[By NBC-1TV H. J Yook]Founded in 2007 by three friends in Munich, Germany, InterNations is today the Survival Kit N degrees 1 for expatriates worldwide. Its aim is to render life abroad easier through social integration. InterNations is multifaceted and offers networking possibilities both online and offline. It mainly provides expatriates with all the information they might require prior to their expatriation or once in their new environment.
Mark, an American engineer, was transferred for a project to Beijing. Five days after his arrival, he started suffering from an acute tooth ache. He described his state as being unbearable. “I hadn‘t started work yet, had hardly started settling in and knew nobody in the city. And of course, I didn’t speak any Mandarin. I urgently needed an English-speaking dentist. The InterNations platform was a life saver! I posted my request in its local forum and was amazed how responsive and approachable the members were.”