Oscar will be celebrating his birthday with his friends at Tapas D’Jerez. EuroCircle members and their friends are all invited!
This month also marks EuroCircle’s 17th anniversary – do double reason to celebrate.
He will bring extra mics for daring singers, and music sheets of usual Spanish suspects –Joaquin Sabina, Melendi, Estopa, Miguel Bose, etc.
Alt / Pop / Rock Flamenco Karaoke all night long!
More about Oscar at www.delbarrios.com
Photos Credits: EuroCircle Organizer Alexandra Spirer and Salvator Fabbri and www.nyphotog.com , Mike Bas NY and Neil Handy – www.neilhandy.com
NYFW Runway Show For Charity Hosted by Miss World America Victoria Mendoza
This is a ticketed event!
Prive Group, Star Vodka, EuroCircle, and DEG present the sixth annual Fashion For Charity Rising Stars Runway Show to Benefit The Georgie Badiel Foundation.
The event will be hosted by super model Georgie Badiel to support her foundation. The finest of NYC’s society will be gathering for an illustrious runway fashion event.
The Gala will feature an array of upcoming NYC designers such as Samantha Leibowitz, House of Sadia, and Henry Picado.
Samantha Leibowitz is based in New York City, designs versatile apparel that is everlasting from dawn till dusk each day.
House of Sadia is a US based women’s wear label producing garments that are cut, hand embroidered, sewn and finished entirely by hand.
Henry Picado is known for exceptional quality, attention to detail and value.
Post show, dance the night away to music by DJ Chris Bachmann
This event will sell out so get your tickets today!
Look forward to seeing you at this event with amazing fashions/designers, 1 hour open bar and meet Miss World America Victoria Mendoza!
We also have an awesome event on February 11th as well – check it out here: http://www.eurocircle.com/euro/new-york-feb-11/
Best,
Alexandra and the EuroCircle New York Team
FACEBOOK LOGIN WORKS NOW
If you have FRIENDS who are European/Europhiles and not members yet at the website www.EuroCircle.com, but are at Facebook (and Twitter or LinkedIn), tell them to take the following steps:
1. Login at FB
2. Head over to EuroCircle.com to SIGN UP (REGISTER) – and choose to use Sign in with FB at Register page
3. The site will grab their name and photo from FB (name can be edited if you wish)
4. It will ask them what is their EuroCircle City (New York in this case) and From what country they are from..
Now you can login with your FB account AND sign up for events (and see who else has signed up)
EXISTING EuroCircle members – try login with your FB account as well, works for sure if you use the same email on both sites,
Please introduce yourself
My name is Anna Katrina Davey and I am from Trieste, Italy. I have called Italy as well as Connecticut, Germany and more recently Texas, home. I have also lived in Hanoi, Vietnam and have traveled about 45 countries, many of which for extended periods of time. Nine years ago I moved to Austin, Texas where I also founded my intercultural training and expat relocation services firm, Cultural Confidence.
Tell us something about your hometown
Trieste is city of arcane splendor and elusive identity cradled at the top of the Adriatic Sea. If you are prone to stereotyping, Trieste would help you appreciate the intricacies of culture. Located at the farthest northeastern corner of the country, only twenty minutes from the border with Slovenia, half hour away from Croatia and one and a half hours from Austria, Trieste has been a crossroads of Latin, Slavic and Germanic cultures throughout history. Greeks, Jews and even Armenians have thrived here and contributed to its rich culture. And over half a millennium as part of Austria, later to be the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, have lent the city the strong Mitteleuropean flavor it shares with other Habsburg cities such as Vienna, Budapest and Prague.
For all the differences one could possibly imagine between my place of birth and the place I now call home, there are three commonalities that come straight to mind. Firstly, the limestone and low vegetation of the Texas Hill Country just west of Austin resemble the topography of the Carso, the karst landscape surrounding Trieste. Secondly, Texas’ strong independent identity and ongoing conversations around its alleged right to secede bring to mind Trieste’s small yet committed movement towards recognition as a free city-state. Interestingly and baffling enough, our ID cards, issued by the Italian government, feature a silhouette of the country missing Trieste’s territory! Thirdly, both Austin and Trieste seem to be proud of the oddness of their inhabitants. Austin in fact prides itself in “keeping it weird” while in Trieste we say “se no i xe mati, no li volemo” – “if they aren’t crazy, we don’t want them”. Further proof of our kookiness is that in our dialect, the normal, neutral way to refer to a guy is with the word “mulo” or “mato”. Literally, and to all other Italians, these words refer to “mule” and “crazy one” respectively, but for us, it’s just how we call our fellow humans. At this point I should also mention that my hometown is pioneer in the field of mental health. In fact, under the leadership of psychiatrist Franco Basaglia, Trieste, soon followed by the rest of Italy, became the first place worldwide to abolish psychiatric hospitals in favor of a more humane, inclusive and progressive treatment of the mentally ill. Unsurprisingly, “crazy” is a customary part of the Triestine landscape.
