Category Archives: Family Life

Preparing For The Worst: Death of a Spouse Overseas

Posted on April 20, 2011 by wordgeyser

A change of pace today, caused by some sad news which has me thinking deeply. Everyone has a file stored in the back of their mind under ‘things I’d rather not think about’ but which anyone living overseas has thought about quietly and planned … Continue reading →

Posted in Expat Experiences, Family Life, Personal challenges, The Netherlands, USA | Tagged death, death of a spouse in a foreign country, death of a spouse overseas, death of an expat spouse, expat death, preparing for the worst, spouse dying in a foreign country, support for friend losing a spouse overseas, supporting a bereaved friend overseas | 8 Comments

Keukenhof: Useful Tips for Reluctant Visitors

Posted on April 19, 2011 by wordgeyser

I realised in my earlier post I’d forgotten to include some pretty important stuff you may like to consider before visiting the Keukenhof, should you decide to go at some point over the next few weeks. The weather here in The … Continue reading →

Posted in Family Life, The Netherlands | Tagged Expat, Haarlem, keukenhof, Netherlands, travel, tulip time in the netherlands | 3 Comments

Dutch Death and Taxes: Where There’s a Will There’s a Lawyer

Posted on April 10, 2011 by wordgeyser

This week has seen the Captain and I have our annual meeting with our Dutch and US accountants – enough angst to put both of us in need of a long vacation somewhere warm, with hammocks, and 24-hour room service. … Continue reading →

Posted in Dutch Culture, Dutch Laws, Taxes and Bureaucracy, Expat Experiences, Family Life, The Netherlands | Tagged do you need a will in the netherlands, do you need to have a will in holland, does an American living in the netherlands need a dutch will, dutch inheritance laws, Dutch inheritance laws and wills, dutch taxes and inheritance, dutch wills, expat and wills in holland, expat and wills in the netherlands, expat life, expats and wills, last will and testament | 7 Comments

Loving your Dutch Bike

Posted on April 8, 2011 by wordgeyser

Ask anyone to think of anything Dutch and I guarantee the top four will be, in no particular order, tulips, windmills, clogs and bikes. Bikes will always be listed – they are such an ingrained part of Dutch life and … Continue reading →

Posted in Advice for New Arrivals in the Netherlands, Dutch Culture, Expat Experiences, Family Life, The Netherlands | Tagged best bike for the netherlands, biking in the netherlands, choosing a bike, dutch bikes, exploring the netherlands on a bike, humor, Jeremy Clarkson, learning to ride a bike, Netherlands, omafiets bikes in the netherlands | 7 Comments

Dutch Rules and Regulations

Posted on April 7, 2011 by wordgeyser

There’s no getting away from it, the Dutch are a nation managed by infinite rules and regulations. They are there for a reason, they work and are immoveable. Even Moses would have had a tough time without the Ten Commandments in … Continue reading →

Posted in Advice for New Arrivals in the Netherlands, Dutch Culture, Dutch Laws, Taxes and Bureaucracy, Expat Experiences, Family Life | Tagged bureaucracy in the netherlands, correct forms of ID in the netherlands, dutch bank cards and acceptable ID, dutch rules and regulations, humor, Identity document, Netherlands, Passport, passport as ID in the netherlands | 8 Comments

Pillow Talk: The Best Way to Learn a New Language

Posted on April 5, 2011 by wordgeyser

The Dutch are an enigmatic race. On the one hand conservative to a fault, on the other broad-minded, tolerant and objective. A confusing mix for the outsider – you think you have the culture sussed then something goes and blows … Continue reading →

Posted in Dutch Culture, Family Life, Learning Dutch, Personal challenges, The Netherlands, Women and Female Related | Tagged best way to learn a new language, best way to learn Dutch, dutch attitudes to sex, Dutch attitudes to sex and drugs, dutch tolerance, expat experiences, Humour - Dark, learning a new language, learning Dutch, living in the Netherlands, sex and language learning, teenage attitudes to sex in Holland | 10 Comments

Boomerang Kids

Posted on March 17, 2011 by wordgeyser

Life is pretty interesting in our house right now, especially for Missy who has moved back into the bosom of her family after graduating in December. This is not the scenario she had planned as she stood on the verge of … Continue reading →

Posted in Expat Experiences, Family Life, Personal challenges | Tagged boomerang kids, employment for graduates, entry level jobs, expat family, expats with boomerang kids, financing kids post college, graduates moving home, TCKs finishing college, TCKs moving home after college, TCKs returneing home after college | 3 Comments

So How Would You Define Success?

