Whenever we’ve been away from the UK for any length of time, the last line of William Blake’s Jerusalem comes to me unbidden and starts looping in my head as the plane circles above a patchwork of luscious green landscape below. "In England's green and pleasant land" chimes over and over in a happy way.… Continue reading In England’s Green and Pleasant Land
Category: Expat Life
Not so Plane Sailing
Have you ever flown with children? Have you ever flown on your own with children? Don’t unless you have to. It is the curse of the expat wife. I remember somebody once asking my husband what it was like to fly with the kids. “Oh, it’s no bother”, he replied breezily. Yes, that would be… Continue reading Not so Plane Sailing
Endless Summer, Broad Horizons
So, one year into our South African adventure (July 2014) and we are all enjoying our time here, but it is unquestionably the children who are having the time of their little lives. Scarce an eyelid is batted at the power cuts, traffic jams, street hawkers or shacks. They do ask questions about the poverty and disfunctionality they encounter,… Continue reading Endless Summer, Broad Horizons
National Dress Dilemma
Every year most expat communities will have some kind of parade or festival to celebrate their multiculturalism. Often it’s connected to the International schools. There is plenty of flag waving and any accompanying food stands can get quite competitive, (and that would be down to the parents, not the kids). It’s the perfect excuse for… Continue reading National Dress Dilemma
Expat Superheroes
Is there an expat superhero in your life? I actually had a short-lived Wonder Woman when I was about 5. I would try to dress like her and twirl round the back garden in tiny shorts and welly boots with a dressing gown belt tied round my forehead. It took me several more years, but… Continue reading Expat Superheroes
Hot Metal: Starting Jewellery School
How does an expat wife fill her time with a ‘not permitted to work’ clause attached to their visa? One way is to pick a shiny new hobby that you wouldn't have the time or opportunity to take up in your home country. It gets you out of the house, you meet new people and adds much… Continue reading Hot Metal: Starting Jewellery School
South Africa: One Potato, Two Potato, Three Potato, Four
Five Potato, Six Potato, Seven Potato, More... Years ago I remember a South African friend waxing lyrical about the amazing potatoes in Nigeria. At the time I thought it was a bit odd. They were perfectly nice potatoes, but nothing to write home about, (and yet ironically here I am writing about Lagos potatoes a… Continue reading South Africa: One Potato, Two Potato, Three Potato, Four
The Suitcases are Packed
Suitcases. They are a part of our expat existence. Any expat wife worth her salt is able to balance an overweight item of hand luggage on her pinkie, sporting a winning grin in place of a grimace of agony. Packed lightly on the way home-home, our cases are crammed full of home country comforts on… Continue reading The Suitcases are Packed
Welcome to Expatorama
Expat : A person living in a foreign land and anything pertaining to life as an expat. -orama : A handy bit you can add to the end of a word meaning "wide view of” or “spectacular display of”. My wide-view-of-expat-life credentials include stints living in The Netherlands, Thailand, Lagos, Istanbul, Johannesburg and now Hong… Continue reading Welcome to Expatorama
Expatorama 