How did you end up in Austin of all places?
Karma, family circumstances and lack of a conventional sense of belonging inherited from my hometown, have led me to explore my identity and its multiple facets by experiencing different cultures. Accordingly, I have lived and worked on three continents and traveled some of the remotest parts of the world. A brief romantic relationship led me to leave my job as an intercultural advisor with the German Development Service in Hanoi, Vietnam and move to Austin.
How do you feel about living in Austin?
Austin wasn’t love at first sight for me, despite the expectations of all the locals who with smile to their ears would ask me the rhetorical-sounding question “So how do you like Austin?” – with only one fathomable enthusiastic answer in their mind. I also did not relate to the ubiquitous bumper stickers proudly displayed on many cars that read “I wasn’t born in Texas, but I got here as fast as I could”. Yet despite a brief hiatus in New York City I stayed. Time in fact has changed both Austin – one of the fastest growing cities in the US – and myself in such ways that this is the place that I now proudly call home.
How do you find the lifestyle in Austin?
Quality of life here is good. People are friendly, kind and non-judgmental, the weather is nice year-round, we have a lake rimmed by a stunning 10-mile trail in the middle of town and an array of activities of all kinds to enjoy. Locally owned coffee shops are the norm, restaurants of all kinds with organic, locally sourced, vegan and gluten-free options abound as well. My evenings out include the most diverse activities, ranging from dancing forró to live music on a patio outside of an organic supermarket, salsa on a musician barge at Town Lake (now officially Lady Bird Lake), and bollywood for a fundraiser or flash mob. I regularly go to the opera as well as enjoy intimate community gatherings singing kirtan or partaking in sacred indigenous pipe ceremonies. And so much more. I have also somewhat preserved my old-world lifestyle by biking through town whenever I have the chance – to meet up with a friend, take part in a yoga class, go to the farmer’s market or buy groceries at Whole Foods Downtown. Proximity to all these things and riding my bicycle are essential to my lifestyle. And given the fact that direct access to raw nature is also vital to me, I am fortunate to live in what I find to be the best part of town. In fact, while enjoying proximity to the city’s “core”, I live directly on the “Greenbelt” that stretches through Central/South Austin. There is hardly anything that gives me more satisfaction than being able to walk back home through the beauty and simplicity of the Greenbelt after a swim at Barton Springs Pool or a Sunday afternoon spent downtown.
How do you make your living?
My company, Cultural Confidence, provides three main services: Intercultural Training, Expatriate Relocation Services and Language Training. While the third offering is relatively self-explanatory, I will briefly provide some insight into the first two aspects of my work. Through Intercultural Training we help companies succeed in global markets by giving their employees the confidence to work and communicate effectively with foreign counterparts and clients. We help clients in the areas of international assignments, expatriate risk management, global virtual teams, new market entry and merger integration. This work seems to be a natural path for me and is a reflection of some of things I value most in life. It is about developing a holistic perspective, recognizing the yin and yang of our culture-based values and respecting a plurality of views. It is about breaking down barriers through understanding, communication and connection, and ultimately fostering global peace.
A few years ago, in the wake of Austin’s fast-paced growth and several inquiries, I decided to add Austin-Bound Expatriate Relocation Services to my firm’s offerings. In this capacity, we help company transferees and new-hires from every corner of the globe efficiently settle into Austin. We provide them with an area orientation and tour, home finding assistance and help getting official documents such as a social security card or Texas driver’s license. Having struggled first-hand to make this place my home and now truly appreciating and enjoying it, I find it rewarding to help others experience a smooth transition and discover all the wonderful things this place has to offer. As I believe joys are to be shared and not be hoarded away from others, you can confidently assume that my car does not display the increasingly common bumper sticker “Welcome to Austin. Please don’t move here”.
How to connect with you:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anna.k.davey
Cultural Confidence @ Facebook
Website: www.culturalconfidence.com
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-katrina-davey-6888837
Twitter: annakatrinaCC
SK: You are a big fan of living in the USA, and a huge part of Philadelphia’s fashion and cultural scene. Why did you choose to make Philly your home?
