Can we make our own 'from our own correspondent'

[teafortwo]

I love love love this radio show...

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/default.stm

Can we please please please have a thread that has a vibe a bit like this?

We can have a bunch of parents who live all over the World in all kinds of countries (including Blighty), with all kinds of neighbours and themselves living in all kinds of situations (rural, city, suburbs and anything inbetween) explaining what is happening where they live. Day to day things (what is on sale at your local market, what you ate for lunch), portraits of figures in your community (e.g a lovely old village character), big news stories (e.g student riots), little news stories (a much loved dog has died that used to wander around the town centre), arguements in the cafe (sport, politics, religion), music and dance (e.g I notice all Parisian teenagers like to do this weird wiggling dance and they even have lessons for how to do it on national telly), observations on things that are different from where you come from (I don't know...e.g a New Yorker's take on living in the Lake District), interesting discussions on languages spoken... etc etc... I think it could be fun!!!

So tell me...

Am I making sense?

and..

What do you think? Shall we give it a go?

Dh's driver invitedusto have lunch with his family yesterday. At the risk of sounding incredibly patronising,it was great to see the real Dhaka as opposed to the two square miles frequented by most foreigners.

They cooked up a feast-crayfish, fish, chicken and beef curries. Pilau rice,chappattis,aubergines and tomatoes and cukes with mango for afters.

We were so impressed with his gorgeous 12 year old daughter. She was waiting at the apartment entrance to welcome us and shake our hands. So smart and beautiful. Ican't think of many 12 year olds with English as native language who would be so poised.

The M and M - I had no idea and in fact my mother did not even know her grandfather was there. I could honestly say I have probably driven past that cemetary thousands of times and never knew. My mum knew her grandma was very poor and so she probably had help with the funeral/burial etc. You know what I did - a little strange - the city council of Brisbane has a data base of all the people buried in the cemeteries in their shire. I just started putting in names from the family tree and his name came up with the details. I was stunned. Dh and I took the dds for a drive and we came back that way - Drove in and I found it in about 5 minutes. I almost cried when I saw it.

Moondog - that sounds amazing!

That books sound interesting - might look for that one too.

I actually took pictures and told my mother I would take her there. I also sent pics to everyone in the family to show them.

Wow Eids that is amazing, you see we can complain about technology all we like but ultimately where would we be without it!

Moondog that sounds like fun. I am always amazed at the generosity of people in less developed nations and the amount of hospitality offered. Ethiopia for one was incredibly hospitable.

I read 'When we were orphans' many years ago, i think perhaps I should re read it now.

Is anyone in Hong Kong? If so then I hope you are not too battered by the coming typhoon....

Eids,it was incredible. Must have been so moving and emotional.

Master, Ethiopia! Now there is a place that facinates me. I used to go to an Ethiopian restaurant a lot on London as astudent and loved those sort of big spongy pancakes.

It all sounds so interesting, the rock churches, Haile Selassie, all that stuff. One of the profs. I worked with in Russia had workedfor Haile Selassie. She brought in her photos to show me. Incredible stuff. Lots of thrones and leopard skins!

Cali
Sounds like a neighbour to avoid. at the Marys. We have a neighbour like that and I will be very glad to leave him behind. It is the first time that I have actually met a Neonazi, with shaved head and everything. At first we all found him a bit forward, he seemed ok. Lately we have noticed the strange tshirts with slogands on them and the Reichsadler on his car. Avoidance is the best way to deal with them.

Although, tbh, I prefer Neonazis like our neighbour, iykwim. At least he is honest and open about his beliefs so I can avoid him. I used to have a racist colleague and he was so normal and reasonable that it was a shock when he started spouting about immigrants.

Moondog
That sounds amazing. It is so good to be able to see some of the real country you are visiting and not just the prettyed up tourist bit.

Wow, amazing thread! Had to skim bits cos it's huge, but some really interesting stories.

It looks like you may still have an opening for a fooc from Thailand but I don't know where to start! will think and post later

Welcome mangolassi - we can't wait for your first report post!

www.amazon.co.uk/Under-Banner-Heaven-Story-Violent/dp/0330419129/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219 391899&sr=8-1

What an interesting looking book, Moondog, I will look out for it in Paris WHSmiths!

Califrau - please, please don't worry about helping choose presents!!!! Spend today relaxing instead!

And lastly - it is pouring with rain in Paris so me and dd have spent this morning laying across our bed reading. I have just finished the book I mentioned in an earlier post Jhumpa Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies and I thought you people might also enjoy the last thought of one of the short stories....

'I know my achievement is quite ordinary. I am not the only man to seek his fortune far from home, and certainly I am not the first. Still, there are times I am bewildered by each mile I have traveled, each meal I have eaten, each person I have known, each room in which I have slept. As ordinary as it appears, there are times when it is beyond my imagination.'

Thanks for link to book Tea.
Mormons beleive that jesus came to USA anfter he rose from dead. Their prophet Joseph Smith found a whole load of golden plates relaying this in 1840 or so.

God told him in a visitation that he had to shag lots of women take multiple wives. His dw wasn't happy and threatened to take a few more dhs herself but God didn't allow that. That was quite simply being a tart.

To be fair, M/S Mormons have rejected the polygamy thing now although not without a hell of a battle.

well i head off on my little Canberra adventure in the early hours of tomorrow morning. I am a little nervous. Haven't travelled by myself since 2001 - hard to believe in 2000 I just packed up my life in Aus and headed overseas not knowing a soul or what I would do. Now I am mum to three and being a little nervous about setting off on my own. I guess you think about leaving them behind. Dh will be fine with them - am sure they will wear him out but he is great with them and they will love having daddy to themselves.