Posted on March 11, 2011 by wordgeyser

Why is it when I’m with a group of smart, confident and self-assured women I come home feeling like an inadequate underachiever? There is no logical reason to feel like this, they say and do nothing to belittle or deflate … Continue reading →

Posted in Expat Experiences, Family Life, Inspiration and Reflection, Personal challenges, Women and Female Related | Tagged defining life success, definition of success, feeling inadequate, self confidence, self-esteem, what to do when you feel inadequate, women, women and loss of confidence, women and self-esteem | 3 Comments

Negative? Moi?

Posted on March 8, 2011 by wordgeyser

There have been grave rumblings in our household of late which were finally verbalised over dinner the other night. It seems my family members are concerned by – in their opinion – negative aspects in my blogs on life in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Expat Experiences, Family Life, Writing | Tagged Expat, negative writing, Netherlands, on reading, the four agreements | 5 Comments

Leash Laws and Dog Wardens

Posted on March 2, 2011 by wordgeyser

The bell tolls long and loud for all Dutch dog owners from 1 March through to 1 August. The annual leash laws mean rather than running freely through public parks and woodland (in slow motion with the theme to Chariots of … Continue reading →

Posted in Advice for New Arrivals in the Netherlands, Dutch Culture, Dutch Laws, Taxes and Bureaucracy, Expat Experiences, Family Life | Tagged dog laws in the netherlands, Dogs, dogs in the netherlands, Expat, expat family, expat pets, leash laws in the netherlands, Life Around The Hague, Netherlands | 2 Comments

Raunchy Daffodils and Randy Tulips: Learning the Lingo Part III

Posted on February 23, 2011 by wordgeyser

February, and those fragile signs that winter is finally drawing to a close and spring is just around the corner. Spending time outdoors walking the Archster I’m perhaps more aware than most of the changing seasons – when the first snowdrops appear and … Continue reading →

Posted in Dutch Culture, Expat Experiences, Family Life, Learning Dutch, Personal challenges | Tagged daffodils, Dutch language, Dutch tulips, Expat, expat experiences, expats and new languages, how to speak Dutch, learning a foreign language, learning Dutch, Life Around The Hague, Netherlands, speaking Dutch, Tulip | 3 Comments

How the English Approach Language Learning: Learning the Lingo Part I

Posted on January 18, 2011 by wordgeyser

The Captain and I settled into uncomfortable silence, looking down at the space between us. We had made an executive decision to, maybe, engage the services of a private Dutch tutor to finally get to grips with the language. There … Continue reading →

Posted in England and Things English, Expat Experiences, Family Life, Learning Dutch, Personal challenges | Tagged Battle of Agincourt, Expat, expat experiences with languages, expat life, expats learning new language, how to learn a new language, humor, languages, learning a new language, learning Dutch | 1 Comment

Diplomatic Incidents In the Sick Bed

Posted on January 4, 2011 by wordgeyser

I have been forced back to bed for the day by my husband, not for the bliss of carnal delights, but because he seems to think I’m ‘going down with something’. The possibility of the domestic helm being unmanned has galvanised him into action, … Continue reading →

Posted in Christmas, Thanksgiving and Holidays, Expat Experiences, Family Life, The Netherlands | Tagged diplomatic incidents, diplomatic incidents by cherry denman, expat family, expat wives, Jerome K. Jerome, Life Around The Hague, three men in a boat, what makes a book funny | 1 Comment

Expat Kids Home for Christmas – In a Place They’ve Never Lived

Posted on December 27, 2010 by wordgeyser

I know, I know. We all feel that sense of anti-climax after Christmas. The present buying and wrapping, decorating the house, cooking, getting excited for the children coming home, travelling to friends and family, constant activity and mania – then … Continue reading →

Posted in Christmas, Thanksgiving and Holidays, Dutch Culture, Expat Experiences, Family Life, Women and Female Related | Tagged Christmas, Thanksgiving and Holidays, empty nest, expat family, expat kids home for christmas, expat kids home in country they haven't lived in, expat moms, post christmas blues, TCKS home for christmas | 2 Comments

Planes, Trains and Snowmobiles

Posted on December 20, 2010 by wordgeyser

Here we go again. Further adventures in the Snowmobile. The Captain is en route from Harwich along with refugees from the nightmare of Heathrow and the other London airports. Guess who’s designated to pick him up? I’m also collecting Don and Stuart, … Continue reading →

Posted in Expat Experiences, Family Life, The Netherlands | Tagged driving, driving in snow, Harwich Rotterdam ferry, Heathrow, hook of holland ferry, international travel delays due to weather, keeping warm in vehicle in snow conditions, snow mobile, stuck in vehicle in bad weather, travel delays due to snow, travel delays due to snow in europe, travel delays due to snow in the Netherlands, travel delays due to snow in UK, travel problems, winter driving in the Netherlands | 4 Comments

