Resources
Here are some additional resources for Foreign Service Families
and other families facing the challenges associated with an
internationally mobile lifestyle
The Associates of the American Foreign
Service Worldwide (AAFSW) is a non-profit organization
that has been representing Foreign Service spouses,
employees and retirees since 1960. AAFSW is an independent
advocate for its membership, giving members a stronger
voice when working on common concerns and a chance to
enjoy shared interests.
The Kids Guide To Living Abroad.
Are you moving abroad? Perhaps you
are already living in a new country!! Guess What? You are
not alone. This book, The Kids Guide to Living Abroad, was
written just for you and the thousands of other kids growing
up beyond the borders of their passport countries.
Click here to order this
book.
Carris, Joan. Hedgehogs in the Closet. New
York: J. B. Lippincott, 1988. This children's book compares
U.S. customs, traditions and ways to the English (including
differences of language) from the perspective of a child.
It also explores some of the differences between going to
a local English school and going to an international school.
Fritz, Jean. Homesick: My Own Story. New York:
Dell Yearling. 1984. This children's book tell the fictionalized
story of Jean Fritz's childhood experience as an MK in China.
Set in 1925-1927, the story shares Jean's emotions as she
moves from a turbulent China to a peaceful Pennsylvania. This
book also discusses Jean's feelings and expectations of the
U. S., as someone who had never visited the U.S. before.
Let's Get A Move On!! Newton, Massachusetts.
KIDVIDZ, Inc. A videotape for children, ages 4-10, that shows
children sharing their feelings, getting ready, enjoying the
adventure of a move, settling in and finding ways to make
friends.
Let's Make a Move! 2nd Ed. BR Anchor.com. Let's Make
A Move! is an activity book for children who are moving.
Mitchell, Barbara. Between Two Worlds: A Story about
Pearl Buck. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Carolrhoda Books,
1988. Encouraging, insightful and very easy to read, this
book highlights how extraordinary Pearl Buck was. The author
aptly describes Pearl buck's ability to integrate her two
worlds and to continuously relate to both of them.
Roman, Beverly D. Footsteps Around the World: Relocation
Tips for Teens. BR Anchor Publishing, 1999. This book
for teens is divided into two sections: Relocation basics
and International moving. "Does Anyone Care about my
Feelings?" is chapter one of this book. Other chapters
include money tips, driving privileges, new schools and new
friends, customs of the new country, getting comfortable and
a directory of Internet sites.
The League of Super Movers: My Moving Adventure.
BP Anchor.com. The League of Super Movers are characters who
guide preteens on a relocation journey. The storyline encourages
children to maintain friendships, organize their belongings,
prepare a pet for travel and learn about their new city or
country. The book also features the importance of family members
working together.
Teen Talk: Straight Talk About Moving… One Teen
to Another. Franklin, Michigan: Conquest Corporation,
1993 edition. A pamphlet that includes marvelous tips from
teens to teens, covering such issues as relationships with
parents, making new friends, school (the first day and later
on), and more.
 When
Abroad Do as the Local Children Do - Ori’s Guide for
Young Expats. by Hilly van Swol-Ulbrich and Bettina Kältenhauser.
This book, geared to the 6 to 12-year-old group, reaches out
to all internationally mobile families with young children
to help these children make sense of the move and their new
surroundings. Interactive with the
Ori
& Ricki website.
Read
a review of this book.
Watlington, Calvin. Zoe. Ebonylaw, 2002. A brilliantly
illustrated children's book for ages four to seven, introducing
the concept of diversity. This book offers multicultural/biracial
children a friend with whom they can identify. Mr. Watlington
is a Foreign Service Officer.
Williams, Karen Lynn. When Africa Was Home.
New York: Orchard Books., 1991. Fictionalized picture book
for children that deals with issues such as Chichewa language,
life in Africa, comparisons of a white child to a black child,
animals and the longing for Africa that Peter feels when he
is back in the United States.
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Austin, Clyde N. Descriptive Statement of Missionary
Families. Abilene, Texas: Clyde N. Austin, 1986. A
telling "short-list" of characteristics of missionary
families, differentiating them from other US expatriate families.
