Happy Birthday Expat Women!

Today is the 3rd birthday of Expat Women online. Happy Birthday!

I’ve mentioned Expat Women on this website a couple of times, so with its special day coming up it seemed like the right time to drop them a plug (Ok, so they are offering a contest to bloggers too but I do actually like their resources).

I found Expat Women before Dan & I moved to Maastricht and loved browsing through the tools, confessionals, and informational posts that cover a gambit of issues. Frequently women-focused resources are dominated by child-rearing concerns; an important topic to be sure, but not one that I currently care about. Expat Women offers an great balance for women at all sorts of stages and ambitions including sections for: students, travelers, volunteers, partners, mothers, professionals, and free spirits. Read the interviews or stories for tales that range from the confessional to the inspirational.

Men (don’t get put off by the pink design) can glean a lot of wonderful information from this website as well. Most expat issues go beyond gender and the site boasts articles in their reference section on most aspects of expat life regardless of your current location and your next destination.

Expat Women updates at least once a month with several fresh articles and you can get a newsletter or feed from the site. Here’s to another great year!

Snow in Limburg & How to Handle It

This article was originally published on Maastricht Region To Live.

With the heavy storm warnings of last week and the steady snowfall in Limburg, this winter is shaping up to be colder and snowier than it has been in several years. There is even talk of the canals in the North being open for the Elfstedentocht; something that hasn’t happened since 1997. Here in Maastricht the accumulation is still light by my Vermonter standards, but from what I’ve been told it may as well be a blizzard.

So how are we handling the snow? Not bad. Streets and bike paths are clear, but at least in my area of Maastricht few sidewalks have been shoveled. Biking in the slush for the first time was scary and train traffic remains a bit snarled. But the city in snow? Very lovely. Fortunately Maastricht has offered some local guidelines on the Gemeente’s website for how to handle the wintery weather:

• The city will clear roads (and bike paths), but major roads will take priority over smaller ones. If you live on a side street you may need to do some clearing of snow yourself, or hire help, since these streets will be cleared last by the city.
• Be careful when driving, biking, and walking because it is very slippery. Take it slow and you are encouraged to use the public transportation.
• Do NOT use water on your front steps. It is dangerous and you could be fined. (For the International readers, it is common practice to wash your front steps as part of a regular cleaning routine. I don’t do it because I’m on the 2nd floor.)
• You should keep the sidewalks in front of your house/apartment building clear of snow. (This seems to be a lost art in my area.)
• The city does not provide road salt, but you can purchase some at the grocery store.

Other Gemeente websites I checked did not readily have this information available, but the advice is sound and I would assume that following these rules would keep you in good stead. Newspapers can also keep you informed. Eindhoven has contracted with the local Vrijwillige Hulpdienst (Volunteer Emergency Assistance) to offer assistance to people who can’t easily get out of their homes. If you are in Eindhoven and need assistance or want to help, you can call 2447669 or email info@vhd-eindhoven.nl.

You can read the original statement about snow from the Maastricht Gemeente here (Dutch only). And if you can’t escape from your home, stay in, have some warm Chocomel and watch this video of Winter in Maastricht by Marcel Brouwers.

Flying to the United States with Gifts

Traveling to the US for the holidays from practically anywhere else in the world? Flying into the US can be a hassle; flying with gifts during the holiday season even more so. Here are a few tips for anyone transporting gifts into the US from the Netherlands:

1) Know your Limits. US regulation provides limited duty-free allowances for individuals flying into the country. Knowing how much you can bring in without paying extra just makes sense. US citizens and legal residents typically are allowed $800 worth of goods duty-free (with some restrictions) every 30 days from the Netherlands. International visitors (non-residents) may bring in $100 worth of goods as gifts. These limits are per person, so juggle your luggage to make the most of your allowances.
 
2) Create a Gift Log. When flying into the US you are required to fill out a customs form whether you are a resident or not. If you create a log before hand, filling out this paperwork will be no sweat. You will need to include the items and approximate value in US dollars.

