The Foreign Service Journal, November 2014

14 NOVEMBER 2014 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Take AFSA With You! Change your address online, visit us at www.afsa.org/address Or Send changes to: AFSAMembership Department 2101 E Street NW Washington, DC 20037 Moving? F rom stories of expat living to analyses of different countries and their respective international schools, the website Tales from a Small Planet (talesmag.com) is the quintessential tool for Foreign Service families. Whether you’re headed to Vietnam or Switzerland, big embassy or small consulate, Tales offers clear, concise infor- mative tips on life there. And if it doesn’t, then you can create that content. Tales was a spinoff from the SUN newsletter (Spouses’ Underground Newsletter), created in 1991 by authors and Foreign Service family members Francesca Kelly and Fritz Galt. SUN had a small but devoted following for nine years. With the rise of the Internet, SUN moved online in 2000 and evolved into a small nonprofit, Tales from a Small Planet, to run the website. The site aims to be a forum for collecting and sharing free and unbiased information about “what it’s really like to live there” for cities and countries around the world. Anyone can contribute to the content for the site, and many uncensored views are reflected there. Tales has helped countless international employees and family members as they evaluate options for future assign- ments or gain insight into the place they are headed. Tales gives expats the opportunity to contribute stories of their adventures in four categories: cross-cultural encounters, adjusting to life in another coun- try, short fiction about living abroad and bizarre experiences. For the highly popular Real Post Reports section, users are encouraged to answer detailed questions about places they’ve served. Questions include: Are there problems with racial, religious or gender prejudices? Are there any health concerns?What is the availability and relative cost of groceries and household supplies? For those with kids, the Real Schools Reports, which includes community members’ inputs about international schools in many cities worldwide, can be invaluable. Parents and teachers comment on the type of education offered, classroom sizes, teacher-parent communication and the school’s strengths and weaknesses. No matter how long you’ve been in the Foreign Service, a new post can be daunting and stressful. Tales from a Small Planet is like a Yelp or Trip Advisor for Foreign Service families, and well worth a look. n —Editorial Intern Trevor Smith and Editor Shawn Dorman SITE OF THE MONTH: Tales from a Small Planet