Bender, Margaret. Foreign at Home and Away: Foreign-Born
Wives in the US Foreign Service. Writers Club Press,2002.
A compilation of stories about women born in other countries
who, through their marriages to American diplomats, became
representatives of the United States. This book discusses
the challenges faced by other women in cross-cultural marriages
away from their own countries.
Dehner, Haidee and Maya Dehner. Life on the Outside:
Memoirs of a Nomadic Mother and Daughter. Dhaka, Bangladesh:
Wanderlust Press, 2001. A sensitive and honest account of
a traveling third culture family. To order the book go to
www.celebratethetckjourney.com or e-mail
:
jpdehner@yahoo.com
Hickman, Katie. Daughters of Britannia - The Lives and
Times of Diplomatic Wives. Harper Perennial, 2002. Hickman
describes the unusual and often difficult lives of British
Foreign Service spouses. Tracking these feisty transplants
from the 17th century to the present, she shows how these
very significant others coped with everything from tropical
epidemics to kidnappings to small household budgets.
Pascoe, Robin. Culture Shock! Successful Living Abroad:
A Parent's Guide. Singapore: Time Books International,
1994. Focuses on the emotional impact of a move on children.
Includes chapters on Third Culture Kids, international schools,
family culture shock, traveling with children, health and
safety issues and reentry.
Pascoe, Robin. The Wife's Guide to Successful Living
Abroad. Singapore: Time books International, 1992.
This tongue-in-cheek, humorous text offers practical advice
on how to handle pre-moving day jitters, the arrival, cultural
transitions, portable careers, household help overseas, entertaining,
home leave and return shock.
Click
here to visit Robin Pascoe's website.
Raising Global Nomads: Parenting
Abroad in an On-Demand World by Robin Pascoe and link to
www.expatexpert.com
Romano, Dugan. Intercultural Marriage: Promises and
Pitfalls. Yarmouth, Maine: Intercultural Press, 2001.
A book focused on the needs of intercultural couples and families
that identifies eighteen "trouble spots" not as
severe in mono-cultural marriages.
Van Reken, Ruth. Letters Never Sent. Elgin,
Illinois: David C. Cook Publishing Company, 1988. Moving and
cathartic, these letters recount the emotions and experience
of an American woman growing up in a missionary family in
Africa.
Wertsch, Mary Edwards. Military Brats: Legacies of
Childhood Inside the Fortress. New York: Harmony Books,
1991. Based on five years of research, Wertsch explores the
long-term psychological effects of growing up amidst the moves
and expectations of the military.
Wren, Christopher S. The Cat Who Covered the World: The
Adventures of Henrietta and Her Foreign Correspondent.
Simon & Schuster Trade, 2000. Henrietta is an ordinary
NYC cat who became the companion to New York Times Correspondent
Wren as he traveled the world with his wife and children,
reporting world events.
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Hess, Melissa Brayer & Linderman, Patricia. The Expert
Expatriate: Your Guide to Successful Relocation Abroad: Moving,
Living, Thriving. Nicholas Brealey: 2002. A comprehensive
guidebook for those moving overseas for the first time. This
book also contains useful advice for experienced expatriates.
Click
here to visit the authors' website.
Kalb, Rosalind and Welch, Penelope. Moving Your Family
Overseas. Yarmouth, Maine: Intercultural Press, Inc.,
1992.This text covers every step of the move process including
"breaking the news" to children, friends and relatives,
the early days, making the most of home leave, parenting overseas,
and moving on….moving home, among others.
Meltzer, Gail and Grandjean, Elaine. The Moving Experience:
A Practical Guide to Psychological Survival. Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania: Multilingual Matters Ltd., 1989. The authors
highlight issues families and individuals face when moving.
Topics include: staying put or just passing through, on foreign
soil, the movable marriage, employment options, and the portable
child.
Ward, Ted. Living Overseas: A Book of Preparations.
New York: The Free Press (a Division Of Macmillan, Inc.),
1984. This book offers details of what the overseas experience
will offer and require, including chapters on your job and
its context, planning the move, living with what you find,
the skills of coping, and others.