VV: At first I didn’t choose Philadelphia, but rather it is Philadelphia that picked me. I used to work in NYC on Madison Avenue, and after the birth of my 2nd daughter, Camille, going back to work in NYC was such an expense in day care and nanny, that I thought why not open my own optical boutique. A friend told me about Old City and first Friday. I checked it out, and that was it. I felt like back to the Marais in Paris 30 years ago. All I saw was the possibilities of what Old City could be.
SK: American women have always admired personal style of French women, and are a bit intimidated by their polish and sophistication. How do you view the fashion scene here in Philadelphia?
VV: Intimidated? You mean totally scared. I think many American have a chip on their shoulder about style and fashion. It is time to give it up. I find that American women who are interested in fashion know more about it than some Europeans. They may not know about some less published designer like Courreges, Celine or Balmain, but when they decide to know about the subject, they are way more informed than some French women I know. What’s missing is the growing up with this type of fashion awareness. But the next generation may be more educated from birth.
Meanwhile, Philadelphia women won’t dress up so often on average. They are looking for the practical versus the fashionable. When I first arrived in Philadelphia I dressed down a little because I looked so unapproachable in my upper east side outfit; it was intimidating. Very few people would talk to me and as a result, my clientele was mainly men. I could not figure it out. So I bought clogs and started to wear jeans to work, and women started to come in. I gave them a way to relate.
Now, it is better. Old City has grown and lots of people are coming from many different places, including NYC. So I put back my heels and wear my black outfit again… And women now ask me advise. Funny.
SK: Economically, Philly has always been a tough market for a small business owner. With a luxury product, how do you compete and stay ahead of the curve?
VV: I don’t compete. I just figured out: “it’s not going to be easy, so might as well be authentic”. I never really understood Philadelphia’s market. Some days are good some not so much. The key is to follow your heart. I sell what I truly like. I know the value of my product and I believe in it. At the beginning I would cry, wondering why I came here? I saw something and I felt like I have been duped. I would blame myself for diving head first into something that existed only in my mind. Following a vision seamed to be a bad idea.
Today, I think I stayed ahead because I never consider to be arrived. I take myself as a student of life. Maybe, because I failed high school and managed to study around it. If I had a master at something I would have stopped learning and I would have never grow.
SK: As a French transplant, what do you think of Philadelphia’s international social scene?
VV: It’s getting there. I won’t call it United Nations, but it’s getting there. I think Philadelphia has been for a very long time a very clan city. Very impermeable to anybody from “outside”. When I first arrived, the only French or foreigners were older than my parents. You had to go to south Jersey where was the Durand glass factory to meet some French people. Most of the foreigners live together.
We have little Italy, Chinatown, the Polish, Irish, German and Russian “neighborhoods “, but no French one. Mostly because the French are known to be loners. And thanks to that it helped me to Americanize myself much faster at the beginning. In 2008, when the Euro was very strong, many French companies bought some pharmaceutical business around Philadelphia, so the French community kind of expand.
As far as other nationalities, I don’t know. But all I know is that as long as it took, I now can tell that I belong. I do have many friends who are “natives Philadelphians”.
SK: What would a Parisian find most charming about Philadelphia?
VV: I think Old City, because of the historical landscape and the art galleries. Like I said, it really remind me of “Le Marais ” in Paris. Plus the old buildings with their lofts and apartments are so charming. I feel like it is half Soho half “le Marais”. And the cobble stones streets remind me of the north of France where my mother’s family is from. I have so many memories from driving on the “pavets du Nord” And also, the parks. So many; it gives a sense of peace to be in a city and to cross “gardens” here and there. I used to go at the “Jardin du Luxembourg ” when I was young. It gave me a sense of natural resourcing, like grounding energy.
And of course the art scene. To me Philadelphia feels like you can express your feelings with art. There is the music, but so many sculpturing and painting everywhere. There is the murals but I love that we have galleries who are so “avant garde ” it almost looks like they don’t care if people are ready to understand it or not. They just exhibit. It feels like their mission is to show what it is. And that’s ok, you’ll get it one day. My favorite gallery if I could just pick one would be the Becker Gallery on 2nd street. The Beckers are such nice people and when you let yourself in their world it is fun. I think Larry , who is an icon in the arts gallery scene in Old City with the Snyderman Gallery, is so funny. I may not have been his fav at the beginning, but when I told him I was in Love with Soulages, we connected. I think I love the people who’s purpose is art; and these people are in Old City. It matches with my purpose of Beauty and Value.
