It's a lonely business being the editor of an online magazine - you don't get to meet the other writers often enough, and quite often you're left tapping away late into the night without a whiff of editorial confrontation or journalistic quibling.

Which is why it's so nice to get a little bit of feedback from the readers. I'm quite lucky in that most of the feedback I do get is about writing opportunities and advertising rates. Don't get me wrong - I am not ungrateful at all - it's just that I thought I might hear a little bit more from the elusive "Expat" community.

I keep stumbling on little pockets of them. Toytown Germany has a little bunch of "Köln" expats who get together infrequently. The American Women's Club of Cologne has regular meetings all over town, but if you're not a member, you won't find out about them. Bonn has its English Network which carries on faithfully delivering local news in English. But these groups remain removed from each other, there is no central "place" to bring them all together.

Rhine-online would like to become that "place" a medium for linking up the English speakers around the Rhine, bringing them together in a place they feel welcome. So why don't you help me? Join in, add your comments, sign up your blog, become part of a community and if things take off enough, we'll be organising regular get-togethers in and around the Rhine area.

All comments are welcome, I look forward to hearing from you, I won't bite.

Ed.