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Austin, Clyde N. Cross-Cultural Reentry: A Book of
Readings. Abilene, Texas: Abilene Christian University,
1986. A collection of some of the best articles on reentry
that pinpoint the problems and identify strategies for curing
reverse culture shock.
Eakin, Kay Branaman. The Foreign Service Teenager--
At Home in the US: A Few Thoughts for Parents Returning with
Teenagers. Washington, DC: Overseas Briefing Center/Foreign
Service Institute, Department of State, 1988. Focused on the
special concerns of teens returning to the United States after
living abroad, this booklet outlines many of the issues teens
and their parents face and provides planning tools and suggestions
for easing the adjustment.
Going International: Welcome Home Stranger.
San Francisco, CA: Griggs Productions, Inc., 1983. Part of
the Going International videotape series, this videotape focuses
on the unexpected problems of returning home. Families share
how they overcame the difficulties of "reentry."
Order
it from Griggs.
Pollock, David C. The Transition Model.
Albany, NY: Interaction, Inc., 1990. Audio and video tales
in which David Pollock discusses culture shock, the process
of transition, and keys to making the transition successful.
Smith, Carolyn D. ed. Strangers at Home. Bayside,
New York: Aletheia Publications, 1997.
Storti, Craig. The Art of Coming Home. Yarmouth,
Maine: Intercultural Press, Inc. 1997.
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Bell, Linda. Hidden Immigrants: Legacies Of Growing
Up Abroad. South Bend, IN: Cross Cultural Publications,
Inc., 1997. Gives names and definitions to the experience
of growing up in many different cultures. For and by children
of overseas Americans, this book is an invaluable guide to
how the experience of childhood international mobility plays
out over time and how these individuals in mid-life view their
experiences form the point of view of maturity.
Dean, Timothy. Global Nomads-Return to the Stone Age.
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: Action Now! Productions,
Inc. Timothy Dean's videotape account of his global nomad
childhood and his return to the Ukarumpa Village, where Dean
grew up and where his father established a mission.
Global Nomads: Cultural Bridges for the Future.
Ithaca, New York: video produced by Alice Wu, Lewis Clark,
Marianne Bojer, and Illan Barzilay, Cornell University, 1994.
On this videotape, sixteen Cornell University students, four
researchers and three university administrators give their
impressions of the benefits and challenges of an internationally
mobile lifestyle.
Kilham, Nina. "World-Wise Kids: Special Qualities
Mark These Global Nomads," The Washington Post, page
B5, February 15, 1990.
Kohls, L. Robert. Survival Kit for Overseas Living: For
Americans Planning to Live and Work Abroad. 4th ed., Yarmouth,
Maine: Nicholas Brealey Intercultural Press, Inc., 2001. Bob
Kohl's classic text on cross-cultural adjustments, this readable
book covers concepts of culture, the ugly American, RX for
culture shock, intercultural communication, and more.
Pollock, David, and Van Reken, Ruth E. Third Culture
Kids: The Experience of Growing Up Among Worlds. Paperback
Edition. Yarmouth, Maine: Intercultural Press, 1999. Systematic
exploration of experiences of third culture kids, this book
examines the nature and effects of the experience into adulthood.
Smith, Carolyn D. The Absentee American: Repatriates'
Perspectives on America. Bayside, New York: Aletheia Publications,
1994. Written by an absentee American, this book outlines
the ordeals of Americans who lived outside their own country
for a portion of their childhood and who have returned with
an emphasis on the long-term influence on the repatriated
American's perspective of the US and its place in the contemporary
world.
Stepanek, Vanessa. Riding the Crosswinds. Boulder,
CO.: Johnson Printing, 2000. A "world child," Stepanek grew
up in Indonesia, Kenya, Tanzania, Washington, DC and Zambia,
as she moved with her USAID family. She writes about her life
in all these places. One chapter is aptly named, "Some Call
It Exotic -- I Call It Home."
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College Applications and the Foreign Service Child.