SK: In your opinion, what are the biggest misconceptions Americans have about life in France?
VV: They think the French are nice. I don’t see it this way.
SK: But you are nice to your customers.
VV: humm… I would say I am brutally honest, which is not always a good thing
SK: So what do you see in the French that American don’t ?
VV: I see how France has been evolving with fashion, art and architecture . I get how charming it looks to Americans. But it is mainly because our history and heritage are a little older than the USA. So it is kind of inevitable to have it in your blood when you are from France or Europe. There is always an urge for a visual surrounding that please the eye. Anything in France seams artistic. So basically Americans fall in love with France. But got to know sometimes the lovers can a jerk.
SK: If you had to define the source of Fashion, what would it be?
VV: If I had to define a “route for fashion” it would be: London gave birth to it, Rome amplifies it, Paris cleans it, and New-York sells it.
SK: How do you see eye-wear in the fashion world?
VV: Eye-wear, not sunglasses, has been a popular fashion accessory since 1980 in France. It is that urge for something esthetic that pushed it out of the catwalk. In the USA it has started in the late 90’s. Before, it was like an Old City gallery, something marginal. The eye-wear industry is going to explode and become like the hand bag mania. People will have more than one, it will convey a social status, a personality and will give each individual a significance.
After all, eye-wear is a revenge on a handicap. Impaired vision is the worst that can happen to a kid at school. You get to be called names etc. To own it has an accessory that make you look amazing; this is priceless.
SK: So do you see your business growing in the next few years?
VV: Yes, but not in an easy way. The distinction between what’s high end and what’s not is going to be difficult. The fine products are going to be shadowed by the over priced and less than good. In the end, people will say: ” I spent so much money and it didn’t last! Went back, they could not fix it or replace it”; customers are going to be frustrated and will lose the faith in the product just because they will have been fooled by someone who sold them something too expensive for the value of the product.
SK: So what how do you think it can be prevented?
VV: Education. The consumer has to be educated on the fine eyewear. I have been giving speeches to doctors and opticians trade show since 2007. We have to send the same message. People need to know the difference, the same way they know the difference between a Kia and a Maserati. It has nothing to do with the price, it is just a matter of value, and prestige. High end products have zero budget for marketing, because high end manufacturers put all the money in the product. The more advertising you see about a product, the less money there is in that product. Branding on the other hand, is developing a concept, an image, a standard. That’s what we have got to do. And keep on the integrity level.
If you live in Philadelphia, or are just visiting, take a stroll through Old City, and pop into Margo & Camille Optique, 47 N 3rd St. You will be glad you met Valerie.
Interview by Sherry Kumar, EuroCircle Philadelphia
Take this QUIZ for the chance to win a set of VIP Tickets to either our February 11 or February 16th Fashion Week Events! (Thanks DilogR.com).
Deadline to take the quiz and enter is January 31, 2016.
Winner will be announced on February 2, 2016!
FACEBOOK, TWITTER & LINKEDIN LOGINS WORK @ EuroCircle:
Share this post with your European friends to let them how they can register an account on EuroCircle. Just add EuroCircle City (NYC) and then country where you are from.
Best,
Alexandra & the EuroCircle New York Team
Dear Friends of Viennese EuroCircle,
it’s finally time to say HELLO to 2016.
Gesundes Neues! Happy New Year! Feliz año nuevo! The Chinese year of the Monkey. But we celebrate it with the mood of the Latin-America! Don’t forget this January also marks the 17th Anniversary of EuroCircle as an organization.
Nueva Havanna is a nice bar in the 8th district. In addition to Cuba Libres you will enjoy Latin music and good vibes. (It’s a 5 min walk from U6 – Josefstädter Str)
We pre-tested it only for you and can strongly recommend it ;-).
Just in case… just in case… if you are in a really good mood and brave enough, we have the option for a trial lesson in the dance “Zouk”.
It’s not a must, so you can also “just” enjoy the culture & colors of EuroCircle.
RSVP is greatly appreciated for logistics but not required. (no entrance fee of course)
Your Viennese EuroCircle Team
Christian & Tom
If you are not a member yet, please sign up on: http://www.eurocircle.com/forums/register/ — it is FREE.
Facebook has restricted access to a larger audience, thus, we highly recommend you sign up at our website.
You can use your Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn login to register as a new member (only need to add Vienna as your EuroCircle city and the country where you are from originally). Your support is always appreciated. Please help spread the word among your connections.
