Two Fat Expats

Making Expat Life Large

Kirsty@shamozal.com

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Expat telephone trees. Who is at the top of yours?

Kirsty has lost her tree, what was once a flourishing jungle appears to now be a burnt stump. Nikki on the other hand is trying to work out where the top of the tree begins. Who do you call when something significant happens? Kirsty wanted to know what Nikki wouldn’t be leaving Hamburg without which took the conversation to Libya, Canada, Jakarta, South Africa, Hong Kong and Malaysia. Kirsty’s favourite.. Read More

Will Expats Get Home For Christmas?

With Europe and the US opening up, but Australia shutting down who are the expats who will make it home for Christmas? Also we talk International Schooling, when do you decide where your children will finish their schooling? How soon is too soon? Kirsty’s three favourite things: Australian Story – A Balancing Act Catch of the decade Feel Good Nikki’s favourite things Snowpiercer The Bold Type Day X – New.. Read More

Once an expat, always an expat? Or are you turfed out of the group when you return home?

How do you keep your medical records up to date when you travel? Have you registered your Covid vaccine in your home country. Nikki’s decluttering, Kirsty’s rowing on her brand new water rower. Nikki is reading – The Mindful Way Through Depression – Freeing yourself from Chronic unhappiness. She’s also dowloaded “Insight Timer” a meditation app. Favourite things for Kirsty Motherland You can’t ask that Baby Surgeons Favourite things for.. Read More

How do you pick the right International School for you?

Kirsty opened a can of worms in the Two Fat Expats Facebook group with a question (that with hindsight) was always going to be problematic. “How do we make International Schools more accountable?” So how do we? We discuss in today’s episode what makes a great school. Is accrediation important? How do you measure the success of a school and what types of International schools are available? Nikki wants to.. Read More

How to stay together when you’re miles apart

Our anonymous question this week is all about staying together when you’re physically miles apart. How do you turn those “admin” phone calls into conversations that will brighten your day rather than leave you feeling flat and discombobulated. Our anonymous Fatterati member feels like her phone calls with her partner have become more like reporting in. We call in the experts and offer our own tips. Kirsty’s husband G has.. Read More

I think my husband is having an affair.

Season Seven. Episode two. We’ve received our second anonymous question and it’s another cracker. A member of our Fatterati feels her partner may be having an affair. What would you do? And once you decide what to do what’s the best way to do it? If it were time to separate how do you extricate yourself? We discuss how to take those initial steps if you think your marriage/partnership is.. Read More

Season Seven! And it’s our first anonymous question

In the words of Vanilla Ice “Hey Fatteratti, if you gotta problem yo we’ll solve it”. We kick off with our first anonymous question and bring in the expat experts. Dr Sean Truman from The Truman Group answers all of our mental health issues in regards to expat life. We walk through the fat expats questions. When your children receive the feedback that their accent isn’t really theirs. Seriously. And.. Read More

The Best of 2020

Here’s the best of 2020 from the Fatterati. January Kirsty – Years and Years Nikki – Fleabag Season Two February Kirsty – Australian Survivor All Stars Nikki – Little Women March Kirsty – Stateless Nikki – Catch and Kill April Kirsty – Unorthodox Rabbit Hole (Podcast) Nikki – Fortunately with Fi and Jane After Life Season 2 (Netflix) May Kirsty – Four Corners – Outbreak Onboard (ABC Australia) Nikki –.. Read More

What would my non expat kids be like? University applications for the expat teen and can a country ever love you back?

Welcome back Fatterati! This week’s four fat questions Do you think your kids would be different had they not grown up as Cross Culture Kids? How? How do you go about college/university applications for your expat teen? What are your three favourite Christmas movies? You can love a city but can it ever love you back? If a city could love you as much as you loved a city, which.. Read More

Are you a bad parent for making your child move countries? And, what gets you excited about a new move?

Covid strikes in Adelaide (we recorded the day before lockdown hit) and Hamburg has had 3000 new cases in the last week but never fear we’re still here to talk all things expat. Our Four Fat questions: What gets you excited about a new move? What’s your clean out strategy before a move? Are you the mandarin or the garlic? It all makes sense when you listen, I promise! But.. Read More

The Fat Four Expat Questions

We kick off with an update from Susan and Eva who are in China. They fill us in on the current Corona situation and what their life in China looks like right now. We’re also introducing the Fat Four Expats Questions. Each week Nikki and I have four fat questions to ask each other: What’s your expat superpower? Would you ever go on a cruise? Or as Nikki likes to.. Read More

We’re on holiday, together! Should you buy a house in your home country?

This is our first ever podcast recorded together and it should possibly come with an apology. We had a great chat, and it’s possible there was a bit of rambling BECAUSE WE WERE TOGETHER! In this episode we cover owning a house in your home country. Transitioning your children from expat to repat without you. Kirsty’s daughter Lizzie gave us a piece of gold on what moving is all about… Read More

New Season, New Friends, How do you find your people?

It’s a BRAND new season and we’re baaaaaackkkkk! Kirsty is looking for 5 new friends for Christmas, after being in Doha for 9 years, she is definitely a ‘stayer’ and a long termer but still in need of new ways to make friends. We break down all the different ways she might be able to do that and asked the Facebook group about the strangest place they’ve ever met a.. Read More

Expats and the US election – Season 3 – Episode 8

It’s still Season 3 and it’s already Episode 8 of Two Fat Expats. The 2016 US election results continue to be discussed in households around the world and expats are no different. This week we look at the election results through the eyes of a Muslim family in the US, a Muslim American in the Middle East and a American family also living in the Middle East. Thank you so much to Nivin,.. Read More

Does moving get any easier? – Season 3 – Episode 1

Hello hello hello! We’re back! In this episode we’re joined by the fabulous Nikki Moffitt, an Aussie who has just made the move from the US to Hamburg. This is Nikki’s fourth move in 14 years. Is it any easier the fourth time around? Have a listen and a giggle while we discuss. In this episode we’ll also discuss our favourite podcasts, movies and books as well as launching the.. Read More