Four Seas One Family : All About Expat Living

We are very happy to have South African music designer Anton Botes on the show to share his experiences living abroad. He talks about why he decided to make the change from his established occupation in South Africa to a new life overseas. He also offers some special insight to his lifestyle abroad.  Mentioned: Show Reel: http://www.antonbotes.com The Lab Space: https://www.facebook.com/labspacetw   THANK YOU FOR LISTENING TO THIS EPISODE! Thank you very much for taking the time to share this podcast. Click HERE if you would like to load our Four Seas One Family Website RSS Feed. Please help us make this show better by filling in this Expat Life Expat Life Survey. It will help us produce a better show for you and thanks! If you have any feedback, please leave a note in the comments section below or leave a voice message via our SpeakPipe voice message page. We would love to hear from you! If you enjoyed this please share it with your friends, family and co-workers by using the social media buttons you see at

Over the past few weeks, listeners have been writing to me asking about employment opportunities and conditions abroad and I found myself repeating the same advice over and over again. It looks like many people are to shy to leave a message on the website so I decided to create a podcast on the topic. Much like looking for employment in your home nation, there are basic questions that should be asked and be concerned about. However, simply because of the location and distances involved in overseas employment and assignments,  extra care and attention to detail must be given to the overall description, salary, benefits and others. All in all, working abroad can be a life changer for anyone accepting the challenge to step outside his or her home nation. It can help a person develop the skills necessary to function in an ever-expanding global marketplace. In this podcast I offer some tips to help those people looking for job opportunities overseas.  THANK YOU FOR LISTENING TO THIS EPISODE! Thank you very much fo

Mark Goding, a fifteen plus year Australian expat living in Taiwan, chats with James about his early travels before ending up in the place he now calls home. A class A optimist, Mark is well known for his endless energy and outspokenness and he always has an antidote for any situation or cause.  He keeps active and also runs his own business selling sausages to local business.  THANK YOU FOR LISTENING TO THIS EPISODE! Thank you very much for taking the time to share this podcast. Click HERE if you would like to load our Four Seas One Family Website RSS Feed. Please help us make this show better by filling in this Expat Life Expat Life Survey. It will help us produce a better show for you and thanks! If you have any feedback, please leave a note in the comments section below or leave a voice message via our SpeakPipe voice message page. We would love to hear from you! If you enjoyed this please share it with your friends, family and co-workers by using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post

In this short episode we sit down for a late night chat with Kathy Wang, a Taiwanese expat living in Brisbane, Australia. Kathy started off her Australian journey on a working holiday. Now, two and a half years later, Kathy is pursuing her master’s degree and, at the same time, working in a local Australian company. Kathy talks about how she prepared to deal with language and cultural issues. She also points out the importance of getting out and mixing in your local community.  THANK YOU FOR LISTENING TO THIS EPISODE! Thank you very much for taking the time to share this podcast. Click HERE if you would like to load our Four Seas One Family Website RSS Feed. Please help us make this show better by filling in this Expat Life Expat Life Survey. It will help us produce a better show for you and thanks! If you have any feedback, please leave a note in the comments section below or leave a voice message via our SpeakPipe voice message page. We would love to hear from you! If you enjoyed this please share it with y

Colombian Expatriate William Cruz Molina is in the Taipei studio to chat about how he ended up coming to Taiwan to study in university. William also talks about how important it is to get outside your protective shell and mix with an overseas environment. He explains the situations he encountered while learning the local language and culture. In the end, he points out how his experience as an expat helped him further develop his view of his life and world.   THANK YOU FOR LISTENING TO THIS EPISODE! Thank you very much for taking the time to share this podcast. Click HERE if you would like to load our Four Seas One Family Website RSS Feed. Please help us make this show better by filling in this Expat Life Expat Life Survey. It will help us produce a better show for you and thanks! If you have any feedback, please leave a note in the comments section below or leave a voice message via our SpeakPipe voice message page. We would love to hear from you! If you enjoyed this please share it with your friends, family