E.P. offers guests a multi-level modern Asian dining experience by Australia’s award-winning Executive Chef Louis Tikaram. Situated along La Cienega Blvd.’s bustling culinary corridor, E.P. Asian Eating House will showcase modern Southeast Asian cuisine featuring ingredients rarely seen outside of Asia and the South Pacific blended with Southern California’s world-renowned produce.
Set against breathtaking views of the Hollywood Hills, their L.P. Rooftop evokes the spirit of lively Asian street markets through bold flavors and sharable night food available al fresco until 2 a.m. Cozy up to the rooftop fire pit and sip on some Bubble Tea concoctions and bespoke handcrafted cocktails.
E.P. & L.P. – www. eplosangeles.com
603 N La Cienega Blvd,
West Hollywood, CA 90069
Phone:(310) 855-9955
Let’s all put in some effort to make this a really big and successful event – invite all the people you know, bring with you friends, family and neighbours. Let’s let our hair down and have a great evening.
Please RSVP soon, we’d like to inform the management at the establishment.
PLEASE REPOST THIS ON YOUR FACEBOOK WALL…
See you all soon.
Regards,
Sonny and Tanya
http://www.eurocircle.com/
Photos Credits: Lorchique Photography
Happy New Year everyone!
We can NOT express how excited we are about this event- not only is it our annual Valentine’s day mixer (we get to play Cupid!) but we’re hosting it at the amazing IO Urban Roofscape at the Godfrey Hotel- and we have it all to ourselves! If you haven’t yet been to IO, don’t miss this chance to check out one of the coolest rooftop lounges in the city!
In addition to this most amazing venue, we will have a special group of “Co-Cupids” to help us do some mixing and matching!
***Special thanks to GERY Gencheva, NANCY Veloo, ELIZABETH Bublich and ANDRE Wrighte for helping us sharpen our bows and arrows!
Wear RED if you want to be a target! We’ll be aiming for you!
Featuring DJ John Grammatis!!
***Drink specials TBD
Maria
PS. Gery has also launched her own accounting business ( and I can personally vouch for what a great accountant she is!) which offers a full range of general business services and supports the accounting, tax, and financial management concerns of individuals and businesses throughout the Chicago area, as well as across the entire US. https://www.facebook.com/GGIncomeTax/?fref=ts
Good to know just in time for tax season too!!
Bermuda always used to be one of the top destinations for US companies shifting their headquarters abroad for tax purposes.
Bermuda is a British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean. Its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, United States, about 1,030 kilometres (640 miles) to the west-northwest. It is about 1,239 kilometres (770 mi) south of Cape Sable Island, Canada, and 1,538 kilometres (956 mi) north of Puerto Rico.
The Emerald Island’s Appeal
However, Dublin has become the new destination of choice for US corporate expatriates.
The corporate tax rate is just 12.5 percent. Not to mention you have a highly skilled English-speaking workforce. If you want to compare to France – their corporate tax rate is whopping 33.3 percent while the UK ‘s stands at 21 percent. If you think all the US companies went to Ireland to drink great Guinness, play golf and celebrate the Irish heritage – think again.
The tax rate is the reason why many tech companies, pharmaceutical gorillas and management consultancies have moved their headquarters from the US to Ireland (per Bloomberg report).
I am an associate professor of Psycholinguistics. I work as the Director of a language teaching and research institute at a University in Osaka, Japan. The institute’s aim is to teach English Language and Linguistics, test innovative methods of foreign language teaching, and conduct research into processes that are involved when children learn their native language and when adult foreign language learners learn their second language.
I am originally from Finland, but before moving to Japan in March 2014 I lived in the UK for 14 years.
Amongst other things, those 14 years saw me do an undergraduate degree in English Language at Sussex University in Brighton, a PhD in Language Acquisition (Psychology) at the University of Manchester, work as a researcher at the University of Manchester, teach Finnish to bilingual Finnish-English children at a Saturday school in Brighton, marry a British man and have two wonderful children.
Because I have lived a huge chunk of my life in England, I consider England ‘home’ in a very similar way as I consider my native country, Finland, as ‘home’.
My husband is a partner in a law firm in England and thus our lives are currently divided between Japan, England and Finland.
So, where exactly do you live?
In Japan, we live on the 24th floor of an apartment building in Osaka, Japan’s second largest city. Osaka is known as the ‘Kitchen of Japan’. The reason for Osaka’s foodie nickname is down to the huge number of restaurants in the city and it’s inhabitants’ love affair with food.
