Jessica Gabrielzyk 9/15/26 Jessica Gabrielzyk 9/15/26

Confidence Does Not Mean Everyone Will Like You. It Took Me Fifteen Years Abroad to Believe That.

I have been living abroad since 2010. It took me fifteen years to actually believe that. Here is what changed.

Jessica Gabrielzyk 9/15/26 Jessica Gabrielzyk 9/15/26

We Were Using the Same Word. That Was the Problem.

We use the same words and assume we are pointing at the same thing. We are often not.

Jessica Gabrielzyk 9/9/26 Jessica Gabrielzyk 9/9/26

Two Things Can Be True About Living in Another Language

You can feel dumber in a second language even when you are not. You can be completely fluent and still exhausted by it. Both are true.

Jessica Gabrielzyk 9/8/26 Jessica Gabrielzyk 9/8/26

Huh? Am I a Minority?

During a SIETAR conversation intercultural psychologist Margery Pimentel said something that got a gasp out of me.

Jessica Gabrielzyk 9/7/26 Jessica Gabrielzyk 9/7/26

Nobody Here Knows You Were Good at That.

When you move abroad the people who reflected back your competence disappear. Global career consultant Renata Takacura explains why and how to rebuild.

Jessica Gabrielzyk 9/2/26 Jessica Gabrielzyk 9/2/26

Some People Do Not Like to Be Wrong. I Like to Be Right. There Is a Difference.

Here is what face theory, attribution, and epistemic humility have to do with why being wrong about a cultural observation feels different from being wrong about anything else.

Jessica Gabrielzyk 9/1/26 Jessica Gabrielzyk 9/1/26

I Am Not a Snob. This Is Just My New Normal.

I live a simple life. My underwear is from Primark. But do not take my robot vacuum. It costs 400 euros and it is absolutely my baseline now. That is hedonic adaptation in one object. Here is what it has to do with moving abroad and going back.

Jessica Gabrielzyk 9/1/26 Jessica Gabrielzyk 9/1/26

The Pressure to Succeed Depends on Where You Learned What Success Means.

Living between cultures means juggling competing definitions of success. Here is why the pressure to do more is often an inherited scorecard and how to recognise it.

Jessica Gabrielzyk 8/28/26 Jessica Gabrielzyk 8/28/26

We Are Pregnant. Are You Sure About That?

Samar Karam asked me whether I believe in we are pregnant. I said no. Here is the longer answer.

Jessica Gabrielzyk 8/26/26 Jessica Gabrielzyk 8/26/26

I Have Some Bad News. You Still Need to Sell It.

An author deleted me from every platform she could find me on because I asked her to explain her book club. Her response: it is a book club. I do not need to sell anything. She was wrong. Here is why.