| Posted on 03-03-2008 |
| • Blog is moved • |
| Just a quick note to say that I am no longer going to be blogging here. Instead you can find the new blog at www.annabrones.com. |
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| Posted on 02-13-2008 |
| • Traveling the US for non-Americans: always getting harder • |
| If you didn't already know, the Bush administration is currently encouraging (or should I say coercing) the EU governments to comply with new transatlantic travel security demands. One of those is armed US guards on all flights from Europe to the US on American owned airlines. To say that the Europeans are frustrated is an understatement; many of them already feel that travel to the US is harder than it used to be.
Since 9/11 travelers from Britain to America have decreased by 11%, despite a weak dollar that makes big American cities shopping meccas for anyone with pounds or euros in their pocket. Are we pushing international travelers away because of our new standards? Read Ed Vulliamy's blog for the Guardian where he asks the question, America - more hassle than it's worth? |
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| Posted on 02-12-2008 |
| • Getting a little more political • |
| Beyond my cultural musings, I decided it was time to get a little more political with my writing -- or at least voice my opinion on things I find important. So I started writing for Rethos, an online "platform for change." You can check out my writing, as well as lots of other politically, culturally, socially, and environmentally sensitive issues at the link below. |
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| Posted on 02-04-2008 |
| • Is there an open table to put my laptop? • |
| It’s a rainy Monday afternoon. Not really that big of a surprise given that it’s February and I am in Portland. Things are calm; it’s that in between the “super days.” Who knew the beginning of February could be so exhilarating. Having finally started working 100% from my computer, I am constantly in between the house and one of the hundreds of Portland coffee shops, which leads me to this: so is everyone else. On any given weekday, at any given time, most of the Portland coffee shops are full of people tapping away at their laptops. Are they all freelance writing? It makes you wonder. It also makes me have to look in through the café windows before I open the door, in order to check if there is an open seat. What could all these people glued to their computer screens and chugging down coffee by the 20 ounce mug be doing? Facebooking? Googling? Researching green energy? Maybe all of the above. But most likely, they’re all on Craigslist trying to find a job in the saturated Portland job market. Good luck friends, maybe freelancing is your best bet after all. Better order yourself another cup o’ joe. |
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| Posted on 01-24-2008 |
| • Bill Bryson: one smart guy • |
| Being back in Portland is going surprisingly well. The city is such a nice “in-between” kind of a place, full of all the American things that I missed and not too much of the ones I didn’t miss. But one of the things that is getting me through my transition back is a great book by Bill Bryson. “I Am a Stranger Here Myself,” speaks to me on many levels. After living in England for 20 years, Bryson returned to the US and upon arrival was asked to write about his experiences in a weekly column for a British magazine. The book is a collection of many of those poignant articles, where he reminds us that, “Coming back to your native land after an absence of many years is a surprisingly unsettling business… Time, you discover, has wrought changes that leave you feeling mildly out of touch.”
“Ok” you say, “give it a rest… you weren’t gone for that long.” True. But it is interesting how being gone for only a year can make you feel just a little off. Like when I suggest having a dinner party that starts at 8:30pm and my friends look at me like I am crazy, because, obviously, that is rather late for a dinner party. Or when I don’t know about the latest bands or You Tube crazes because for a large part of 2007 I was on a small island. And better yet, I really love the look I get when I am talking and mid-sentence can’t find the simplest of words because it isn’t coming to me in English. So thank you Bill Bryson, for getting me through those moments of “huh?” and “we do what here?” I am reminded that it is ok to feel torn between two places, but that the most important thing is to seek out those things that you really missed and appreciate upon return. Mine? The fact that Portlanders shout out a “thank you” to the bus driver when they get off the bus. |
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| Posted on 01-08-2008 |
| • Winter tips for incorporating travel into your everyday life • |
| On a cold and wintry January day it’s easy to get lost in your thoughts. Some of us are dreaming of our last great adventures and others are avid armchair travelers. Either way, through the winter doldrums, we could all use a little more taste of travel and culture in our everyday lives.