Expat Moms and Global Sisters

Posted on December 13, 2010 by wordgeyser

Today I feel especially close to expat moms like me who are counting down the days and hours to their off-spring heading ‘home’ for the Holidays. As a family, we’ve celebrated Christmas in the same way every year – familiar food, … Continue reading →

Posted in Advice for New Arrivals in the Netherlands, Christmas, Thanksgiving and Holidays, Expat Experiences, Family Life, Inspiration and Reflection, Women and Female Related | Tagged empty nest, empty nest christmas, expat christmas, expat christmas experiences, expat families together for christmas, expat family, expat friendships, expat girlfriends, expat kids heading home for christmas, expat moms, girlfriends, TCKs and christmas, TCKs heading home for christmas | 5 Comments

Our highlight of the night? Coronation Street…

Posted on December 7, 2010 by wordgeyser

… and the much anticipated 50th year celebration of Coronation Street on British television (watched here in the Netherlands on satellite TV). To anyone not having a British heritage you may be scratching your head in confusion. Coronation Street is a soap opera running … Continue reading →

Posted in England and Things English, Family Life | Tagged award winning british soaps, british television soaps, British TV, coronation street, coronation street 50th anniversary, Corrie, manchester, tv soaps, weatherfield | Leave a comment

The Problems of an American pre-lit Christmas Tree in Europe…

Posted on November 30, 2010 by wordgeyser

Right. It’s involved two step ladders, several beer mats (for balance, duh) and it’s time for the big switch on, tad-daa… okay, so who moved the transformer? It’s kept in the same place all year, and at this point in the proceedings … Continue reading →

Posted in Christmas, Thanksgiving and Holidays, Expat Experiences, Family Life, The Netherlands | Tagged american pre-lit Christmas tree in Europe, Christmas, electrical transformers, Expat, expat christmas, pre-lit christmas trees, putting up a christmas tree, taking pre-lit tree from USA to Europe, Thanksgiving and Holidays, usa pre-lit christmas trees in europe | 1 Comment

Thoughts on Thanksgiving

Posted on November 24, 2010 by wordgeyser

I’d never given much thought to American Thanksgiving, other than it was an American holiday at the end of November. I knew it commemorated the pilgrims first year of survival in the New World and that was about it. We … Continue reading →

Posted in Christmas, Thanksgiving and Holidays, Expat Experiences, Family Life, Inspiration and Reflection, USA | Tagged american thanksgiving, celebrating thanksgiving as a foreigner, Expat, expat experience of Thanksgiving, purity of Thanksgiving, southern living magazine, Thanksgiving, thanksgiving as an expat | Leave a comment

Mutton or Lamb?: Being comfortable with yourself…

Posted on November 21, 2010 by wordgeyser

I spent much of my younger life dressed as mutton not lamb. Bringing home new clothes and showing them to the Captain, he’d say, ‘Lovely darling, but why don’t you buy something younger looking and more, well, you?’ In my first proper job we … Continue reading →

Posted in Family Life, Women and Female Related | Tagged best design for jeans, design, feeling comfortable in jeans, finding jeans to fit, fit, how to wear jean, jeans, looking like mutton dressed as lamb, mutton dressed as lamb, perfect fit for jeans, self-esteem and self image, self-image, women and lack of confidence with clothes, women and self-image | 3 Comments

Just When You Think Your Daughter is Finally Grown Up…

Posted on November 18, 2010 by wordgeyser

I hear the phone ringing off the hook and curse that the one on my desk is dead again. Pressing the send button on my keyboard I jump up and dash through to the kitchen and grab it before it … Continue reading →

Posted in Expat Experiences, Family Life, USA | Tagged advice to daughters, Baton Rouge, Children, college bound kids, college kids and hygiene, college kids managing on their own, Expat, kids in college, kids in college and cleaning, LSU, parenting teens, tck's in college, teens and house cleaning | 1 Comment

Dog Days and Birthdays: November in the Netherlands

Posted on November 16, 2010 by wordgeyser

Some days you get out of bed feeling you can’t make the effort, then you do and the day takes off in ways you don’t expect. I’d psyched up for another day of rain, mud, and the company of equally … Continue reading →

Posted in Family Life, Inspiration and Reflection, The Netherlands | Tagged back to nature, Dogs, English Springer Spaniel, finding calm in solitude, inspiration, joy of nature, life balance, Netherlands, nourishing the spirit, november in the netherlands, reconnecting with yourself, serenity in nature, solitude, Sporting-Gundog Group, weather in the Netherlands | 1 Comment