It’s amazing what you think about when you have time on your hands, when you have a leisurely shower because no-one is waiting for you and you don’t have to be anywhere. This morning my thoughts turned to cynicism. When did people stop just enjoying something? Why do some people have to knock everything just… Continue reading →
As with any new project/idea, it’s getting started that’s the issue. And keeping going. Having the idea is fabulous – and I have many of them, so I’m obviously pretty damn fabulous. Technology, of course, is always the problem. It’s both a curse and a wonder. And I curse at its wonder. I always have… Continue reading →
I have been living in Chengdu for over a year now and have written very little about my life here. One of my friends even commented on Facebook that I hadn’t shared much – which is not like me at all. I got so excited about Almaty as I was about to leave and wrote… Continue reading →
There are myriad options for shopping in Almaty. The city is full of ritzy, glitzy malls, the latest of which is Esentai, an ugly glass building, which is only attractive at night with its changing coloured light scheme. This is an obscene homage to consumerism full of over-priced and over-rated designer goods. The name Saks… Continue reading →
When you move to a new country, particularly one with a different language, you prepare yourself for things being done in a different way to that to which you are accustomed. As I’ve said elsewhere, this is partly why we choose to live in another country (although the reasons are many – and sometimes I… Continue reading →
One of the things we have had to get used to here in Almaty is a different level of noise pollution. This may seem strange coming from someone born and brought up in London: you might think I’d be used to noise, but it’s a very different noise here. The English are generally pretty good… Continue reading →
So here I am at the end of our four years in Kazakhstan and that seems a good time for some reflection. It’s definitely time to go but I don’t want to do so with a sense of running away in horror or with any residual negative feelings, either about school or about Almaty itself,… Continue reading →
