently she would be gifted with little hair accessories and little treats. She was cute and charming and spoke a little Korean. The same vendors would frequently see us coming and stop to chat with her.
Yongsan is divided by a major road. You had to cross over the road to go over to the Base Exchange (like a Target) and to pay your phone bill. I didn't go over there very much, as the checkpoints could be long and they would search your vehicle before you could reenter the base (all of 100 yards or so!) Guards were there with dogs and machine guns and I tried to keep the kids away from that. The locals could get a permit to protest and frequently did so on that street, as the news media would pick it up. For the most part, it was protest about local events. Some didn't like that the base was there, but for the most part I feel like the Koreans were very welcoming and kind.
There were also a few American Fast food places over there with limited menus (I remember a Burger King and a Popeyes.) We didn't have a Mc Donald's on base, but there was one outside the gate down at Osan, which was about 40 miles south of Seoul, but it took about 3 hours to get there because of the traffic. They severed bulgogi burgers and this bean curd paste on shaved ice that DD loved. We would take the kids down there every few months to "Re-Blue" them. [Yongsan is an Army Base (green uniforms), Osan is an Air Force Base (blue uniforms)]
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Aug 1, 2018 17:43:25 GMT
I love reading everyone's recollections of expat life. The experiences the kids get from experiencing another culture are wonderful. DD enjoyed the expat life so much that she majored in International Economics and now works for a Japanese company. Her goal is to become an expat on her own at some point. I told her that it was a lot different being the working expat vs the expat kid! She and I would return home every summer so that she could attend her summer camp. The year we lived in Indonesia she enjoyed telling everyone how much her allowance was. We gave her local currency and it was 5 figures at the time. Of course, it was only $20, but she felt much richer! Then there were the time when I heard her with friends discussing the merits of the meals on the various airlines. Such a different life than I had grown up with! The biggest negative to her was that being blonde/blue eyes she drew attention where ever she went. People would try to touch her and strangers were always taking her picture. She hates to be the center of attention to begin with and that made it worse. S. Africa was her favorite because she blended in better.
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Post by Basket1lady on Aug 1, 2018 18:29:16 GMT
I love reading everyone's recollections of expat life. The experiences the kids get from experiencing another culture are wonderful. DD enjoyed the expat life so much that she majored in International Economics and now works for a Japanese company. Her goal is to become an expat on her own at some point. I told her that it was a lot different being the working expat vs the expat kid! She and I would return home every summer so that she could attend her summer camp. The year we lived in Indonesia she enjoyed telling everyone how much her allowance was. We gave her local currency and it was 5 figures at the time. Of course, it was only $20, but she felt much richer! Then there were the time when I heare her with friends discussing the merits of the meals on the various airlines. Such a different life than I had grown up with! The biggest negative to her was that being blonde/blue eyes she drew attention where ever she went. People would try to touch her and strangers were always taking her picture. She hates to be the center of attention to begin with and that made it worse. S. Africa was her favorite because she blended in better. I love how they discussed the airline meals. Such a different world for them. I'd forgotten about this. Especially when we were in Beijing. Our tour guide actually had to get our driver to escort us into the Forbidden City. Blond kids, red head mom, and a giant for dad. We must have been quite a sight! Another time we were on the subway in Seoul and got mobbed. I suspect that they thought we were someone else, as it was a big group of young girls. I was glad to have DH with us and he just "made a hole" and got us out of there. Halloween wasn't a big thing in Korea, but locals who worked on base had access and would bring their kids trick or treating. DH had a Beast costume (from Beauty and the Beast) that was big and hairy and had a cape--it looked pretty good and he's really tall. I had on a Snow White costume, DS was dressed like Link (but looked like Peter Pan) and DD was a fairy that looked a lot like Tinkerbell. I've never had my photo taken so much in my life by all the locals who wanted their picture taken with the cast of Disney!
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Post by ExpatBackHome on Aug 1, 2018 18:40:35 GMT
Do you have access to English speaking doctors, good medicine and diagnostic machines? Yes, most people speak English. We do most of our doctor’s appts in the states to have a consistent doctor seeing us every summer. But when something comes up, we don’t hesitate to see the doctor in Dubai.
Do you pay for parking? Is it expensive? Some parking we pay for, some you don’t. On the side streets, there will of be a sign posted for you to text your license plate number and the number of hours you’ll be parked there. Then they charge your phone bill for parking, a couple dollars
Is the city clean? Yes, very!
Is there a large homeless population? I haven’t seen one homeless person in 1.5 years. That’s not to say they aren’t somewhere
Do the locals look at you funny? No
Do you have any local friends? Do the women not get overheated wearing black abayas? No, I meet people on the Facebook expat group. Very little chance for me to friend locals
Does anything grow there? Dates? Coconuts? Is most food imported? Some things are grown there. They have the best dates ever! A lot of imports. Does halal food taste better? I can’t tell a difference Is the call to prayer annoying? No, doesn’t bother me.
Can it be heard at 4 am? If so do you wake up to it? It doesn’t wake me up, ever.
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Post by ExpatBackHome on Aug 1, 2018 18:44:44 GMT
So my son just watched the garbage being collected. He asked me why there were 2 fingers picking up the trash can. In Dubai, people pick up the bags out of the large black trash cans and then line the trash can with another plastic bag. Our outside trash can doesn’t stink.
