Expatriate community: Italia, dolce patria mia… Maastricht in Italics
December 17, 2005 by Sueli · Leave a Comment
“We are foreigners in Italy and we are foreigners here in Maastricht”, these few words uttered by Carmelo Riggio, co-owner with his brother Bernardo of the Italian restaurant ‘Il Giardino’, simply explain the common feeling of Maastricht’s Italian community. [continued...]
‘Maastricht must become truly international’
July 9, 2005 by Sueli · Leave a Comment
Location, historical links and EU involvement make Maastricht the most European Dutch city, says Gerd Leers, who was announced the best Mayor in the Netherlands in a recent opinion poll. High on the list of “things to do” in order to elevate the city’s international profile, the Municipality has put prolific Euregional cooperation, greater synergies with Maastricht’s international institutes and surprisingly enough - a mentality change.
Gerd Leers:
For a long time Maastrichtenaren behaved as if there was nothing beyond Maastricht. „There is Maastricht and all around it are peasants“ - people really used to say that in Maastricht - „peasants“ being the outsiders. This illustrates the predominant local mentality of the 1960s and 1970s. Today Maastricht must - without losing its character, its beauty and qualities - open up to „outsiders“. This is a process which is already taking place and is quite advanced but I think it can go even further. Maastricht must become truly international. [continued...]
Trials and tribulations of a trailing spouse
“When my husband was offered an overseas position with the U.S. Government, we all jumped at this chance for adventure. […] What none of us knew was that, at times, this dream could feel more like a nightmare.” Mary Haggerty, who moved a year and a half ago from Denver, Colorado, to a small town in South Limburg, is not the first, nor alas the last, expatriate wife to have gone through spells of despair while trying to get adjusted to strange and new surroundings, far from friends and family. [continued...]
What’s Maastricht for the Chinese community?
April 7, 2005 by Sueli · Leave a Comment
There may be few certainties in life, but one thing we can remain sure about are our chances of finding a Chinese restaurant in almost any big city on this planet. Indeed, you will find some decent ones in Maastricht, too. So, there is no argument about the existence of a Chinese community in Maastricht. But how much do we actually know about them? [continued...]
The Kangaroo in Maastricht
December 15, 2004 by Sueli · Leave a Comment
Maastricht is less user-friendly than the ‘land down under’
Finding a home away from home is easier said than done, especially for a travelling nation like Australia. While Australians can be found all over the world and across Europe, not many of them settle in smaller cities, such as Maastricht. As it was, Crossroads’ search for [...]
O expat, where art thou? Crossroads looks at Maastricht’s most endangered species
September 15, 2004 by Sueli · Leave a Comment
Meeting an expat in Maastricht might not be difficult with international companies such as Mercedes Benz and Vodafone present. However, finding official information on local expatriates is a true quest. Despite numerous attempts, we failed to obtain detailed information about local expats from Maastricht’s Municipality, the Chamber of Commerce or the Central Bureau of Statistics [...]
Japanese at home in Maastricht
June 5, 2004 by Sueli · Leave a Comment
“What Japanese community?” was the primary response given when Maastricht residents were asked about the Japanese community here. But according to the municipality, Maastricht is home to about 150 Japanese residents, a small group glued together by its children and its strong value of education. The Dutch-Japanese relationship has a long tradition, as the year 2000 marked the 400th anniversary of trading between the Netherlands and Japan, making the Dutch the first people other than the Chinese to have formal relations with the Japanese. [continued...]
