Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Dutch Life, Expat Life, Food and Drink, Netherlands, tagged appliances, avant garde, blogging, cuppa, dream kitchen, electric kettle, expat, Holy Grail, kitchen, kopje thee, Netherlands, Pinterest, Pinterkitchenista, Red Beauty, tea, tea kettle, tea pot, trendsetting, whistling tea kettle on February 20, 2013 | 14 Comments »
Right now, I am soooo excited I cannot tell you! Yes, I do realize that I will now be revealed for the nerd that I am, but I simply don’t care. Not a whit. Just. Do. Not. Care. Why? you ask. Because I have finally scored the one, the only, my beloved new tea kettle. […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Blogging, Change, Creativity, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Life, Family & Friends, Food and Drink, Global Issues, Light Bulb Moments, Netherlands, Travel, United States, Work, tagged art, artistic, blogging, connectivity, creative spark, creativity, cultural, culture, design, dreaming, entrepreneur, entrepreneurial, Facebook, family, friends, Google it, Google+, imagination, innovation, innovative, inspiration, internet, internet connectivity, jewelrymaking, LinkedIn, music, Netherlands Radio Choir, painting, search engines, social media, social media venures, Twitter, Vizify, writing on September 6, 2012 | 10 Comments »
I must confess that it still astounds me how, in this day and age and in the comfort of my own home here in the Netherlands, internet connectivity and the various social media venues it has spawned allow me to maintain contact with friends and family and build associations with others. Like the old Bell […]
Posted in Blogging, Creativity, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Dutch Life, Expat Life, Food and Drink, Holidays, Life Balance, Netherlands, United States, Work, Writing, tagged Americans, article, barbeque, blogging, book, business, businesses, commerce, corporations, creativity, culture, deadlines, don't wear white after Labor Day, economy, employees, employment, fashion, government, holiday, industry, jobs, labor, Labor Day, meetings, Netherlands, picnic, sales, The Hague, United States, work, work projects, workers, working, writing on September 3, 2012 | 8 Comments »
Today is the first Monday in September. For many, it’s merely the start of yet another work week. Whatever ‘work’ means for you. Getting the children off to school before running a long list of errands and volunteering in the classroom. Pulling into the factory parking lot with a double shift ahead. Trading stories at […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Exercise & Sports, Expat Life, Family & Friends, Food and Drink, United States, tagged American baseball, baseball Annies, batting averages, beach, beverages, celebrating holidays away from home, contests, culture, divining the meaning, expat, family, family event, fireworks, games, home run, living abroad, minor league baseball game, Norfolk Tides, patriotic songs, RBIs, snacks on July 12, 2012 | 6 Comments »
Last week Daughter and I were with my brother’s family spending a few days at the beach. My sister-in-law’s mother and stepfather were visiting as well. On the evening of July 3rd, we all piled into into two cars and headed off to that very American of all summer pastimes, a baseball game. Neither Daughter nor […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, 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 […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Blogging, Change, Emotional Resilience, Exercise & Sports, Expat Life, Family & Friends, Food and Drink, Life Balance, Sandwich Generation, Third Culture Kids (TCKs), Expat Teens, Writing, tagged children, college visits, competing demands, emotional resilience, exercise, expats, fitness, health, parents, sandwich generation, sleep, TCKs, Telegraph, university search, writing on April 20, 2012 | 16 Comments »
A few days ago I wrote of the challenges many of us face being sandwiched between generations. Just like everyone else, we expats do our best to care for, raise and guide our TCK children to adulthood(and beyond) while also staying connected to and supporting our aging parents. We just sometimes have a few wrenches thrown in due to our lack […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Albert Heijn, Blogging, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, 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 | 16 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… […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Blogging, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, 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 […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Albert Heijn, Change, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, 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 […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Albert Heijn, Change, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, 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 […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, 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 […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Albert Heijn, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Dutch Life, Expat Life, Food and Drink, Light Bulb Moments, Netherlands, tagged Albert Heijn, ATM card, checkbook, cultural differences, expat, grocery store, pin card, The Netherlands, writing on October 22, 2011 | 16 Comments »
This morning Husband and I decided to take advantage of the glorious autumn weather by taking Oli on a long walk through nearby woods. The sun is out, the air is crisp, people are out walking, jogging and cycling; it’s an all-around gorgeous October day. After an hour of hiking through the wooded parkland, meandering […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, 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 […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Expat Life, Family & Friends, Food and Drink, Oddities + Odds & Ends, Writing, tagged cafe, cafe culture, emotional resilience, I Was an Expat Wife, relocation, sight-seeing, Swanny Mouton, The Hague on May 25, 2011 | 8 Comments »
Today I’m going to do a number of things: provide two updates, share a helpful link and a fun link (although the helpful link could be fun and the fun link could be helpful, too), and issue an apology. Think of it as dealing with all the leftovers in your refrigerator. My gift to you. […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Albert Heijn, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, 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 […]
Posted in Dutch Life, Expat Life, Food and Drink, Netherlands, What I Love/Miss, tagged herring, maple syrup, olibollen, poffertjes on May 12, 2011 | 22 Comments »
It’s time for a recurring feature highlighting something I love about the Netherlands, and something I miss. In case you missed them, here are the initial Love/Miss post and second Love/Miss post. What I love: Throughout the year, little food trailers pop up on the street, selling the speciality of the season. In December it’s oliebollen […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Albert Heijn, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Dutch Life, Expat Life, Food and Drink, Holidays, Netherlands, tagged Frederik Hendriklaan, Koninginnedag, the Fred, yard sales on May 1, 2011 | 2 Comments »
Today, the day after Koninginnedag (Queen’s Day), I thought it might be fun to do a little ‘before’ and ‘after’. As I’ve mentioned before, I live around the corner from the Frederik Hendriklaan. The ‘Fred’ as it’s lovingly referred to, is a stretch of several blocks of the greatest mix of everyday and unusual stores, […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Albert Heijn, Expat Life, Family & Friends, Food and Drink, Netherlands, United States, tagged filet americain, puree, raw beef on April 23, 2011 | 7 Comments »
I recall the first time I saw it. It was probably two years ago, in the deli counter at my beloved Albert Heijn supermarket. Filet Americain. It sounded so intriguing, so continental, so, well, so non-American. I can say that, in part because I am American. But also because it isn’t American. I remember picking […]
Posted in Dutch Life, Food and Drink, Netherlands, tagged Dutch snacks, fries, frites, hairdresser, kapsalon, mayonnaise on March 22, 2011 | 4 Comments »
I’ve written in the past about favorite Dutch snacks such as frikandels and croquettes. And of course the beloved frites (fries) smothered in mayonnaise. Yes, mayonnaise. (I know, I know, just ignore that silliness and move on.) But now there appears a new ‘favorite’ in the Dutch snack wars: the hairdresser (kapsalon). Check out this […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Dutch Life, Food and Drink, Work, tagged Dutch etiquette, koffie met koekjes, landlord, leak, painter, plumber, repairs, water heater on March 16, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
It is absolute madness around here. We’re talking sheer bedlam. So much noise and commotion that it’s hard to think, let alone write. Except that I have deadlines to meet, places I’d like to go, people to see. Oh, and a ton of laundry. Which is a royal pain because the washer/dryer are on the […]
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