Pancake Day around the world!

01 February, 2012 15:57

Pancake Day! Yes, it is coming. Of course you can make pancakes other days of the year, but if there is one day to choose this year, then you should pick up the 21st February 2012 (also the 2nd February when French, Belgian and Swiss celebrate La Chandeleur - Presentation of Christ in the Temple, but also Pagan feast of light). (More)

Gift Guide for your Favorite Expat

Erin

09 December, 2011 10:07

Finding the perfect gift for your loved ones is a yearly Christmas challenge.

Does dad want another tie?
Should you get your grandmother a bird ornament?
Is it cheap to give your mom a framed photo of you?

What about a gift for your favorite expat? A globe-trotting, adventure seeking, globally aware pack, it's difficult to find the gift that fits your expat. Adding to the challenge of the gift, it needs to be something that is easy to send.

Fear not! EasyExpat has great ideas to find the gift for your person abroad. For Christmas, for Hanukkah, for birthdays, for fun - there is a gift in here for the expat or traveler closest to your heart. (More)

Celebrating Thanksgiving Abroad

Erin

22 November, 2011 09:45

Thanksgiving is one of the most important holidays of the year for most Americans and Canadians, no matter where they are in the world. A time for feast and family, it has roots in the beginnings of the nation and is a time to reflect on all that there is to be thankful for.

History

Origins of Thanksgiving in the USA

The celebration of Thanksgiving in the United States originates from the end of summer harvest shared by the Pilgrims and the native people in 1621 at Plymouth. It was made a national holiday by federal legislation in 1941, but had been an annual tradition in the United States by presidential proclamation since 1863. The holiday is now celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. (More)

Celebrating Halloween as an Expat

Erin

27 October, 2011 16:07

Halloween can get a bad rap for being a commercial holiday crudely pushing candy, tacky decorations, and scandalous costumes. Yes- there is a lot of candy eating and yes - glowing plastic pumpkins may not be your cup of tea and YES the "sexy" costumes are over the top. Sexy cat, sexy nurse, sexy policewoman, sexy Osama bin Laden!? (Yes - those are all real costumes).

However, this is forgetting the good side of Halloween. The name "Halloween" is derived from the 16th century as a Scottish variant of the term "All-Hallows-Even" which refers to the night before All Hallows Day. The holiday roots back pagan traditions of ancient Britain and Ireland. The Celtic Festival of Samhain was observed on October 31 and the souls of the dead were supposed to revisit their homes on this day. Many of the spooky elements of today's celebration, like ghosts, witches, goblins, black cats, and demons, are said to be walk the earth on this day. The festival was held to placate the supernatural powers and it was a favorable time for divinations concerning marriage, luck, health, and death. It was the only day on which the help of the devil was invoked for such purposes. (More)

Odd Inventions from around the Globe

Erin

19 October, 2011 08:51

It's incredible what people can imagine. This October brought the 2011 Nobel Prize winners. Swedish poet Tomas Tranströmer pursued excellence in literature. The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded jointly to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkul Karman "for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights to full participation in peace-building work". Saul Perlmutter, Brian P. Schmidt and Adam G. Riess discovered the accelerating expansion of the Universe through observations of distant supernovae to win the Nobel Prize in Physics. Dan Shechtman won the award for chemistry for the discovery of quasicrystals. And the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to both Bruce A. Beutler and Jules A. Hoffmann for their discoveries concerning the activation of innate immunity, as well as Ralph M. Steinman for his discovery of the dendritic cell and its role in adaptive immunity. (More)

Where You Should Go After Oktoberfest

Erin

27 September, 2011 16:11

One of the greatest drinking festivals in the world ends next Monday. Oktoberfest- the annual festival of brews, bratwurst, pretzels, and beautiful dirndl & lederhosen- began on Saturday, September 17th and ends on Monday October 3rd, 2011. Opening ceremonies went off well in the Schottenhamel tent with the lord mayor of Munich tapping the first keg of Oktoberfest beer. Since then the celebration has continued, despite the highest beer prices of up to 9.20 € a Mass (litre of beer).

If you've missed the great beer festival in Munich, that doesn't mean you've missed your chance to sing silly songs, celebrate inebriation, and toss back a few drinks. (More)

The Art of Tipping: Customs and Traditions Explained to Expats

Erin

10 August, 2011 08:19

Tipping is complicated, and is only made more so when traveling somewhere new. Standards are different almost everywhere you go, and different establishments often have different tipping expectations.

Why Tip?

A tip or gratuity is a voluntary extra payment made to certain service sector workers in addition to the advertised price of the transaction. Such payments and their size are a matter of social custom and tipping rules vary by country, by region, and by scenario. The amount of a tip is usually at the discretion of the patron being served. In some circumstances failing to give an adequate tip is a reprimand for poor service, but if done unknowingly can be a serious faux pas. (More)

Homosexual's Rights & Celebrations

Erin

01 July, 2011 00:25

The last few weekends have been filled with festivities. As always, summer brings out the festivals in cities around the world as people are celebrating: Music, Food, Environmental, and- of course- Gay Pride. In America, June has officially been declared a Gay and Lesbian Pride Month by former President Bill Clinton since 2000 (this was slightly amended in 2009 by President Barack Obama proclaiming June to be LGBT - lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexualism Pride month). However, the US continues to struggle with recognizing the rights of the LGBT community, as does much of the world. (More)

Summer Olympic Series: London Preparations

Erin

24 May, 2011 19:27

Though still a year away, the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London is fast approaching. The Games, officially known as the Games of the XXX Olympiad, are scheduled to take place from July 27th to August 12th and will be the 30th modern Olympic Games. London is the first city to host the games a record three times.

