Texel: Holiday Vacation or Writing Retreat

Welcome to Texel (pronounced ”tessel”; or something like that) where they produce all the annual wind for the Netherlands. Oh, and lots of sheep products too. Dan and I took advantage of a string of four days free to finally this pastoral island way in the North.

I went thinking it was a vacation, with writing retreat on the side. Dan had the opposite idea. Fortunately we came to a compromise that resulted in a bit of writing before breakfast, about an hour at lunch, and until bedtime after dinner. In between we explored the varied environment and bike paths of Texel.  Here’s some highlights:

Biking

Bikes are the way to get around Texel and on some of the other Wadden Island, they are pretty much your own option. We rented bikes in the port and petalled 20 km to our B&B on the other end of the island. The bike paths are great and weave through the polder, woods, and dunes equally.

De Cocksdorp

De Cocksdorp is the little village we stayed in during out long weekend. It’s a bit touristy, but further from the port than pretty much everything else and not next to swimming beaches. That makes it a bit less obvious in its touristy-ness. According to Wikipedia, 70% of Texel’s income is tourism, so when Dan & I guessed that at least 50% of the houses were probably for visitors we were probably underestimating. De Cocksdorp itself is a bit out of the way for visiting the island throughly, but it was really cute.

Lots of people in De Cocksdorp (and the rest of Texel) spoke primarily Dutch and German. Fortunately enough people spoke enough English, that we didn’t have any problems. It was a little funny to have people automatically assume I was German when I looked confused. A little funny, but not terribly helpful. I’m glad I know a bit of Dutch.

Lighthouse

On the northern point of Texel is a red lighthouse. It’s mostly remarkable for being 2 lighthouse; one inside the other. The interior one was damaged in WWII. After the war, the island rebuilt around it to preserve it. We’ve not sure, but we think it is still used as some sort of radar tower. We didn’t notice a light coming from it, but it didn’t get dark until 10:30pm and by then we were in our room.

Beaches

One of the biggest draws of Texel is their huge beaches. The sand is wide and white and frankly beautiful. Dan forgot his bathing suit and it was a bit cold for actual swimming, but we did go walking along the water a couple of time. The sand is so soft that if feels like walking on custard/oopeck might.

De Sulfter

In addition to the polder which dominates the center of the island, Texel also boasts large protected areas of dunes, salt marshes, woods, marshes, etc. De Sulfter was my favorite. It is a failed land reclemation project where the Dutch were unable to completely drain the water. Today its a major mating area for the islands many birds. De Sulfter, like many other protected areas, is literally protected with electric fencing.

Seals

Ecomare is a seal sanctuary where they raise and heal seals so they can return to the wild. Naturally some cannot return and so have a permanent place at the sanctuary. They were under construction during our visit (yay, discount), so some of their critters were off-sight but it was cool to visit a sanctuary. Ecomare also has a small nature museum (kind of lame), and a small aquarium with awesome glowing jellyfish (which you can’t pet of course), and a small spiny ray (that you could).

Sheep!

There are lots of domesticated animals on Texel, but they are best known for the sheep. The sheep were out just about everywhere and we tasted the local dishes. The lamb stoofpot was pretty good. Sheep cheese? Not so much. It takes a bit dry and plastic.

Sports Pub

I suspect that there is a magical connection between expats and Irish pubs (or at least sports pubs). We happened upon one in Den Burg while hunting for a good meal to make up for an hour of pushing a flat bicycle across the extremely windy polder. Their baked mussels plate was really good and really reasonably price. A Dutch gentleman was busking nearby and it was pretty funny to listen to him butcher American oldies.

On Sunday we had a bit of struggle getting back off the island, since we wanted to get up and eat well before the rest of the island. Naturally nothing was open and we had to get back to Den Berg where we’d left Dan’s bike with the flat. As it turned out when we called the rental shop, we could have exchanged it for a new bike right in town the night before. Annoying, but at least we didn’t have to bike the 15 km back to De Cocksdorp in the wind. We ate breakfast, swapped the bike, and petalled back to the port and back to real life.

Online Discounts in Maastricht

I’m not usually one for these sorts of discount websites, but since I actually made use of one, I figured I’d share.

GroupOn

I’m probably the last person to jump on the Group-on bandwagon, but I originally signed up hoping to get some restaurant discounts. Unfortunately I haven’t made use of their service yet as most of the vouchers seem to be for things just outside Maastricht. I have, however, seen several vouchers for driving lessons (which can be quite expensive here) and for more expensive things like Lasik eye surgery. Groupon’s Dutch website is in Dutch only, but you can use Google Translate to get an approximation.

SocialDeal

I actually purchased and used two vouchers through SocialDeal so we could go out to high tea. I’ve been more impressed with their offerings as they tend to be more Maastricht specific. Since I’ve only been following this site for a week, we’ll have to see if that trend continues. SocialDeal’s Dutch website is available in both Dutch and English.

Tell Maastricht to keep funding Crossroads Magazine.

One for the Ladies: IWC South Limburg

This article was originally published at Maastricht Region: to Live.

One of the most isolating parts of living abroad can be not having a job in a new country where your partner is working. While this issue is hardly exclusive to women, we are often the member of a relationship who “trails”. It’s from this experience that groups like the International Women’s Club of South Limburg was born. Such groups provide a wide variety of activities and connections that can make a new place your home. Today the IWC South Limburg boasts a 188 women membership and supports women from all walks of life; both expat women from aboard and Dutch women who have returned to the region after their own expat experience.

