Happy holidays from ExpatFinder.com! We hope that you will enjoy them, regardless of what you celebrate. This video is a funny mashup of a 1964 comedy movie taken from the great Prelinger archives.
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We take a look at expat related news this week:
Troubled times for tourists and expats in two Asian countries. You can follow the difficult times and events through the eyes of expats in Mumbai and expats in Bangkok by checking the conversations from expats on Twitter list.
As global workforces become the norm, HR must manage an increasingly diverse range of cultures. Personneltoday reports on the difficulties they face and how can they overcome them.
American expatriates around the world are celebrating Thanksgiving. Here are some of the experiences we came across:
“As they have for 50 years, Americans in London packed St. Paul’s Cathedral on Thursday for an annual Thanksgiving service that, as evocatively as any event on the calendar, nurtures the home thoughts from abroad that are a staple of expatriate life.” Read more from The International Herald Tribune.
Copyright:Steve Forrest for The New York Times
Search for the perfect thanksgiving meal in London?
American expat Tikichris takes a look at Thanksgiving in London from a food perspective: turkey is it?
copyright:Tiki Chris
Katie writes about “What We Put On Our Plates”
copyright:Katie
“It’s Thanksgiving but this American holiday hasn’t caught on in China yet. The only evidence of Thanksgiving I can find in Shanghai are the hotel and expat restaurants that are stepping in to supply the turkey needs of expat Americans in the city” Read more from KevCham’s blog
November ExPatsWest get together on the day before Thanksgiving:
Copyright: Honey Dodge
An American Thanksgiving Down Under
Copyright: Aussie Erin
Happy holiday season to all the expats around the world!
Twitter here, Twitter there, Twitter everywhere! Micro blogging is a great way to share the experience of other expatriates around the world. Get followers, find others to follow in their everyday life abroad in the four corners of the world.
This list is a work in progress, more will be added as you contribute to it. A facebook group was created to provide further interaction and maintain the list up-to-date.
Please add a comment at the end of this post if you wish to add your twitter adress or some of your favorite expat twitterers around the planet!
Africa Asia Central America Europe
Middle East
North America Oceania South America
We take a look at expat related news this week.
Saskia Meckman explores the challenges for the year to come.
“In 2009, companies will be forced to juggle expatriates and their families worldwide, while balancing the decisions involved in finding and retaining globally competent employees.
… For most companies, it is becoming increasingly hard to fill certain positions without providing comprehensive and lucrative compensation packages. Including career-support services and any other additional support for the spouse may make a difference in whether an employee accepts or declines an international assignment… Once companies have found talented employees, the main goal is to retain them. One way of doing this is by making sure that there is a job offer of equal or greater interest for them once they repatriate “home” or head off on another international assignment. Companies are often still losing their best talent by not taking advantage of the cultural understanding and global competence the employees acquired while on assignment. Read more from HReonline.
Mor than 100 senior human resource managers participated in this survey on the importance of cultural skills in senior managers.
” 81 percent of companies agree that international work experience is a crucial criterion for leadership in a global organization. The survey, “The Importance of Cultural Skills in Senior Managers,” conducted by RW-3 LLC, an online intercultural training organization, and ORC Worldwide, a global human resource consulting firm, was designed to measure the importance of cultural competencies and global experience as criteria for senior management
Key results of the survey , reported by TalentMgt.com, included:
The American Association of Resident Overseas (AARO) has just released its “Social Security: How it works when you live outside the USA” booklet. The publication is a guide to Social Security and Medicare for Americans Abroad.
This booklet is produced by Thomas Rose, chairman of AARO’s Social Security Committee and describes the history and policies governing US Social Security and Medicare programs and how they affect Americans who work or retire outside the USA.
It is available at a price of 6€. You can either download it online from www.aaro.org or order it in booklet format from AARO, 34 avenue de New York, 75016 Paris, France.
ABC News writes on a new study from Duke University on Foreign born professionals in the US:
“Vivek Wadhwa, an executive resident at Duke University and a senior research associate at Harvard, believes that the United States is headed for a massive reverse brain drain.
Wadhwa, who led a Duke study on foreign-born professionals, said there likely won’t be a short-term impact of loss of skilled expatriates, but it will have significant implications in the long term. In Silicon Valley, the percentage of immigrant-founded start-ups had increased to 52 percent in 2005. The study found that all companies founded by immigrants from 1995 to 2005 produced $52 billion in sales and employed 450,000 workers in 2005. Indians comprised the largest group of skilled foreign workers.
More than 1 million skilled foreign workers compete for 120,000 permanent U.S. resident visas each year. Each country has a seven percent limit, so, for example, India and China are given the same quota as Iceland. According to the study, in U.S. engineering schools, 60 percent of Ph.D candidates and 42 percent of master’s candidates are foreign nationals.” Read More.
Agency Plans Electronic Overhaul of Case-Management System, the Washington post reports:
“The Bush administration has launched a major overhaul of the nation’s immigration services agency, selecting an industry consortium led by IBM to reinvent how the government handles about 7 million applications each year for visas, citizenship and approval to work in the United States, officials announced yesterday.
If successful, the five-year, $500 million effort to convert U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ case-management system from paper-based to electronic could reduce backlogs and processing delays by at least 20 percent, and possibly more than 50 percent, people close to the project said. Those problems have long frustrated new Americans and other immigrants.” Read more.
Home search is a significant part of the relocation process. In some country you might find yourself in front of some very strange buildings and houses! Have a look at Unusual Architecture around the world!
The Crooked House ( Sopot, Poland)
We take a look at expat related news this week.
