Tag: Expats
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A Totally Impractical Expat Interview #15: Miranda Ward of A Literal Girl
This one has been a long time coming. Today I bring you the lovely and talented Miranda Ward of A Literal Girl. Poor Miranda’s interview and photo folder lay dormant while I was off galavanting in the wilds of Sri Lanka last month, neglecting most of my (perceived and actual) internet responsibilities. It’s awkward to…
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Final Notes on Having Gone Home- Aw, Dang it, Canada!
It’s a funny thing writing about Canada from an internet cafe in Kandy, waterlogged and slightly dizzy from the monsoons, with bejajs sputtering past and Sinhalese pop music blaring. I’ve had a follow-up post fomenting in my head since, well, since about a week into my three week trip back home. I even took…
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Notes on Going Home Again
One thing I’ve learned over the past seven years of blogging is to not post when you are sick, exhausted or pissed off. If you are sick or exhausted, it inevitably comes out in a strained, rather incoherent stream. If you are pissed off, the tone is all wrong and you’re likely to offend (even…
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A Totally Impractical Expat Interview #14: Amber Roshay- Teacher, Writer, Traveller
Welcome to the 14th edition of the expat interview series. This one is slightly different from its predecessors in that it comes from a woman who is actually a friend of mine here in Shanghai. Yes, Virginia, I actually do also exist in the physical world. I am not composed solely of ether and urls,…
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A Totally Impractical Expat Interview #13: Kate Bailward of Driving Like a Maniac
Welcome to the lucky 13th edition of the Totally Impractical Expat Interview series (hello baker’s dozen!). Today we have Gerald the Bear’s favourite expat, the lovely Kate Bailward of Driving Like a Maniac, a.k.a @katja_dlam. One of the unexpected by-products of this series has been the constant shock of recognition I’ve felt when reading people’s…
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A Totally Impractical Expat Interview #12: Mohana Rajakumar of A Day in Doha
Welcome to the twelfth edition of my expat interview series. I’m delighted to see how well it has been chugging along, picking up speed and steam and passengers along the way. This instalment brings us to the tiny finger-tip nation of Qatar. I passed through there a few times when I commuted between Dubai and…
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A Totally Impractical Expat Interview #11: Liv From I Eat My Pigeon
Welcome to the eleventh instalment in my infinite expat interview series. I really hadn’t expected it to last this long (I didn’t think anyone would respond, to be honest) but it seems to have taken on a life of its own, slowly taking over this blog, my email inbox and a significant part of my thought…
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Breaking Free: The Karmic Irony Edition
Somewhere out there, Alanis Morrisette’s lawyer is counting the number of times today I have muttered something along the lines of, isn’t it ironic, don’t you think? Somewhat akin to rain on your wedding day, or maybe finding a dozen forks when all you need is a knife, on the eve of being filmed for…
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A Totally Impractical Expat Interview #10: Marie Szamborski of Shantiwallah
Welcome to the esteemed tenth expat interview in my series of a bazillion. After a brief hiatus from interviews with human expats last week (hello Hector Lakemonster!) I’d like to introduce you to someone who has been with me (and this blog) since it was born a year ago today. Marie Szamborski is better known…
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A Totally Impractical Expat Interview #9: Hector Lakemonster
Welcome to the 9th interview in the series. It’s been an interesting ride so far, and a good excuse for me to step back and let others take over for a while. My thought processes had been cloudy and dark for quite a while, stupidly mirroring Shanghai’s grey skies. Winter is passing though, and we’ve…
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Notes on the First Anniversary of my 7th Blog
Origins I started this blog near the end of last April, impulsively, after I read the words ‘ephemera and detritus’ in a comment on a blog I’ve long since lost track of. Possibly from Salon’s now defunct Broadsheet. Rather than just noting it down and having a chortle over the awesomeness of the imagery as…
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A Totally Impractical Expat Interview #8: Heather of 2Summers
Welcome to the 8th instalment in my expat interview series. Today you will meet the lovely and interesting Heather, who is in Jo’burg, South Africa. It has been an interesting ride so far, both for myself and for the interviewees and casual bystanders, it seems. I’ve received a lot of feedback for this little impromptu…