by LottaLingo
Migration is the human story. People leave home for work, for safety, for love, for a fresh start. Some flee war. Some chase opportunity. Some just want to see what's out there. Write Your Story Abroad is a weekly podcast from LottaLingo that encourages you to take the first step towards writing your own story abroad. We discuss policy trends, visa pathways, language exams, mental health, taxes, how to move to specific countries, and any other topic under the umbrella of immigrant life.
Language
🇺🇲
Publishing Since
3/17/2026
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May 19, 2026
<p>Ever felt lonely in your first few months abroad? Dr. Laura Ruesjas walks us through why by explaining the cultural adaptation curve, a model Kalervo Oberg first described in 1954. The honeymoon phase lasts about four to five months. Around six months, the mood drops into deep culture shock: irritability, frustration, anger, constant comparisons to home. Within the first year, if you have tools to cope, the curve starts to rise again. But it takes about two years to feel culturally adapted and almost four years to feel at home.</p><p><br />She talks about "ambiguous grief," where expats lose the social roles that defined them, the doctor, the teacher, the organizer, and feel like they've become no one. About trailing spouses, men or women, who gave up their careers and daily structure and sit with resentment while their partner keeps the recognition and the colleagues. About expat communities that are too small for privacy. When everyone knows everyone, marital problems travel, so people carry them alone and the isolation compounds.</p><p><br />Her warning: "fake it until you make it" doesn't work. It invalidates what you actually feel and creates a dissonance in your mind. The suppressed emotions don't disappear. They come back as irritability, frustration, and anger.</p>
May 11, 2026
<p>Healthcare workers are in demand across the world, and countries are competing for doctors, nurses, veterinarians, all sorts of medically trained professionals. If your dream is to head to the United States, Canada, Australia, the UK, or any other English-speaking country, you may need the OET: the Occupational English Test. It's built around clinical communication.</p><p>Suzanne, a certified OET examiner, former healthcare professional, and experienced teacher, walks us through common OET mistakes: doctors using too much jargon, candidates jumping straight into timed practice tests, writing “in view of the above” filler, changing a provisional diagnosis in the prompt, and retaking the exam too quickly without knowing what went wrong. </p><p>For healthcare workers preparing for the OET, this is a great strategy session to listen to before starting your preparation.</p>
May 5, 2026
<p>This is the final episode of a 3-part series for international students. Previously, we invited experts to chat with us about student visas in Canada and the United States. Today, we sit down with Megan, who we met at a pilates event in Singapore. </p><p>She is from Indonesia and moved to the US in 2018 to pursue an international education. Originally Megan attended Foothill College in Mountain View and later transferred to USC during COVID. </p><p>If you've been curious about daily life for an international student in California, check out some of her hilarious stories from a check-cashing scam to learning to drive, the gap between American move-out norms (right after graduation) and Indonesian ones (marriage and kids), and why she tells incoming international students to leave their comfort zone instead of clustering with people from home.</p>
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Migration is the human story. People leave home for work, for safety, for love, for a fresh start. Some flee war. Some chase opportunity. Some just want to see what's out there.
Write Your Story Abroad is a weekly podcast from LottaLingo that encourages you to take the first step towards writing your own story abroad.
We discuss policy trends, visa pathways, language exams, mental health, taxes, how to move to specific countries, and any other topic under the umbrella of immigrant life.
This podcast updates daily.
This podcast is available on 4 platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. You can also use the RSS feed directly.
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