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A Floating Tribe
Finding Success as a Global Nomad
FIS Parenting Seminar
One of the greatest resources at FIS is its parent community. Our families come from
around the globe, bringing with them unique experiences, new ideas and professional expertise.
how do we as expats thrive in our new home?
Using her family’s large handmade
Norwegian dining table as an analogy,
Dalton-Bradford’s Success Triad:
Language
Language is the key to successful
integration. Making a concerted
effort to learn your host country’s
LE FAMILY
language inevitably leads to
friendships, a key element of the Triad. Learning just a few new words to begin with counts toward progress.
6
Friendships
Becoming a part of community, sharing experiences, and asking for – or offering – help, are all important parts in creating new friendships. Making a few new
ford’s critically acclaimed book
friends is crucial in establishing a
oir recounts, with high-voltage
sense of community and belonging.
nt tenderness, twenty-five years of
Meaningful Engagement
untries, sixteen addresses, twelve
Whether it’s through volunteering,
five languages with four children.
a sports team, religious affiliation,
p of colorful personal narrative, and
or any number of other organized
ation of cutting-edge research,
efforts, meaningful engagement ienocteomnleymprboevridseusnadsernstsaenodf the ospsuibrpiloitsie,sboufteaxlspoahtreilaptserleivininfogr.ceWith exthpeloortehwerhkaetylealedmsetnotsuocfctehsesTfurilad
s,–anladnghuoawgesulecahrnoinpgpoanrtdunities can ufarlise,nfdasmhiplies.s, professionals and
One of those parents, author Melissa stability and reaching out to pull in
Dalton-Bradford (Global Mom: A Memoir and On Loss and Living Onward), recently presented a workshop at FIS, where she shared advice on successfully navigating life as an expatriate (expat) or “Global Nomad.” Her husband Randall, who’s a global Human Resources Executive, offered his perspectives as well.
your own community. “What happens
Dalton-Bradford stressed the
THRIVING AS A GLOBALLY MOBI
importance of creating a sense of
when you move a lot is that you need
Friday, 29 January 201
something stable,” she said.
“Something, or someone, or a concept that holds things in place.”
• Melissa Dalton-Bradford, FIS parent, author, expert Melissa Dalton-Brad critical elements (success triad):
and global nomad will share her tools for success Global Mom: A Mem The seminar was charged with language, friendships and meaningful
• Have you and your family moved recently? Often? humor and poigna emotion, from laughter to tears, as engagement. Put into practice, they
Far? traversing eight co attendees followed Dalton-Bradford, can dramatically help expats find
• Are you thriving or just surviving in your new school systems and her husband, and their family of four meaningful relationships within a
international residency? Using that backdro children through their lives as expats “floating tribe” of global citizens and in
• Do stress, loneliness or questions of identity haunt building on a found – eight countries, five languages, a turn, bring to the world a better sense
doyzoeunoscr haonoylosn–eaindyionudrofianmg siloy,? of understanding, toleBrraandcfeo, redmhpealtphsyaud •reDfleocyteoduownotnhdeierrojwunstewxpherien“hceosme”is?–andpeace. complexitiesandp
9:00 – 12:00
FIS Auditorium
And while stability is important, to
really thrive Dalton-Bradford suggests
that one must also focus on three
her, audiences will foreign experience enrich us as individ
professional
• Q & A February 2016 FIS World 23
•livDinogyaoburonaede. d help during a major transition?
• Dynamic, multi-media presentation foRrypaanrKeanrtrs, with
Thcrhoiuldgrheonuot,faatlhl aegmeswas constant: FIS Webmaster •WBhraetaisk-hOoumteS?eWsshioernesislehdombye?MAenlidssaandherhusband, worldcitizens.
Randall Bradford, a respected international HR
The seminar is free of charge, but you need to RSVP: reception@fis.edu by 23 January 2016