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Recent Posts
- “Sovietistan” and “The Border” by Erika Fatland
- A Postcard from Arequipa
- A Postcard from Shiraz
- A Postcard from …
- Why I didn’t walk all of the South West Coast Path
- Hermit for Hire
- A Hundred Years Ago, Christmas was still Exciting – December 1920: Bloody Christmas
- Spain is already celebrating Christmas today
- A Hundred Years Ago …
- Santa Claus in May
Category Archives: Language
For my Chinese readers
Writing a blog for an international audience is very complicated. People in California are never awake when I write in Europe. People in Australia and Argentina are reading it upside down. And in China, when you want to access my … Continue reading
In the Foreign Legion
Diesen spannenden Insider-Bericht gibt es auch auf Deutsch. A few years ago, the desire for education reared its nosy head again, remembered the high school from which I had graduated decades before, and was in deep and mournful regret that … Continue reading
A Chinese in Vienna
During some meeting of some committee of some sub-organization at the United Nations in Vienna, I got to know a young lady from China. Qian was doing an internship as a simultaneous interpreter for Mandarin and English. Simultaneous interpreters are … Continue reading
Flowery Warnings on the Flower Islands
Diesen Artikel gibt es natürlich auch auf Deutsch. Einfach hier klicken. The Azores are also known as the Flower Islands, probably because belladonna lilies, bougainvillea, hydrangea, crane flowers, agapanthus, goldenrods and hibiscus are everywhere. But the language is at least as … Continue reading
“How are you?”
Someone: How are you? Me: Confused. Someone: Oh. I am sorry to hear that. Me: No, that’s OK. I am studying philosophy. When I first went to Israel on a youth exchange program, I stayed with a family in a … Continue reading
Posted in Canada, Israel, Language, Life
25 Comments
Belgium goes into extra time
Those who are familiar with the weather in Belgium will understand why everyone here wants to leave for vacation as much as they can. That creates an enormous demand for house sitters and cat carers. Hence, immediately after house sitting … Continue reading
Posted in Belgium, Language, Politics, Travel
Tagged Antwerp, Brussels, Chastre, housesitting
2 Comments
Easily Confused (66) Influencer
People who call themselves “influencers”, but don’t influence me at all: What really influences me, although none of their authors would use such a stupid self-descriptive term: Influenza: The last one can be pretty influential, actually. It definitely impresses me … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Language
2 Comments
Testing a Client’s Sense of Humor
Five years ago, an American lady contacted me about applying for German citizenship. She fell into that group of people who could qualify without living in Germany, but she would need to pass the German language test at a high … Continue reading
“Mindfulness”
I know something is a fad when I see it advertised in a really small town in Andalusia.
