Category: Countries

I overheard two suits talking on the morning train last week. You’d expect these dapper, corporate types to be talking about deals they’ve clinched, chicks they scored with over the weekend or at least the World Cup. No, they were swapping tips for getting dishes clean. What’s happened to the Aussie macho these days? I’m… Continue reading Less Macho

If you blinked, you would have missed it. I don’t watch the news and I don’t pay a lot of attention to the news on the radio, but I usually keep up with events through office chatter and the word on the street. Two weeks ago, Prime Minister Rudd resigned due to a slump in… Continue reading Australia’s First Female Prime Minister

I’ve never been a fan of the french kiss – the cheek-to-cheek air kiss French people do that is, not the tongue tied kiss we label French. There’s little intimacy or even familiarity in a touching of cheeks, though a couple of Belgian women proved that lips to cheek could go a long way. Instead,… Continue reading Land of Hugs

When I first got back from Bhutan, I had the urge to surround myself with possessions. It was both a reaction to the lack of the luxuries of western life and the need to link to my past as I went through the process of separating myself from Marie. Soon afterwards, a longing for the… Continue reading Consumer Urges

A Belgian woman recently pointed out to me that Australians are heavy users of portable electronics. Fewer people in Europe have iPhones apparently, but it had only taken her a few days to start acting Australian and taking out her walkman as soon as she got on the bus.

I signed a contract to buy a new flat yesterday and was horrified to see a clause stating that I couldn’t dry my washing on my balcony. This clause has been around in contracts for a long time, primarily to prevent a building looking untidy. I dislike mess as much as anyone and I understand… Continue reading Unfriendly Drying

From a conversation between 10 year-olds overheard on the train: ‘GMail? My father uses GMail.’

Last Saturday I was lucky enough to get to the free concert by A.R.Rahman, put on as part of the Sydney Festival. For those of us who don’t recognise the name, Rahman wrote the soundtrack to Slumdog Millionaire. Although he’s been booked to perform for a long time, the recent tension between India and Australia… Continue reading India Australia Friendship

As of this year, NSW will have 4 bilingual schools where lessons are to be given in both English and an Asian language. I spoke to the principal of Scotts Head Public School , which specialises in Indonesian and found out that all new students will be taught the normal curriculum in Bahasa for at… Continue reading Bilingual Schools