Two confessions up front. First, credit where credit is due. A comment about my post on Bridge-Building in the city of Peace and Justice, left by fellow expat and talented writer/blogger Russell VJ Ward*, served as the impetus for this plea post. Second, I am a self-confessed policy wonk and international affairs junkie. I’ve studied it, worked [...]
Archive for the ‘Culture & Customs’ Category
Politics, Near and Far
Posted in Blogging, Change, Culture & Customs, Dutch Life, Expat Life, Global Issues, Netherlands, United States, Writing, tagged austerity measures, blogging, cultural issues, differences, Dutch politics, economic issues, elections, Euro, gay marriage, global issues, global recession, governments, human trafficking, international affairs, local politics, Netherlands, policy wonk, political issues, refugees, similarities, United States, writing on May 10, 2012 | 22 Comments »
That Second Minute
Posted in Culture & Customs, Dutch Life, Expat Life, Holidays, Netherlands, United States, tagged Americans, Arlington Cemetery, civilians, Dodenherdenking, Dutch, honor, Memorial Day, military, Netherlands, remembrance, Second World War, service members, service to their country, silence, soldiers, Tomb of the Unkown Soldier, tribute, Trilogy to the Dutch, two minutes of silence, ultimate sacrifice, United States, World War II, writing on May 6, 2012 | 10 Comments »
When this week began, little did I know that by the end I would be writing what has essentially become my own personal Trilogy to the Dutch. I’d enjoyed all the excitement and revelry of my third Queen’s Day, stuck again by how virtually everyone gets involved in what is essentially one big party. There’s something about an entire [...]
Happy Queen’s Day
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Culture & Customs, Dutch Life, Expat Life, Family & Friends, Food and Drink, Holidays, Netherlands, tagged bands, carnival, celebration, drink, Dutch, Dutch national holiday, food, music festival, Netherlands, orange, picnics, Queen's Day, Queen's Night, street parties, The Hague, yard sales on May 3, 2012 | 10 Comments »
Never let it be said that Dutchies don’t know how to party. Seriously. Never say it. I’ve written about Queen’s Day before, and having celebrated the Dutch national holiday for the third year running, I can only say that it continues to amaze me. There’s something about it that makes me happy, and I’m not even [...]
Welcoming Party
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Culture & Customs, Dutch Life, Family & Friends, Netherlands, Travel, tagged airport, arrival lounge, arrivals, balloons, clown nose, departures, flags, flowers, helium balloon, kazoos, music festival, noisemakers, parking lots, passengers, Schiphol, travelers, welcome home, welcome signs on May 1, 2012 | 24 Comments »
Every now and then I’m reminded of a cultural aspect of the Netherlands that is so very different from the US that it practically screams ‘this is SO different!’ This morning it was my journey to Schiphol airport to pick up Husband from his latest trip. Now first let me say that I love Schiphol [...]
Food Lines We Won’t Cross
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Albert Heijn, Blogging, Culture & Customs, Dutch Life, Expat Life, Food and Drink, Netherlands, tagged carnivores, cultural mores, horse meat, meat eaters, personal beliefs, squeamish, unusual foods, vegans, vegetarians on March 22, 2012 | 14 Comments »
It’s been at least a few weeks since I’ve written a post that even mentions the phrase Albert Heijn (my favorite local Dutch grocery store to the uninitiated), so I should have known. Something was sure to materialize that I’d end up sharing with you here. Little did I realize exactly how special that something would be… [...]
Tastes That Tell Our Stories
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Blogging, Culture & Customs, Expat Life, Food and Drink, Guest Posts, NorthSouthEastWest: Expat Dispatches, Travel, tagged Erica Knecht, expat life, Expatria Baby, five senses, hearing, NorthSouthEastWest: Expat Dispatches, NSEW, sight, smell, taste, touch on February 20, 2012 | 12 Comments »
NorthSouthEastWest: Expat Dispatches It’s time again for our monthly 4-way virtual blog, aka NSEW. Expat bloggers from In Search of a Life Less Ordinary, Expatria Baby, I Was an Expat Wife and here at Adventures in Expat Land get together to write on a theme and then guest post at each others’ sites. Moving abroad [...]
Balancing the Holiday Scales
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Albert Heijn, Culture & Customs, Expat Life, Family & Friends, Holidays, Life Balance, Netherlands, tagged appreciation, celebration, Christmas, Christmas tree, decorations, family, friends, holidays, New Year's, ornaments, rituals on December 22, 2011 | 6 Comments »
It’s been a fairly typical ten days for Yours Truly’s family here in Nederland in the run-up to Christmas and New Year’s. By that I mean lots going on: some of it getting done, some on its way to completion and woefully behind on a fair bit as well. Given that Christmas comes on the [...]
No Rest for the Wicked, No Sleep for This Pom
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Culture & Customs, Expat Life, tagged drives us crazy, expat life, NorthSouthEastWest: Expat Dispatches, NSEW, Russell VJ Ward on December 14, 2011 | 22 Comments »
NorthSouthEastWest: Expat Dispatches It’s fast approaching the end of the year which means we have time for just one more Expat Dispatches for 2011. As always, your faithful expat dispatchers from the four corners of the globe are: North: Linda (Yours Truly here) in The Netherlands (http://www.adventuresinexpatland.com/) South: Russell in Australia (http://www.insearchofalifelessordinary.com/) East: Erica in [...]
