Inspiring Women Magazine November 2023

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A Note from the Editor
Advertisers Index
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Our Next Issue
Inspiring You
“When you learn something
from people, or from a culture, you
accept it as a gift, and it is your lifelong
commitment to preserve it and build
on it."
— Yo-Yo Ma
a note from
the editor
7 Introducing This Issue 120 More About This Issue
Inspiring Women Magazine: Through My Lens
We are looking for your photos of friends, family or yourself that you think embody the next
issue's theme of "Women and Democracy".
Photos should be in color and a minimum of 300 dpi. Send your photo with your name, FAWCO
club and a maximum 50-word caption explaining why the photo fits the theme to:
inspiringwomenfeatures@fawco.org
The deadline for submitting
photos for our next
issue is ...
December 7, 2023
121
photo feature
That’s Inspired!
By my name alone, you would think my
heritage is French. But you’d be wrong. My
family is predominantly German. I grew up
with Christmas celebrated on Christmas Eve
and German potato salad as a feature of
many family gatherings. We otherwise lived
a very typical American life with little travel
outside of our state and international travel
defined as a 4-hour drive to Vancouver,
Canada. Fast forward a few years and I marry
a Dutch man (that’s where the Hendrikse
comes from). Over the next 30-plus years
we’ve moved back and forth between the US,
the Netherlands and Germany. We enjoyed
secondments in Istanbul and Singapore and
have traveled to around 50 countries.
Whenever I am planning a trip or move,
one of the first things I look for are the local
traditions, celebrations, foods, beverages,
art, theater and music. Culture is what makes
travel interesting and what defines a place.
Once we are at our destination, we talk to
locals. We ask them where they eat, what they
suggest we do or see, where the locals hang
out, where we find great live local music. Are
there any festivals happening while we are
there? We’ve been invited to the homes of
some of these people for a meal and some
have become close friends.
Living in an unfamiliar country is a little more
complicated than simply visiting. It brings
challenges and some awkward moments, like
when the neighborhood kids came to our
door on St. Martin’s Day with their lanterns,
singing and waiting for what? There are things
to learn, like how birthdays are celebrated or
is it your name day? Or, how do you properly
greet someone - a handshake, a hug or one,
two or three kisses? Sometimes there are
interesting meals when, for example, you
don’t know the Turkish word for liver. There
are lovely surprises, like finding a vending
machine at the end of your street where
you can choose from a variety of large,
super-fresh, long-stem rose bouquets for less
than 20 Euros. These daily life events also
make up the culture of a place.
I am thankful I had the AWC Amsterdam and
Munich IWC for support and guidance when
we lived in the Netherlands and Germany.
I am equally thankful to be part of FAUSA
because repatriating brings its own
challenges. The inability of some friends
and family to relate when you talk about the
last-minute weekend trip you took to a Greek
island is one example.
FAWCO and FAUSA keep me connected with
my friends living around the world. I am
thrilled to be part of the Inspiring Women
team introducing you to just a few of the
many women who are members of these
amazing organizations.
Best wishes!
Michele
Inspiringwomen.editor@fawco.org
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