In my travels, I have come across single women around the world that express, “I’d like to travel, but I don’t have anyone to go with.” Having traveled alone, I asked what was stopping them. What I found was a mixture of fears and concerns. Blending in Amanda Heckart, from California, shared, “My biggest fear … Read more
Back in the throes of autumn winds and downpours we realised that if the wind blew in a certain direction, water came down the chimney into the fireplace. Evidently the construction was at fault but it was a little late to complain about that, so hubby set about designing a sort of chimney “top hat” … Read more
When I came to the USA in 1990, there were quite a few Brit things I couldn’t get. I remember looking for mint sauce (to go with the lamb), being gone for hours and finally settling for fresh mint and vinegar. It worked by the way, but there wasn’t a hope of buying a jar … Read more
Trawling online recently I came across an article about a UK school defending its decision to suspend a pupil over a wrestling logo shaved into his hair; and before that, another story about another school apologizing for insisting a parent supply a photograph of their chickenpox-stricken child for absence monitoring. Taken together they were a … Read more
As an expat, one of the highlights of life is having visitors from overseas. Friends and family from your home country, or, in my case, visits from new friends you have made on line. Someone to remind you of where you came from. I think that visitors are so much more meaningful when you live … Read more
Perhaps it was the very specific Northern Mother-in-Law who first instilled the fear of tea in me. If she were in a good mood I would get lots of jokes about an American’s inability to make a cup of tea, or if she were in a bad mood it would be ‘just let me do … Read more
In one month, we’ll celebrate our second anniversary as expats. Two years. . . sometimes it feels like a very short time. Sometimes I feel as though I’ve been here forever. As I round off the second year of our living overseas, I find myself asking, “if I knew then what I know now, what … Read more
I’ve never been a political animal… and, never will be, but I would be remiss as the Thailand columnist for this forum not to share my impressions of the protests and the election that never really was. Most people who ask us about the situation are obviously concerned for our safety. They needn’t be. We … Read more
One could almost hear the howls of anguish from expats across Europe this month, and Joe’s was probably the loudest. We’d been warned, although I don’t think anybody really believed it was going to happen. But it did. One day all the BBC channels simply vanished from our screens. “No BBC1 or BBC2?” asked Joe, … Read more
G’day, If you’re a regular reader of my ramblings, you probably know I’ve spent a fair bit of my writing time, wearing expat shoes and being quite vocal about the thrills and spills of culture shock – you know – stuff like: what happens when you find yourself catapulted into the arms of another country, … Read more