Today we sit down for a chat with Brent Smith. Brent is a Canadian expat residing in Taiwan for 15 years! He shares his views of how his overseas experience helped him widen his view of the world. He notes during the interview that people are generally the same and kindness really is universal. Brent has lived in a few places in Taiwan and is well qualified to compare and contrast both the positive and negative aspects of being a long-term overseas expat.   THANK YOU FOR LISTENING TO THIS EPISODE! Thank you very much for taking the time to share this podcast. Click HERE if you would like to load our Four Seas One Family Website RSS Feed. Please help us make this show better by filling in this Expat Life Expat Life Survey. It will help us produce a better show for you and thanks! If you have any feedback, please leave a note in the comments section below or leave a voice message via our SpeakPipe voice message page. We would love to hear from you! If you enjoyed this please share it with your friends, family a

Today we interview Ms. Christine Chang, a Taiwanese expat working in Hong Kong. Ms. Chang, in her first Internet interview, shares with James Thomas her experiences working and living abroad. Christine talks about some of the issues she’s faced working in a “male dominated” industry and how it seems that more women at put in hi-level management positions in many Hong Kong companies. She also points out what was her drive to look overseas for an employment challenge and the value of an overseas work experience for women today. THANK YOU FOR LISTENING TO THIS EPISODE! Thank you very much for taking the time to share this podcast. Click HERE if you would like to load our Four Seas One Family Website RSS Feed. Please help us make this show better by filling in this Expat Life Expat Life Survey. It will help us produce a better show for you and thanks! If you have any feedback, please leave a note in the comments section below or leave a voice message via our SpeakPipe voice message page. We would love to hear fro

What are some of the issues female expatriates have to face while living and working abroad? What are the unique situations they encounter as a result of their assignments, locations and especially gender? Today, female expats say that they feel the need to take on international assignments or rotations to further their career goals and prove self-worth. They note that one of the prerequisites for a top-level executive position is having an international overseas experience….. Women, under the many unspoken rules (不成文的規定) of some corporations, aren’t considered for certain overseas assignments because of their gender or a glass ceiling. Yes, the corporate world is still a man’s world and women are still finding it an uphill battle to raise their flags of accomplishments.  THANK YOU FOR LISTENING TO THIS EPISODE! Thank you very much for taking the time to share this podcast. Click HERE if you would like to load our Four Seas One Family Website RSS Feed. Please help us make this show better by filling in this E

We often hear people from all cultures living away from their home or in an unfamiliar environment talk about their feelings of being homesick and the reasons why they feel the way they do. Now, hold on for a minute! What does homesick or homesickness really mean? What are the elements that form these feelings? Is being homesick really about how a person feels about their “home”? What really does “homesick” mean and what are the underlining symptoms that show up as a result? THANK YOU FOR LISTENING TO THIS EPISODE! Thank you very much for taking the time to share this podcast. Click HERE if you would like to load our Four Seas One Family Website RSS Feed. Please help us make this show better by filling in this Expat Life Expat Life Survey. It will help us produce a better show for you and thanks! If you have any feedback, please leave a note in the comments section below or leave a voice message via our SpeakPipe voice message page. We would love to hear from you! If you enjoyed this please share it with your

Going abroad can help a traveler widen his or her viewpoint of the world by giving the person a personal relationship with the location and the people encountered. However, when planning to travel overseas there are steps that need to be taken to ensure the traveler’s safety and wellbeing. In this podcast I offer a few tips to assist anyone from anywhere in their preparations before and during a journey abroad. Many of the points I raise can be called common sense. No matter where you plan to travel, following these steps can help keep you safe and your trip a memorable one. THANK YOU FOR LISTENING TO THIS EPISODE! Thank you very much for taking the time to share this podcast. Click HERE if you would like to load our Four Seas One Family Website RSS Feed. Please help us make this show better by filling in this Expat Life Expat Life Survey. It will help us produce a better show for you and thanks! If you have any feedback, please leave a note in the comments section below or leave a voice message via our Speak

