Who is Alison Cornford-Matheson and what is CheeseWeb?

Alison Cornford-Matheson is a photographer, writer and craftsperson. She grew up in New Brunswick, Canada, but calls Nova Scotia home.

She is married to Andrew (the computer geek!) and is 'mom' to four cats.

Alison's obsession with travel was cultivated by her parents at an early age: her childhood summers were spent motor-homing across North America.

However, it wasn't until she was married to Andrew that she first set foot on European soil.

Their first European adventure was a whirlwind 16-day bus tour of 'European Highlights'. This quick taste of Europe lingered with them and they vowed to return as soon as they could.

Over the following years, Andrew's company expanded to include an office in the Netherlands, resulting in numerous visits.

Finally, in January 2004, Andrew and Alison were asked to relocate to Amsterdam for three months. This is when Alison's weblog, CheeseWeb, was born.

CheeseWeb was originally Alison's means to communicate with friends and family back home and share her experiences, adventures, photos and observations. It also served as her personal journal to help her remember her first impressions.

She was surprised to learn that people she didn't even know were reading and enjoying her blog and it was still being visited long after she returned to Canada.

Alison had fallen in love with Amsterdam and the Netherlands and both she and Andrew soon started considering a more permanent move.

Fate, in her infinite wisdom, dealt them a slightly different card than what they had in mind. They were to be relocated to Belgium, a country they had only briefly visited and which hadn't left a good impression on them.

But taking the plunge anyway in late June 2005, Alison fumbled through the first month in her new country and soon grew to love its eccentricities.

Three years later, Alison and Andrew are still making their way in Belgium. CheeseWeb has grown into a resource for expats in Belgium as well as a documentation of expat life, but first and formost it remains the journal of one expat wife. This is her story...