Farewell Crossroads
April 11, 2011 Leave a Comment
“Crossroads has always been the first site I send to new expats who have discovered my blog and there really ought to be something for our region written by expats, for expats. Without it, where are we going to turn?” asks US expat Amanda Potter.
Article republished with permission
Source: Amanda Potter’s blog Maastricht Minutiae
The story of Crossroads
April 10, 2011 1 Comment
The news this week of the discontinuation of Crossroads, the English language web magazine published by the European Journalism Centre in Maastricht came as a shock to its many readers and contributors. The publication, which attracted 12,000 unique visitors every month, has been closed, due to end of funding.
Crossroads editor Sueli Brodin takes a looks at the history of the magazine.
A fatal choice
April 10, 2011 3 Comments
“The region had it all sorted out: a successful website with news and tips for expats and foreign students in Maastricht, the Netherlands. An international platform where they could share what really mattered to them. This site has now suddenly closed.”
Article republished with permission.
Source: Jean-Paul Toonen’s blog Shipping Thoughts
Back home in Maastricht after 40 years abroad
April 2, 2011 11 Comments
Or the story of an endearing friendship between a 76 year old world traveller from Limburg and a Romanian student in Maastricht.
A Texan in Maastricht
March 28, 2011 3 Comments
Before she arrived in Maastricht as a study-abroad student a few months ago, Audrey Cary had never set foot in any other country than her native United States. What has the experience taught her about herself and the world?
My highlights of TEFAF 2011
March 27, 2011 1 Comment
Crossroads editor Sueli Brodin shares her personal highlights of this year’s edition of Maastricht’s Arts and Antique Fair TEFAF.
World students in Maastricht
March 23, 2011 7 Comments
Attracted by Maastrichts convenient geographic location at the heart of Europe, and its university’s outspoken ambition to be an international academic institute, Dutch, German and Belgian students, as well as a large number of other foreign students arrive each year to study in Maastricht. For the cosmopolitan group among them, Maastricht only represents a temporary stopover on their global journey. Katalina Präkelt explains why.
From Russia with love
March 15, 2011 Leave a Comment
Visitors to the Bonnefanten Museum in Maastricht will from 18 March until 19 June have a chance to see a selection of 90 Dutch drawings and sketches from the Golden Age in the special exhibition: “Treasures from Moscow. Dutch drawings from the Pushkin Museum”. A report by Crossroads editor Sueli Brodin
Knowledge Centre for International Staff nominated for the Expat Awards 2011
March 3, 2011 Leave a Comment
Maastricht University’s Knowledge Centre for International Staff (KCIS) has been nominated for the Expat Awards 2011 in the Expat Service Provider of the Year category.
10 “unhealthy” Dutch foods that are actually good for you
March 2, 2011 1 Comment
Can the Dutch offer guilt-free nibbles to get through the week? British expat and nutritionist Mandy Dunlop shares her top 10 “noteworthy noshes that not only will satisfy your taste buds but sneak in generous amounts of some very important nutrients.”
Cricket - The game I love the most
February 22, 2011 2 Comments
“The game of cricket is in the blood of every Indian,” says Madan Raj. “When I got my visa for the Netherlands, the first thought running on my mind was this,” Is it possible to play cricket in Maastricht??”, “If possible, where?””
Chemelot Campus and Maastricht Health Campus
February 17, 2011 Leave a Comment
Maastricht University (UM) strives to strengthen its position as a research university. UM is launching a few important scientific projects, based on public private partnership:
* Chemelot Campus
* Life & Science Campus Maastricht
* Brains Unlimited
Source and more information: Maastricht University.
Education without borders: distance learning
February 13, 2011 2 Comments
How can expatriates improve their education while living and working in the Netherlands? A testimonial by Claudia Costa.
North and South
February 8, 2011 7 Comments
Is Maastricht different from the rest of the Netherlands? US expat Judy Lin explains how living in Maastricht for the past year has changed the way she thinks about the “north”.
Francis Alÿs at the Bonnefanten: Perfecting the Art of Understatement
February 1, 2011 1 Comment
Francis Alÿs (1959), an artist born in Antwerp but resident of Mexico City for the past two decades, questions urban identity and economy, labour and globalisation, through thoroughly universal tales which often become strangely mesmerising in their power and subtlety. A review of the exhibition “BACA Laureate 2010: Francis Alÿs” at the Bonnefantenmuseum in Maastricht, by Clare Canning.