Canberra is the capital of Australia. When they decided to federate the states into the commonwealth of Australia - big fights between Melbourne and Sydney as to which city would be the capital of Australia. They decided to put it in the middle - hence Canberra. They had a competition to name the capital - there were some suggestions.

SOme suggestions included: Olympus, Paradise, Captain Cook, Shakespeare, Kangaremu, Eucalypta and Myola. Canberra is from a variety of sources but basically means meeting place in the local aboriginal language.

LOL @ Kangaremu

Moondog, that sounds wonderful. And the book sounds fascinating. 1978? Shocking.

I am doing laundry. Every time I do this, I remember my nice 3-bed semi in the UK, with it's own washer and a washing line outside. Here, I have to save the laundry up for at least a week, then stuff it in a shopping cart (like one of those granny ones) and drag it down 7 floors to the basement. Thankfully the elevator is usually working. It costs $1.75 per wash and the same to dry it so you have to make sure you fill each load. It is such a pain and means that it takes almost all morning to do. I suppose I should be grateful that I have a laundry room in my building. I can't imagine what a pain it would be to have to take it to the laundromat with DS in tow. I am SO glad he is properly potty trained now!

Where are you Super?

mmm... I couldn't remember either!!! Thanks for asking Moondog

Sorry, I'm in the US. Chicago (I was UnderRated)

Is it freezing there in winter?

YES! Very cold. We get strange weather because of the Great Lakes. So, it can be 30'c in the summer and the wind chill in winter makes it feel like -30'. On the weather, they give frostbite warnings and often say you shouldn't be outside for more than ten minutes. Also, we don't get much of a spring or autumn. This year was unusual and we have had a very mild summer (high 20s and occasional 30s) but normally you get 3 or 4 weeks of nice spring like weather, followed by a 4 month hot and VERY sticky summer. Humidity is often 70%+ (I know those of you in Singapore etc have it worse). Then we have 2 or 3 weeks of Fall followed by a 6 month winter where it is too cold or snowy to go out.

So there, a very British post all about the weather!

Aaaaaah - the windy city!!!!!

Thanks SuperBunny! Our washing machine has been out of service for a week due to our leaking pipes and I have been making trips to the launderette daily. So I know what you are going through!!!

SuperBunny - There is this Christy Moore song that my Dad used to play to us when we were children all about Irish men and women escaping the famine in 1847 by travelling to the city of Chicago - So I have always imagined it being full with Irish-Americans and thus a pretty good city 'fer de crack'! Is this true - or has this song completely warped my understanding of your city????

Well teafortwo, my experience is that most Americans claim to be Irish. But yes, Chicago does have a lot of people of Irish decent. And, more recently, Eastern Europeans. Chicago has the largest population of Poles outside Warsaw.

I am going to look for that song on YouTube.

I am trying to find it too

Problem is I can't remember its name.... ok - I am going to start the search...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBOMvT19DlA

To the City of Chicago,
As the evening shadows fall,
There are people dreaming,
Of the hills of Donegal.

Eighteen forty seven,
Was the year it all began,
Deadly Pains of hunger,
Drove a million from the land,
They journeyed not for glory,
Their motive wasn't greed,
Just a voyage of survival,
Accross the stormy sea.

To the City of Chicago,
As the evening shadows fall,
There are people dreaming,
Of the hills of Donegal.

Some of them knew fortune,
And some them knew fame,
More of them knew hardship,
And died upon the plain,
They spread throughout the nation,
Rode the railroad cars,
Brought their songs and music,
To ease their lonely hearts.

To the City of Chicago,
As the evening shadows fall,
There are people dreaming,
Of the hills of Donegal.

Is it City of Chicago?

LOL, x posts

ha ha ha!!!!

Ah the humidity!
it is a killer here in Dhaka.
I am quite fit but find it so hard to do any exercise here. When I run, I feel like I am inhaling warm pea soup.

Another post, another Great Lake.

Spent a glorious afternoon yesterday at the Toronto Islands. The part of Toronto where I live is very built up, so this made a welcome change of air for DD and I.

The islands used to be a peninsula, but were broken off from the mainland by a hefty storm in the mid 19th century. You can get to them by by a 20 min ferry ride from the harbour. There's a small residential community out there - about 600 people and very strict rules about property ownership to restrict development and second-homing. In the prohibition era, it was a high-roller playground, with hotels and casinos. Those have long-since closed and the raciest option to be had is one of Canada's two nudist beaches out at Hanlan's Point. The other one is in BC, fact fans.

No cars are allowed apart from a few Parks maintenance vehicles, so everyone gets around on foot or by bike. All fine and dandy in the summer, but pretty harsh in the wintertime, when there's only one ice-breaking ferry serving the mainland. One of the restrictions is you need to reside there 12 months of the year.

In all it's an archipelago of around a dozen islands connected by footbridges, there are several lagoons and beaches, a large prestigious yacht club and on the main island: Centre Island, a very cute old-timey funfair, which needless to say is very popular with families.

We took the ferry out to Wards Island which is one of the quieter ones and had an idyllic stroll down the boardwalk overlooking Lake Ontario. Just a perfect day with a slight breeze, blue skies and the horizon dotted with the white sails of yachts, we walked back through Centreville, but DD is too young for most of the rides and boating, so she just settled for fountain admiration and singing.

The ferry back to the mainland is fab and you get a super view of the Toronto skyline. As it was a warm, sunny evening, they were in the process of opening the retractable roof to the Rogers Stadium for an evening baseball game. After getting off the ferry, it was quite a contrast walking up through the Financial District to meet DH and get the subway home. The rush-hour hoardes were spilling out of the skyscrapers and pounding their way down to Union Station. All of our rush-hour feet and wheels were collectively filmed by a young cameraman lying down on the central reservation of Front Street with his movie camera. Watch out for that hand-held masterpiece, mine are the beat-up brown sandals!