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    PERspective: Pros and Cons of Expat Life - Experiences from 25 years and 84 countries
    PERspective: Pros and Cons of Expat Life - Experiences from 25 years and 84 countries
    PERspective: Pros and Cons of Expat Life - Experiences from 25 years and 84 countries
    Ebook160 pages1 hour

    PERspective: Pros and Cons of Expat Life - Experiences from 25 years and 84 countries

    By Per Ostberg

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    About this ebook

    Part memoir, part guidebook, PERspective takes the reader along Per Ostberg’s uneven path of self-discovery as he lays bare the life of the expat and the challenges that lie ahead. He combines his own candid personal stories from 25 years of expat life in 84 countries with formal research such as Professor Geert Hofstede’s intercultural management perspectives.
    PERspective answers questions about dealing with “culture crash”, building and managing multicultural teams, and avoiding the many traps that await the unsuspecting expat, like alcohol, drugs, infidelity, evacuations and corruption. It offers practical techniques for trouble-shooting, cultural intelligence, mindfulness, stress management, and knowing when to leave.
    It explains the reality of expatriate life as opposed to common perceptions and dreams and provides a fascinating insight into the workings of the mysterious multinational companies that are such a huge part of our lives today.‏
    Per Ostberg’s experience will encourage other young expats to embrace the opportunities and challenges of an overseas assignment while holding on to the personal fulfilment they need to succeed.‏

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPer Ostberg
    Release dateMar 25, 2014
    ISBN9789198168617
    PERspective: Pros and Cons of Expat Life - Experiences from 25 years and 84 countries
    Author

    Per Ostberg

    Per Ostberg has been to 84 countries, taken more than 650 flights, lapped the Earth 54 times in air miles, spent over 7 1⁄2 years in hotel rooms, climbed mountains in the Himalayas, Africa and Argentina, sailed a dugout canoe up and down the Kinabatangan River in Borneo. He has live and worked in East Asia for 5 years while restructuring supply chains for Ericsson Radio Systems, build mobile networks in Africa for a Dutch investment company and is the co-founder of Starfish Mobile, one of Sub-Saharan Africa’s largest Mobile Value Added Services companies. Per currently lives in South Africa with his girlfriend and their four cats.

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      Book preview

      PERspective - Per Ostberg

      PERspective

      PROS AND CONS OF EXPAT LIFE – EXPERIENCES FROM 25 YEARS AND 84 COUNTRIES

      By Per Ostberg

      FIRST EDITION PUBLISHED BY PER OSTBERG, MARCH 2014

      Copyright by Per Ostberg

      All rights reserved.

      Published by Per Ostberg

      Catalogue records for this book are available from the National Library, Stockholm, Sweden, and via the Swedish ISBN agency on: www.kb.se/isbn-centralen/sok-forlagsregistret/

      ISBN: 978-91-981686-1-7

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes: This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people.

      Cover photograph copyright by Tul Sing Gurung

      Author photograph copyright by Richard Humphries

      Cover design and illustration copyright by Greg Cameron & Zahné Briel

      www.PerOstberg.com

      WHAT PEOPLE SAY

      Great reading – PERsonal and PERspicacious. PERspective has elements of a coming of age-story, of Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance, of a would-be global citizen's travel guide. – Gert Jan Hofstede, PhD, co-author of Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind.

      Well-written in an engaging, conversational tone, PERspective will add a dose of reality to your expat dreams. It’s an accomplished debut that should be required reading for the young entrepreneur. – Caroline Hurry, travel journalist and author of Handbook for the Huntress.

      Filled with solid practical advice, I only wish I had read this book before I started working abroad. – Peter Berg-Munch, Danish expat engineer living in South Africa

      ABOUT THE AUTHOR

      Per Ostberg has been to 84 countries, taken more than 650 flights, lapped the Earth 54 times in air miles and spent over 7 years in hotel rooms the last 25 years. He has climbed the Himalayas, mountains in Africa and Argentina, and sailed a dugout canoe up and down the Kinabatangan River in Borneo. The co-founder of Starfish Mobile, one of Sub-Saharan Africa’s largest Mobile Value Added Services companies, lives in South Africa with his girlfriend and four cats.

