When the honeymoon is over too quickly

Last week we had our monthly cicollective webinar and looked at the early days in an overseas asignment. Often that's termed the honeymoon period with high levels of positivity and strong learning opportunities.  (If you are a member of cicollective you can view the saved webinar here) Usually at this point in an international assignment expats who have arrived in their new locations are increasing their cultural intellligence at a significant rate. Usually experiences at work and school are positive as the welcomes and support are high.

Sometimes, however, that may not be true.  For whatever reason the early days may not be a honeymoon where you eagerly hit the ground running.  Instead they may be challenging times.  

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This wasn’t what I signed up for

When the early days of an overseas posting go wrong

In the past month massive floods have inundated many areas of Australia. 

In Queensland alone the flood zone covers an area larger than France and Germany combined, or for those of you in the USA, an area greater than the state of Texas.   97 towns or cities have been affected by flooding or isolation. Since Christmas Eve tens of thousands of houses have been flooded to varying degrees with many uninhabitable. Around 6,000 people have moved to evacuation centres.  As at January 21^st 33 people have lost their lives with more still missing. 

These are the facts that describe much hardship and sadness for thousands of people. 

Like most people in Australia my thoughts and prayers are with those I know who are affected as well as those we have met through the tragedies shown through the media. 

In addition my thoughts are also with those expats who I know will have recently arrived in Australia to begin work with their employers, to set up their homes and establish their families in their new locations.

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