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Post by ExpatBackHome on Aug 1, 2018 18:47:28 GMT
Went we move to the Alabama from Switzerland my youngest was two at a time and a couple of years later we went to grand Teton national Park and he ask me mom what’s that white stuff on the ground ,it was snow Of course 😁I thought it was hilarious a little Swiss citizen not knowing what snow was but I remember telling the story to my father who in a very serious tone told me that it was time for me to bring my children back to Switzerland . That is hysterical! My kids are Swiss citizens and we spent summers in Switzerland until they were in their mid teens. When they were young - 7 or 8 ish, they loved that they could go to the store by themselves and get what I needed. They had such freedom there, that they didn't have even in my safe neighborhood! I love hosting my nieces and nephews. When they were little everything amazed them. @expatindubai I love your stories! How long has it been since you've been back to the US? We visit every summer for a few weeks. The older one remembers of course. The younger one remembers very little from prior visits (4.5 years old now). Next year I’m sure he’ll remember more. Yes!! I’ve been told I’m crazy for letting my 13 year old bike to the store (15 minute bike ride)
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Post by Leone on Aug 1, 2018 19:49:34 GMT
I worked in Singapore...had a maid three times a week...got so lazy that I would drop my Kleenex on the floor as I knew it would get picked up...men were called “master” and women “missy”....western men all were there to date Asian women as they loved being treated like master. I couldn’t keep my students after school because their drivers were waiting in Mercedes. It was a great year.
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bethany102399
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,534
Oct 11, 2014 3:17:29 GMT
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Post by bethany102399 on Aug 1, 2018 20:08:12 GMT
When I took the kids off base, I'd put hats on them or put their hoods on their jackets up. They had blond hair and people wanted to touch it. I have red hair and I would frequently feel people petting it if I was standing in a crowd, like on the subway. DD didn't mind it, DS hated it. It was kind of weird, but their culture has a different sense of personal space than we have in America. DH was an air force brat, and they lived in Taiwan when he was 2 and his sister was a newborn. He had very blond curly hair, (now gray blond, but still curly lol) which was made curlier by the natural humidity. My MIL couldn't go down the street without people trying to touch him or offer him food to take him home. She struggled a lot when they lived there and refused to go back when his dad was offered orders to return. She was cute and charming and spoke a little Korean. DH spoke mandarin, and I have a friend whose family has lived in both Brazil and Seoul and both of their kids picked up the local language.
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Post by Leone on Aug 1, 2018 20:42:20 GMT
I also lived in the Marshall Islands. My three day a week maid...for my 650 sq. Ft. Trailer...was named Cora. She had less than half of her teeth. She loved to iron every afternoon. She would iron the sheets, DH’s underwear, even his socks.
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Deleted
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May 20, 2024 18:23:45 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 1, 2018 21:20:41 GMT
The movie theater here has recliners in them. I took my son to see a movie and you would have thought we were the Clampetts come to town! We kept making the footrests go up and down. We were sooooooo impressed. I think we have ODed on Chick-fil-a. I am ashamed to say just how many times we have eaten there. Not for nothing, the reclining theatre seats are relatively new, in the past 5 years or so. I think everybody did what you did the first time. I know we did! “you would have thought we were the Clampetts come to town!”. That’s awesome I love the word picture. I am 100% sure some people were looking at us like we were crazy. That is one of the things I really miss about living in Morocco is not having access to a good movie theater. There is one in Rabat but the movies are in French and Arabic. They did show one of the Star Wars movies but it was on a school night. Of course I made an exception!
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Deleted
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May 20, 2024 18:23:45 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 1, 2018 21:29:09 GMT
Do you have access to English speaking doctors, good medicine and diagnostic machines? Yes, most people speak English. We do most of our doctor’s appts in the states to have a consistent doctor seeing us every summer. But when something comes up, we don’t hesitate to see the doctor in Dubai. Do you pay for parking? Is it expensive? Some parking we pay for, some you don’t. On the side streets, there will of be a sign posted for you to text your license plate number and the number of hours you’ll be parked there. Then they charge your phone bill for parking, a couple dollars Is the city clean? Yes, very! Is there a large homeless population? I haven’t seen one homeless person in 1.5 years. That’s not to say they aren’t somewhere Do the locals look at you funny? No Do you have any local friends? Do the women not get overheated wearing black abayas? No, I meet people on the Facebook expat group. Very little chance for me to friend locals Does anything grow there? Dates? Coconuts? Is most food imported? Some things are grown there. They have the best dates ever! A lot of imports. Does halal food taste better? I can’t tell a difference Is the call to prayer annoying? No, doesn’t bother me. C an it be heard at 4 am? If so do you wake up to it? It doesn’t wake me up, ever.I never wake up either, even though we should get up to pray! Lol I am actually quite fond of hearing the Adan. In the morning it is quite lovely with all the chirping birds. At night, it is my “alarm” that the kids should be getting ready for bed. I really have missed the sound since we have been in the States.
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Aug 2, 2018 2:47:09 GMT
She would iron the sheets Ironed bed sheets, one of the things I really miss about expat life. That, and all the travel.
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Post by Delta Dawn on Aug 2, 2018 6:04:22 GMT
,My godsend fixed my life. Hatanaka san please call me my first name. She had issues with that but no. Everyone knew my first name. She was the best life organizer/nanny/cook/lifesaver/house keeper I mean she was everything. The kid liked her better than me. I was so very fortunate to have her.
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