WHAT: Guest lecture on raising cross cultural children in Britain to a group of American students studying child development

WHO: Students of the University of Lipscomb, Nashville, TN USA

WHERE: Russell Square, London UK

Dr John Conger of Lipscomb University contacted me in January explaining that he was bringing a group of American students to London on a study abroad trip. He explained that his specialty is in child development and that he’s teaching Urie Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory of Development. He asked me to guest lecture on raising cross cultural children as a non British mother bringing up children in a country and culture I myself didn’t grow up in. Emails were exchanged, the date and topic set, and all I had to do was prepare the lecture and work out the logistics for getting to London for the 8am class.

I was actually thrilled that this professor, who only knew about me from my website, had asked me to guest lecture. It was a fantastic thing for me to do and I enjoy helping and talking to fellow Americans about my experiences. During the class I was struck by how much things have moved on in the world of education (since I was at college). Most of the students had laptops out in front of them, we barely had the use of computers let alone laptops when I was a student! And there was a point during the discussion when someone said “can we Google it?” Oh how times have changed!

I also realized while answering their questions that I am completely at home here in England, more than I sometimes like to admit, and that at the same time, I’m still very American in my thinking and in the way I bring a different set of values to my family.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable morning with a wonderful group of young people. I’m thankful that I was given such an amazing opportunity to share my experience with Americans who are not only discovering England for the first time, but who are studying sociology and the influences parents from different cultures have on their cross cultural children and how that enhances their lives.

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Meghan Peterson Fenn is the author of Bringing Up Brits and co-author of Inspiring Global Entrepreneurs with Heidi Mulligan Walker. Meghan is also the Director and Chief Designer at her own design company, White Ochre Design Ltd. And, she is an award winning expat blogger.

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So on Thursday morning, I went to Surrey armed with a laptop, an iPad, a pop up banner, a USB stick, a Snickers bar (just in case) and a bag full of books. It was an amazing day. I immediately fell in love with the campus and had to stop myself from feeling envious of the parents I was meeting, of their international and somewhat ‘American’ environment. The talk itself I think went well and I’ve had some feedback that the parents enjoyed it and found it interesting and helpful. So that’s great.

Here are some of the things I learned:

• Find out how much time it will take to drive from Worthing, Sussex to Egham, Surrey. Then double it. I learned this after the fact, however, driving like a maniac on the M25 made up some of the time!
• Children do not wear school uniforms at International schools. This was oddly unsettling for me after many years of sending my own kids to school in school uniforms.
• I never tire of hearing parents’ stories and talking to them about their experiences
• I love meeting new people (I kinda already knew that!).
• YouTube videos might not play correctly in Prezi so be prepared and have a back up.
• Stay hydrated as much as possible to avoid getting a sore throat from so much talking.
• I am a natural sharer.
• I enjoy giving talks (never thought I would feel that way).
• My children are much more American than I sometimes realize or give them credit for.
• The parents I met at the school are a really lovely bunch of people – warm, genuine, intelligent and welcoming.
• Windsor is now on my list of places to visit (and I don’t mean LegoLand Windsor!).
• I’m not the only one in Britain who isn’t a fan of the soggy, napkin wrapped party bag piece of birthday cake.
• In Argentina, people are crazy!! And very funny.
• Values we have from our own countries, cultures and backgrounds ARE important and other people feel the same way I do about this.
• Equally, there is so much we can learn from the British that will improve our quality and enjoyment of life.
• Remember to take more photos!

Here I am presenting my talk to the parents of ACS Egham International School. By the time this photo was taken by one of the parents, many had had to leave which is why some of the chairs are empty. It was, in fact, a great turnout and a fantastic discussion!

A few of the wonderful parents I met:

A special thank you to Kendall, Robyn and Alison for asking me to come, for being so warm and welcoming and for all your help on the day.

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Meghan Peterson Fenn is the author of Bringing Up Brits and co-author of Inspiring Global Entrepreneurs with Heidi Mulligan Walker. Meghan is also the Director and Chief Designer at her own design company, White Ochre Design Ltd. And, she is an award winning expat blogger.

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My aim for my trip was to network, get the word out there about IGE and to present the book to the Amsterdam Small Business Network (ASBN) run by Sharon Tainsh and Marjolijn Hendriksen (featured in IGE) who had invited me to come and tell their members about Inspiring Global Entrepreneurs. They run a friendly, supportive and open networking group for small businesses in Amsterdam and beyond. Their members reached out to Heidi and me and a few of them are featured in our book. I got to meet Vivienne McAlister-Geertz of Simply Skin who is also in the book. I really enjoyed the networking group, meeting its members and Sharon and Marjolijn made me feel at home and at ease when it came time for my presentation. If you run a business in Amsterdam or nearby, then get in touch with ASBN and become part of a thriving networking group.  Stephanie Ward (also in IGE) of Firefly Coaching invited me to attend the Amsterdam American Business Club (AABC) which happened directly before the ASBN. My first encounter with Stephanie after waiting months to finally meet her happened in the bathroom of the Marriot hotel. So funny. I had a blast, got my 30 second intro and met lots of fabulous people.

It was very American and oddly enough (I say oddly enough because I feel very British these days) I felt right at home and could have stayed there all night chatting away! It was there that I also met Mary Jane Roy (also in IGE) of Creating Waves – see our photo together on the left.

I want to point out that I felt like I already knew these amazing ladies because I had learned about their businesses while writing IGE so being able to meet them in person was so exciting and so much fun. And, it was lovely to hear so many different accents – American, British, Dutch, Greek…. a truly wonderful experience, a successful launch and celebration of our achievement.

All of the expat entrepreneurs I’ve mentioned above are in IGE and on our website.

Here is a shout out for a few of the businesses I met and found interesting and also could be helpful to other expats in business. Some of these are start ups, some are established – they are all wonderful people and I look forward to getting to know about their businesses even more and perhaps featuring them on our website expatsinbiz.com.

Marie-Claire van Poelje of Driven Sales and Support – offering support business services to expats in businesses.

Laurence Haffmans-Monchamp of Sophrosan – a health and wellbeing business and ‘philosophy of life’ using relaxation techniques to help you in your expat life and business.

“My multicultural approach, and my experience as an expat, combining 17 years of life in Morocco and the Netherlands, allow me to adjust my work approach to the specific needs of an expatriate.” – Laurence

David Raleigh of Angloinfo – the global expat network and business directory. Everything you need to know about living in or moving to another country.  Angloinfo USA / Angloinfo London / Angloinfo Worldwide

Catherine Forgeon-Klinkhamer of France Related – providing copywriting and translation services in French, Dutch and English.

Neifor Acosta – Attorney at Law from the USA and living and working in Amsterdam.

My only regret is that I cannot return next month to these groups to see the people I met again and to hang out with Caterina and Sharon in that lovely restaurant we went to!

And finally, thanks to Dave Pelham of Dave Pelham Photography for taking some fabulous photos of the launch event. I am so pleased with them and I think the quality of the photos is superb. Here are my favorite pics.

Please note: All of the following photos below were taken by Dave Pelham, please visit his website www.davepelhamphotography.com

Stephanie Ward, Sharon Tainsh, Meghan Fenn, Viv McAlister-Geertz, Marjolijn Hendriksen, Caterina Tzoridou

Stephanie Ward of Firefly Coaching

Caterina Tzoridou of Olivity

The founders of ASBN Marjolijn Hendriksen and Sharon Tainsh

And yes, my children were all fine without me. It was great to come home to their happy smiling faces eager to see me.

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