Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 07/10/2026Ah, inburgering: quite a few of my coworkers did that in the Netherlands (and I would've too had I stayed there!). Luxembourg only requires tests for nationality (not PR), but the language test is shorter (combined speaking/listening in one) and the civics/history test can be bypassed with a class. 010
Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Apparently, I moved to France 15 years ago. Not sure how it's been that long... 010
Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 10/09/2026I vote Utrecht and the Hague are definitely worth visiting, if time allows. 031
Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 09/09/2026A lot of people've been doing the Standard Language Quiz, so I jumped on the bandwagon... with interesting results. (The top matches to my accent apparently are California, Maine, and Hawai'i... funny, because I've never been to the first two and I left the third over three decades ago!) 000
Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 31/08/2026It's been mixed for me. I normally take 5-6 decks plus a big box o' cards on trips to the US: sometimes it triggers checks at security and customs; sometimes it doesn't. (I don't think it did last time, but they were more interested in my coins...) 110
Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 11/08/2026Side note: I'm the brother being referred to. (Currently working in Luxembourg with a personal MSCA grant; previously was in the Netherlands.) 010
Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 11/08/2026It's quite country-dependent. A lot of grants at the EU/International scale (e.g., Horizon Europe) can be larger in value and scope; Luxembourgish grants can be larger; but Dutch grants are usually smaller and it's highly competitive to get the bigger ones. 110
Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 11/08/2026Also, travel tips: • buy all snacks from a proper supermarket (Albert Heijn, Jumbo, Dirk, Spar...) • drink bottles in the Netherlands do have deposits (€0.10-€0.25/bottle, which can add up), but you can return the bottles to said supermarkets • don't buy bottled water; Dutch tap water is very good 000
Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 11/08/2026In my experience, as long as you don't have a domestic/intra-Schengen connection, you normally won't have to gate-check a bag on a Transatlantic flight. That said, I think my carry-on is somewhat of a no-name brand (but bought here in Europe.) 100
Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 29/07/2026This was the case for one of my undergrad physics professors: we could bring an index card to each in-term exam and a letter sheet of paper to the final. (My handwriting was at least neat enough to make it work.) 020
Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 13/07/2026As fun as that would be to see, there also wasn't anything between the two checkpoints (at least in Paris and Brussels), so a person stuck there wouldn't last very long. (At least in Brussels, there's nothing between the two!) 010
Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 12/07/2026I believe that, as part of the agreement on juxtaposed controls, if the UK refuses entry, the Netherlands (or France... or Belgium) has to accept the person back; no choice in the matter. (But the same holds if France refuses admission at their checkpoints in the UK: the Brits are stuck with them.) 110
Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 26/06/2026I'm definitely not built for temperatures like this anymore. (So looking forward to the heatwave breaking at last next week...) 000
Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 14/06/2026Pain is temporary, but the Palácio da Pena is quite a work of art. 000
Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 11/06/2026Many foreigners also cannot comprehend that the Schengen Area (the single travel area), the eurozone, the EEA, and the EU are separate as well. And then there's Denmark. 020
Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 04/06/2026Work travel coming up next week, and, with it, all the attendant pre-travel jitters. (Though I'll be going back to Portugal, so maybe fewer jitters.) 000
Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 04/06/2026By contrast, the age gap between our grandmother and grandfather (maternal) was ~13 years, so... 010
Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 19/04/2026Organizing conferences is always rewarding, but they leave you incredibly drained afterwards... 000
Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 12/04/2026Crazy increases on this side of the Atlantic (Luxembourg) as well: from €1.45/liter at the beginning of March to €1.72/liter ($6.40/gal to $7.62/gal) now for standard unleaded, but diesel's gone from €1.40-ish to over €2/liter (~$9/gal). 000
Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 16/03/2026Probably a mix, though the £5 note prominently features Churchill's Nobel Prize... in literature. And Churchill's only been on the fiver since 2016 (previous subjects included the Duke of Wellington; George Stephenson; Elizabeth Fry...). 000
Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 11/03/2026Especially given that the federal gasoline tax is 18.4¢/gallon... that won't do much at all. 000
Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 09/03/2026Go to metric ($/liter) and no need for the extra digit. 000
Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 02/03/2026Just applied for my first Luxembourgish passport today. Feels like a lot of things (all positive). 000
Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 20/02/2026I also have no issues with going the speed limit, either. (Though the large number of automatic controls on this side of the Atlantic encourage you to really stick to the limit...) 010
Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 15/02/2026Sometimes, when going through your old data, you find cool images that definitely deserve to be shared. 010
Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 19/01/2026These are reasons I always hide the mailing lists in BCC, even if it is a spam e-mail. 040
Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 17/01/2026Ended up with my best MTG prerelease performance in a long time: 4-1, good enough for second place (lost out on first due to tiebreakers). Feels nice. 010
Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 13/01/2026One immediately noticeable striking difference between NC and the Netherlands: sunrise. Went from about 7:30 in the morning in NC to about 8:30 here at Schiphol... 010
Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 25/12/2025Seeing forecasts like this always validates my choices to pack for all seasons when coming back to NC for the holidays. 010
Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 24/12/2025Funnily enough, the only class I remember with proper blue book exams was my second-semester calculus class. (Granted, many other exams were written, but I only used the blue books for that one in particular.) Still prefer written/free-response exams, especially pen-and-paper... 020
Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 22/12/2025No, but (a) didn't have one in the US that really worked and (b) do you really need one? (sarcasm detected) 140
Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 22/12/2025I got a pay increase when I moved to Europe for my Ph.D., not to mention all the other benefits. 140
Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 10/12/2025I just rebuilt a super-fun implement of torment, so maybe we can go together. (Though I'm not sure yet which of mine is worse...) 010
Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 05/12/2025Another option that interests me is the option of story branching and nonlinear storytelling, where actions can mean something and have an effect on the final outcome. 000
Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 01/12/2025Advantages to living in the Netherlands when that happened. 010
Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 28/11/2025One thing I especially appreciate about living in Luxembourg is the opportunity to attend lots of concerts. (And these two last week made the fifth and sixth concerts I've attended in Luxembourg this year!) 010
Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 29/10/2025What's also crazy to me is how some people live in a place without picking up (or attempting to pick up) the language. I saw a lot of that in Germany when I was a kid; a lot of it in the Netherlands (okay, English is almost everywhere); a lot in Luxembourg (though with 4+ languages in common use...) 000
Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 19/10/2025This past week marked the tenth anniversary of my move to Luxembourg. Crazy to think it's been that long already... and also crazier to think I took the final step for this project I've wanted to do for just about as long (if not longer). 010
Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 15/10/2025Like this? www.bbc.com/news/world-a...bbc.comWhy do some Chinese funerals involve strippers?Chinese authorities are once again cracking down on the practice which have existed for years. 010
Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 03/10/2025I was planning to send some gifts to family in the US, but the post office here has suspended accepting all possibly dutiable mailings to the US, even if they fall under the (still existent) gift exemption, unless you pay for a very expensive courier service. "Fun" times. 030
Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 29/09/2025Any time Deutsche Bahn is involved for a trip, it's always a bit of a game of "how much of a refund after the trip will I get". 110
Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 29/09/2025A visa is not the same as a permission to stay (the I-94): one can stay in the US with an expired visa as long as the I-94 remains valid. And Ph.D. programs in particular can take MUCH more than five years in the US. (The proposal is for limiting the I-94 period.) 100
Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 27/09/2025That's part of how you made the physics department at Kent very "happy" with you when you graded the massive Astronomy class, right? 120
Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 16/09/2025Now for the long wait for language test results. (Well, no idea how long it'll be, but it'll feel quite long... especially since I'm not super-confident with how I did on the one section.) 010
Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 07/09/2025They already do, to an extent. (Foreign workers considered "nonresident" can't get the standard deduction.) 010