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Blog: wordgeyser Topics:expat, netherlands, family and life expatsblogs
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Category Archives: Family Life
Living in The Netherlands: What to Bring with You
I was recently asked what would be an essential item to bring to the Netherlands if I was moving here. A loaded question – one I didn’t want to answer without serious consideration. Much depends on where you’re coming from, whether … Continue reading
Posted in Advice for New Arrivals in the Netherlands, Dutch Culture, Expat Experiences, Family Life, The Netherlands
Tagged american school of the hague, expat relocation to the netherlands, help moving to the netherlands, living in the Netherlands, moving to the hague, moving to the netherlands, relocating to the netherlands, tips for international moves, tips for moving overseas, what do expats need to bring to the ntherlands, what to bring to the netherlands
4 Comments
Living in the Netherlands: The Good, The Bad and The Frustrating.
I first wrote about moving to the Netherlands several years ago when I’d had time to settle in and get established, but was still new enough to the Dutch culture to see it through fresh eyes. Since that original article … Continue reading
A Sense of Place: Genetics and Travel
Have you ever traveled somewhere and felt instantly at home? Or arrived in a new place and felt a sense of disconnection you couldn’t put your finger on? I’m sure we all have, but why does it happen? I’ve arrived … Continue reading
Posted in Expat Experiences, Family Life, Inspiration and Reflection, Travel
Tagged ancestral DNA, canada, connections with physical places, D4-7 allele gene, DNA profiling, familiarity of places, family history, feeling connected, feeling connected to a place, genetic, Genographic project, humans as DNA carriers, National Geographic Society, the expat gene, the migratory gene, the travel gene, Vancouver
17 Comments
Empty Nest Syndrome: It’s Not All About the Kids Leaving
I promised myself I wouldn’t write anything further on the empty nest syndrome. Not because there’s nothing to write about, but because it’s an emotive subject for many, with parents on either side of the fence and the majority just … Continue reading
Posted in Empty Nest, Expat Experiences, Family Life
Tagged empty nest life stage, empty nest myth, empty nest syndrome, expat empty nest, kids leaving home, marriage and the empty nest, marriage breakdown when the kids leave, marriage breakup and the empty nest, mothers and the empty nest, what to do when the kids leave home, will marriage survive the empty nest, women and the empty nest
18 Comments
IB Diploma: The Only Way Forward for Global Education
Throughout the world thousands of students are waiting for the results of their IB (International Baccalaureate) examinations sat in May and June. They are the culmination of two years of blood, sweat, tears, sleepless nights and some hard partying once … Continue reading
Posted in England and Things English, Expat Experiences, Family Life
Tagged academic qualifications for expats, Advanced Placement exams, expat education, expat students, GCE Advanced Level, Global Education, globally recognised qualifications, High School graduates, IB Diploma Programme, IB results 2012, International Baccalaureate, international education, International qualifications, international students, UK unversity, university applications
7 Comments
Light Bulb Moments: Recognizing the ‘Monkey Mind’
Ever heard the expression ‘monkey mind’? For those of you rolling your eyes in disbelief that once again I’m behind on things, please bear with me. I only came across this recently, in the process of editing a book. I … Continue reading
Posted in Expat Experiences, Family Life, Personal challenges, Writing
Tagged apple gidley, empty nest, expat experiences, Expat Life Slice by Slice by Apple Gidley, feeling overwhelmed, feelings about children leaving home, Graduating high School, monkey mind. traveeling to France, Senior Prom, stepping back, when you can't write, writers block
4 Comments
James Brownhill: Moving Forward
A year ago James Stephen Brownhill was tragically killed, alongside his climbing partner and friend, David Evans, during an ascent of Mont Blanc. A peak previously climbed along with others on different continents. A year in which everyone who knew … Continue reading
Posted in Family Life, Inspiration and Reflection, Personal challenges
Tagged Chamonix, Climbing, climbing deaths, climbing Mont Blanc, Frendo Spur, James brownhill, James Brownhill Memorial Fund, James Stephen Brownhill, JBMF, loss of a child, moving forward with loss. coping with loss, remembering loved ones
3 Comments
The Expat Good Samaritan: Cultural Attitudes to Caring
Whether you’re a serial expat moving from country to country with the huge machine of a global company, working in a foreign country under your own steam or emigrate from one country to another, there will be times when disaster … Continue reading
Posted in Expat Experiences, Family Life, Inspiration and Reflection, Personal challenges
Tagged caring in the community, cultural attitudes to caring, expat caring, helping other expats, looking after others overseas, responding to others in crisis, the good samaritan, what to do in a crisis
2 Comments
The End Day of the Year
The end days of the year; the hiatus between Christmas and the start of the new year. Strange days with a dreamlike quality, slightly out of focus and removed from the reality of day-to-day routines. A sense of anti-climax after … Continue reading
Dutch Car Insurance: You’re On Your Own
We all have those times when negative energy seems to stick to us like glue, overshadowing everyday life with lethargy, leaving us dispirited and resentful without fully understanding why. It saps strength and creativity, sucking away fun and joy as … Continue reading
Law and Order Dutch Style: Impersonating a Police Officer
Last weekend our youngest son experienced a rite of passage we had hoped he could have avoided, unlike his older siblings. With much high-fiving from them, he joined their ranks, having come into contact with the local constabulary during a … Continue reading
