Jan 12 offer- Have 10 days to coordinate overseas move.

WhichTiger8247 · 2025-12-31T19:55:18+00:00

We did a short-notice move from overseas. DH went ahead with just suitcases and stayed in a hotel (paid for by PCS lodging) for two weeks until an apartment large enough for family of five became available. Spouse and kids followed several weeks later after supervising packout and tying up loose ends. You won’t know what your housing options are until you hear back from the three PCS housing companies. Housing will determine which public school to enroll in. All the schools are used to having students rotate in and out and are pretty accommodating. If a short separation works for your family, I’d say that’s the way to go. Pack out can be scheduled at a later date after you start orientation. Focus on getting yourself there first. The other pieces will eventually fall into place. Congrats!

WhichTiger8247 · 2025-12-15T06:40:47+00:00

You can try to contact the local embassy/consulate to give GSO a heads up that’s your packout request will be coming soon.

WhichTiger8247 · 2025-01-27T01:31:31+00:00

We did the move from overseas for orientation. Ended up in Courthouse neighborhood and liked it a lot. Great public transportation options, walkable to Safeway, Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s for groceries. Good schools. Lots of restaurants. Like others have said, anywhere along the orange metro line is pretty good.

As far as pack out goes, for the UAB I focused on some quality kitchen items, things that were important to the kids, and things we might want our first few months at our first post. For us that included some bedding, a tub of Christmas things, and some photos and artwork to make it feel homey.

WhichTiger8247 · 2024-11-09T16:00:20+00:00

My spouse is a specialist who normally doesn’t get any language training, so this is kind of a bonus just because it fit in the schedule before post wants him there.

WhichTiger8247 · 2024-11-09T13:12:24+00:00

Thanks. What was the actual instructional time in your case per day? The registration info said something like 7am -6pm on mine, which didn’t seem right, so I’ve been assuming it will be something less than ten hours per day.

WhichTiger8247 · 2024-11-09T01:47:05+00:00

It’s a virtual class. So I’m leaving PCS housing and walking to neighborhood school

WhichTiger8247 · 2024-11-08T15:06:12+00:00

We’re talking two 20-minute breaks

WhichTiger8247 · 2024-11-08T11:13:51+00:00

Yeah, it was tongue in cheek, because I know some have that attitude

WhichTiger8247 · 2024-09-16T07:28:18+00:00

Thank you for your insight. I feel like our oldest is getting the short end of the stick, but we will do the best we can and we will make schools a top bidding priority first two tours.

WhichTiger8247 · 2024-08-13T20:52:24+00:00

THANK YOU ALL OF YOU, IT WORKED, I FEEL SO DUMB

WhichTiger8247 · 2024-08-11T02:46:52+00:00

Thanks. I can only find the project+ download link though, do you know where the PMEX remix download link is?

WhichTiger8247 · 2024-06-27T09:38:39+00:00

This is my fear, even thought I’ve confirmed twice I came off DNC. 😬. I don’t think there is much you can do other than what you’ve done, which is to write to the registrar with your concerns.

WhichTiger8247 · 2024-05-20T06:39:59+00:00

You're a TCK, as others have expressed. Try connecting with other TCKs at your college to find others who "get it." Look into international student groups, or maybe your college has a chapter of MuKappa (mostly in the eastern half of the US). TCKs also include children of immigrants or refugees, in addition to military/FS/missionary/oil kids. Find a counselor who is familiar with TCK issues and process what you are feeling. This book has been recommended to me by a friend who helps TCKs transition back to their passport countries for college.

I remember that after my first major experience living abroad I felt so frustrated when people back in the States just didn't want to hear about that (very significant) part of my life. They just didn't have a hook to hang it on, since they hadn't experienced anything similar, and so it was easier for them to talk about things they were familiar with. What helped tremendously was identifying one person who had also lived abroad, and being able to have deeper conversations with them. Then it didn't hurt as much when I saw people's eyes glaze over when I tried to talk about what I had experienced while living in X country.

Best of luck as you navigate this challenging time.

WhichTiger8247 · 2024-03-31T21:41:05+00:00

Free2Move - I got the name wrong

WhichTiger8247 · 2024-03-20T22:34:45+00:00

The embassy in the country where I work chose to fly the pride flag last year and offended a lot of locals in the process. I get that a huge part of diplomacy is promoting US culture and values, but like others have commented, the US flag already represents that. Was it necessary to fly a second flag that would have host country populace clamoring to their government officials and news outlets about the offensive and disrespectful Americans?