When people talk about Finland, most of the time they describe a place flanked with historical architecture, monuments and fields of grass. Within this background three expats from Britain, America and Spain now call Finland their home. Steve, Ken and Guillermo, the three host of the podcast “techxpatspodcast.com”, sit down for a chat with our host, James Thomas, and share their connections and reasons for calling Finland home.  THANK YOU FOR LISTENING TO THIS EPISODE! Thank you very much for taking the time to share this podcast. Click HERE if you would like to load our Four Seas One Family Website RSS Feed. Please help us make this show better by filling in this Expat Life Expat Life Survey. It will help us produce a better show for you and thanks! If you have any feedback, please leave a note in the comments section below or leave a voice message via our SpeakPipe voice message page. We would love to hear from you! If you enjoyed this please share it with your friends, family and co-workers by using the so

Tune in and join us as we interview American expat Erik Lahdakorpi. Erik has been all over the world experiencing life overseas. He has interesting stories and antidotes to share about his times living abroad. Erik is not only an adventurer, but also a well established English language consultant. His service has helped many professionals get a secure foothold on the English language.   Erik Lahdekorpi Professional English Services:    http://www.eng.coach A few years ago a friend of Erik had an experience that changed his life...he: 1. Is American 2. Lived in Iran for 2.5 years  3. Has made a photojournal to document his experience If this would interest someone you know please share his Indiegogo campaign: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/becoming-iranian/ His incredible experience needs to be shared and will give you a chance to look into what Iran is really like. Check it out:

A longtime friend on Facebook sent me a link from a blog (http://anamericanintaipei.com) that had the flashing title “Leaving an EFL Job Gracefully After You’ve Been Screwed Over”. I found this to be an interesting title as well as a topic of interest to many expats employed abroad. Leaving an EFL Job Gracefully After You’ve Been Screwed Over”. I found this to be an interesting title as well as a topic of interest to many expats employed abroad. I contacted the Webmaster and author of the mentioned article, Ms. Katy Kessinger, to chat with her about her blog post. Let's listen to her experiences living overseas as well as how she handles a problem at the workplace. Please let me know your thoughts on this topic.   THANK YOU FOR LISTENING TO THIS EPISODE! Thank you very much for taking the time to share this podcast. Click HERE if you would like to load our Four Seas One Family Website RSS Feed. Please help us make this show better by filling in this Expat Life Expat Life Survey. It will help us produce a bett

Views of an expat's home country from abroad After watch the GOP debate the need for a more true international understanding is needed. This is why I created this podcast. We are all the same, but different. This really makes ALL our lives more colorful and meaningful.  THANK YOU FOR LISTENING TO THIS EPISODE! Thank you very much for taking the time to share this podcast. Click HERE if you would like to load our Four Seas One Family Website RSS Feed. Please help us make this show better by filling in this Expat Life Expat Life Survey. It will help us produce a better show for you and thanks! If you have any feedback, please leave a note in the comments section below or leave a voice message via our SpeakPipe voice message page. We would love to hear from you! If you enjoyed this please share it with your friends, family and co-workers by using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post. Please subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts to get automatic episode updates of our podcasts. And, finall

For a variety of different reasons, many people think about moving or living long-term in another country. Of course, people thinking like this should know that they might need time to adapt. Learning to co-exist in a country with people of different cultural characteristics, language, cuisines, religions, moral values, ethics and others on a daily basis may not be a skill some of us can obtain. If you are steadfast and determined to living a life abroad, be prepared to make a checklist of why you are suitable for living abroad. Explore your reason for wanting to live abroad with James. THANK YOU FOR LISTENING TO THIS EPISODE! Thank you very much for taking the time to share this podcast. Click HERE if you would like to load our Four Seas One Family Website RSS Feed. Please help us make this show better by filling in this Expat Life Expat Life Survey. It will help us produce a better show for you and thanks! If you have any feedback, please leave a note in the comments section below or leave a voice message v

