Expat in the Land of Marmite

The Phoenix Rises Her Distracted Head Once More

2017-03-08T09:30:00.000+00:00

After two separate attempts to start posting regularly to this blog, I am going to attempt it yet again. I realise that posting only once a year is a bit pathetic; but yet again I'm going to use the excuse that life has become so much busier. Besides, for the past year I've been working on a major writing project as well as keeping up my coffee and beer columns, so I really haven't had much

Rise of the Grumpy Phoenix

2016-04-09T13:04:00.001+01:00

The last time I posted this blog I was starting to feel the effects of Too Much Negative Stress. As a result I sensed that, rather than describing interesting and thought-provoking ideas and outlining entertaining experiences, I was simply complaining about things. As there is a lot in this world to complain about, I felt that I really had nothing positive to contribute to an expat blog about

Advertising myself

2015-04-07T12:24:00.000+01:00

I realise it's been a year since I posted. This is partly because these days I tend to spend my lunches reading books, and also because I've been madly working on other writing projects. So I may as well advertise my ebooks. Early this year I published my second ebook, It's Your Round: A Survival Guide for the American Anglophile. This is basically a lighthearted but informative guide for

On Being Bilingual, Literally

2014-04-18T13:44:00.000+01:00

It's a long time since I posted anything. I apologise, but it's because life has been extremely busy and I'm getting ready for another trip to America. I'm sitting in the spring-break-dead University library cafe eating my lunch, a sandwich with leerdammer, Dijon mustard, sundried tomatoes, and red pepper, and a mixture of clementine slices, grapes, and the first of this season's strawberries.

Best Wishes for a Self-Referential Redundant New Year

2013-12-26T12:21:00.000+00:00

Lunch today is a cheese quesadilla with hot sauce, simply because it's a holiday week and I'm not at work. So for the sake of keeping the sandwich ideas coming I'll start with a description of a lunch I had last week. I've always said I don't like rocket (arugula for American readers) because I can't stand it in salads. But in the past few years I've discovered that rocket actually works in some

Humbled by Stair Diving

2013-10-04T09:58:00.000+01:00

Lunch today is a mixture of leftover nubs: a sandwich with slices of Wensleydale, Port Salud, and Davidstowe Cheddar with the last bit of fresh tarragon and the last bit of chopped Romano pepper. Not a bad creation considering my haphazard and sometimes mindless attempts to be conscientious about not wasting food. I'm returning to work after being off for 2 days after having done an impressive

The Joy of Men in Skirts

2013-08-12T10:00:00.000+01:00

I hate to say TGIF, because I believe one should live each day and not count their life in weekends. But it's been a 3-day work week which for some reason seems to plod on longer than a 5-day week. I'm sitting in the Winter Garden apologising to the pigeons for not having any more of my Edam, red pepper, and spinach sandwich left. I'm also being appalled by the number of parents who beam proudly

That Yoyo Called "Weather"

2013-06-26T10:36:00.000+01:00

I’m sitting in the Winter Garden with my favourite comfort-food sandwich: Wensleydale with dried dill. I’ve also got a few leaves of curly green and red lettuce fresh from a friend’s allotment – and a summer assortment of nectarine, apricot, and mango slices. I went to California for a short visit last month. While I was there the weather was pleasantly springlike – in a Southern Californian way

A Snowy Plug for my Ecookbook

2013-03-24T12:03:00.000+00:00

Today I’m not eating lunch in the Winter Garden because it’s a Sunday as opposed to a work day. I’m at home, the ground is covered with a foot of snow outside (obviously snow is the new “spring” this year), and I’ll probably have a quesadilla for my lunch, made on a wholegrain flour tortilla with extra mature cheddar and some Mexican hot sauce from a bottle. My weekend lunches aren’t created as

More Mobile Bus Rage, The Risk of Eventual Death, and Extinct Chocolate Chips

2012-12-23T12:17:00.000+00:00