I have a childhood friend who is an epidemiologist – meaning that she’s an expert in public health and outbreaks. I’ll call her Dr Guest. Dr Guest embraces her profession. When you visit she monitors the amount of times you go to the toilet, and takes an interest in what you do when you are there. More than four visits a day and you have a health problem that might infect … [Read more...]
Book Review : The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
There are many, many books written about India. On a recent visit I asked my colleague for some recommendations on books that she thought ‘would give you India on a plate’, or that captured part of the spirit of India. At the top of the list was The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga. Winner of the 2008 Man Booker Prize ‘The White Tiger’ was described by one critic as ‘blazingly … [Read more...]
Book Review: Talleyrand by Duff Cooper
‘Talleyrand’ is a book that was written in 1932 and tells the story of Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, who was born in 1754. At various times he was the Bishop of Autun, Foreign Minister for France, Grand Chancellor and Ambassador to London. It is a story of an extraordinary man in extraordinary times. After briefly describing his childhood, the book begins with the … [Read more...]
Je ne comprends pas!
While I’m in France I’m supposed to be learning French and I want to, I really do. I’m spending a lot of time here, and it would help in so many ways if I could speak French. First I had the idea of doing an intensive French course at the local university in St Etienne. I went to talk to the course controller and he advised that there was a class starting in ten days … [Read more...]
Eleven Luggage Lessons
My Mother and Father were planning a visit to Japan, with my Aunt. They were flying into Obihiro, in the middle of Hokkaido which is in the north of Japan and the city where I was living at the time. From there we were all travelling together by train back down to Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto, via Sapporo and Hakodate. I advised that they bring one small suitcase each and a day … [Read more...]
