The Annual Expat Migration

Andrew and I have just returned from three weeks of summer vacation in Eastern Canada. Back in Belgium, as August is drawing to a close, autumn seems to be already in the air. Although we’ve heard about the annual autumn expat migration, this is the first year we’ve felt its...

The Joys of a Low Maintenance Visitor

Monday, an old friend arrived at our house. Andrew and I haven’t seen much of this friend in the past two years. We’ve bumped into each other in hotels and had brief visits when we were back in Canada, but our friend hasn’t ever been in our Belgian home. Now our friend is...

Coming Out of the Shell

This is my Expatica blog from last week in case you missed it. As a footnote, since writing this piece, I've reconnected with a bunch of friends from university on Facebook and it's been really great to see everyone doing so well. We're spread all over Canada and the world,...

Valladolid, Spain

So what do you do if your husband sends you a chat message asking if you want to go to Valladolid the next day? If you are most people, you’d probably respond with “Valla-where?” or possibly, “um why?” If you’re me though, you’d ask those questions only after you’ve said “Sure!”

Making some Personal Space

Ever since I returned from a visit home to Canada last month, I’ve been thinking a lot about space. Not outer space, but personal space, both physical and emotional. Flying home to Halifax is never a direct flight. Often Andrew and I find ourselves first flying west to fly east, and vice versa....

Making an Art of Health and Safety

Maybe it’s a product of our overly litigious society, (when the coffee shops have to print ‘Caution Hot Beverage’ on their paper cups because some bozo spilled coffee on his crotch, you know we’ve taken it too far), but North Americans can be awfully cautious about health and safety risks. Every now and...

Anyone for Chicken? Driving in Belgium

Two years ago when Andrew and I first moved here, I wrote a blog about why I would not be driving in Belgium. At the time, I thought that once I got used to it here, maybe I would change my mind and, I’m happy to report – I haven’t. My parents...

What is ‘Home’ to an Expat

After a year of being away from Canada I’m finding being ‘home’ strange – good, but strange. One thing has really become clear to me: Living this expat life has changed me, even more than I expected it to. It has changed how I view the world. It has changed...

With an Eye on Halifax, Nova Scotia

Next week Andrew and I are heading back to Canada. We hadn’t planned to go home this month. In fact, we’re planning a three week vacation to visit friends and family back home in July. April was supposed to be a relatively quiet month. But, as is often the case,...

Alison Cornford-Matheson