In England, we live in an old terraced house (built in the 1880s) in the suburbs of the wonderfully bohemian city of Brighton.
Our children and I are based in Osaka whilst my husband travels between England and Japan so that he spends roughly 6 months in both per year. We are very lucky that we have been able to juggle the logistics of our slightly unconventional living arrangements, and it would have been impossible to do it had my husband’s work colleagues not been so supportive about our work and family-life balance.
Did you always want to move to Osaka?
No. We didn’t plan or have a desire to move to Osaka, or even Japan. We loved Brighton and were not actively looking to move anywhere, but then I heard that a university in Osaka was opening a new language institute, and the job sounded interesting. So, out of curiosity really, I applied for the post thinking that I probably wouldn’t get it – but got it. We then found ourselves in a weird situation where we changed our settled life in Brighton for a less settled, but a new and different life in a country with a culture that we knew very little about.
Half of our friends and family saw us moving to Japan as an act of complete insanity and the other half as a definite sign of mid-life crisis – and to be honest, our move to Japan was probably a combination of both of those.
Was it the right decision?
We’ve lived in Japan for a year and a half now and I can say:
Yes, it was the right decision.
What are the reasons for you saying that it was the right decision?
Overall: Japan is a great place to live in: It’s safe and clean; people are extremely polite and helpful; the food is amazing; it’s modern but has a lot of history; it has big cities but also a lot of natural beauty; the culture is very different from Western culture and thus we think that Japan is a fascinating place to live in.
Work-wise: I have been very happy working at my University – the students are enthusiastic and the department is supportive. Although, due to workplace and cultural differences between Japan and Europe, it took me while to figure out how decision-making works in Japanese organizations, and in fact I am still learning how to behave in meetings and other organizational contexts.
Would you ever move back to England?
Yes. And we will. Even though we love Japan, we will not stay in Japan forever. Our home is in England.
What do you miss from England?
I really miss pubs and quirky coffee shops in which I used to regularly meet up with my friends. And of course I miss those friends.
What about Finland?
From Finland I miss my family and the couple of friends that I still have back there. I also miss my family’s summer cottage near Mikkeli, and going wild mushroom picking and devouring the creamy mushroom sauce with boiled potatoes afterwards.
What is the funniest experience you have had in Japan?
There have been so many, given that we (still) constantly find ourselves in a bit of a pickle…but one of the most memorable ones was when I went to the hairdressers for the first time and the hairdresser gave me a gown and escorted me to a changing room. There I was standing in the cubicle wondering as to whether I was supposed to strip and wear only the gown for the appointment or not. Luckily I didn’t.
What is the scariest situation you have found yourself in Japan?
Japan is one of the safest countries in the World to live in. You are very unlucky if you experience theft or violence in Japan – even if you walk down the back alleys of big cities on your own at night. And so, the only scary situation we have experienced was when we nearly got arrested for accidently opening a bag of soybeans in a convenience store and my 4-year old eating a couple of pods from it before we had paid for it. In Japan the police can arrest you for 30 days without charging you – it would have been horrific to spend 30 days in jail for some soybeans.
You write a blog. Why?
There are three reasons.
First, I am fascinated by cultural differences and want to understand how people from different cultures see the world, behave and communicate. For instance, why is it not acceptable in some cultures (for women) to show their teeth when laughing and in other cultures you can laugh out loud so hard that your friends can practically count the number of fillings you have got. Or why a 10 second silence in conversation in a first date will make a Brit think that the date was a complete disaster while a date with a 10 minute silence might be perceived as a great success on a Finnish or Japanese date. If these types of cross-cultural differences interest you, my blog might be your cup of tea.
Second, like most expat bloggers, I also want to keep in contact with my family and friends back home, and writing a blog creates a window for them (and anyone interested) in our life in Japan.
Third, in 30 years time when my memories of our time in Japan will not be as fresh and vivid as they are now, I will be able to read my blog posts and chuckle at the situations we found ourselves in.
What do you write about?
My blog is about our experience of life and people in Japan, and the faux pas we make and what awkward situations we find ourselves in because we don’t know the language or the Japanese way to behave. And how peculiar or comical many Japanese (and Finnish and English) people and customs can be to a person who does not know the culture of those countries.
You haven’t told us your name – what is it?
I use the pen name Brightoneagle.
How to connect with you?
Blog website: BrightonEagle.wordpress.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/our.osaka.blog
Twitter: @OurOsakaBlog