Adjustment of expatriate employees and their families in the new environment is a challenge that has been much discussed and written about. Often corporations hire or relocate expatriate employees in a 'snap shut and move' notion (Sharma and Bruning, 2005). In its simplest form movement of expatriate employees from one environment to another is about snapping your current way of life. Pack whatever you care for such as personal belongings, memories, and everything you identify with (e.g. your career and work experiences, memberships and associations, friendships) in a suitcase (or a box) and shut it. Move until you reach your destination and begin accepting or realizing it as your new home.

Of course employers do extend some initial support to the expatriate employees and their families (e.g. a few hours of cross-cultural training, introduction to basic language skills). However, the daily life challenges (e.g. how to open a bank account, how to find the right store for grocery shopping and where to access public transport) are left with individual families to deal with at their own personal levels. Often it is the simple things like "my child doesn't like the taste of dairy products available in the market", that become a leading cause of anxiety in the expatriate families. This eventually affects their psychological well being and effective functioning in the new environment. There is a high rate of failure among expatriate employees on assignments due to the stress experienced by their families caused by their inability to accept/adjust to the perceived differences between the old and new environment.

Therefore, as women and typically the primary caregivers in the family it becomes extremely important for us to 'take charge' in the new environment and deal with the issues of expatriate adjustment with knowledge and compassion – both inside and outside the house. One of the things that really help in expatriate adjustment is being 'proactive' – i.e. anticipate the newness and prepare for the change. If a parent welcomes the new environment as a positive change and an opportunity to learn different things, the probability of children sensing the same is high.

Therefore, some things that we can essentially do to ease the anxiety and stress within us and in our children is to believe in the following:

The above mentioned notes are easier said than done. They certainly look like the usual list of things you must or you must not do before traveling to another country. But this approach has certainly helped me in my international adventures all these years.

When my husband mentioned about this offer from a company in Qatar, I silently whispered "Oh God! Not again". This is not to suggest that I was not happy with the offer and its perks. The mere thought of sorting, packing, moving, unpacking and resuming a sense of 'normal living' again was actually overwhelming. But the above list to approach the new environment helped me in bundling my children and me into one unit ready to hit the road (in this case I must say fly in the clouds). My favorite note is at bottom of the list (I have a strange habit to read the end before the beginning). It is what carried me through our latest 'snap shut and move' to Qatar, and it is what I encourage you to remember for your next expat move also:
"Enjoy every bit of your new international venture with humor and zest".

Sharma, G., and Bruning, N. S. (2005)."Engineering Your Own Adjustment: Expatriate Adjustment through Sensemaking; A Process Model. Academy of Management Conference, Hawaii, USA. 

Gitanjali (Gita) Sharma is a full-time mom of two highly energetic boys. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Management from University of Manitoba in Canada. Her research focus and interests are in Expatriate Adjustment and Management of Change. She has written and presented papers in conferences in the US and Canada. She has taught several management courses in Universities in Canada. Gita is a Management Consultant specializing in Human Resource Management, Organizational Change, Recruitment and Selection, Corporate Planning and Change Management. She is a Principal Consultant of GA3 Consulting Services, a business consulting firm that she manages on her own. Her global nomadic life (mainly as trailing spouse) extends from India, Oman, the US and Canada to Qatar at present. From September, Gita will be affiliated with University of Qatar in Doha as a Visiting Professor in their College of Business.  If you wish to contact Gita for any information her email address is: shargitanjali@gmail.com