Food can’t get fresher than this in Hong Kong. The buyer inspects a chicken and then picks one which is healthy, energetic and has bright feathers. The butcher wastes no time in weighing the chicken to determine a price. The rest, most people will say, it should be history and the focus should be a happy meal on the table. (I wouldn’t want to go into more details, but let’s just say most butchers try to make it quick and painless for the chicken by heading directly for its jugular vein.)
Liz, our contributor from Australia, reminisces on her trip to New York.
Did you ever see that scene in rom-com You, Me and Dupree where Dupree (Owen Wilson) makes a motivational speech about finding your ‘ness’, and how to capture the uniqueness that makes you, you? “Now what’s ness? It’s your name, plus ness!” he enthused. As equal parts funny and cringy as that scene was, it actually struck a chord with me, and it makes me smile whenever I remember it.
Rajasthan is most well known for its beautiful palaces and forts. The impressive architecture, the intricate detailing, the royal touch….much has been written about it. However, there is another face of Rajasthan – that of the Rajputs who fought for their land, for their freedom from outside influences. Among them, there is no name that shines brighter than that of Maharana Pratap.
One of the things I’m learning about international schools here in Kazakhstan is that there are more and more competitors all the time: American schools, British schools, Turkish schools, multiple types of local government schools that recruit expat teachers. Some schools expand eagerly, while others are obliged to do so by complex local politics. But that isn’t all: we also compete with specialist Russian-language schools, elite boarding schools in Europe and America that welcome Kazakh money, and even homeschooling arrangements between expats.
Ana Astri-O’Reilly is from Argentina, where she lived until five years ago. She currently lives in Dallas, USA with her British husband, but they move a lot. Previously a translator and English and Spanish teacher, Ana first started writing to share her experiences and adventures with friends and family. She speaks Spanish, English and a smattering of Portuguese.
