Luxventures

Usually, arranging for a guest to appear on a podcast – let alone Luxventures podcast – takes time. Scheduling conflicts, prior obligations, uneasiness about this weird journalist character wielding the microphone, it all matters. But then again, sometimes you get stuck in front of a train station in Brussels at 3 AM and lo, behold…

For all intents and purposes, Slovenian photographer Matic Zorman came to Luxembourg directly from the Middle East. Ever since the move, he has tirelessly chronicled the country and its people. He finds that there is much more to them than meets the eye. But you must let yourself be surprised.

You can follow Matic on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and do keep an eye out for his non-journalistic work as well.

Thanks for tuning in, or downloading, as it were, I hope you’ve enjoyed this episode of Luxventures. If you can, please leave a review and rate this podcast on iTunes and Google Podcasts or whatever your preferred podcast clients and directories are. Don’t forget to like our Facebook page as well. Also feel free to ping me on Twitter with any comments and suggestions you might have.

Luxventures will be back next month.

Compared to their colleagues in local

schools, teachers at the two Europeans schools in Luxembourg are increasingly

at a disadvantage in terms of salary and job safety.

How can this happen in a country where teaching is one of the highest-paid professions in the public sector and what – if anything – will the next few days bring in the year-long struggle to level the playing field?

Usually in this podcast we trick unsuspecting expats into sharing their experience with the grand duchy.

in this episode, however, we talk to André Schmutz and Delphine Ballaguy, respectively president and secretary general of APEEEL2, the parents’ association at the European School Luxembourg 2, which – full disclosure – this podcaster’s kids attend as well.

Monsieur Schmutz and Madame Ballaguy are two of the handful of people spearheading attempts to square the circle of the  costs of living in Luxembourg on one hand and on the other the general policy of keeping the salaries of teachers at European Schools all over the EU approximately on the same level.

What was once ostensibly a check in preventing some European Schools becoming more desired to work at than other is now backfiring in more than one EU member state but nowhere near as spectacularly as in Luxembourg.

Thanks for tuning in, or downloading, as it were, I hope you’ve enjoyed this episode of Luxventures. If you can, please leave a review and rate this podcast on iTunes and Apple Podcasts or whatever your preferred podcast clients and directories are. Don’t forget to like our Facebook page as well and feel free to ping me on Twitter with any comments and suggestions you might have.

Luxventures will be back next month.

UPDATE (12/4/19): The Board of governors has approved the motions tabled. What is more, the salaries of seconded and locally recruited teachers in European Schools in Luxembourg will now be at a a level comparable to those at local state-funded schools.

If you like Jerry Seinfeld’s Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, then you’ll love this episode of Luxventures. Not only does it feature two middle-aged guys in a motorised vehicle, it is also marginally funnier.

But since neither Nick Wilkinson nor myself own massively overpriced cars, we literally talked in the back of a bus. The dreaded line 222, to be exact. We did talk about massively overpriced cars, though. An buses. And ticket inspectors.

But we also talked about Nick’s music, his teaching career and The Spaceminers, a band he joined recently and just started a regular gig at The Moonlight Cafe in Kehlen. Which is probably the best reason to visit the place you’ve had in a while.

Thanks for tuning in, or downloading, as it were. I hope you’ve enjoyed this episode of Luxventures, again just barely making the monthly quota.

If you’re listening to this on Friday, March the 1st, don’t forget to check out The Spaceminers tonight at the Moonlight Cafe in Kehlen. Otherwise, consult their website or various social media channels.

Speaking of channels, if you can, please leave a review and rate this podcast on iTunes and Apple Podcasts or whatever your preferred podcast clients and directories are. Don’t forget to like our Facebook page as well. Also feel free to ping me on Twitter with any comments and suggestions you might have.

Luxventures will be back next month.

The first episode of the new season features Ellen Salloum, a Syrian mother of two who was forced to leave her country on account of the conflict there. She talks about her fears and worries as well as relief and piece of mind when she realised she and her family will stay in Luxembourg for a bit.

We talked about how Luxembourg and its people look from the standpoint of someone who was primarily trying to escape from a war-zone but who also had little say over their final destination.

Thanks for tuning in, or downloading, as it were, i hope you’ve enjoyed the first episode in a new season of Luxventures. We even managed to make the monthly quota, even if only just.

If you can, please leave a review and rate this podcast on iTunes and Apple Podcasts or whatever your preferred podcast clients and directories are. Don’t forget to like our Facebook page as well. Also feel free to ping me on Twitter with any comments and suggestions you might have.

Luxventures will be back next month.

This is the final episode of Luxventures in 2018. Holiday season is upon us, office parties are aplenty and kids’ school Christmas shows are horrifyingly cute. But we won’t talk about that. At least not all that much.

Instead, we’ll talk about the EIB, European Investment Bank. You know, that complex on the edge of Kirchberg where sometimes you get the feeling the 70’s called and asked for their architecture critic back.

But rather than architecture, about which this podcaster has absolutely no clue, we will talk about the bank itself, its mission and its podcasting and social media adventures.

Helping us out will be Matt Rees, head of the editorial unit at the EIB, an accomplished novelist and a man who only a few years ago decided he’d had enough of the daily adrenaline rushes covering events in the Middle East and opted instead for the daily dose of adrenaline that is the rush-hour in Luxembourg.

Thanks for tuning in, or downloading, as it were. I hope you’ve enjoyed this episode of Luxventures. If you can, please leave a review and rate this podcast on iTunes, Google Podcasts or whatever your preferred podcast clients and directories are.

