In 1973 Erica Jong wrote the feminist anthem, Fear Of Flying. The heroine, Isadora, though terrified of flying, boards a plane and her subsequent journey leads to a spiritual and sexual awakening that was the one of the first of its kind in print. Jong’s thesis is that the fear of flying is the fear [...]
My first ever guest blog has gone live at expat+HAREM, a neo-cultural hub for expats and voyagers.
http://www.expatharem.com/2010/02/25/the-inside-outsider/
A short zombie story inspired by Franz Kafka, my Prague homeboy, and written for the www.RedRoom.com weekly blog competition.
Dear Prague:
I am so madly in love with you I cannot contain myself.
Please, don’t tell my husband.
Love love love,
Sezin
When I first moved to Europe going on seven years ago I was bummed that I felt they didn’t really celebrate Halloween, American style. Dressing up, spider webs, pumpkin carving, creepy music, Trick-or-Treating…Halloween was always my most favourite holiday. I love costumes and basically will use any excuse whatsoever to dress up. Movie premieres, themed [...]
As an absolute and utter aficionado of Ethiopian cuisine, I of course hurried out to Kavarna Ethiopia after reading this glowing review Prague’s first and only Ethiopian restaurant. What I found was not only one of the worst meals I have ever had in my life, but also that the food was only Ethiopian in [...]
I read my first Stephen King novel when I was 12 years old. The book was Carrie and the year was that of the Gulf War I, 1992. Thus began a love affair with King’s books that has continued to shape my life until today.
This year I turned 30 and I’m even more in love [...]
When I was a single twenty-something living in Spain it upset me to no end how difficult it was to make and integrate with a group of Spanish locals. I couldn’t understand why locals wouldn’t want to make a foreign friend and learn about someone’s life outside of Spain, in the same way that I [...]
Unlike most places in the world that can seem alien at first glance, Prague hides her true nature until she trusts you enough to share of herself. The longer you are here the more she undresses her darkest secrets and shows you her violent scars. Kafka called her a number of variations on “the little [...]
Regardless of whether or not a nation or people think they have racial tension within their borders or society, they do. Many nations (and people) will say that they don’t have problems of race, but rather problems of culture, or foreigners or socio-economic status. However this is far from true and racism exists on so [...]
My introduction to Ethiopia and its cuisine was in a Rastafarianism, Reggae, and the African Diaspora course I took in university. What struck me the most was learning that Ethiopia had never been colonized, and is one of the few African nations never to have been. Not for lack of trying, mind you. The Italians [...]
You know how in movie theatres they’ll assign you seats as a default on your ticket, and in most places in the world it means nothing? Well, not in Prague. Here, they assign you seats and you are expected to stick by them. Even if the theatre is totally empty. True story: if you happen [...]
Life as an expat can be trying, in spite of its seeming glamourousness. One of the most difficult things I’ve noticed across the board is how hard it is to integrate with the locals of pretty much anywhere. What you find out is that especially in a place like Prague, with a great deal of [...]
Reality for sale! Come get your reality! 2 bedrooms, one kitchen! Reality for sale or rent!
No joke: The biggest grammar error I’ve ever seen in my life is the fact that in Prague, all of the realty offices actually say “reality” instead. Maxima Reality, Prague Reality, European Reality Services, Atrium Reality, Albion Reality, and on [...]
A surefire way to alienate good folks and lose friends is by being fake. Fake people are the worst. To clarify, being fake is very different from being polite or professional. Being fake is pretending to be friends with people you can’t stand and not giving them even the slightest moment of pause to think [...]