      To Cherry: for being such a princess and showing such patience with all my wild ideas. Life wouldn’t be the same without you!

      ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

      My grateful thanks to Lars-Åke Ohlén for the use of his sofa, Herrn Dr Urs Ammann for letting me work at Oerlikon-Contraves, Per Englund for taking Mike Danilovic’s call, Monica Jansson, Magnus Holmgren and Mats Hultman at Ericsson for all their support, TY Hsii for his fantastic leadership, George Aylmer for persuading me to come to Egypt, Thomas Jonell for sending me to Sierra Leone during a civil war, David van Staden, Chris Kruger, and their families for their warm hospitality, Moez Day, Franco Ricotta, Gretchen Helmer, Kamiel Koot, Nick Kamperdijk, and Alan Gray for their buoyancy and enthusiasm.

      Thanks to Marjo Baayen, Philippe Ambonguilat, Tim Furness, Praveena Raman, Dirk Lourens, Stepahno Furahino and the Celtel Tanzania Project crew for being the best team ever. You guys rock!

      My thanks also go to Wayne Nelson-Esch for his crazy idea, Nix Nolledo, Raymond Racaza and Andy Garcia from Xurpas for taking a chance on Wayne and me, Dominic Leong for being such a cool dude, Michelle Leal, Jonathan Hoehler and the Starfish Mobile staff, Nigel Jacobs for his gift of the gab, my mother, Birgitta Svanholm, and sister, Karin Ostberg for their encouragement, Tul Sing Gurung for his amazing photo on Ama Dablam, and Caroline Hurry for casting a critical eye over my manuscript. PERspective could not have happened without you all.

      TABLE OF CONTENTS

      INTRODUCTION

      LIVING THE DREAM

      HOW TO GET OVERSEAS

      THE PROS AND CONS OF BUSINESS TRIPS

      TRAVEL POLICIES

      TAKE A CHANCE ON ME

      PERKS OF BUSINESS TRAVEL

      SINK OR SWIM

      GO FOR WHAT YOU WANT, EVEN IF IT DOESN’T WORK OUT

      IN SHORT

      A TYPICAL DAY - PROBLEM, SOLUTION, NEXT!

      WHO DARES WINS

      DELIVERING THE ELEVATOR PITCH

      WHEN MISUNDERSTANDINGS ARISE

      TAKING THE RAP!

      DEALING WITH MULTIPLE MANAGERS

      THE QUICK IN AND OUT – OR IS IT?

      IMPROVISE, ADAPT, OVERCOME

      STUPID POLICIES CALL FOR CREATIVITY

      IN SHORT

      THE GREAT CULTURAL DIVIDE

      IT’S THE LITTLE THINGS

      LEAPING OVER LANGUAGE HURDLES

      ONE MAN’S CHORE IS ANOTHER’S REWARD

      WHEN TIME IS RELATIVE

      BUILDING A CROSS CULTURAL TEAM – FROM COLOURS TO COUNTRIES

      THE SWEDE ABROAD AND AT HOME

      THE THREE POWER PYRAMIDS

      HOW TO IDENTIFY CULTURAL DIFFERENCES

      PROFESSOR GEERT HOFSTEDE’S AND FONS TROMPENAARS’ WORKS

      IN SHORT

      THE OTHER SIDE OF EXPAT LIFE

      THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME

      WHEREVER YOU LAY YOUR HAT …

      BOOZE, BOOZE, AND MORE BOOZE

      SEX, DRUGS, ROCK ’N’ ROLL

      LONELINESS

      THE ILLICIT BUSINESS BONK

      MOMENTARY MELTDOWNS

      FORGETTING TO EXPLORE THE COUNTRY

      FAMILY DYNAMICS

      IN SHORT

      COMING HOME

      IN SHORT

      DOING BUSINESS IN AFRICA

      SIMPLY UNINSURABLE!

      NOT SO MUCH LIKE THE TRAVEL BROCHURES

      FREETOWN HEATS UP

      THE GREAT EVACUATIONS

      OUT ON A LIMB

      TOO MANY CHIEF’S

      KNOW WHAT YOU’RE BUILDING!

