Thank You, Come Again

2006 was a busy year for Andrew and me. After a year of living outside Canada, our friends and family finally decided they missed us (or wanted to seize the opportunity of a free bed and personal tour guides in Europe.) Either way, I didn't mind a bit. For me,...

Expats Hit the Blogesphere

These days you can find a blog written by anyone from Albinos to Zookeepers. The blogesphere is expanding at an amazing rate. One of the fastest growing facets of this ever increasing space is Expat Blogging. It seems that Expats have stories to tell to the world and many of...

Breathing Easy

After living in Belgium for almost two years now, I've noticed little change on the smoking ban front. I cough my way through smoky cafes, trying to find a corner where I can breathe easy, only to have a table of seven chain-smokers appear beside me as soon as I'm...

Banking on Belgium

In the mid 1990s, Belgium revolutionised banking by leading the way into a cashless society. At least, that's what my bank's advertising tells me. Actually, my wallet contains way more cash than it ever did in Canada – and trust me, it's not because I have any more money. One...

Hotel Blues

My passion for travel isn't a very well-kept secret. But as I write this week, from a hotel in Amsterdam, I am reminded that travel isn't always a glamorous, relaxing holiday. I came to the Netherlands with Andrew who was supposed to be working here today and tomorrow. At the...

Biking Belgian Style

After almost two years of living in Benelux, I am one step closer to being like the locals — thanks to the kindness of my neighbours, I finally have a bicycle. As a child in Canada, I had various bicycles (my favourite, at eight-years-old, was a pink and white number...

Lest We Forget

War and Peace has been on my mind a lot lately, (No, not the Tolstoy novel which I had to read in university). It seems I can’t look at the news these days without reading about an ‘armed conflict’ somewhere. Some days it feels like everyone in the world is...

A Little Cheez

I've written frequently about the food in Belgium: the abundance of fresh produce, the heavenly bakeries on every corner and the restaurants that can transport your taste buds around the globe. Sometimes however, what I really want is a taste of home. Canadians have a hard time defining a national...

The Landlords… again

I have been dreading tonight for the past week. I will spend all day worrying about what will happen. No, I'm not headed back to the commune. It has the potential to be even more stressful … the landlords are coming! Don't get me wrong, my landlords are very lovely...

Alison Cornford-Matheson