This isn’t new news. In fact, maybe it’s a trend.  More and more students are leaving the US to study abroad. Nothing new about this fact, but the point to mention is less than 10% of American students today choose to study abroad and there are several reasons why this is so. This low rate of increase is far behind the rates of students seeking an overseas learning experience in the US from other countries... Institute of International Education (IIE): Demand for Study Overseas by American Students and Employers http://www.iie.org/Research-and-Publications/Publications-and-Reports/IIE-Bookstore/Demand-for-Study-Overseas-from-American-Students-and-Employers The Value of International Education to U.S. Business and Industry Leaders (2009): http://www.iie.org/Research-and-Publications/Publications-and-Reports/IIE-Bookstore/Value-of-International-Education THANK YOU FOR LISTENING TO THIS EPISODE! Thank you very much for taking the time to share this podcast. Click HERE if you would like to load our Four Seas

Join James in a studio interview with local radio and TV personality Stevie G. Listen to the road this US expat took to find his way in his new home. Stevie has some funny encounters and anecdotes to share during his time in Taiwan. THANK YOU FOR LISTENING TO THIS EPISODE! Thank you very much for taking the time to share this podcast. Click HERE if you would like to load our Four Seas One Family Website RSS Feed. Please help us make this show better by filling in this Expat Life Expat Life Survey. It will help us produce a better show for you and thanks! If you have any feedback, please leave a note in the comments section below or leave a voice message via our SpeakPipe voice message page. We would love to hear from you! If you enjoyed this please share it with your friends, family and co-workers by using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post. Please subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts to get automatic episode updates of our podcasts. And, finally, please take a minute to leave us an

This episode was quickly patched together while in the middle of Super Typhoon Soudelor (8/8/2015). I wanted to get this episode out before the heavy part of the storm hit the island and as a result a lot of tongue twisting occurred.  In this episode I present a very brief overview of getting a Taiwan work permit and an Alien Permanent Resident Certificate (APRC). I would also like to make a correction. I referred to the Taiwan National Immigration Agency (NIA) as the National Immigration Association more than a few times in this episode, which isn’t the correct title of the NIA.  THANK YOU FOR LISTENING TO THIS EPISODE! Thank you very much for taking the time to share this podcast. Click HERE if you would like to load our Four Seas One Family Website RSS Feed. Please help us make this show better by filling in this Expat Life Expat Life Survey. It will help us produce a better show for you and thanks! If you have any feedback, please leave a note in the comments section below or leave a voice message via our

First off, please excuse my “Ahhh”, “Humms” and twisted tongue in this episode. Here is some fast paced information for people planning to come to Taiwan. Here, I’ll quickly talk about what is needed to apply for a visit or a stay. Most of the information I present here in this episode can be found at the Taiwan Nation Immigration Agency (NIA) website at these links: Visa-exempt entry: http://www.immigration.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=1090149&ctNode=30085&mp=2 Applying for an Alien Resident Certificate: http://www.immigration.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=1090287&ctNode=30085&mp=2 In a later podcast episode I will cover how to obtain a work permit and later down the line an Alien Permanent Resident Certificate (ARC). Feel free to preview the NIA website and if you have any questions drop me a note at this link and I’ll do my best to point you in the right direction. THANK YOU FOR LISTENING TO THIS EPISODE! Thank you very much for taking the time to share this podcast. Click HERE if you would like to loa

Have you ever wondered how your life would be if you suddenly had to travel or live abroad? How would you adapt? How would you communicate? How would you make friends? This is the podcast to learn about living overseas as an expatriate. Tune in and learn about the ups and downs to cultural and social adaptation when living abroad.  THANK YOU FOR LISTENING TO THIS EPISODE! Thank you very much for taking the time to share this podcast. Click HERE if you would like to load our Four Seas One Family Website RSS Feed. Please help us make this show better by filling in this Expat Life Expat Life Survey. It will help us produce a better show for you and thanks! If you have any feedback, please leave a note in the comments section below or leave a voice message via our SpeakPipe voice message page. We would love to hear from you! If you enjoyed this please share it with your friends, family and co-workers by using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post. Please subscribe to the show on Apple Podcast