 

The IWC is, at its core, about making friends and sharing in experiences that allow us to interact with each other and our new community. Members meet once a month at the club meetings in Cadier en Keer and can also host and attend other events throughout each month. Members are also organized into smaller groups based on their location, so women who live nearby each other can plan activities together.

Starting perhaps a year ago, the IWC has had a “Juniors” group, which focuses somewhat more on younger women, many of whom also work and just generally have different interests that you might typically expect. As part of the Junior group, members meet every month for First Friday drinks (partners welcome), to run together, and go for ladies’ movie nights.

 

Personally I joined the IWC late (2 years after we moved here!), but I have really enjoyed having access to this community of women. Sometimes it’s nice to step into an environment where I don’t have to worry as much about language or culture; because we all are accustom to working outside our own expectations. The Juniors club, in particular, has drawn me into the IWC with the running group and regular meet-ups in the evenings or on weekends. Meeting people from so many places and in such different parts of their lives is also fascinating and fun.

If you’re a woman and curious about the IWC, please check out their website. Or attend one of the monthly newcomers evenings. Sorry guys, I don’t think there is an equivalent club for you.

Please don’t forget to support expat resources in the region. Sign my petition to find funding for and re-open Crossroads Magazine.

 

Regional Resources: The Value of Variety

This article was original published at Maastricht Region: to Live.

There are many types of online resources for expats today, but none are so valuable as the ones written specifically for your niche; that special twist that enables you to find and connect with the resource in the first place. When I first moved to Maastricht, quality regional resources were slim. Fortunately shortly afterwards the city began a bit of a revival, and we saw a handful of quality regional resources spring up. Hopefully we’ll see good resources and services continue to flourish as the region explores its relationship with the international community and puts its best foot forward for 2018.

One of the oldest and best was Crossroads Magazine, owned and operated by the European Journalism Centre. Sadly they had to shutter the project approximately a month ago due to a lack of funding, despite their 10 years of service. Crossroads Magazine provided an excellent look into the events, culture, and history of Maastricht itself through the eyes of representatives of the city and the words of fellow expatriates, in addition to creating the first bank of resource links to language learning resources, international businesses, schools, and more. For writers, the magazine offered many of us our first chance to work with an editor and be read on a wider basis. While the website is not currently updating, you can still visit to read the various articles and see the resource links. If you want to help us restore Crossroads, please show your support and Sign Our Petition.

Another older resource, The Observant, is a niche resource for our local university students. Published weekly in print and on the web, it provides a variety of articles in Dutch and English as well as event listings. It is created by students of Maastricht University.

City-sponsored regional resources are some what newer, but have the benefit of providing a wide base of information about the basics of setting up life in Maastricht and the surrounding area. As one of the highlighted resources fromMaastricht’s International Help Desk, Maastricht Region provides help and resources on work, housing, and other practical matters. Plus you get to hear from Sueli and I every week. The Expat Guide Holland, owned and operated by Brainport in Eindhoven, is also an excellent source of general information and a partial business listing for a variety of services.

Finally we’ve been able to get a bit of a personal perspective from a handful of local expat bloggers. While I enjoy reading expat bloggers from all over the Netherlands, it’s extra special to see what other’s are thinking in your area. If you’re curious try these:

- Random Walks in the Low Countries

- In Our Life: The Williems 3 Go Dutch

- Maastricht Minutiae (That’s me)

- If you have more for this list, please let me know.

As wonderful as this flourishing of resources is for us internet-going expats in Maastricht, the loss of Crossroads leaves a cultural perspective-sized hole in what was shaping up to be a well-rounded variety of references and perspective. Hopefully the city of Maastricht and other local funding bodies will see this too and find a way to fund the project. If you’d like to encourage them, please sign the Support Municipal Funding for Crossroad’s Magazine petition. (This petition was created by myself and other interested individuals. My opinion should not be construed as that of Maastricht Region Branding Foundation.)

 

Sign the Friends of Crossroads Petition

If you’ve a fan of Crossroads Magazine, whether you live in Maastricht or abroad, please take a moment and sign our petition.

I want to show the city council’s Council on Economic and Social Affairs that 1) Crossroads is well loved and beneficial to a significant population in the region, and 2) the magazine promotes international awareness of the region and culture. As the city seeks Cultural Capital status in 2018 and attempts to display it’s unique position in the EU, Crossroads Magazine is a project they should be proud of and support financially.

There are two ways to sign the petition.

1) Print out this linked document, read, sign, and mail it to me. If you can get more signatures, the more the merrier. But print signatures are probably more effective. Email me for my address.

2) Sign our digital petition by clicking here.

We need a minimum of 300 signatures to get noticed, and preferably many more so we can show support from the voting population as well as those of us who cannot vote locally yet. I also hope to show this petition to VIA2018 and any other major funding body in the region who has an interest in expats and the image/quality of life in Maastricht.

Help Out

Honestly I need all the help I can get, so please share the petition link far and wide.

If you want to collect physical signatures, please print out the petition and share it with your friends and colleagues.

If you want to express your concern in your own words, email the city council and the Council on Economic and Social Affairs yourself. You can find contact information for the head of the committee here, and a general email and mailing address here.

Join the LinkedIn Group

Finally please come by the LinkedIn group, join up and start sharing what you’re doing in support of Crossroads Magazine.

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