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2nd April 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Australian Easter Festivals
In the Northern Hemisphere the backdrop to the great Christian festival of Easter is Spring and renewal. In Australia it’s Autumn. Seasons matter: it feels different. But Autumn can be beautiful here, and it’s also a time of festivals. Sydney’s Royal Easter Show, is a massive event with nearly a million people visiting the showground […]
28th March 2013 London, UK
“The Mother of all Parliaments” and the mother of all elections
I must be in hundreds of photos seen by people around the world. Not because I’m some global celebrity, but because I regularly walk or cycle over the bridge by the Houses of Parliament in London. Each time I do, I end up in the photos of tourists lining up to take pictures of the […]
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28th March 2013 USA
The geeks are winning!
There is no doubt that the Internet has changed the world as we know it. Being of (slightly) advanced age, I remember the days when the only way to source new knowledge was to ask your mum or dad, thumb through an (out of date) encyclopedia, or search it out in your local library. Now, […]
28th March 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Spoken English
Last week, I was a judge in an English speaking competition in Minsk, as part of a world-wide competition organised by the English Speaking Union. And then I gave a speech in English at Friendship House (Дом Дружбы). It was a humbling experience to listen to 12 young people from Belarus speaking English fluently – […]
28th March 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Iron, Ice and Innovation
This job takes me to a range of interesting places but it is not often in the space of a few hours that I end up 500 metres underground and then in a bedroom five degrees below freezing! Such was my contrasting experience on my visit to Kiruna this week. As guest of LKAB, which […]
28th March 2013 Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Two Museums in Karakalpakstan
Last week was mid-term break at my daughter’s school, so I took some time off to go with my family to Khiva and Nukus. The big attraction in Nukus was the museum containing works from the collection of Igor Savitsky. It’s no longer unknown, since the 2010 film “Desert of Forbidden Art”. Apparently large numbers […]
28th March 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
The Brits in Brissie – consular assistance
Because of its fantastic tourist attractions, from the Great Barrier Reef to the Gold Coast, many of the 640,000 Brits who come to Australia each year visit Queensland. The vast majority of visits are completely trouble-free, but the sheer volume means that our Consular team in Brisbane are kept busy. Some people get ill, or […]
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27th March 2013 Seattle, USA
Roamin’ in the Evergreen State
When I was growing up in Canterbury, Kent, a house in our street had the name plate “Dunroamin” hung up on the outside wall. I was only about 8 years old, and hadn’t come across the term before. I thought it was a place in Ireland. But of course it means a state of mind […]
27th March 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Changing of the Guard
As Rome prepares for Easter – a time that Christians have always considered to be one of renewal and rebirth – there is a palpable feel across the global religious map of a recharging of batteries, a resurgence of hope, and new leaders reinvigorating the faithful of different religious traditions. We have a new Pope, […]
27th March 2013 Dublin, Ireland
The multi-faceted life of an Ambassador
It has been a busy time for both me and the wider Embassy team. A recent Tuesday found me trying not to confuse the financing of energy investment in Poland with a trilateral Afghan, Polish, British roundtable on progress and next steps in Afghanistan. Both are really important. Poland and the UK both need to […]
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