One thing I have been totally vexed by over the last couple of weeks is that I can’t find anyplace that sells shoelaces for dress shoes in Brussels. The only ones I found were for boots at a Timberland store.

#AmericanRefugee

Saturday morning at Flagey Market, having oysters & champagne as one does.

#AmericanRefugee

You know that time somewhere in the first few weeks after you start a new job & the bomb drops? You realize you’re totally & irrevocably fucked and have been sent on a fool’s errand.

Today was the day but someone put a suicide vest on me and I’m going to die.

#AmericanRefugee

For this kind of dough I might have to go back to washing & ironing my own shirts.

Bruh, I am not feeling this at all.

#AmericanRefugee

I think it’s super, uber obvious that I’m an American but apparently that’s not the case. Other native English speakers mostly know & even then I still have to sometimes clarify my nationality.

#AmericanRefugee

I recently left America, maybe permanently, and I refuse to call myself an “ex-pat.”

I’m an #AmericanRefugee cause I was fleeing the bullshit, stupidity, mendacity, and avarice of the current administration.

Fucking-A, gonna have to eat another $12 charge so I can use 2FA to access my accounts & pay my bills.

Pro tip: before you leave the country for an extended period of time, switch all 2FA from SMS to email

#AmericanRefugee

TFW you had to stay late on a Friday to babysit a pack of lazy French jerkoffs that refuse to do their jobs absent supervision and you see your bus pulling off.

#AmericanRefugee

Finally had a burger where I didn’t run out of meat long before I ran out bun in Brussels. It’s on the way home from the bus stop & was relatively cheap. Definitely going back. Fries were hand cut and delicious too. Had a €3.50 beer while I waited, could be my go to spot.

#AmericanRefugee

Fucking timesheets, how do they work?

So much conflicting information, had to go talk to the money people to get as close to a straight answer as is possible in the EU administrative state.

#AmericanRefugee

Another #AmericanRefugee skeet.

FML I’m going to have to get a Belgian phone number. I thought I was gonna be able to thug it out w/ a data plan, WhatsApp/Signal/iMessage & eating the occasional $12 charge to use my American # but there’s too many 2FA dependent apps.

Think I’m going to start using #AmericanRefugee to talk about the craziness of living & working in the EU.

Why I Write About Leaving America, Not Escaping It
Reflecting on subscriber losses, algorithms, and where the American Refugee goes next. #AmericanRefugee #Newsletter #Diaspora
theamericanrefugee.substack.com/p/why-i-writ...