Sink or swim: facing the surprise depths of cultural immersion

family
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Easy answers to complex cultural questions can’t prepare an American for her submersive role as member of a Kurdish tribe by marriage.

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Awkward greetings: the intercultural social dance

American culture
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Trying to assimilate to the greeting norms of another culture leaves us bumping heads and stepping on toes.

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Travel as way of life: when traveling nature finds its full expression

American culture
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Travel used to be a special occasion. Then I became an expat and a global business traveler — the full expression of my traveler nature?

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Cultural jet lag: the effect of occupying multiple personas

community
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“Iranian by birth, French by citizenship and American by residence” is how my grandfather encapsulated 10-year old me. What does that make my daughter?

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It takes a virtual village: cultural parenting from afar

community
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A virtual network of mothers helps an Irishwoman in Turkey raise her children by the standards she grew up with.

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Strategic love: the embassy of intercultural marriage

community
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If marriage is the smallest unit of a community, then cross-cultural couples are ambassadors, peace-makers, and change-agents.

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Unlikely associations: is it a sell-out to socialize with insiders?

American culture
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Sometimes this expat has felt like a duplicitous sell-out for socializing with people she normally would not.

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Same river, never twice: realities and atmospheres expats miss

community
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What do you miss most about your home country? The solid reality of family and places — or an atmosphere long since vanished?

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Food communion: finding lost rituals

American culture
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A global nomad now back in the USA misses the special status of food.

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