Creativity and Talent: Don’t Dismiss The X factor
One thing I rarely admit to, certainly not publicly, is that I love what many people regard as scraping-the-barrel TV; American Idol and now the USA version of the X-factor. Recording the programme I fast forward through the dross, which … Continue reading
And the Dog Came Too: Travelling with Expat Pets
The often forgotten passengers in a life of global gallivanting are the unsung heroes who are dragged hither and thither, without discussion or consideration of climate; our family pets. Now I know there are people who have cats and idolize … Continue reading
Expat Arrivals: Newbies in Town part 1
It’s that time of year again; after weeks of frenetic activity in June and early July with people packing up and moving out, the tide has turned. The first container trucks are appearing on the narrow leafy streets of Wassenaar … Continue reading
A Period of Solitude: Why We Sometimes Need One
I haven’t posted for a while as sometimes life necessitates taking a step back, pulling up the drawbridge and keeping yourself and family safe in the Ivory Tower. Protected, for a while, from the devastating whirlwinds of sadness, loss, fear, … Continue reading
Every Parent’s Worst Fear
If you’ve been anywhere near newspapers the past week or so you can’t have failed to have noticed the untimely deaths of many young people. I wrote only a few posts back about the sister of Missy’s best friend, killed as … Continue reading
Posted in Expat Experiences, Family Life, Inspiration and Reflection, Personal challenges
Tagged Chamonix, climbing deaths, death of a child, death of british climbers on Mont Blanc, deaths on mont blanc, French Alps, grief of parents, james brownhill climber, james brownhill sheffield, Mont Blanc
5 Comments
When the Captain decided to check out the quality of Canadian Emergency Care
Wherever our family live or travel one of the first things we do is check out where to find the local hospital, or more importantly their Emergency Room. The first person I met on arriving in the Netherlands, Karen, admitted … Continue reading
My Father’s Greatest Gift
He’s never said, but I rather think my dad would have liked a son to share his macho interests, but being the man he is, decided to make the best of a bad job. From an early age I could … Continue reading
Kids Home Alone: Part II – The Installation of a Plastic Hot Tub
. . . continued from the previous post, in which we returned home from a weekend away to discover all was not quite as we had left it . . . I was still seething at the maltreatment of my … Continue reading
Kids Home Alone: Part I – What’s the Right Age?
OK we’re back, feeling a tad grouchy after having to deal with the cross Channel ferry . . . technically, according to the Captain, the trans North Sea ferry as we’re nowhere near the Channel travelling Hull to Rotterdam. I … Continue reading
Why writing sometimes has to take a backseat
A short post I’m afraid. Today is Sunday of a holiday weekend and the Captain and I are in England to celebrate a major birthday of our dear friend Michael. We are staying with him and wife Trish at the new home … Continue reading
Who Dat?: Friendly Faces in Foreign Places
A while back driving home from Schiphol (Amsterdam) Airport, the Captain and I experienced something which got me thinking about how we react when we meet fellow countrymen thousands of miles from home. Our American home is New Orleans; I’ve … Continue reading
Dutch Workmen: Tips On Understanding The Tribe
I’ve been doing some unofficial research of late into the habits and behaviour of Dutch workmen. I say unofficial because it’s more observation than research and has happened only because we have decorators repainting the exterior of our building. It’s supposedly a twelve … Continue reading
Garden Gnomes and Pink Flamingos: The Ultimate in Taste
In the previous blog I wrote about how some people judge or pigeonhole others by the way they speak, which led me to wonder why people are also judgemental about other folks’ belongings, their choice of furniture, the way they decorate their homes. Who it is that dictates what … Continue reading
DIY: Household Chores and the Retention of Sanity
We have been busy catching up on the home front, trying to pull in all those niggling little household jobs that have been outstanding for months. The Captain refuses to pay the exorbitant cost of having a man do the … Continue reading
Family Travels and Unaccompanied Children
There’s something rather nice about returning home from travelling, even if home is in a foreign country. It’s a feeling of having survived a mission during which so much could have gone wrong. As I mentioned a few posts ago, getting out of … Continue reading
Posted in Expat Experiences, Family Life, The Netherlands, Travel
Tagged children travelling alone, cross channel ferry, expat children travelling alone, international travel and unaccompanied children, international travel with children, losing a passport while travelling, Passport, teens travelling alone, travel, travel from europe to UK, unaccompanied children and international travel, unaccompanied minors, when should kids travel on their own
6 Comments
My Father and Other Animals
Having taught my sister and myself to ride bikes my father saw no reason not to apply similar methods to riding horses. He taught himself to ride by chasing down the milkman’s horse, which was guaranteed to be found relaxing at … Continue reading
Posted in England and Things English, Family Life
Tagged are squirrels vermin, childhood memories, childhood memories with fathers, childhood memoryies of dad, dads teaching children to ride bikes, dads teaching children to ride horse, dealing with squirrels in urban areas, detering squirrels and cats from gardens, keeping squirrels out of gardens, problems in the garden from squirrels, problems with squirrels digging up flower bulbs, protecting your garden from vermin, snowdrops
2 Comments
wordgeyser 
PVC: The Journey Continues
This week finds me back in Houston in time for Lizzy’s surgery to relieve Pelvic Vascular Congestion. (I chronicled her journey to here a couple of posts back). I have to admit this trip was not as hopeful as my … Continue reading →