Health hazards
January 29, 2011 Leave a Comment
Singaporean expat Musliha Ajmain Janssen gives a testimonial of her experience with Dutch doctors and the Dutch health care system.
Serious Beans and Pop Music in Maastricht
January 26, 2011 Leave a Comment
With three rehearsal rooms, one concert hall, a DJ-lab and a recording studio and ongoing events on its agenda, the Muziekgieterij has now established itself as a leading centre for pop culture and music in Maastricht. It recently organised a brainstorm meeting about the future of the pop music scene in the city. A report by Crossroads editor Sueli Brodin.
Zoekjaar: license to work
January 20, 2011 7 Comments
Frieda Gultom is an Indonesian graduate from Maastricht University currently living in the Netherlands on a one-year zoekjaar permit. Her dream is to find a job in the field of media, preferably in the Maastricht region. Will she succeed?
Dear Maastricht: A Love Letter
January 13, 2011 15 Comments
US citizen Becky Castle Miller only spent a few days in Maastricht last September but immediately “fell head over heels in love with the city.” For the past three months, she and her husband have been scheming about ways to get back. Becky shares her feelings in a love letter to Maastricht.
Roman Maastricht
January 2, 2011 Leave a Comment
Maastricht came into existence as a Roman settlement.
Source and more information: Zicht op Maastricht, the biography of a city.
Photo exhibition: Rural life in Tanzania
December 24, 2010 Leave a Comment
German native Nadia Hagen will on January 6, 2011 open a photo exhibition in Maastricht about rural life in Tanzania. Her work covers many different aspects of rural life: religion, daily life, role of the women, children, education etc. Free entrance.
PechaKucha Night Maastricht: When rules are made to be broken
December 23, 2010 Leave a Comment
At PechaKucha Night Maastricht, one thing is obvious: the appeal of the fixed 20 x 20 presentation format (20 slides x 20 seconds per slide) seems to lie precisely in the fact that it provokes candidate speakers into devising creative ways to experiment and play with it. A review by Sueli Brodin.
Internationals get together in Maastricht
December 20, 2010 Leave a Comment
On Thursday December 16th 2010 the International Service Desk of the Maastricht Region, Brainport Development NV and the Maastricht University Knowledge Centre for International Staff organised a very much appreciated get together for the international community.
Officially a Limburger
December 20, 2010 Leave a Comment
Crossroads editor Sueli Brodin has a new business card that simply reads: Limburger.
Christmas gift shopping… in a cave!
December 14, 2010 Leave a Comment
For Italian expat Claudia Costa, there are many more aspects about the Christmas market in Valkenburg that make it special, apart from the fact that it is located in the town’s underground caves.
Life in-between: an expat in North Limburg
December 6, 2010 Leave a Comment
Two years ago, Claudia Costa exchanged her Italian home town of Milan for a small village in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and now commutes to work every day in North Limburg. “Although both Venlo and Roermond boast many nice restaurants and cafés, what is definitely missing is a greater offer of cultural activities and events aimed at expatriates, similar to those which liven up the provincial capital of Maastricht,” she says.
American author presents bilingual children’s book in Maastricht
December 2, 2010 Leave a Comment
Book presentation of “The Adventures of Yin & Yang: Snoepje and the Pizza Box” on Sunday, November 21st at Selexyz Dominicanen in Maastricht, by American author Susan Hermse Schaefer and Dutch Minister of Immigration and former mayor of Maastricht Gerd Leers.
My first expat Thanksgiving: A how-to in holiday meals abroad from an American in Aachen
December 2, 2010 Leave a Comment
“Heard the one about the four Germans, three Americans, two Mexicans, a Frenchman and a Colombian? Then you haven’t heard about my Thanksgiving celebration this year,” writes Luisa Maria Badaracco, a US expat living in Aachen.
“Search for the hero? Apparently we should”
November 24, 2010 Leave a Comment
“Do we still need heroes?”
“Can we devise ideals of heroism that are adequate for the 21st century?”
“Are there different kinds of heroes?”
These were some of the topical questions recently addressed by Professor Susan Neiman during the annual Tans Lecture at Maastricht University. A review by Dani Older.
Maastricht University international staff get-together
November 18, 2010 Leave a Comment
More than 200 international staff members from Maastricht University gathered at the beautiful old ‘City hall’ on October 12th 2010 for the first ‘Cultural Introduction & International Staff Get-Together’.
