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?

It is strange, qs - 99% of what you write is next to poetry - the one moment you make a mistake it gets quote of the week!!!

I am completely in ore of people who write for a living, qs. Congratulations on your Norwegian novel - Writing in Norwegian, you are joinging some of the greats in literature, good on you!

Hey - Get well soon - if not for us, do it for the berries!

Hi everyone.
I finished editing my latest book - at last - and had family visiting from Yorkshire.
They brought liquorice allsorts with which soooo reminded me of my childhood.
When I was little we lived v near the factory that made these and every morning I could smell them, Charlie Bucket style.
Am stll waiting for that flippin' golden ticket.

suedonim the dump and burn is where the F - 1 11's ( fighter jets from air force) dump fuel and light up the sky with a fire plume from their jets - not good for environment but very visually spectacular.

here

Looks scary!

it is loud - that is why we don't go cause dd1 would just have a meltdown of epic proportions.

Wow - looks spectaular

Litchick - I hated the liqorice, but looked the pink and blue spotty things. Childhood memories indeed.

My boys have decided to get me up early, but it is a beautiful morning, sea mist floating gently and the sun glowing orange as it burns it off. Look too closley though and you get little dots in your vision, which float across everything.

I am hoping for an indian summer, but the weather forcaste is for rain for the next week, not great at it is the last week before DS1 starts preschool I was hoping to spend it relaxing and playing with them at the beech.

FOOC Scotland/Nigeria

I am sitting here in rural Aberdeenshire, savouring the peace of a Sunday morning. Tomorrow at 4.30am I shall be on the way to the airport en route to Lagos where my ears will be continuously assaulted by noise until I leave again in December. I don't think noise ever gets mentioned in guide books (although there is only the one about Nigeria!) but it is a significant factor in our daily lives.

Always there is the hum of the air conditioning working away in the background even at night. To this is added the frequent episodes of generators being fired up and running for hours at a time, often churning out noxious smoke as well. The ramshackle old cars that populate the roads contribute their growlings and back-firings, often mistaken for gunshots, to the cacophany.

Our apartment is a new-build so there is still much work going on around us. The penthouses above us (we live in a lowly 3bed flat) are being prepared to owner's desires. On one floor this has resulted in the ceramic floor tiles being broken up with hammers and replaced with marble flooring, cut to size with a power tool. I can be driven to desperation by the constant noise and it's not unknown for me to crash my way into the penthouses and shout and scream at the workers and their Lebanese overseers in a very unlady-like way. It usually has little effect but I am sure the men are hugely entertained by this white 'madam' losing the rag at them.

Nigerians themselves are a LOUD people. Their motto seems to be 'why speak when you can SHOUT' Conversations are conducted at the thousand decibel level thus can be enjoyed by all within a 10 mile radius, which is fortunate as any dispute will draw a vast crowd, all contributing their opinions, whether or not they have any idea of the subject in hand. Strangely, when on the phone, Nigerians speak so softly one can hardly hear them at all. Maybe all conversation in the country should be by cell phone, then the noise would be reduced to a more comfortable level.

And now, I must continue to pack, before heading off to the supermarket to purchase the aforementioned sausages and bacon.

I like the quemadia - I enjoy fire, hehe! Also liquorice, yum yum (adds to mental shopping list).

I'm of those who write for a living, it seems such an appealing way of life to me, though I am sure the reality is far less romantic.

I have always wanted to write a book. Our first christmas together - dh gave me a gorgeous leather bound journal for my book - it is still blank. I have been doing family history research and I think I shall write it into a book form for the dds when they are older.

Sorry for you and the noise of Lagos suedonim.

Spain is also a pretty noisy place. My flat is just above a traffic light, and so all through the night we get boy racers on their tuneadas scooters revving at the red light and burning off as soon as the pedestrian crossing light goes red.

What a treasure of a thread, Dp and I have been reading it for the last couple of days...we'll never catch up but are thoroughly enjoying trying. May I join Mrsjohncusack (hi) who's down there in the south and share the north with Shells (hello), here in NZ.
There is a stange phenomenon here in NZ, well strange to me anyhow, a thing called whitebaiting...as far as I can gather the said whitebaiters gather with their nets on the rivers by the sea waiting for lots of little fishes to make a dash for the sea where they are caught and eaten as a delicacy. Well tis whitebait season now so guess I should make an effort to find out what all the fuss is about, unfortunatley I'm a bit of a soft touch and dare I say it I feel sorry for the little fish

WELCOME, kjaysmum and Dad too - So you live on the North Ireland? Wow - paradise on Earth - how lovely!

I am delighted that you are joining us!!!

Whitebaiting sounds very interesting!!!

Oh no - I meant Island - not Ireland - how embarrassing!!!

It?s Labo(u)r Day weekend here in Canada as well as US, the official end of summer . I?ve already seen sleeves, jackets and the occasional sweater out on the streets; naturally I?ve been Britishly-resisting so far. Toronto and this part of Ontario is supposed to have four proper seasons and in fact is corporate home to the Four Seasons Hotel chain, inspired by the climate. The first one opened here in 1961, (one for the quizzes, Anorak). Apparently the Four Seasons is the place to hang out and spot celebs at the Toronto Film Festival which starts this Thursday.

Sadly, as luck wouldn?t have it, we are leaving town for the week, so I will have zero glittering star-spotting stalking opportunities. I simply can?t spend time in the same city as George Clooney . The festival programme also looks exciting, although I suspect missing-out might have been the order of the day with a vocal baby as my date! We generally get to see a lot of the major releases at our more tolerant weekly local Stars and Strollers screenings, although unsurprisingly, the selection emphasis is on the über girly film of the week, not always my bag. So DH and I have to tag-team on the flicks that don?t quite fit the demographic, so I can get to see Tropic Thunder and other vaguely shouty/ unsuitable stuff! However, I did get to see the new Woody Allen movie the other week at S&S which was rather good.

