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Swagging It
Kathleen* at Expat Alien has prompted me to investigate deeper levels of meaning for the word swag. As she noted in a post last week, “swag” generally means stuff that we get for free. As a serial...
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View from the ragged edge: an eternal summer of transition
Son to stranger in taco shop: My monster bike is on a boat to Holland. Son to stranger at baseball game: My monster bike is on a boat to Holland. Son to stranger at park: My monster bike is on a boat...
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An Imagined Arrival
One hundred and eighteen years ago, one line of my family tree immigrated from the Netherlands to America. This weekend, I will reverse family history and return to the Netherlands as an American...
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Entering the darkness of the unknown as smooth as water
In seven hours my American summer will end. In sixteen hours I’ll be arriving in the Netherlands. I’ve spent the day in a flurry of activity: packing, buying last-minute things, re-packing, checking...
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First Words Upon Expat Arrival
“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” proclaimed Neil Armstrong upon stepping onto the surface of the moon. As my two weary travelers and I emerged into Schipol Airport and...
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Food Fiets
After buying a beautiful Dutch bakfiets (box bike) one wonders, When not cycling my kids about town, how can I monetize this bit of rolling stock? Answer: dream up a bakfiets winkelconcept (box bike...
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Goodbye bow tie, hello mud pit: a seismic shift in nursery care
In Hong Kong, this is how my son dressed to attend nursery: On chilly days, Mr. Big Shot layered a on a lemon yellow sweater vest. This was his mandatory uniform for non-gym days. On gym days he wore...
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8 keys to a successful expat honeymoon period
According to expat-studies professionals, there are five stages of expat adjustment: 1st stage: Honeymoon 2nd stage: Rage 3rd stage: Understanding 4th stage: Adaptation 5th stage: ‘Gone Native’ For...
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The expat way-back machine: first impressions of Zhuhai
As we are in the midst of building a fourth new life abroad, I have indulged myself in revisiting a grim slice of time from our first move abroad: a pre-move recon visit to Zhuhai, China. Picture it:...
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Deciphering European Hieroglyphs or: How to use a microwave in Holland
Microwave Literacy Quiz Demonstrate your knowledge of European domestic appliance symbols by answering the following questions. Refer to Figure 1. Figure 1 1. Setting “A” is used to: (a) Shower food...
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One Expat’s New Year Wishes
Amsterdam Light Festival I wish for the following in 2015: 1. A year without moving. 2. The appearance of an authentically delicious taco truck in my Utrecht neighborhood every Thursday evening. 3. Dry...
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On the importance of swimming and bluffing
Because the Netherlands is littered with unfenced waterways, learning how to swim is an important part of a proper Dutch upbringing. As such there is a tri-level (A, B, C) swim diploma system with an...
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Rotterdam is for people who need a break from charming, historic Dutch stuff
Rounding the corner, a wide-stretch of striking modern architecture and haze came into view. Inhaling deeply, I sighed with happiness. This view, shrouded in air pollution, reminded me of my beloved...
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The Foreign Asshole Fallacy
Living in a foreign land, one soon realizes that all of the assholes one encounters in daily life are ‘foreigners.’ Here in the Netherlands, nearly every one of the assholes that crosses my path is...
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International School Readers, or: Biff and Kipper solve the The Pledge of...
As a parent volunteer at an international school, I was helping with the reading lesson. It was a South African student’s turn and he read out the following passage: A child’s voice came over the PA...
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Foreign food is un-American and weird, said a myopic children’s book author
I have found further evidence of a gaping hole in the children’s literature market. Last week it became clear that the children’s book Marvin Redpost: Class President was too American-centric to be...
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King’s Day: we got it all right
Up until Saturday, King’s Day was predicted to be rainy and miserable. The weather, however, blessed King Willem-Alexander, and his birthday, a major public holiday in the Netherlands, was graced with...
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Moving back to Hong Kong
In 1986, an entire season of the American TV series Dallas was written-off as merely a dream. A key character, Bobby Ewing, had been killed off at the end of Season 8. When the following season’s...
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A bakfiets in Hong Kong?
I am attached to my cargo bike. In Cambridge, I bought and fell in love with a bike that corners like a dream and hauls anything from babies in car seats to Christmas trees. Being prudent, I sold it...
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Toggling the Europe-Asia brain switch
Blue skies over Central Hong Kong Although we will be living in the Netherlands for a few more weeks, I just took a quick trip to Hong Kong in order to organize parts of our upcoming move and to see a...
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