Submission Deadline: November 11th 2011 Prize: A book! (and some good networking opportunities!) What you need to do: [Taken from the Oxonian Website...] Entries should be emailed to oxonianwriters[a...
It snowed. In Barcelona. I move here to escape the bloody cold and this is what I get: I’ve not been posting much because I’ve been really busy studying Spanish – it’s tough b...
Sabina is my favorite character in The Unbearable Lightness of Being … I feel/worry/hope I may be living out her story as I move from city to city, country to country, life to life. I think a ...
Bear with me… I’m writing, just doing so with a pen and a Cafe Solo under the branches of the Orange Trees outside the Cathedral Gothic… Untill then …
I went for a walk, from my house out across the fields and back again. Past all the snow melt and confused looking cows standing on the edges of the huge puddles, the ones that are now spread out ov...
So, my nose stud fell out and I, like the child I am, had a mega strop. I sat on the edge of my bath and cried and cried because the whole sky was falling down – my nose had broken (clearly.) M...
I chose to begin this very new decade by going backwards. Back to Edinburgh and back into the company of some old friends. A little ironic, I thought to myself, as my coach crawled through snow-boun...
Of course, its that time of year again – New Year Resolution Time and like many others I am going to keep to my mantra of try, fail, try again, fail better. Only this year is actually going to ...
View This Pollpolls
Leaving Nikko, I took the private train line back to Tokyo It was Seven in the morning and the sunshine on the empty seats was gorgeous. I had the entire carriage to myself, so having no Ipod (it die...
I have a Tree Obsession, just like Herman Hesse who wrote : “Trees have long thoughts, long-breathing and restful … They are wiser than we are, as long as we do not listen to them. But ...
The last trip. Alone (as ever), up high and in awe of everything I saw. It was autumn and absolutely beautiful – gorgeous. It took my breath away every morning to wake up to the huge blue mount...
I’m lying in my childhood bed, wrapped in a heavy, warm duvet – my tummy is very full from dinner and I’m exhausted after spending an hour in the gym and from doing battle with the ...
Yesterday I went to Miajima; my friend and I spent time wandering around for the last time. As ever, nature responded to my mood. It always does. The sky was huge and dark and filled with billowing s...
Ok, So its serious now – Im leaving Japan and Asia and this half of the international date line behind and flying home in three days. Im cycling rapidly between tears, regret, relief, panic and...
My friend Ayako and I have had a tradition over the past few months – we go to a Buffet Indian Curry Place and spend about 4 hours eating delicious curry, naan and salads. They do this amazing...
Sorry for the total lack of updates of late. The computer is still lifeless and explodedededed on my desk and as Im using someone else s computer there is no way for me to upload photos, and whom, I ...
A lot of very exciting things are happening at the moment :) On Saturday my 9 day vacation starts and I’m off to Nikko in Northernish Japan Im really excited because there is a Forest of 13,000...
The charger cable for my laptop has been a bit annoying recently but last night it smoked (argh!) and then finally died … No idea when I’ll be able to post :( But hey, I wanted an inform...
… is actually really, really hot … I wholeheartedly approve of this trend …
“Where are you running to young man, don’t you know you are already there?” It’s a bit difficult, treading the fine lines between laziness, over-focus on the future and quiet...
I think I am becoming institutionalized by my Ekaiwa lifestyle … I’ve never hated working Saturdays … I mean, it’s a pretty easy compromise to make because I get to live, wor...
Suddenly the part of my brain connected with sensuous memory recall has kicked into overdrive … I will be happily walking down the street in the still warm pale October sunshine and suddenly un...
Sometimes you have to accept that Nomihodai is a challange… With inevitable results… lols… I used to think Japanese Rice wine was especially rank with an awful tendency to give me h...
Darlings, thats the truth. Seven more friday evenings spent curled up in bed, pouring over my books and sipping tea before the next big shift. I had a crier for the first time this week. One of those...
Well, today I got my ticket home … I will arrive in London on Sunday 13th December at 16.40 … I leave Japan at 7.40 am on Sunday from Osaka and fly via Seoul with Korean Air … Ah. A...
Have you heard of Konnyaku? These Japanese noodles are made from the Devil’s tounge plant; dried, ground and oxidised with egg shells (apparently). I know there is always a process to these thi...
Well look…it’s not my fault…summer refuses to effing die in sticky, swampy old Hiroshima. I want crisp autumn air and tights and I want them now. So, late at night after a run and a...
You are no longer following . Undo?