List/Grid Tag Archives: Expat
Seen And Not Heard
My sons, ages 6 and 3, are often described by the euphemistically inclined as “high-energy”. Adjectives that are never, ever used to describe them include “quiet”, “calm”, “cautious”, and “shy”. As Canadians, we are a culture that celebrates childhood with gusto. We seek our children’s opinions (in the presence of adults!), let them run barefoot in the park, leave chocolate moustache’s intact. We set boundaries, of course, build etiquette (or at least we are trying)….
Business Travel While Pregnant: Part II – 5 Tips
The rest of Day 1 was a blur of phone calls and tests. I peed in a cup. A nurse and what I assume was a doctor came in to the room and both told me in turn, “Everything okay.” The nurse was responding to my urinalysis results and the doctor was responding to the monitoring of the baby’s heart rate. Growing up in the United States’ healthcare system, I was immediately almost as worried…
Business Travel While Pregnant: Part I – 911 in Germany
I have entered into the ‘Counting the Days’ phase of my pregnancy. It is not what I expected. I thought I’d be counting down the days for pregnancy to be over and, perhaps, that phase is still come. Right now, though, I am grateful for every day that that my baby girl and I have under my belt, literally. I count the weeks that she is safe and sound in my belly. Up until last…
Nursing In The Netherlands: An Expat’s Experience
Seventeen blooming bellies crowd around a big rectangular table. Seventeen bundles of nerves, questions, and hope silently sip their tea and stare at the floor, crossing and uncrossing their ankles. Seventeen pregnant women and one father-to-be. Poor thing. Hadn’t that couple’s midwife told them that this breastfeeding class was strictly a “Ladies Night Out”? We work our way around the room introducing ourselves in turn. I have attended enough Dutch language courses to fluently provide…
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