Global Mom: Eight Countries, Sixteen Addresses, Five Languages, One Family Paperback – July 16, 2013

I will admit, I haven't finished this book quite yet, but I couldn't let that little detail stop me from raving about 'Global Mom', a truly amazing book. From the moment I started my reading, I was immediately mesmerized and felt a part of Melissa and Randall's world. I've often wondered what it would be like to live in a foreign country with my family, it seemed like such an adventurous thing to do. Reading Melissa's words, I feel like I'm transported with them and am part of their experiences. Melissa writes in such a personal way that it is as if I am sitting on the couch with my dearest friend and we are sharing our lives with one another over a cup of peppermint tea. I LOVE this book. I find that I parcel out my moments of reading to make the book last longer, I don't want to devour this book and finish it too quickly,(although that would be so easy to do, the writing is so beautiful and descriptive!) I want to savor each and every word and life experience. This is a new experience for me, I usually read and forget about the world around me to get a book done ASAP. I could easily do that again with Global Mom, the writing is engaging and the story is fabulous, but in my heart I want to draw out this book for as long as possible. I really don't want it to end and so I read and ponder each experience and let it sink deeply into my soul. This book is THAT GOOD!I've read and googled and found out about the countries they've lived in, I've googled to read about places they visit, how the different people and countries decorate their homes, what pieces of furniture look like, etc. Each country opens a new understanding of people and cultures. I am so looking forward to reading the rest of this book and plan on checking back in and updating my review when I am finished. I know I will continue to LOVE this book and plan on sharing it with as many friends as possible.I have been a fan of Melissa's blog for sometime and know that in the coming chapters I will read the story of the the loss of their beloved Parker. I've followed Melissa's blog and have wept for their heartbreak. But, I also know that they will share their hopes and beliefs of coming through the most difficult of times. This is a strong and amazing family. I admire them greatly.Thank you Melissa for giving us a glimpse into your amazing world and most importantly into your tender heart! xoxoxNow, I need to get back to google to keep searching for a place to buy my own Norwegian Kitchen table. . .I've now finished this amazing book. As I turned the last page, at some point in the very wee hours of the morning, I knew in my heart that this book would stay with me for a very long time. Melissa and Randall's story was now a part of my heart and soul. I came to a point in the book where I absolutely could not put it down. I had to read the last few chapters in one sitting. I'm not even sure I was breathing as I read Melissa's words. All I knew was that I was weeping and felt that I was sitting with Melissa as she experienced the most excruciating experience any parent could ever go through. The story could end there, how does one go forward after such a loss, but the Bradford story has continued. As I finished the book, I was left with much to ponder and grateful for the lessons I learned about faith, family, love, joy, happiness, pain, suffering, and so much more. Bless you Melissa, your strength and example have blessed my life and taught me so much. xoxox

As a mom of 5 who has moved often, including internationally, I figured I would enjoy this book, and I sure did. It exceeded my expectations. I was laughing and nodding along with all of the cultural and language mishaps of trying to fit in, then going native, then uprooting one's family and doing it all over again. Yes, I thought. So often I have tried to explain this and failed, because it is such a weird experience. But this--this is what it's really like.And then I got to the other country in the book, the one you don't need a passport to get to, the one all of us will visit someday, and I was just gut punched. Raw, real, and true, she outlines and colors in just what grief is like. And yet with the pain, there is hope and love. I cried quite a few times while reading (though I rarely do in books). And still came away with a feeling of hope.Read it.

Melissa possesses the extraordinary combination of a gifted writer with incredible stories to tell. Her book would be fascinating even if written by the most inept writer, but her command of language (languages!), passionate writing and unique expression make this a "must read."I'll admit, I've always coveted a life like Melissa's. Planted in one city my entire life, I longed to travel the world, raise my children in foreign cultures, switch effortlessly from English to French to German. Reading Global Mom, I discovered the nomadic life contains both more excitement and more hardships than I'd imagined. Ultimately, the book left me still intrigued with global living but grateful for my own, less exciting journey. I can plant fruit trees and enjoy the harvest.Be prepared to laugh, gasp and sob. You'll want to read sections out loud to your family and friends.The only flaw with Global Mom is the reader is left wanting, needing more. Happily, I discovered Melissa's beautiful blog where I learned more of her family, travels, parenting and exceptionally large heart. melissadaltonbradford.wordpress.com

