Category Archives: Beyond Comfort Zones

We are all AmbassadorsIn November 2012 we were asked to make a move to the only part of the world we said we never wanted to live. After much prayer and consideration we decided to turn that unwanted opportunity into an adventure!

The articles below are from our lives as expatriates (expats). Our experiences are filled with discovery, laughter, alternate perspectives, and deep thoughts about how that unwelcome invitation continues to teach us about life and leadership.

If you are contemplating life outside of your own country, we highly recommend it.   And we warn you that you will grow in ways you can’t begin to imagine.  Your perspective will change, your understanding will grow, and you will never be the same.  

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Outside the Comfort Zone: In Hot Pursuit of the Vision!

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Change is growth.

Change is growth.

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This week I realized that it has been 8 months since we agreed to turn an unwanted opportunity into an adventure.  Today as I type this the last box has just been unpacked, the pictures are hung, and we’ve taken one quick spin around the compound on the Harley – celebrating that we are finally settled!

This weekend we shopped at one of the stores that we were in, on my first day here, causing me to reflect on that day:

  • Shortly after 3 AM the anticipated call to prayer blared from a speaker.
  • Once we were up we drove on roads that have lanes painted on them, however those lanes really don’t mean anything, as drivers simply drive wherever they want, whenever they want with no driving protocol or enforcement.  
  • As a woman – driving is not a wise option for me.  (It’s not a law, but you can get arrested if you do it!)
  • I was wearing my new black “cloak of invisibility.”  (In case you wondered, it is effective – as my husband quickly discovered how difficult it was to identify his wife when everyone is wearing a cloaking device!  Since that day we have wondered how small children learn to identify their mothers in a crowd and joked that perhaps I should add a huge Harley Davidson decal to the back of my “cloak” so he can spot me in a crowd!)
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Moving forward when you don’t know, what you don’t know…

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As my husband and I prepared for our international move we went to the bank and ordered the currency he would need when he arrived there.  The banker was a young man who had grown up as an expat child in this foreign land.  The currency arrived without incident and my husband had nothing to worry about.

Two and a half months later, as I prepared to leave the U.S. to join my husband. I went to a bank in a different city to order the same currency.  When the teller asked if I wanted small or large bills, I quickly said small.  (Using my U.S. filters and thinking about how hard it can be to use big bills in the U.S. or in Europe.)

The day I went in to pick up the currency.  Every teller knew immediately who I was.  (I thought that was odd.)  A few minutes later a teller emerged with four large wrapped packages.

iStock_000008219942XSmallAs she opened them she revealed 4 “bricks” of bills.  I was in shock! 

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Is it all just a matter of perspective?

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“For what you see and hear depends a good deal on where you are standing: it also depends on what sort of person you are.”  C.S. Lewis

In less than 8 hours after I arrived in the country we will be living in for the next 3 years, my husband and I were taken to our new villa.

As we toured our new home, we were impressed with this modern, open, well-furnished space.

Towards the end of the tour we walked past the kitchen and the half-bath, past the laundry room and the storage closet to a small room in the back of the house that is just a bit bigger than the storage closet.

IMG_0357The room has a small tinted window in the room that lets some light in but it is so high you can’t see out of it.  There is a small air conditioner, and off to the left of the room is a small watertight door.  When you open the door it reveals a tiny bathroom with a fluorescent light, a sink, a toilet and a shower wand.  (No tub, no shower curtain, and no way to keep the water from flowing through the entire bathroom if you shower.)

Yes – This tiny, claustrophobic space is intended to be the maid’s room.

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Understanding Change: What goes down, will go up again!

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“Toto, I’ve got a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.”  Dorothy

We are definitely not in Kansas!  We are across the ocean in a dry and dusty land that we asked not to move to.  After months of planning and more months of being apart we have had one month in the same place.  We are convinced that we are here for a reason and determined to turn that unwanted change into an adventure!  This is an update on our expat journey:

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Thankfulness, Beauty and Struggle ~ In a Foreign Land

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fearIn my first two days in the midst of the foreign land that I struggled to move to, and as I began to wear my “cloak of invisibility” each time I left the compound ~ I met a family that had lived outside of Paris for a few years.  (That is a destination I would have preferred!)  The mother of this family shared how much more thinking and planning she had to do to get her two children around while they were there with no car.  Planning transportation routes, figuring out how much time it would take, preparing snacks before they would get on the trains, having to go to multiple stores to grocery shop.

Countries and flags

Wow, what a perspective change! 

Immediately I felt a wave of thankfulness for all the things that are easy about my new world.

  • I can either ride a bus that is provided by the compound to shop, or hire a driver that will take me wherever I need to go.
  • Most places have signs in the native language of the area AND in English, making it easier to get around and much easier to shop.
  • And in spite of my fear about living in a brown dusty desert – the compound I live in has grass, trees, and flowers.

What a powerful reminder that so many times the change we fear is not as hard or as bad as we imagined and that if we focus on “what is” instead of “what is not” – how much easier it is to find things to be thankful for! 

My treasured moments so far have included:

  • Opportunities to meet the women that I connected to virtually before my move that offered advice and encouragement.
  • Opportunities to attend brunches and exercise classes with women from all over the world – I am enjoying both the beautiful bouquet that we make together and soaking in the conversation that is filled with different accents, and different experiences, and a genuine desire to help each other navigate this place together!

The toughest part of my experience so far: