Groningen walking tour
A Groningen walking tour to introduce you to this young, dynamic and hip city with a world-class university and plenty of history to discover.
Living Overseas
In this category you’ll find articles about being an expat, but also more specific articles about aspects of life in the Netherlands.
If you’re looking for my articles about renouncing my US citizenship, it’s best to read those in chronological order, starting with this one: Giving up US citizenship?
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The Polder Model in Action
Ever heard of the Dutch polder model? It’s a political term referring to consensus decision-making in the Netherlands, but it’s used in organizations too.
Zwarte Piet (Black Pete) updated
In the five years since I last wrote about Zwarte Piet (Black Pete) things have changed, mostly for the better. Black Pete is disappearing.
10 things to know before moving to Switzerland
Switzerland, or what is officially known as the Swiss Federation, is a country located in central, western, and southern Europe. The federal republic consists of 26 cantons, and the federal authorities are based in Bern. It is geographically divided among the Alps, Swiss plateau, and Jura covering an area of 41285 square kilometers. The population…
Expat wellness: Life as an expat
I haven’t written an article in a long time about expat issues, despite the fact that my articles about expat life still get regular readers. My posts about renouncing my citizenship, in particular, are in my top 10 nearly every day. So when I was approached by Aetna International to collaborate with them as an…
Watching America Fall Apart on my Renunciation Anniversary
One year ago today, I renounced my US citizenship. Here in the Netherlands, since last week’s US elections, friends and colleagues often ask me “Are you glad you gave up citizenship?” I always say “Yes!” but that’s a lie. I didn’t want give up citizenship then, and I still feel sad that I had to…
The US Election, as seen by Overseas Americans
Watching the American election season from abroad is like slowing down as you pass a car accident on the highway. You don’t really want to see the damage, but you can’t seem to stop yourself from looking. It has nothing to do with you, yet you’re fascinated. The US presidential election I gave up citizenship almost…
On Receiving my California Voter Ballot
I won’t vote in the upcoming Presidential election. It’s not that I don’t want to, but I gave up citizenship last November, so I can’t vote in the US elections anymore. (If you want a general overview of my reasons for renouncing, here is my Medium article about it.) My renunciation date was November 18,…
Indignation Fatigue and FATCA
A lawsuit against FATCA, the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, was filed back in 2014 by Senator Rand Paul and the Republicans Overseas and, while I am certainly no fan of the senator, I support this lawsuit. It was, however, dismissed in April 2016 because the Ohio federal judge who heard the case decided that…
So You Think You Want to Emigrate …
“If Trump gets elected, I’m leaving the country.” I don’t live in the US, but I have read comments like this on social media and in the news. Apparently, sometimes this isn’t just an idle threat. The Guardian cites a Luminoso survey which found that: … about 4% of 4.5 million Donald Trump-related tweets contained threats…
On Receiving my Certificate of Loss of Nationality
Almost five months after my renunciation day, I received my Certificate of Loss of Nationality today. It seems ironic that it arrived on Tax Day. People keep asking me how that feels, but I have trouble formulating an answer. Certificate of Loss of Nationality = divorce papers The best analogy I’ve been able to find…
The Beauty of a Dutch Commute
A couple of times a week, I commute to my part-time job in Leeuwarden, in Friesland province. Sometimes I drive, but as much as possible, I like to take the train. I start by bicycling to the train station in the center of Groningen, parking the bike and boarding the train. The train trip takes about 35…
The Ridiculous Story of a Pilot and his Taxes
I received a message recently from an American airline pilot living and working out of Hong Kong for a major airline. He told me the story of how America’s citizenship-based taxation affects him and I felt I had to write about it. Ridiculous I already thought the way overseas Americans are taxed by the US…
Vote … as a Non-Citizen? Really?
On my return from a short vacation with my family, I was surprised to find a letter from the Department of Elections of the City of San Francisco waiting for me, offering me the opportunity to vote in the Democratic primary. Before I moved to the Netherlands back in 1997, I lived in San Francisco, so San…
Renunciations in the News
Last week new numbers were published about how many overseas Americans renounced citizenship in the fourth quarter of 2015, and they show, as expected, an increase in 2015: a record year for renunciations. Each quarter a “name and shame” list is published by the US Treasury Department based on IRS figures of those renouncing, and in…
Citizen of a Parallel World
This week the Board of Elections of Illinois decided that Ted Cruz is indeed a natural-born citizen as required by the US Constitution to be eligible to be President. Ted Cruz was already identified as a US citizen because his mother was a US citizen. His birthplace, however, is in Canada, hence the question of…
Citizenship Matters
I am, legally speaking, a citizen of the Netherlands. If you asked the US Foreign Service, they’d probably say I have US citizenship too, at least until I get my Certificate of Loss of Nationality. If you asked the IRS, on the other hand, they would say I’m no longer a US citizen. What does it mean…
7 Reasons NOT to Renounce
When I was considering renouncing US citizenship, and then, once I had decided to do so, I heard several arguments for why I shouldn’t renounce. Reason not to renounce #1 But what if something happens where you are—an invasion or a natural disaster or something? The US would come and get you out! Answer #1:…
Open Letter to President Obama in response to The State of the Union Address
Dear Mr. President, Thank you for your sincere and uplifting State of the Union Address. Your skills in speechmaking are truly impressive. Your speech was addressed to your fellow Americans. I would like to respond to some of your remarks from my point of view: that of an overseas American who has felt the heartbreak…
The Irony of Renouncing Under Duress
The following post is one of a series about American values related to my renunciation of US citizenship in November 2015. In my journey through the wilds of US law as it applies to overseas Americans, I’ve joined a few Facebook groups where people in this situation share information about tax law, FATCA, and individual…
The American Dream
The following post is one of a series about American values sparked by my renunciation of US citizenship in November 2015. In my last two posts, I discussed four of the six key American values emphasized in the textbook American Ways: individual freedom and self-reliance, and then equality and competition. The last two are material…
Christmas Compared
It’s almost Christmas, and I’ve been thinking a lot this year about the holiday as an event. Perhaps because I was much less busy this year than in previous years leading up to it, I’ve been noticing more. Note added at Christmas 2020: While I wrote this back in 2015, these observations still apply ……
The Happiest Expats Live Here
While it may seem appealing to ditch the daily grind and live an adventurous life abroad, being an expat comes with its own trials and tribulations, and not all expat locations are created equal. This is – or, rather, was – a sponsored guest post, originally published by thehipmunk on Hipmunk’s Tailwind blog on December 13, 2015. The Hipmunk brand…
Equality? Competition? Not Overseas!
This is one of a series of posts about American values inspired by my renunciation of American citizenship. I wrote last week about a book I’ve used for teaching, American Ways, and the six values it emphasizes. Last week I discussed individual freedom and self-reliance. This week I’d like to address two more: equality of…
WinterWelVaart: Groningen’s Christmas Market
WinterWelVaart is Groningen’s annual Christmas market, with an unusual maritime twist that makes it extra special!
Individual Freedom, Self-Reliance and Renunciation
I teach American Studies at a teacher-training college here in the Netherlands. The eight-week courses—two for the younger, full-time students, and one for the adult, part-time students—are not in-depth studies. They are introductory courses for students training to become English teachers. One of my goals is to prepare them for the sorts of questions their…
FATCA, the Tea Party and Me
“No taxation without representation,” a slogan going back to colonial America, is commonly cited by overseas Americans like me in discussions of FATCA. It’s also the basis of the Tea Party’s name: a reference to the Boston Tea Party, an act of rebellion against the taxation of the American colonists by the British government. FATCA…
Zwarte Piet Updated
It’s that time of year again: Sinterklaas is approaching, along with Zwarte Piet (Black Pete). I wrote about this two years ago and then again last year, so I thought I’d add a short update today. Changes in Zwarte Piet The Zwarte Piet debate continues. Or rather, a vocal minority condemns it as racist while…
Thanksgiving Reconsidered
“Are you still going to do Thanksgiving?” This is one of the questions I get asked when I tell people I’ve renounced my US citizenship. Yes, I am still doing Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving in the Netherlands It’s always felt a little odd to celebrate Thanksgiving in the Netherlands. It’s a celebration of a particular event in American history, after…
My Renunciation Day
I renounced my US citizenship today. Right now, I don’t want to discuss the politics, but rather just let you know what my day was like. Note: This article was published on November 18, 2015. Getting there Like any good Dutch resident, I got to Amsterdam by first riding my bike to the train station…
The most beautiful Starbucks?
You know how sometimes you get so used to what you see every day that you stop noticing it? I’ve walked by the Starbucks in the Groningen central train station hundreds of times in the course of commuting to and from my job up in Leeuwarden. I just didn’t pay much attention to it until…
How my citizenship hit me in the gut
One day last month, when I was walking through Oakland on my way to meet a friend in Berkeley, I passed the old Paramount Theater. This is a gorgeous restored Art Deco theater that I had paused to admire every time I’d walked past that week. That day, though, the theater was open at 8:30…