Columnists Archives - Page 44 of 86

Keeping Your Eye On The Expat Ball

So, a couple of things I’m hearing have this expat more than a little perturbed. The first is the fact that all British passports now have to be processed in the UK, as opposed to at various British Embassies, as

Hardship Posts Are The Best

I know. You hear the name Nigeria and you think ‘oh poor thing. It must be so hard.’ The country has a bad reputation. Good news is not news so when the country appears in the headlines it is rarely

Mandelieu-La Napoule – A Château & Much More!

American artist, Henry Clews, and his American wife, Marie, bought and re-built a sea-front, medieval fortress/château, built on the edge of the sea in 1387 by the Counts of Villeneuve, and renovated it in the 1920′s. As it had mostly

Tales from a Spanish Village : Two Old Fools And Visitors

When the long hot summer days arrive, so do our visitors, eager to share the Spanish sunshine and the peace and quiet of El Hoyo. My niece, Becky, comes every June, always alone. She’s not married, but has never been

A Month in the Life of an English Writer in Tuscany – May Reflections

The continuing Adventures of June Finnigan, Her Man and Farty Barty the Cat. Benvenuto to all my Loyal and New Followers The month of May, here in beautiful Tuscany, is generally lovely and everywhere wild Acacia trees are dripping with

Home Country vs Host Country: Expat Problems During the World Cup

With the World Cup in full swing, there is one question that people now ask me quite regularly: Will you root for your home country or your host country? My home country is the U.S. My host country is Germany.

How Do You Deal With Angry New Expats?

I’ve lived in the UK for over 20 years so the early expat days are a little foggy in my memory. I belong to some expat groups and each of these groups has members who have lived in the UK

Crocodiles, Hippos…And Bilharzia In South Africa?

“What’s bil-har-zia?” my older nephew asks me, enunciating slowly and pronouncing it perfectly. I am walking ahead of him to board the pontoon boat for our trip through the Blyde River Canyon. I stop. Bilharzia? Here? I try not to

Yum – And Yuk!

We eat well here in the Morvan, in Burgundy, central France. Cheeses to die for, top-quality meat and poultry, superb fruit, vegetables and salads, a bewildering choice of pâtés, terrines and other charcuterie, delectable tarts and cakes. All this and

Internet Adventures In The First World

As an American who’s living and working in Panama, I rely heavily on internet connectivity. I’m a freelance writer and WordPress website builder, so I need the internet to work quickly and all the time. Now I’ve spent the past