Family
Liaison Office. 2002. A video of a panel discussion on how
a Foreign Service teen can package the overseas experience
to his advantage when applying for college. Panelists include
Judy Axelrod, Secondary Guidance Specialist, Fairfax County
Public Schools, Gregory Roberts , Associate Director for Undergraduate
Admissions, Georgetown University , and Theresa Schweser,
Director of International Education Office, The College Board,
regarding the college application process.
Eakin, Kay Branaman. "Educating the Special Needs
Child Abroad," Expatriate Observer, Winter, 1996.
Rader, Debra, and Sittig, Linda Harris. New Kid in School:
Using Literature to Help Children in Transition. 2003.
Provides educators a model of transition education and tools
to meet the needs of children in transition. The book shows
how children's literature can teach children about transitions.
Lesson plans and follow up activities are included. A tips
for parents section is included.
Click
here to order.
Tokuhama-Espinosa, Tracey. Raising Multilingual Children--Foreign
Language Acquisition and Children. Westport, CT: Greenwood
Publishing Group, 2000. How children learn foreign languages,
especially in multilingual settings, and when they can do
so with the best results is covered in this book. Citing recent
research in linguistics, neurology, education and psychology,
it provides structured help for parents and teachers who are
interested in foreign language acquisition for their children.
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 Parker,
Elisabeth, Katharine Rumrill-Teece. Here Today There Tomorrow:
A Training Manual for Working with Internationally Mobile
Youth. Washington, DC: Foreign Service Youth Foundation,
2001. A workbook compiled of 24 successful training
exercises on working on transition issues with mobile teens.
Discussing topics on managing transitions, personal development
and perspectives on culture, these complete lesson plans help
teenagers adjust to new environments.
Click
here to order from the Foreign Service Youth Foundation!
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Austin, Clyde N. Cross-cultural Reentry: An Anointed
Bibliography. Abilene, Texas: Abilene Christian University,
1983. A guided review of recent literature on cross-cultural
reentry. A wonderful resource for anyone doing research on
reentry issues.
Ender, Morton G., ed. Military Brats and Global Nomads:
Growing up in Organization Families Praeger Pub. 2002.
As Post WWII American power expanded worldwide, American political,
military, corporate, and humanitarian responsibilities grew
alongside it. Increasingly government and military personnel,
business executives, and missionaries began to live abroad.
Ender examines this legacy of the late 20th century phenomenon
and analyzes the social, psychological, and historical imprints
on people who came of age in these service organization families.
Gerner, Michael et al. "Characteristics of Internationally
Mobile Adolescents." Journal of School Psychology
(Volume 30). 1992. Summarizes results of survey of over one
thousand adolescent "third culture kids" by overseas
school psychologists.
Giardini, Alyson M. The Formation of a National Identity
among US Citizens Growing Up Overseas. Masters Degree
Thesis, Stanford University, Winter, 1993. Seen through the
eyes of an American global nomad, this paper challenges
traditional notions of personal identity as homogeneous and
nation as bounded to a specific land.
Going International: Beyond Culture Shock.
San Francisco, CA: Griggs Productions, Inc., 1983. Part of
the Going International videotape series, this videotape is
designed specifically for the family or individual moving
abroad. Documentary style with feedback from real families
and children.
Click
here to order.
Steinglass, Peter and Edwards, Martha E. Family Relocation
Study: Final Report. New York: Ackerman Institute
for Family Therapy for the US Department of State, 1993. Called
the "Ackerman Study," this document reports the
results of a study of State Department families with children,
focusing on the effects of relocation on employee, spouse
and children, on reentry issues and on the impact of individual,
social and relocation event factors on adjustment.
Useem, Ruth Hill, John Useem, Ann Baker Cottrell and Kathleen
A. Finn Jordan, Research on adult TCK's, reported in Newslink,
International Schools Services: Princeton, NJ., January, May,
September and November 1993 and March 1994.
Wood, David et al. "Impact of Family Relocation on
Children's Growth, Development, School Function, and Behavior."
Journal of the American Medical Association. Vol 270, #11.
September 15, 1993. A depressing look at the impact of U.
S. domestic moves on the development of children, with statistical
findings on the impact of moves on school success and behavior.
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