If any FOOCs or readers have cunning baby-friendly ideas on what I can do in New York next week, please add your tips to my tumbleweed thread here and obviously you can look forward to a report in due course.

I saw blueberry-flavoured crisps in the convenience store this afternoon. I've seen cucumber ones before but blueberry is truly vomit-inducing.

If I took my FOOC duty more seriously I would try some.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.... no no no - don't try them they sound revolting!!!!!

In the name of research and on behalf of all FOOC worldwide, you must try them.

I am with the M and M - you must try them and report back.

I suppose it will put us on a par with the bbc foocs as some of their reporters risk their lives in the search of a good story too!

It's the start of Ramadan here in Bosnia, so the women are busy for starters! Wives and older daughters have extra duties to perform getting the special food ready for the evenings. The food must either take extra preparation time... not sure why, I must ask one of my friends why they feel and seem busier at this time of year .

On Sunday night, town was heaving with last minute drinking and eating out before a month of daytime fasting, followed by a fireworks display to get everyone in the mood! Bosnian muslims have been referred to for centuries as the slackest muslims of the world (although the post war growth in religious identity has started to change that, of course) so many jokingly tease each other as being 'bajram do bajram' muslims - "ramazan to ramazan muslims" - that is, muslims who show their faces at mosque just once a year! A bit like only going to church at Christmas time.

Restaurants and cafe bars will be eerily empty for all of this month now, compared to the usual habit of socializing over coffee at least three times a day. Although we are not religious ourselves, we'll be giving up alcohol (in public at least ) to keep our friends company. Some eateries/drinkeries, the ones who know that all their customer base is muslim, are closing down completely until the 'Big Bang' (the end of ramazan) comes around. Typically, the end of ramazan usually means excessive drinking, drunk driving, gunshots in the air, usually one murder (), even more fireworks, and overeating at home with the family and out in town. No caffeine for a month definitely has its effects!

But the first thing I'll be doing next time I go to town is to buy some of the special ramazan bread covered in sesame seeds, called ramazanije, sold only at this time of year. Delicious!

LOL at the church-at-Christmas Bosnian muslims, another crafty factoid to file away.

Ninedragons - I also say GO FOR IT on blueberry crisps, well maybe with an emergency drink to hand (and not bubblegum soda).

I was watching CNN this morning and now hurricane season has hit, the seasonal sport appears to be sending out journalists in the most dangerous conditions possible to file inaudible news reports, while cars, trees and roof tiles waft by. Did anyone else see this morning's effort? It was a classic, a rooky reporter had been sent out to a flooded island in the Gulf of Mexico and was literally tethered to a veranda in a billowing cagoule shouting about the passing Hurricane Gustav. 'Congratulations on your first hurricane' purred the cyphers in the studio. Is this some kind of extreme initiation rite for roving reporters?

This week it is 'rentrée'.

It is the week when Paris gets busy with getting on with things in earnest. All the shops open, offices fill, children go back to school, doctors can be got hold of and clubs and activities start again. It feels like someone has put a massive two pronged electic plug in and suddenly zzzzzzz Paris is complete. (Think plugging in the computer first thing in the morning.)

Nearly every person I encountered today; on our expedition to the library, park, bakery and monoprix were a shade darker on the outside and a shade lighter on the inside!

Well... everyone apart from me... My skin is white from the English rain and because dh caught a plane this morning (Him and his best friend are touring California as I type) I am feeling a little darker than normal.

Two weeks didn't seem that long until I said "See ya then" this morning. I am missing him already! Our family feels incomplete and I in response am craving nostalga and comfort in a city that is so complete and electric it might be hard to find.

My word you're all so articulate we'll have to watch you don't get head hunted off mumsnet! Seriously though tis a pleasure to read.
MrsSprat I do hope we don't get the opportunity to hear about the hurricane season first hand FOOC, which brings me to mind that I can always tell when we have an earthquake here when I'm on the computer as the monitor wobbles....so it could happen that I report it live to you one time eek!

What a wonderful thread. Just discovered it. Am in NZ along with a few others who I see are already on the thread. I'll now start observing to report!

Congrats, longway

I love this thread

I can't imagine bride 'stealing' really happening. It's amazing what goes on and most of us have no idea.

Another vote for trying the blueberry crisps.

I don't have much to report from the Windy City. This weekend was Labour Day weekend, as MrsSprat explained, the US version of August Bank Holiday and the unofficial end of summer. So, all white shoes should be packed away and stored until the end of May. I went on a short road trip around the bottom of Lake Michigan, through Indiana (land of the Mullet - seriously, it's like going back to the 80s) and Michigan. We stopped at Saugatuck which seemed to be where Chicagoans bring their yachts. Lots of money, expensive art and fancy restaurants but some very pretty beaches too. I sat on the beach, feet in the water and watched the sun set over the lake. It's hard to believe it's only a lake - you can't see the other side and there are waves, sometimes big ones. You can even surf in Chicago. Yesterday, I took DS to the Apple Orchard, a traditional American Fall activity that all children must do. Living in the city, I had to venture 40 miles back into Indiana to the nearest one but it was well worth it. We stopped in the store for a freshly made apple-cinnamon doughnut, then rode on a wagon through the trees, picked far too many apples, then spent the afternoon in the farm, feeding the goats and 'Peter' the pumpking eating dinosaur. Because every orchard has a dinosaur, dontcha know. It's still early in the season but by the end of the month, the pumpkin patch will be open as will the corn maze. We'll have to go back before Halloween.

Did brownsuga come back yet?