Language Podcasts There is no better way to get in touch with your inner traveler than brushing up on, or learning a new language. Master the art of multilingual salutations – Bonjour, God Morgon, Hola – and impress your coworkers and friends. Plus it will get you out of your usual morning music routine and put you on a track of seeming well-traveled and overly intelligent. Weekly Foreign Fare It is important to remember the wealth of information at the local library, and when it comes to spicing up an average weekday look no farther than the cookbook section. Plan out an evening foreign cuisine and complete it with traditional music from the country that is inspiring that evening’s culinary adventure. Scour the internet For those of us stuck to our computer screens – and there are a lot of us – it is essential to give ourselves a break from the monotony of our current project. The web has an abundance of travel websites from general travel tips to destination specific stories. For a start try out Slate - Well Traveled, Pology and Vagabondish; they’re enough to make you consider packing your bags tomorrow morning Read Although it has taken a recent turn towards trendy, travel literature has been around for decades. Once again, the library can be a jackpot, or check out your local bookstore's travel section for a cultural injection. For a quick taste of travel look into travel anthologies; great short essays by good authors are always a good way to go. Annually published anthologies like The Best American Travel Writing and The Best Women’s Travel Writing are sure-fire hits. |
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| Posted on 01-02-2008 |
| • Cigarette? Non merci. • |
| A top internationally related piece of New Year’s news? Next time you’re in France, forget about lighting up. The one country where smoking can be seen as sexy has joined the masses and declared the habit bad for public health. Although the French have been gradually moving towards a smoke-free society, “gradually” meant waiting until the last minute, and today that last minute has come. Many Frenchies are in favor of the smoking ban, instituted in public areas; yes, that includes bars and bistros. So say au revoir to your pack of Gallois; French culture as we know has gone for a major change. |
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| Posted on 01-01-2008 |
| • Bonne Année • |
| It’s finally January, and with the arrival of the New Year come the inevitable resolutions. Finally out of the backpack (at least for a little while) and focusing on an effective job search (yay Portland and the saturation of people with Bachelor’s degrees), my resolutions for this year focus on being creative and leaving my mind open to culture, no matter where I am. So how will I go about that? A good combination of making sure I write at least one page of creative ponderings per day, make an effort to sponsor culturally chic dinner parties, and lastly, scour Portland for any and all international opportunities. |
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| Posted on 12-26-2007 |
| • How exactly do you make coming home easier? • |
| In tune with the song of the week, I found a great article on the Vagabondish blog addressing "reverse culture shock." We all know that going to a new country can be hard, but what about coming back? It's an up and down roller coaster filled with gut-wrenching drops but some highpoints along the way. As a friend recently pointed out to me, spending a lot of time in a foreign place can often make you more aware of the banal, everyday things that you once so easily blocked out. After a year not speaking the local language in her host country, my friend found that her ears and head were overwhelmed by the amount of conversations she was exposed to upon returning to the States. Sometimes it is just impossible to turn off our hearing, and our aversion to what used to be called home. If you need some help returning to your homeland and are just concerned about a good friend that has seemed a little off since they got back, check out the article link below |
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| Posted on 12-24-2007 |
| • God Jul • |
| In Sweden families gather around to celebrate in the romantic ambience of candlelight, in the golden sand covered Caribbean marimba bands play well-known Christmas jingles with a new beat, the New England Medical Journal recently announced that the average American gains 5 pounds during the holidays. Welcome to this year’s global holiday season.
To some of us Christmas is a given, a tradition, a ritual and sometimes even a necessary routine. But to most of the world visions of jolly Santas and flying reindeer are a mere importation of the best in western holiday kitsch. Christmas means many things to many people. From religious symbolism to a mere time to gather with family we define it in terms that make us feel good. No wonder Christmas cards tend to be covered in images of warm cups of hot chocolate with a snowy wonderland in the background. But how many of us are curled up inside staring out at rolling hills blanketed in snow? I am going to take a wild guess and say not that many. Instead we jet-set across the country and the world in search of those moments of warmth and happiness that come from ritual celebration of family traditions. Unfortunately, it is easy to lose track of all this. We get caught up in buying presents, we bake too many cookies, and we spent hours agonizing over cleaning the house so that it is spic and span for the in-laws. Global Santas and reindeer lose their meaning and they become mere commercial symbols. We forget to take a breath and look out our window, whatever the view may be. So although you may be in a house full of relatives, on a tropical beach where Santa suits would lead to heat exhaustion or alone in an apartment echoing the sounds of forgotten Christmas songs, take some time to slow down and reflect on yourself and the world. Stop the holiday chaos for a simple second. You might begin to feel that holiday stress begin to release itself and make way for more calming cups of hot chocolate. |
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