Melissa Bradford partage avec nous ses années de voyages et de rencontres autour du monde, dont le pivot central reste son foyer et sa famille . Au fur et à mesure de la lecture, j 'ai été réellement transportée avec elle dans chacune des cultures dont elle se fait le porte parole fidèle. Sa capacité à conjuguer humour, récit et émotions,sa maîtrise de l 'expression écrite permet au lecteur de marcher dans ses pas .Ce n 'est pas seulement l 'histoire d 'une famille hors du commun, mais une aventure humaine avec un grand H.C 'est l 'exemple d' une femme courageuse et tournée vers l' avant , quelles que soient les circonstances de sa vie, parfois dramatiques . A travers son témoignage, nous prenons conscience que les frontières physiques et culturelles sont bien souvent des barrières que nous nous imposons à nous mêmes . Aller au devant de l' autre, tenter de comprendre nos différences, apprendre une nouvelle langue sont autant de défis non seulement possibles mais tellement enrichissants qu 'ils nous donnent envie, le livre refermé, de faire nos valises et de partir vers de nouveaux horizons . Mais le plus important reste , à mes yeux, le rappel silencieux des composantes essentielles de la vie: nous pouvons tenter de trouver partout et nulle part des trésors, mais les plus grands se trouvent tout près de nous...Ceux que nous aimons et qui nous entourent, famille , amis méritent toute notre attention. Et où que l' on soit, si l'on est avec ceux que l' on aime, là se trouve notre foyer...

In "Global Mom: Eight Countries, Sixteen Addresses, Five Languages, One Family", nimmt Melissa Dalton-Bradford uns mit auf eine spannende Reise durch ihr Leben als Global Nomad. Sie erzählt auf sehr fesselnde und eloquente Weise die mehr als zwanzig jährigen Erlebnisse ihrer Familie in Norwegen, Paris, München, Singapore und Genf.Dabei ist der norwegische handgefertigte Eßtisch ihr ständiger Begleiter und fungiert als Anker für die Familie und ihre zahlreichen Freunde. Er ist die Achse, um die sich das Leben dieser Familie manchmal schwindelerregend dreht.Die Autorin beschreibt wie sie die unterschiedlichsten Kulturen hautnah erfahren und aufgenommen hat. Sie beleuchtet Aspekte der jeweiligen Sprachen und teilt mit dem Leser die kleinen faux pas und Pannen die ihr und ihrer Familie unterlaufen sind. Diese sehr ehrliche Darstellung ihrer Erlebnisse fesselt den Leser von den ersten bis zur allerletzten Seite dermassen, dass man das Gefühl hat, man habe alles hautnah miterlebt.Melissa Dalton-Bradford teilt auch sehr private Erlebnisse, wie ihre Geburtserfahrungen in Norwegen und Frankreich oder ihre anfängliche Zurückhaltung gegenüber der norwegischen Kinderbetreuung in barnecamps; Janteloven und Julestemning werden beschrieben, sowie das Namensgebungsgesetz in Norwegen und wie sie als erfolgreiche Sopransängerin aus New York, in Norwegen "had fully awakened in this country".Den Umzug nach Frankreich bezeichnet sie als Übergang von "Eden to the world". Sie legt sehr offenherzig ihre Erlebnisse mit dem Schulsystem, der cuisine, der langue und generell dem französischen Alltag dar. Als ihre Familie wegen der Ereignisse von 9/11 kurzzeitlich wieder in die USA ziehen muss, beschreibt sie ihren reverse culture shock wie folgt: "We felt strangely alien, unable to share a great part of ourselves with others. (...) Feeling alien in what's supposed to be your home country? I knew less about being a soccer mom than I did about buying fresh produce from loud vendors in an open market, less about American sports teams than about Norwegian arctic explorers, less about my native country than I did about ones that, in the end, no one seemed to want to hear much about." (S. 162).Den tiefsten Einschnitt in ihrem Leben hat der plötzliche Tod ihres erstgeborenen Sohnes Parker. Ab Kapitel 19 begleitet man sie auf dem schmerzhaften Weg, den sie als "leaving behind the before and entering the after" bezeichnet und nimmt Teil an ihrer Erfahrung im "strange and barren continent of grief", wie sie die Welt nach dem Verlust ihres Sohnes erfährt. – Doch das Leben geht weiter... Nach München folgt Singapore und schlussendlich Genf. Und wieder beschreibt sie ihre Beobachtungen und Erfahrung mit den Kulturen so präzise, wie man es von einem cultural coach nicht besser erwarten würde."Global Mom" ist nicht nur eine "Memoir" sondern ein sehr kostbarer Lebens- und Kulturratgeber für all diejenigen, die ein Global Nomad Leben in Betracht ziehen oder bereits begonnen haben: "Those who move, dig in deeply, move again, and take a healthy layer of the last soil with them, (...) they need some assistance in adjusting (...) planting in new soil" (S. 132)