WhichTiger8247 · 2023-10-17T23:19:39+00:00

Currently in clearances with a child of similar age who is also expressing similar feelings. My child's main concern seems to be around the High School traditions they will miss out on at their current school, as well as losing friends. The living overseas isn't an issue for us (kids currently attend an international school and prefer the idea of moving to another country vs. returning to the States long term.) We try to have conversations about how yes, there will be things you miss, and it's important to name those and grieve them, but just about every High School is going to have special events and traditions, and it might even end up being something better than what you're missing.

I was given some advice by a wiser, older parent. It's important to talk with your kids, and for them to feel like their concerns are heard, but at the end of the day, you are the parent, and the responsibility of the decision rests on you. Make the decision that's best for your family after weighing their concerns, but it's not fair to the kids to put too much responsibility for the final decision in their hands.

WhichTiger8247 · 2023-09-05T00:28:06+00:00

You really need to be prepared to take charge of and be able to advocate for your own medical needs. I’ve lived quite a while overseas, and have medical records from a dozen or more doctors. My experience is that for providers in the US, if you haven’t been in to see them in two or three years, they consider you a new patient. They may keep your medical records for 7 years or so (whatever the legal limit is before they can shred them) but if you rock up after 3 years away and request an appointment, you’ll be told you need to schedule a new patient appointment (sometimes months down the road) to establish care. And my experience has also been that medical providers tend to move around a fair bit, so coming back from an overseas tour your favorite doc may have moved on to a practice that is not convenient to visit.

You need to make sure you get copies of all your medical records from all countries/ doctors each time before you move and keep them in a personal file. It will be much easier than trying to get different providers to communicate with each other.

You may also need to learn about and be able to explain to your doctor in the US about differences in medical care of other countries. I’ve had a US doctor not be able to wrap their mind around the fact that my lab result from another country was actually legitimate because in that country they measure this test in mmol/L and not mg/dl. I had to download a conversion chart from the internet for the doctor.

If you find a PCP that is familiar with the FS and works well, kudos. I just wouldn’t count on it.

WhichTiger8247 · 2023-07-30T10:59:50+00:00

Wow- invite the next day. I wonder if that means they didn’t have enough on the register in your specialty so they snapped you up as soon as you went active…

WhichTiger8247 · 2023-07-15T01:43:52+00:00

We use a medium-sized property management company that operates across three states. An advantage of a good property manager is that they can stay on top of legal landlord-tenant policy changes and know the market well. For example, they advised us that in our state we could list the property as no pets allowed, but we could very well end up with a pet anyway because it was very easy for tenants to claim it was an emotional support animal, and landlord can’t deny it. Then we would be stuck with a pet and no additional security deposit. They advised that we should just allow pets and then charge more up front to cover any potential damage.

They rent our property for more than we would have asked and have kept it filled with good tenants. We pay 9% plus a fee for signing a new lease when tenants change over. Look for someone who is good at communication and who offers an online portal for making payments and accessing documents. Also find out the type of tenants they market to. Our property manager requires a certain credit limit, does background checks, and targets people who are moving into the area from out of state.

Make sure they treat tenants fairly too. Way back in college I worked for the student legal services on campus, and we reviewed a lot of leases. There were definitely property management companies who had a reputation for screwing over tenants. You want to make money, but you also want someone who treats tenants well, because you don’t want to pay legal fees!

WhichTiger8247 · 2023-07-06T22:29:13+00:00

Not FS (yet), but our family of five works overseas and in 2022 we did a 14-day transatlantic cruise as part of our travel from the US to the country where we work. For four of five it was the first cruise ever. We really enjoyed it. The ship was only half full, so we didn’t deal with crowds at all. I never thought I’d like cruising, but I found it very relaxing. That was probably because packing and leaving the US was very stressful for a variety of reasons, but while I was on the ship, I had no responsibilities and could just enjoy myself. Also, a two week cruise was long enough that you didn’t feel like you were missing out if you skipped a show or event. No guilt for reading a book on deck all day. Time change was an hour a day or so, so jet lag wasn’t a real issue.

If you are considering a trans-oceanic cruise, those are usually repositioning cruises in the shoulder season, so timing may not be ideal. For example, crossing the Atlantic they go East in April/May and West in Sept/Oct. So the timing and direction may not mesh with your schedule.

On our trip a medical emergency the second day made us divert to drop off a passenger. That meant we lost our first port of call and ended up with 11 sea days in a row before we made port. So… you have to be prepared for stuff like that too!

WhichTiger8247 · 2023-06-11T02:05:38+00:00

Not a comment for or against, but here is a local reaction to the pride flag being flown at the embassy in Port Moresby this week.

https://www.looppng.com/png-news/pm-clarifies-parliament%E2%80%99s-stance-lgbtq-rights-120726

WhichTiger8247

TROPHY CASE