£25 a Spanish villa?
A British expatriate in Spain is using raffle to sell property which he has valued £5 million. IHT reports on Wayne Connell who has decided to sell his family’s Spanish property in this unusual way. « Tickets cost £25 (about €31) and are available through his Web site. A maximum of 200,000 tickets will be sold, he says.”
Shrinking pensions
Expat pensioners lose £160 a month as sterling slumps. British pensioners living in Europe have seen their state pensions fall by about £160 a month over the past two years as a result of the decline in the value of the pound, according to new research. Read more from the Telegraph.
Expat Voices:
Here is a collection of reactions to the victory of Barack Obama at the US presidential election through videos of American expatriates around the world.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in these videos are those of the authors or the interviewees and do not necessarily represent those of ExpatFinder.com.
Over the past 12 hours, all eyes were on the election night in the United States of America. Televisions around the world were tuned to broadcast Senator McCain delivering his concession speech as the American voters where reported to have elected Senator Barack Hussein Obama as the next president of the USA. Obama democrats abroad, republicans abroad, Americans overseas as well as citizen of other nations joined together to follow what is described as an historic night.
Barack Obama as a former expat kid himself growing up for a few years in Indonesia, has found a good echo in the American overseas community but we will have to wait to find out what are the results from American expatriate’s vote.
As the election results where broadcasted around the world and across time zone, we take a look at some groups of American expatriates and locals following the historic event:
Expatriates and locals in Vienna, Austria
Supporters of the U.S. Democratic Party try to enter a pub to follow the U.S. presidential elections in Vienna, Austria, November 4, 2008.
Copyright: Reuters Pictures
Expatriates and locals in Sydney, Australia
Women react as votes are counted during a US Democrats Abroad election day watch in Sydney on November 5, 2008. Copyright: AFP/Getty Images
Expatriates and locals in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Supporters of US Democratic Party hopeful Barack Obama react in front of he Foreign Correspondent Club of Cambodia (FCCC) in Phnom Penh on November 5, 2008.
Copyright: AFP/Getty Images
Expatriates and locals in Toronto, Canada
Yonge & Dundas Square, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Copyright: Eyeline-Imagery
Expatriates and locals in Beijing, China
People follow the results of the US pesidential election from laptop computers during an election day event organized by the US embassy in Beijing. Copyright: AFP/Getty Images
Expatriates and locals in Chengdu, China
An American abroad stands next to posters of presidential candidates of Democrat Barack Obama (L) and Republican John McCain at the US election watch party in Chengdu, in China’s southwestern province of Sichuan on November 5, 2008.
Copyright: AFP/Getty Images
Expatriates and locals in Paris, France
Copyright : francois_lafite
Expatriates and locals in Berlin, Germany
The representation of German media group Bertelsmann in Berlin hosting a US election party
Copyright: qnibert00
Expatriates and locals Athens, Greece
A Greek American Obama supportes watch the early election results while attending the US election night by the Democrats Abroad in Athens, early November 5, 2008.
Copyright: AFP/Getty Images
Expatriates and locals in Jakarta, indonesia
Americans residing in Indonesia Arian Ardi (L), Ron Mullers (C) and Phil Richard (R) celebrate the victory for the Democrat Barack Obama telecast live on the news in a cafe at a shopping mall in Jakarta on November 5, 2008. Copyright: AFP/Getty Images
Expatriates and locals in Seoul, South Korea
Members of Democrats Abroad Korea and Obama supporters watch an election broadcast on TV during the election Returns Party at the Orange tree November 5, 2008 in Seoul, South Korea.
Copyright: AFP/Getty Images
Expatriates and locals in Barcelona, Spain
People sit during an election night party organised by American Institute in Barcelona, to watch the results in the U.S. presidential elections, in Barcelona November 5, 2008.
Copyright: Reuters Pictures
Expatriates and locals in London, United Kingdom
Supporters of United States Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, celebrate as they watch a TV broadcast predicting his victory in the state of Ohio, during an election party in the U.S. embassy in central London, early Wednesday Nov. 5, 2008.
Copyright : The Associated Press
Expatriates and locals in Mexico city, Mexico
American citizen Ralston Darlington, a supporter of U.S. President-elect Senator Barack Obama (D-IL), watches Obama speak onscreen at an event sponsored by the Democrats Abroad in Mexico City November 4, 2008.
Copyright: Reuters Pictures
Expatriates and locals in Amsterdam, Netherlands
President’s Night 2008 in de Melkweg
Copyright: PjotrP
Expatriates and locals in The Hague, Netherlands
At the 5:00 a.m. post-election “Who’s the President?” Breakfast in The Hague, Netherlands.
Copyright: eselcee
Expatriates and locals in Manila, Philippines
Supporters of U.S. President-elect Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) watch election results at an event sponsored by the Democrats Abroad, in Manila November 5, 2008. Copyright: Reuters Pictures
Expatriates and locals in Singapore, Singapore
Deanna Pesik, left, from California reacts as she hears results from television that Barack Obama has been elected President of the United States at an election results gathering in Singapore on Wednesday Nov. 5, 2008. Copyright : (AP Photo/ Wong Maye-E)
Expatriates and locals in Madrid, Spain
Copyright: marilink
And of course! Expatriates and locals in Obama, Japan
Local residents celebrate as it is announced on television that Barack Obama has been elected the President of the United States in Obama, western Japan, Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2008. Copyright: (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)
Do you have pictures of expat gatherings on election night? send it over ( contact @ expatfinder.com ) or leave the link in the comments!