You have just heard that the transfer you applied for has been approved.  You and your family are heading to Tokyo or Shanghai or Bombay.

Barely able to control your excitement you gather your family together to share the news with them.  Your daughter lets out a shriek, not of joy but of horror, throws herself facedown on the couch and starts sobbing.  Your son just shakes his head, folds his arms over his chest and says, “No ways, I’m not going.”  You glance at your wife for support.  She forces a smile and mutters, “Oh you got the transfer, er, congratulations?”

Not exactly the reaction you were expecting.  So how can you help your family not only accept, but even look forward to, moving abroad?

1. Get each person in the family to start doing research about your destination.  The internet makes this easy.  Start your family off by recommending the best websites you have found, especially tailored to each individual’s interest.  When my husband and I first moved to Okinawa in Japan, we had to go to the library to do research.  Most books and maps merely showed a tiny dot, like a squished bug, on the page indicating where Okinawa was.  As a result, we knew next to nothing about our future home and were incredibly nervous on arrival.  Doing research helps take a lot of the fear out of moving to a new country.
2. Next, each person should make a list of 5 places they would like to visit in your new home country.  This helps to refine the research and everybody can choose places of special interest to him or her.  Other than Okinawa, my husband and I wanted to visit Kyoto, Nara, Takayama in the Japanese Alps, Himeji Castle and Nikko.
3. Finally and most importantly, each person should list 5 experiences they would like to have in their new country.  This gives everybody a sense of purpose and really helps them look forward to moving.  Our list included getting a black belt in martial arts, travelling on the shinkansen, attending some of the famous Japanese festivals, visiting a Japanese Hot Spring resort and climbing Mt. Fuji, the highest mountain in Japan.

We did indeed visit all the places on our list and next week we will climb Mt. Fuji, the last item on our experience list.  In a few short months, we will be leaving Japan for the UK. but before doing so we will start new lists of places to visit and things to experience.
 

This content was provided by one of our users, Penny