Category Archives: Observations

Life Without Seasons

photo (1)

It’s a very strange situation living in a land of perpetual sun. Though it has innumerable benefits there is something elusive which islost.Thus, as the majority of the northern hemisphere goes into hibernation and the pangs of weather related depression, I sit outside a café by the beach in flip-flops and a t-shirt. Now, I am by no means advocating a winter in my native Ireland over one in Tenerife, or for that matter Moscow where I spend last winter.  Nevertheless there is anirksome feeling in my head that something has been lost.

Continue reading

2 Comments

Filed under Observations

Home is all around us

photo

The more I travel the more I realise that everywhere is the same. I’m not saying this in the sense that it’s a negative thing, or in the sense that we live in a globalised world where trends tend to be universal. I’m saying it in the sense that we – people – are pretty much the same the world over. I’m sitting in a Café in Tenerife drinking a coffee and watching people interact with each other. A man sits with his girlfriend. Two old friends have a conversation and a woman feeds her baby.

Continue reading

1 Comment

Filed under Observations

Acts of Kindness

Kindness

If there was one thing that I would say was the same the world over then it would be this: people are generally helpful and kind. It seems a bit contrived and arguably idealistic; however, in my experience, it has been proven accurate. Perhaps it is exemplified by the fact that I find myself the lost foreigner more often the most. I end up moving to new countries with a basic grasp of the language and the culture. Therefore, I am forced to ask for help a great deal.

Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under Observations

Life without Language

Hello

I once again find myself in an unfamiliar place with a language that I do not understand. This is not something that is new to me, but it has gotten me thinking about how far one can get without using language. It is not – nor never was – my forte. Though I have improved on my ability to pick up languages I have not improved as much as I probably should have. However, what I have improved on over the years is my ability to read body language. This has proved a very useful skill to acquire.

Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under Observations

Tenerife: An Island Hammock

photo (3)

I moved to Tenerife a few days ago for a new teaching job, and have been struck by something amazing. I can’t even really explain what it is, but I shall try to put words to feelings in this piece. Objectively speaking, there is nothing great about this arid Spanish- colonised island of the African coast. The landscape is desert with volcanic mountains. The coastline of volcanic black sand as dark as coal dust makes a temporary home to the Irish, British, Germans & Russians who wish to turn themselves dark crimson momentarily before returning to their natural milky complexions. So why is it that I feel so drawn to this arid rock filled with tourists?

Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under Observations

Wonga: Widening the Divide

IMG_0211IMG_0212

The corporate loan shark ‘Wonga’ has received a lot of media coverage in the UK recently. The website boasts easy short term loans with an APR of 5853%. The most disconcerting element of this relatively recent development isn’t that it exists – or that it is allowed to exist – but that society has reached such a point of utter desperation that it has come into existence. Surely in a ‘Developed First World’ country legalised extortion is not a necessary evil. To quote the almost comically ludicrous interest rates borrowing £1 for a week expects a return of £6.96[1]. We could argue that people have the freedom to choose and they need to take responsibility for their own actions. Therefore they have to suffer the consequences of them. Further, the question remains: are people really this desperate?

Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under Observations

The Polite Big Brother?

 IMG_0087

The panopticonic eye looms over the streetscape, simultaneously recording and judging the every move of the unfazed masses. Thecamera stands like a moral voyeur ready to pounce on the first sign of civil disobedience. The tagline ‘we’re watching out for you’ plastered across posters and signs. The strategically placed ‘out for’ carefully injected to pacify the historically-forgetful public. Are we to feel placated by the false sense of security? Relieved by Big Brother’s more gentle politically correct rejuvenation? Or do we simply have more pressing issues then our lost sense of privacy?

Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under Observations

Going Nowhere

IMG_0124

It never ceases to amaze me how people can stay in one place their entire lives and be perfectly content.  I was told about a man who passed away a few weeks ago. He went to school, trained and worked his entire life in essentially one building. The thing that amazes me is how happy – I was told – this man was with what he got from life.

The world is full of different types of people, which is the essence of humanity and the reason it’s possible for us all to occupy this increasingly small planet. That said it seems so strange to me that people could live perfectly happy lives without ever having lived in more than one town, village, even house for that matter. How can this be all they need to live perfectly content lives?

Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under Observations

The Unattainable Joy of Childhood

happiness

Why is it impossible to reach the level of uncontrollable excitement and happiness that we took for granted as children? I had a class recently of children – who are younger than the teenagers I usually teach – and I was amazed and astonished with the level of joy that children can gain from the simplest of stimuli.

Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under Observations

British Health & Safety: ‘Sorry, I can’t help you because I might get sued!’

British Health & Safety

I’m not sure how or when the proverbial health & safety snowball was nudged off the top of Everest. However, what is clear is that it is now careening its way across Britain. I’m sure that – like any poison worth its salt – it has been a slow and largely untraceable development. I am more astute then most in documenting the change given my short ‘working holiday’ visits to England with yearly gaps in between. I have spent the majority of the last few years in Second & Third World, so returns to the First World are always met with utter confusion. The Blame-Someone-Else culture is by no means a British phenomenon, rather a First World one.

Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under Observations