Niina's Notions

Community is my final Expat Eyes topic (for this season). Creating community overseas can be as complex as it is beautiful. My heart in...

In the chaos of our international move, I didn't have time to write the last couple Expat Eyes topics I wanted to explore before...

So many things went wrong. I spent months calculating and strategizing every dynamic of our international move to keep our family on...

It's been 7 weeks since we returned to Oregon and we have experienced plenty of reverse culture shock moments. "Reverse culture shock" is...

Grocery shopping in Thailand is unique. I've lived in-country for 9 years thus far and there are still various dynamics that surprise me....

My oldest officially became a teenager on March 5th, which got me thinking about birthdays. How does one celebrate a birthday overseas?...

Our family recently did a week of soul-care in Malaysia. One of the best things we did prior to returning to the States in 2018 was to do...

In January I planned to be more strategic with my blog posts. I preemptively looked at my calendar and penned a couple themes I wanted to...

Disney lied to me. Decades of cartoon mice tried to convince me that rodents are helpful creatures that assisted with endless chores,...

The layers of expat living can be overwhelming at times, because even the most mundane tasks (like grocery shopping) are more complex...

I love Christmas! Everything about this season sparks joy. It's also the holiday where all my cultures merge. Being a third culture kid...

Each expat sees the world differently. It's a result of slowly merging one's cultural norms with a host culture. This forms an entirely...

More than half of 2021 has been spent working on acquiring citizenship for our little Emelyn Mae. After months of postponements due to...

Last month I did a photography workshop for our Hatyai homeschool co-op. I was a little nervous because I‘m by no means an expert on...