Tag Archives: Netherlands

Over the years I’ve had a lot of issues with seasonal depression.  Not something I’ve ever suffered from in Canada, but it hit me quick and hard here in the Netherlands.   I wasn’t expecting it but it happened, and it continued to happen for the past 10 years.  Granted, for the first half of that time I was often quite …

There are a few cultural differences that become glaringly obvious when you move to a new country.  For me, one of of them has been the issue of taking off shoes when you enter someone’s home.  I would make a sweeping statement about how in Canada everyone takes off their shoes when they enter the house, but after the bagged …

Last night on our way to the Film Festival I had to stop and just look at this for a moment.  It’s the square at Schouwburgplein in Rotterdam.  The photo doesn’t do it justice, but there were so many twinkling lights and on a cold winter night it looked really beautiful. The red things that look like cranes actually have …

Last night my friend Heather and I attended the International Film Festival here in Rotterdam.  I have never been to a film festival of any kind so I had no idea what to expect.  It was her idea, and in the beginning I was willing to go but wasn’t entirely on board.   I’m not a big lover of what I …

A few weeks ago my friend Penny and I went to see The Full Monty Musical in Roosendaal.  I had bought her a ticket as a Christmas present and we’d both really been looking forward to it.  A girl’s night out, naked men, honestly… what more could we ask for? Ok, maybe some homemade hot fudge… which she made for …

I got these eight books for only €27!  Not a bad deal at all! This past weekend I visited Het Boekenfestijn in Ahoy, which is a huge book festival that is held once a year to sell off books that were left over from the year’s stock.   I had never been and was curious about what it was like after …

Our other expat friends gathered together at our house for dinner on Christmas Day The hardest part about life as an expat is missing your family and friends, I don’t think there is an expat out there who can argue that… and in the age of Twitter, Facebook, and instant messengers, it’s impossible to isolate yourself in your own little …

The view from my balcony last night as my neighbours brought in the New Year with a bang! Every year on New Years Eve I am on my balcony in hopes of getting some good firework photos.  Back in 2007 I was bummed because it was raining on NYE so not as many people were out.  Also it made for …

That’s a lot of meat for only four people but in our defense, we did have veggies too! Last night Xander and I went down to Roosendaal to visit with our friends Penny & Yuri.  A few weeks ago when I went to visit Penny for the day we walked by a restaurant that sparked my interest.  Amigos is a …

  Today we went shopping in the city center.  While walking along Westblaak we saw this tree full of shoes.  When I asked a local shop owner about it they said that one day someone bought a new pair of shoes in their shop and threw their old ones in the tree.  Then for whatever reason, other people started throwing …

This little girl took great joy in pounding her father with giant snowballs yesterday.  He was a really good sport about it, and I thought that was really cool, because he looked like he was freezing his arse off.  It was nice to see all my neighbours out, not just the children but the parents too.  It appears that in …