      GRACE UNDER PRESSURE IN UGANDA

      FIRST MAN IN!

      THE DARKER SIDE OF AFRICA

      IN SHORT

      KNOW WHEN TO LEAVE

      IN SHORT

      RUNNING YOUR OWN MULTI-NATIONAL SHOW

      GOING IT ALONE!

      PRUNING THE DEAD WOOD

      SWIMMING WITH SHARKS

      HANDING OVER THE BATON

      IN SHORT

      AFTER THOUGHTS

      THE EXPAT PACKAGE – FINANCES AND TAX ISSUES

      UNDERSTANDING LOCAL COSTS

      ACCOMMODATION AND JOB GRADING

      UN, NGOs, AID AND COMPANIES

      WHY NOT?

      RECOMMENDED READING

      INTRODUCTION

      The travel bug bit me early. Burying myself in the pages of Jules Verne, Ernest Hemingway, or James Michener marked my adolescence. From Biggles to Seven Years in Tibet, any book set in an exotic place inspired my desire to see the world. And I have. My 25-year journey has taken me to more than 80 countries, via winding roads and back alleys with cul-de-sacs. And I haven’t hung up my rucksack yet.

      As a Swedish expat first starting out, I had nothing to prepare me for some of the culture shocks that lay in store. Nobody handed me a no-holds-barred overview of working for a multinational in a foreign country, I had to figure out my own footpath and stumble along. Ups and downs combined with meeting amazing people, learning a ton and having loads of fun.

      The experiences I describe in this book are my own. The idea to write it all down came to me while I was in Taipei in the late 90s comforting a colleague from our Swedish head office. I handed her a tissue as she sobbed and spluttered.

      Sorry, I needed to let that out, she sniffed, looking embarrassed.

      What’s up? I asked. I could see the staff outside my miniscule office giving us odd looks.

      Nothing … everything, she said. I don’t know what I’m doing here.

      She had been in Taiwan for about a fortnight and had about three months to go before she was due back in Sweden.

      I don’t know what’s expected of me, she added. Everyone looks to me for direction but I’m not here to train or manage people. I don’t know this place. I’m not a manager but even the real manager just looks to me for advice.

      I handed her a cup of coffee.

      There is nothing wrong with you, I said. It’s a classic case of culture crash.

      Expats abroad go through phases. At first, you do not understand the country. It is all new and exciting and you are coping well. Then you start to learn how the country works. You pick up on how the locals think. You start to appreciate the nuances. You think you’ve figured it out. Then one day, after around three months in the country – WHAM! Nothing you thought you understood makes any sense. It’s the culture crash. Do not fool yourself; it hits everyone! The more aware you are, the less it will hurt.

      I told her about my own culture crash, sitting on St Kilda’s beach outside Melbourne that saw me drizzling drunkenly over the phone to a friend in Sweden. I had no one to talk to in Melbourne. She said her rainy Taipei trauma beat my Melbourne misery hands down. I could have raised her an emergency Sierra Leone evacuation but I was not trying to score points.

      Later that night over beers with friends we discussed the expatriate lifestyle, the vast differences in values between national and organisational cultures and how work expectations from local management differed from the home organisations. We all felt our respective companies could have done more to train and prepare us.

      In PERspective, I show the flip side of expatriate lifestyle and give an honest description of how life could look. As examples and illustrations, I use my own mistakes, victories and experiences. There’s a Swedish slant to how I interpret various situations and the backdrop is the telecom industry, but the issues and reflections are universal.

      The expatriate situations I cover include the business trip, short-term overseas assignment, long-term contract and progression from working for a foreign multi-national to starting your own company overseas.

      Professor Geert Hofstede’s and Fons Trompenaars’ intercultural management theories are discussed briefly as a framework. Then there is all the messy human stuff – relationships, sex, drugs, rock ‘n’ roll, possible pitfalls, roads to hell paved with good intentions. I have tried to be realistic without taking refuge in political correctness.

      I worked five years for Ericsson in the late 90s, fine-tuning the logistic flow between Sweden and its subsidiaries in Asia for mobile network rollout projects. It was an amazing experience, providing unprecedented opportunities, freedom, and authority to break new ground. As my experience evolved, I built

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