Write Your Story Abroad

Ever felt lonely in your first few months abroad? Dr. Laura Ruesjas walks us through why by explaining the cultural adaptation curve, a model Kalervo Oberg first described in 1954. The honeymoon phase lasts about four to five months. Around six months, the mood drops into deep culture shock: irritability, frustration, anger, constant comparisons to home. Within the first year, if you have tools to...

Healthcare workers are in demand across the world, and countries are competing for doctors, nurses, veterinarians, all sorts of medically trained professionals. If your dream is to head to the United States, Canada, Australia, the UK, or any other English-speaking country, you may need the OET: the Occupational English Test. It's built around clinical communication. Suzanne, a certified OET ex...

This is the final episode of a 3-part series for international students. Previously, we invited experts to chat with us about student visas in Canada and the United States. Today, we sit down with Megan, who we met at a pilates event in Singapore. She is from Indonesia and moved to the US in 2018 to pursue an international education. Originally Megan attended Foothill College in Mountain View and...

The US student visa interview lasts under two minutes. According to Inesa, a US visa consultant who has prepared many F-1 and J-1 applicants, consular officers make their decision in that window, and most of it doesn't come down to your documents. The interview is not to recheck your papers. It's to check you. This is Part II of a 3-part series for international students. Last week, Christ...

Headlines about international student visas have been rough lately. Canada tightened its study permit cap while the US has expanded consular vetting. We still see a ton of interest from students looking to study abroad, however. And we think you should still go! Studying abroad is a life-changing opportunity, and even though it's harder now, it's absolutely still possible. This is Part I o...

According to Spain's Instituto Nacional de Estadística, nearly one in five people living in Spain was born in another country. Spain remains one of the most asked-about countries by our audience, so this is Part II of a two-part series. In last week's episode, Raquel of Salas Immigration walked us through the full visa landscape if you're looking to relocate to Spain: NLV, DNV, Golden...

According to Spain's Instituto Nacional de Estadística, nearly one in five people living in Spain was born in another country. Spain remains one of the most asked-about countries by our audience, so this is Part I of a two-part series. I sit down with Raquel and Marta of Salas Immigration, registered Spanish immigration attorneys, to break down the main visa routes into Spain: what each one re...

I sit down with Qi Zhai-McCartney, founder of Seeing Qi Therapy and Coaching in Singapore, to answer burning questions from our audience around expat life, mental health, career pivots, and maternal health abroad. I'm sure many of these topics will resonate with those of you already abroad as Qi takes us deep on the idea of the "adaptation tax," or the energy it costs to code-switch...

Arlindo and Paula are a Portuguese couple who moved to Singapore a decade ago. We met them our very first week after arriving in a co-living in Geylang. We chat about adjusting from a culture where the entire month of August shuts down to one where you're expected to answer emails on vacation. About their spice tolerance changing so much that patatas bravas back in Portugal taste bland now. About...

We've lived in South Korea, France, Spain, and Singapore. In this episode we tell our full story and how living abroad changed who we are. We chat about the highs, like the moment a foreign language clicks and you realize you can function in it. And the lows, like being homesick in a country where you don't have a support system, or dealing with a health emergency far from home. One of the...