Bringing it Home

Andrew and I have just spent almost a month with my parents who were visiting from Canada. Not only did everyone survive unscathed (possible exception being my mother's heart after three weeks of driving on European roads with her lead-footed son-in-law) but I gained a valuable perspective on my expat...

Belgian Chocolate

I have always liked chocolate, but in Canada I wasn’t too choosy about things like brand, filling or coco content. Toss me some sort of Hershey bar or a box of Pot o’ Gold and I was happy. Since moving here, I’ve changed. Belgium has turned me into a chocolate snob. There, I’ve...

Spa-ah – Visiting Grimbergen Spa, near Brussels, Belgium

After a particularly hectic month, Andrew and I decided to treat ourselves to a day of rest, relaxation and most importantly, some quality time together. After a year of hard work adjusting to a new company, a new country and a new life, we needed a break. So, we thought, when in Belgium, do as the Belgians do — let’s go to the spa.

Habitual Caffeine

Coffee has been consumed around the world for centuries by everyone from royalty to peasants. Coffee consumption has as many different rituals as there are countries in which it is imbibed. However, I never realized that I had my own coffee rituals until they changed dramatically when I moved to...

A Marriage Made to Last

Unless you are among the fortunate few expats whose company offers to pack up all of your belongings and ship them overseas, you have probably had to visit the struggling expat's best friend — otherwise known as IKEA. I have a love/hate relationship with IKEA. I actually like their furniture...

Employment Opportunity

"Good morning and thank you for calling ACM Travel Consultants. How can I help you today?" I've never worked (or even been trained) as a travel agent, but with just about everyone I know planning the trip across the Atlantic 'to visit' this spring, I'm starting to feel like a one-woman...

The Unbelievable Saga of the Ikea Bed (or – Hell of a weekend)

As all things in our life these days, getting a bed for our spare room turned out to be more of an ordeal than it should have been. Hell, we live five minuets from an Ikea, how hard could it be…? We started with the best of intentions. We had...

Belgium’s Secret Gems

"You're moving where?" It was a common refrain when Andrew and I first found out that we were Belgium-bound. Most of our friends and family could find where Belgium was situated on a map of Europe, (although a couple of our more 'geographically challenged' friends were surprised by the result...

Parking Problems

At 7:30 this morning, the doorbell rang. Luckily it was one of the few days that Andrew was already up and heading in to the office. (Lately he’s been working from home late into the evening so the mornings haven’t been quite so early.) When he opened the door, a...

Alison Cornford-Matheson