The British Museum – part 2 – Summer 2023 exhibitions
The British Museum is one of the most renowned places for protecting cultural artifacts from all over the globe and professionalism of its curators and conservation specialists is beyond question. As mentioned in the previous post we are not here to focus on political and/or ethical issues. Not that these are not important, in contrary, the discussion should happen and sooner or later it will. However neither I feel qualified, nor this blog is the place for such discussion. Back to the museum – apart from permanent showings, there are always temporary exhibitions, though in this case, unless you’re a BM Friend (membership is available to purchase in different versions…
Poland – a very short introduction – part 2, today
When you deal with the Polish it is impossible not to talk about history at some point. We finished the previous post on partitions. They lasted 123 years and they changed Polish culture completely. When Poland became independent, obviously it was not Poland of 1795. And some other countries became independent as well. It includes Lithuania, and Vilnius, the old Lithuanian capital where almost everyone spoke Polish (which was the language of education and art, not necessarily of nationality) happen to become a capital of newly independent state. That enraged Polish to the point that we decided to stand up and win it back. To make it even more complicated,…
Poland – a very short introduction – part 1, history
I know that many posts on my website is about travels, simply because I love learning about other people and cultures. That’s why I travel a lot in comparison to regular holidaymakers. And I would love to travel even more, by the way. Sometimes, though, it’s only the second-best option available – my work. Even though some people could say it is repetitive, after all I train, coach and mentor my clients how to communicate with the others, mostly British, US Americans and Polish and how to be a happy and fulfilled expat. That is true, but thankfully those using my services come from so many different cultural backgrounds that…
one of its kind – the oddity at the USA – Canada border
When travelling across European Union, North Americans can experience many situations which they are normally not familiar with when living in the US or Canada; one of those refers to the borders. My US clients often say that when in continental Europe, they cannot even speed up and they are already in a different country. Yes, that’s true for Europe, everything is much smaller here, including sovereign states, not only the EU members, of course. The biggest country of the European Union is France, which is still smaller than Texas, the biggest in contagious USA and if France would be part of Canada, it would be only 7th in size.…
Halloween in the Midwest – part 3
This is the third and the last post about my road trip and just like in the previous ones (part 1 and part 2), there are plenty of pictures you can click on in order to enlarge them. entering South Dakota We were heading towards Rapid City, that’s where we were planning to stay for the next couple of nights. The drive was not too long, only around 4 hours, but it was not an interstate highway which means we had to cross some towns instead of bypassing them. I just had to be more cautious behind the wheel. But it was good and interesting ride, definitely not as monotonous…
Halloween in the Midwest – part 2
This is the second post about my Midwestern road trip; the first one is here. There are plenty of pictures and all are clickable if you want to see the bigger version. the road trip As I mentioned in the previous post, travelling to Chicago seemed to be the best option. We got the first flight of the day westwards from London Heathrow operated by the American Airlines which was probably not even 1/3 full. And flying aboard the Dreamliner makes a difference. During long-haul flights, even the mid-day ones, the cabin crew forces people to shut the blinds and increases the temperature so passengers would sleep instead of bothering…
Halloween in the Midwest – part 1
When we were driving across New England in May and June this year, little did we know that it’s not our only time in the US in 2022. In August, I have decided to participate in the SIETAR USA conference which was held in Omaha, Nebraska. There were some deliberations about fitting it in our schedules; we normally have some holidays planned in November when London is grey and gloomy; this would make it either/or situation. At the end we made up our minds, we’re having beach holidays in January instead. Nebraska is part of the Midwest, the area of the United States which is kind of in the middle…
our big fat Korean wedding – part 4, jimjilbang/Korean sauna
This is the last post before the summer holiday break and I decided to continue with my Korean adventure. It is the fourth part in my Korean trip cycle. To read the previous parts, follow the links below: Before I took off to Korea, I did some research. Many sources recommended a visit to jimjilbang, which in Korean culture is what sauna is in Finnish, onsen in Japanese, banya in Russian, hammam for Turkish – a cheap public bathhouse. All of the local friends we met during our trip suggested exactly same thing, but of course I knew better. I wasn’t going to “waste” my precious time to see a…
The British Museum – part 1
Living in London has many advantages in comparison to living in any of the cities of the world. Of course, for some people those would be disadvantages and they would do anything just to move out to the countryside, I am not one of them, though. Once a capital of the empire on which the sun never sets, now still one of the capitals of the world – London, living here suits me well enough. One of the things I love doing in my spare time is going to the museums. Ruling the huge piece of the Earth once, meant getting access to its treasures, of both natural and human origin.…
The US National Park Service – part 1
We are all familiar with the idea of “a national park”; we take it for granted that all over the globe there are protected areas which we can visit and enjoy for their natural beauty and importance. But it wasn’t always like that. Of course hundreds of years ago, there were game reserves restricted to use by all but royalty and nobility, unfortunately it was for their particular interests only. There was no protection in mind; one of the best evidence for this is the story of an auroch – the animal only kings could hunt for meat and recreation. It still didn’t save it from extinction. This post is…