3) Don’t Wrap Anything (Yet). The TSA reserves the right to search your luggage and will rip open any wrapped gifts if they decide to play Christmas morning early. Wrap when you reach your destination or skip paper all together and use easy to open fabric gift bags.

4) Select Travel-Safe Tulip Bulbs. US regulations are pretty strict regarding what plant matter can be brought into the US. You can get your own purchases approved by the USDA, but if you’re short of time or don’t need a particularly rare variety, you don’t need to. Instead look for a white sticker that says:

• “To the Plant Protection Service of the United States and Canada”
• The botanical name
• The date of issuance of the sticker

These are bulbs pre-approved to transport and can be most easily found at the airport or Amsterdam’s flower market. If I find a Maastricht dealer, I’ll let you know. I’ve heard many stories about bulbs being seized so its worth it to be careful.

5) Control your Booze Purchase. US regulations allow for 1 liter of alcohol per person to enter the country without paying duty. If you want to take advantage of this allowance, do not record the bottle as a gift since the allowance is for “personal use”. These days you cannot bring the liquid as a carry-on, so making your purchase in the airport before your flight will help you avoid a smashed bottle of gluhwijn all over your New Years suit. Naturally if you are under 21, don’t try to bring your own alcohol into the US. It can be seized even if you purchased it legally in the Netherlands.

6) Avoid Restricted Products. Like tulip bulbs, there are a number of restricted fruits, vegetables, meats, and raw milk products not allowed in the US. The Hague US Embassy has an excellent list of non-restricted and restricted foodstuffs. Fortunately sealed cheeses, chocolate, stroopwafels, and other such processed foods are fine. Some non-food items are also restricted and will be seized if you’re not careful.

For tobacco products, you can bring in one carton of cigarettes or cigars. Cuban cigars are still prohibited in the US.

7) Put on a Happy Face. This year everyone is still freaking out about Swine Flu, so if you look ill you’re more likely to be checked more closely. Stock up on cough drops and put on a brave face. And if you really do have Swine Flu, consider staying home. You don’t want others to get sick and from what I’ve heard you won’t want to be moving anyways.

Zicht Op Maastricht Audio Tour

Zicht Op Maastricht is a history and archaeological project aimed at creating resources about the history of Maastricht and its people, buildings, and products. Using timelines and themes to group historical buildings and events to gather, the project presents a complete yet evolving story of Maastricht. Available in several languages including English, I encourage you to check out the various interactive features on their website. But what I really want to talk about today is their audio tour of the city.
 
Zicht Op Maastricht offers several free print and audio tours of Maastricht with a historical bent. For audio, you can download a PDA/smart phone app which includes a tour that can use GPS or you can take advantage of the MP3s on your iPod (or other music player). There is a print street map that goes along with these audio tours. If you don’t want audio then you can try out one of the two print theme walks.
 
I was unable to get the Smartphone app to work on my Android phone, so instead I opted to try the MP3 tracks which I downloaded via iTunes. The tracks are organized into four themes and each varies in length from about 2-4 minutes. They are meant to be used with the printed street map which has corresponding numbers with the track numbers. The female speaker has a pleasant and clear voice and the information is interesting, if a bit dry at times. Even after wandering around Maastricht quite a bit on my own I was able to discover new things from the handful of tracks I listened to.

Unfortunately the numbering will not lead you on a guided tour and the best way to make use of the tour is to pre-select your route and decide which tracks to listen to. The four themes overlap with track locations next to each other even when they are part of different themes, so mixing them will help you get more out of the experience. Alternatively, just bring the MP3s and numbered map along with you as you wander and listen to the ones you find interesting. Maastricht is full of old buildings that may pique your interest.
 
These tours are all available for free, so there is no reason not to download and try them on your own. Happy exploring!

Expat Observations on the International Service Desk

One week ago, the International Service Desk of Maastricht was officially opened with speech and song. The unpersoned desk offers computers with access to four Web resources specific to Maastricht region and information that international members of the community may need. A cute sitting area has also been added, although I’m not sure what it will be used for. Since one of the reasons I maintain this blog is to promote better information for expats, it seemed best that I checked out and report back on what this new service has to offer. By way of disclosure, some of my articles are reprinted with the Maastricht Region website which is associated with the desk.
 