Check out the work Matt and his team do by subscribing to EIB podcasts and social media channels and, don’t forget to like our Facebook page as well. Also feel free to ping me on Twitter with any comments and suggestions you might have.

Happy Christmas and a Merry New Year! (or is that the other way around?)

Luxventures will be back early next year.

In this episode of Luxventures we change tack a bit and talk about politics in Luxembourg. Or, rather, we talk about the first rule of talking about politics in Luxembourg. Which is that one should never talk about politics in Luxembourg. Especially if one is an expat.

OK, so things are not really that weird, but there are nuances to Luxembourgish political attitudes which might be hard for expats to understand. Especially if one comes from a very political and/or divided society, like yours truly.

To this end, we’ve enlisted the help of Bill Wirtz, a freelance journalist who hails from Luxembourg and is currently based in Brussels.

Recently, Bill wrote a wonderful column in the Luxembourg Times on Luxembourgish attitudes towards politics and how to go about them if you’re an expat (hint: don’t).

Bill helps us understand what happened in the October parliamentary election and why Luxembourgers get a bit apprehensive the moment one brings up a political subject.

Thanks for tuning in, or downloading, as it were. I hope you’ve enjoyed this episode of Luxventures. If you can, please rate this podcast on iTunes and Apple Podcasts or whatever your preferred podcast clients and directories are. You can look up Bill and his work on Twitter and on his website. Also, don’t forget to like our Facebook page and feel free to ping me on Twitter with any comments and suggestions you might have.

Luxventures will be back next month.

Vio Dudau is a Romanian photographer who ended up in Luxembourg while searching for a more moderate climate. Yes, you heard that right.

But other than the weather, the perennial topic of life in Lëtzebuerg, we talk about setting up your own business (hint: it’s not all that easy), life outside your run-of-the-mill expat bubble and, of course, the best spots to snap pictures in and of Luxembourg.

Check out Vio’s website photographer.lu or hook up with him on Facebook. There you’ll find his entire range of services as well as his impressive portfolio.

Thanks for tuning in, or downloading, as it were, and hopefully you’ve enjoyed this episode of Luxventures.

If you like this podcast please rate us on iTunes and Apple Podcasts or whatever your preferred podcast clients and/or directories are. Don’t forget to like Luxventures on Facebook. Many thanks to those who already did.

If you find my English simply unbearable or have other bones to pick with me, feel free to ping me on Twitter @pengovsky or just leave a comment on our Facebook page. Luxventures will return in about a month. Cheers!

In this episode we talk to Valter Mavrič, a compatriot of mine who moved to Luxembourg some fifteen years ago and never looked back. For he most part that’s because he’s busy heading the General directorate of the European Parliament for Translation, or DG TRAD as it is affectionately known on the inside.

But also because not only has Valter adopted Luxembourg, Luxembourg seems to have adopted him. Which is why we talked about breaking out of the expat bubble, whether it is worth it (spoiler alert: it most certainly is) and how to make the first contact – a little less awkward.

Thanks for tuning in, or downloading, as it were, i hope you’ve enjoyed this episode of Luxventures. Apologies for my mangling the Luxembourgish language right there at the end. I’ll get it right one of these days.

If you like this podcast please rate us on iTunes and Apple Podcasts or whatever your preferred podcast clients and/or directories are. Don’t forget to like Luxventures on Facebook. Many thanks to those who already did. If you find my English simply unbearable or have other bones to pick with me, feel free to ping me on Twitter @pengovsky or just leave a comment on our Facebook page. Luxventures will return in about a month. Äddi!

After an unplanned two-month-long hiatus, we talk to a fellow podcaster. Martin Jonsonn is a podcaster based in Luxembourg but hailing from Sweden. Although you’d never guess just by listening to him since his English is infuriatingly perfect.

Martin in an incredibly nice and smart guy and very easy to talk to, so it is little wonder we covered a broad range of subjects. Not in the least podcasting. Among other things, Martin also produces LetzCast, a podcast tackling broadly the same issues as Luxventures. Which brings us to the obvious question: Is Luxembourg big enough for the both of us?

If you like this podcast please rate us on iTunes and Apple Podcasts or whatever your preferred podcast clients and/or directories are. Don’t forget to look up LetzCast on Facebook. And while you’re there, go and like Luxventures Facebook page as well where you’re welcome to leave a comment or two. Many thanks to those who already did. If you find my English simply unbearable or have other bones to pick with me, feel free to ping me on Twitter @pengovsky or just leave a comment on our Facebook page. Luxventures will return in about a month. Äddi!

In this episode of Luxventures wa talk to Alexa. Well, not Alexa as such, although we’ve heard of people talking to the artificial assistant as if it were a real person, which is kind of sad. Rather, we speak to Max Amordeluso, EU Lead Evangelist for Amazon Alexa, who landed in Luxembourg about three years ago on a really cold spell in mid-July and had about a week to get his head around the place he now calls home. Or, to be exact, one of his homes.

What brings a man from Florence to Luxembourg via Florida, how much of a bubble do expats live in and is there a bubble inside of a bubble. And last but not least, if moving to Luxembourg is in the cards, what are the 3 things you should be prepared for.

If you like this podcast please rate us on iTunes and Apple Podcasts or whatever your preferred podcast clients and/or directories are. You can check out Max’s work on Twitter and don’t forget to like Luxventures on Facebook where you’re welcome to leave a comment or two. Many thanks to those who already did. If you find my English simply unbearable or have other bones to pick with me, feel free to ping me on Twitter @pengovsky or just leave a comment on our Facebook page. Luxventures will return in about a month. Äddi!