Around 17,000 athletes are expected to participate representing over 200 countries. An estimated 500,000 visitors will descend on the event to watch the competitions live. Over 63,000 peoples are involved in the process to make the event successful. As always, the Olympics are a world event with the eyes of many nations already upon London. (More)

Royal Wedding: Kate and William

Erin

26 April, 2011 03:16

"The Royal Wedding Approaches! The Royal Wedding Approaches!"

The news is hard to avoid, even if you want to. Prince William and Kate Middleton are getting married. Every aspect of the wedding is being broadcast to every corner of the world. Some British expats feel the pull back to lady England, while some expats in London would like nothing better than to never hear the words "royal" and "wedding" in the same sentence again.

(More)

Expat Easter: Keeping Traditions

Erin

18 April, 2011 12:27

Trying to maintain some degree of normalcy, for both you and your family, can be difficult as an expat. These struggles can be most acute during the holidays when you try to embrace what you consider this specific holiday's "traditions". Though a holiday may be celebrated around the world, what counts as celebration can be wildly different. For every American abroad that eats fast food on Thanksgiving, every German quietly celebrating "Re-Unification Day" in Africa, and every Australian looking for some chocolate Easter eggs in Shanghai- the sense of displacement can be quite poignant.

By understanding the traditions of your adopted home, some of that isolation can be dissipated. Each country has their unique way to celebrate, and while you don't want to abandon the traditions that you love, expanding the rituals you perform can strengthen your bond to the place that you come from, as well as the place you are now.

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Expats on the Run: Marathons

Erin

13 April, 2011 08:51

Most of us have never felt the need to run a marathon. Oddly, there are thousands that do. Officially, a marathon is a long-distance running event with an official distance of 42.195 kilometers (26 miles and 385 yards). The first events celebrated the fabled run of the Greek soldier Pheidippides, a messenger from the Battle of Marathon, to Athens. It became an official Olympic events in 1896 in Athens, though the distance did not become standardized until 1921.

Now, more than 500 marathons are run throughout the world each year. Tens of thousands of participants come, some from around the world, to just run. While most people do not participate to win, some people seem truly addicted. Belgian athlete Stefaan Engels recently made world-wide news in his world record running streak of 365 marathons in 365 days.

So why do some people do it? And what do Marathons around the world say about the cities they are run in and the people that run them?

(More)

INTERVIEW: Greg Granier - French Lover for Dummies

EasyExpat

12 April, 2011 12:48

"French Lover for Dummies" is a stand up comedy show by Greg Granier,
every Friday and saturday@7Pm , theatre La Cible, 62B rue JB Pigalle, 75009 Paris

What is the show?

A One man show in english in Paris for english speaking people, Tourist, and expats, all you ever wanted to know about French Lover all around the world! the advantages: you ll get a show, You ll laugh a lot, and you get a training to become the ultimate French lover!!! another advantage is that we don't have much shows in english in Paris... it would be great to develop this sector...

Can you talk a bit about the comedian?

Greg Granier is a 30 years old commedian, who has run now 4 one man shows in paris and all over france, and now starting a show in english because he did all his studies in international section with a lot of expats children... beside of that he also works as a seduction coach.

(More)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Erin

17 March, 2011 16:08

Today is the day you might get a pinch if you step out without wearing green, you are likely to see some funny-colored beverages, and absolutely everyone claims to be a little Irish. St. Patrick's Day parades are practiced in odd corners of the globe and homes are filled with music, food, drink, and tradition. Play up your brogue, smile, and say thanks for this day of revelry and the Irish. (More)

Rio de Janeiro's Carnaval

Erin

10 March, 2011 22:49

Carnival is officially over and the feathers have come off, the headresses have been removed, and the body glitter keeps showing up in unlikely places. Carnival in Rio de Janeiro (or Carnaval as spelled in Portuguese) is - without exaggeration - one of the biggest parties on earth. This celebration of sinful delight explodes onto the streets every year in a celebration of indulgence.

The name "Carnival" comes from "carnelevare" which means "to remove meat" and refers to the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat during the 40 days of Lent. Before the seriousness of the religious event, it is generally accepted that people indulge in food and alcohol. The Church initially discouraged the practice, but in the year 590 they gave into the inevitable and gave the festivities its blessings under the condition that Ash Wednesday should be dedicated to repent and sin expiation. A farewell to bad habits, this practice has become a festival of debauchery and is observed in traditionally Roman Catholic areas all over the world including New Orleans in the United States, Cologne in Germany, and Venice in Italy.

(More)