What Changed Our Lives

An Expat Adventure

What Changed Our Lives: An Expat Adventure is written based on the real experiences of Rudolf Hartong, his wife, and their five children during their travelling and moving around as expatriates. They lived in seven countries over a period of twenty-four years. The book has therefore autobiographical elements in it. The aim of the work is for existing expatriate families to recognise themselves in the descriptions as well as and more importantly that it can be used as guidance by families who are making decisions with respect to moving around. The book is covering the period of making the decision as to whether or not to take a position abroad and making preparations in this respect. It mentions the difficult process of saying farewell, especially if young adults are involved. It covers the issue of making the right choice of school system. It looks at how the decision to move can bring extra bonding in a family and a change in their perceptions of the world and life in particular, which will make them citizens of the world. It contains real descriptions of events that Rudolf and his family experienced in moving through seven countries. Perhaps as the most important contribution, it provides, first-hand, the observations of the five children positive and negative. It describes the exposure to culture shocks and the process of adaptation. The book ends covering the period of leaving an international school and making decisions as to where to continue to study and with the philosophical approach to life of parents when their children have left home. Rudolf Hartong has also published two other books: Human Resources in Crisis, published January 25, 2013, and General Management for Operational Managers, published May 23, 2013. Both books are published by AuthorHouse and cover his experiences in human resources and general management during his career of forty years.