Bridging the Expats-Locals Gap
Posted in Culture & Customs, Expat Life, Netherlands, tagged expats, international community, The Hague, The Underground, Toneelgroep Amsterdam on December 12, 2011 | 6 Comments »
Recently I wrote about the start up of a new, English language monthly newspaper here in The Hague called The Underground. The reason I became involved was to do my part to help build a newspaper that not only includes interesting, intriguing and informative articles about life in The Hague and surrounding area, but that also bridges the international [...]
Behold, Albert Heijn is Nigh
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Albert Heijn, Change, Culture & Customs, Dutch Life, Expat Life, Food and Drink, Netherlands, tagged aisle, Albert Heijn, autodidactic, clerk, food shopping, grocery store, hand-held scanner, major renovations, wine on December 10, 2011 | 12 Comments »
If you’ve noticed a distinct decrease in the stress waves emanating from The Hague, you’ve Albert Heijn to thank. It’s true. My beloved neighborhood AH store has reopened after fourteen days undergoing major renovations. Fourteen long, arduous days. Despite Daughter’s original plaintive question (‘will we starve to death?’), we have survived just fine. I sucked [...]
Suffer the Little Shoppers Unto Albert Heijn
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Albert Heijn, Change, Culture & Customs, Dutch Life, Expat Life, Food and Drink, Netherlands, tagged Albert Heijn, daily shopping, food shopping, grocery store, major renovations on December 4, 2011 | 20 Comments »
I apologize upfront if my paraphrasing of a biblical quotation brought you here under false pretenses, but I’m in a bit of a quank. Quank. You know, a cross between a funk and a quandary. What difficult situation has me in these depths of despair? My beloved neighborhood Albert Heijn grocery store is closed for renovations. Not [...]
Thanksgiving Gratitude
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Culture & Customs, Expat Life, Family & Friends, Food and Drink, Holidays, Writing, tagged appreciation, giving thanks, gratitude, Squidoo Thanksgiving Magazine, Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving Deconstructed, turkey, writing on November 22, 2011 | 3 Comments »
It’s always interesting trying to explain the important holidays of your culture to others. Some carry over easily, such as religious holidays like Christmas, Easter, Yom Kippur, Hanukkah and Ramadan, even if the specific ways in which they are personally celebrated differ a bit from country to country. Many countries recognize various aspects of society on [...]
9/11 Cultural Insensitivity 101
Posted in Culture & Customs, tagged cultural sensitivity, David James Smith, September 11th, suicide, terrorism, The Sunday Times on September 4, 2011 | 28 Comments »
I’m not sure which is worse: one of Britain’s largest newspapers sending a culturally insensitive diminutive to cover a highly emotional story, or the fact that the publisher and editors of said newsrag believed the story had merit in the first place. Let me be perfectly clear upfront. Both as a writer and someone who [...]
When Worlds Collide (Cultural Reflections)
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Culture & Customs, Dutch Life, Expat Life, Food and Drink, Netherlands, tagged cafe culture, cultural differences, European waiters, in a hurry, relaxation on July 3, 2011 | 10 Comments »
Recently I wrote about visiting the bustling, exciting city of Amsterdam; I also wrote about enjoying the cafe culture throughout The Netherlands (and much of Europe) when the weather gets nice. Today I’m going to share another reflection from that trip that references both of these posts. This isn’t about right or wrong; this [...]
Statenkwartier Kunst Route
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Culture & Customs, Dutch Life, Expat Life, tagged Art Walk, Kunst Route, kunstenaars, Statenkwartier on June 23, 2011 | 4 Comments »
Earlier this spring Husband and I did something really fun. Okay, I’m not talking about that. We live in the Statenkwartier neighborhood (States Quarter, with streets named after famous statesmen throughout Dutch history) of Den Haag. It seems that the Statenkwartier is home to a large population of artists (kunstenaars). Well lo and behold, one day a [...]
Life Milestone: Expat Graduation
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Change, Culture & Customs, Expat Life, Family & Friends, tagged expat, high school graduation, life milestone, rite of passage on June 4, 2011 | 10 Comments »
I know, I know. You’re thinking ‘how can this hip, happening blogger possibly be old enough to have a child graduating from high school?!?’ I think the same thing myself. (Although usually it’s ‘how can I be THAT old??’) Let’s just say I was unusually youthful (not) when I had Son, and leave it at [...]
The Smallest Detail
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Albert Heijn, Culture & Customs, Dutch Life, Expat Life, Family & Friends, Food and Drink, Light Bulb Moments, Netherlands, tagged Netherlands, Pastanini's, restaurants, the Fred on May 17, 2011 | 10 Comments »
Sometimes it all begins with the smallest detail. I wrote a few weeks ago about the recent visit of my brother’s family, and how visiting non-expats help us see our expat life with fresh eyes. Showing them the sights and sharing our daily lives cause us to look anew at the little things that we [...]
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