I was cautiously optimistic when I heard that the service desk was going in. The four websites you can access are accessible from any Internet connection, so ultimately you don’t ever need to go to the service desk unless you have another reason to be at the Gemeente. I think that is the sort of resource you would make the most use of early in your arrival when you do not have your own Internet connection set up and are still going through paperwork that requires your presence at the town hall. So far no additional resource is such as English-language forms etc. have been added to the desk, although there are plans to expand the service in 2010.

The desk is opened the same hours as the Gemeente, which might make it inconvenient if you need to visit on the weekend, but everything is accessible online right now so that’s not a problem yet.

Monday – Wednesday: 08.30 – 16.30 hours
Thursday : 08.30 – 19.00 hours
Friday: 08.30 – 12.30 hours

The four sites you can access from the international service desk are:

Maastricht.nl: The Gemeente’s own website which has some basic information in English (German & French too) but more available in Dutch.
 
ExpatGuideHolland.com: A well organized resource aimed at expats moving to or in this southern region. Much of the information is general enough that it would refer to most of the Netherlands. Frankly I wish I had explored this resource much earlier in our move.
 
ZichtOpMaastricht.nl: This site may not be immediately useful to an expat but it does have some information you could use to learn your way around the city and about the history of the area. They also have some audio guides which are nice to listen to. The Dutch side is more extensive of course.
 
MaastrichtRegion.com: The site covers more specific information about the Maastricht region, including links out to some real estate and job boards (although I don’t know how far you can explore from the international service desk). Many of the links on this site go back to the Expat Guide Holland, so there is some duplicated information. Has a Dutch side as well aimed at native residents.

There are no Stupid Questions…

In an effort to apply something of a scientific method to my interaction with the new desk, I prepared three questions that I currently need information about. I actually have found information previously about these questions so I had some prior knowledge of what I might expect to find. I think they are representative of questions one might have after only having been in Maastricht for under year. Here are my results:
 
 
Question one: how can I put my mail on hold while I am on vacation?
To my surprise this question was actually the only one not answered by the International Service Desk. It requests very specific information but information about something that most expats will have to do at some point. I suspected that I already knew the answer to this question, but when I was unable to locate an answer through the computers I ask the Municipal Service Desk instead. The answer? Go to your nearest TNT post office and request a hold by placed. I haven’t done so yet, but once I do I will write up a more detailed description of the process.
 
Question two: What insurance should I buy?
While this isn’t really a question that can be answered broadly since everyone has differing insurance needs, I did find my answer at Expat Guide Holland which I thought offered the best rundown of available insurances that I’ve seen online yet. The descriptions are short but clear and include the name of each insurance in Dutch as well as in English. I discovered that the only required insurances are health insurance, car insurance if you own a car, and homeowner insurance if you own a house. The site also said that most people carry personal liability insurance and household contents insurance. This fits with information I’ve found previously on the subject.
 
Question three: Are there any entrepreneur support organizations in Maastricht?
I have visited the KvK (Chamber of Commerce) before and pose this question with little success, but I thought there might be more information here. I did discover on the Maastricht.nl website that there is a Business Contact Center at the Gemeente where business owners can get more information about doing business in Maastricht. The KvK was also mentioned, but the computers at the international service desk will not allow you to surf to their website for more information. I feel that this information is incomplete as I know there is a student entrepreneurial group through Maastricht University.
 
Overall I think that the desk is a good start, but because you can get all of the information available online there needs to be additional services provided to bring you to the Gemeente. I would like to see an actual reference librarian or adviser available for expats to help them answer those situation specific questions that we all have. Non-Dutch language translation of important documents or service that will help with the translations would also be invaluable, as signing documents you cannot read yet can be nerve-racking and legally dangerous. Fortunately the city seems to have plans to make improvements so I stay optimistic.
 
I am gratified that the city of Maastricht is making these steps and I look forward to future improvements to the International Service Desk and their support of international members of the community.

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