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Little White by Imogen Page-Jarrett
There was a little girl in the Xiao family called “Little White” (the same nickname as me). The younger auntie told us her sad story. Her parents had left long ago, and now only her grandfather remained. She had been given to a nanny’s family to be looked after, but they had not looked after…
Read MoreCarnaval in Madrid!! Ashton Lily Woolley, February 2015
Celebrated annually in the week before Lent in the Spanish capital of Madrid, Carnaval brings the city to life with parades, processions and parties – all the things the Spanish do best. Centred around the Paseo de la Florida in the city centre, Carnaval is an explosion of colour and sound as Spanish citizens from…
Read MoreSitges – Sian Summerton, Feb 2015
Last weekend I travelled out of Barcelona to the beautiful town of Sitges, which takes around 40 minutes on the local train. Sitges is incredibly busy over the summer, but is calm and quiet over the months of November- February. Despite this, the weather was still lovely, with blue skies and plenty of sunshine! I…
Read MoreSettling into Beijing life – Struan Rutherford, October 2014
In the past month, I have been settling into my new life in Beijing and regular classes at Peking University. I have been enjoying life in Beijing but the one thing I have not yet adjusted to is the pollution. The pollution was so serious recently that many athletes participating in the Beijing Marathon had…
Read MoreOctober, an enjoyable month! – Alexander Arch, October 2014
This month has been really enjoyable, amongst other things I have been to a football match, played my first rugby match in France and even went to Disneyland! This coming month we are going to see the next PSG match in the Champions league, I have a few rugby games, my sister is coming to…
Read MoreMongolia trip – Emily Martin October 2014
Nights were spent in Mongolian nomad’s huts called Gers. With little insulation and heated only by a stove, we quickly learnt to wrap up warm during the sub-zero nights. One morning at the hot springs, we woke up to a thick layer of snow and enjoyed a dip in the warm pools in the snow.…
Read MoreAmy Clark – Montpelier, France
During my two months in France I have been immersed into the French culture and language, my language skills have vastly improved. Each day, I have a little more confidence when I’m speaking to other French speakers and I feel that people are becoming friendlier, especially at work!
Read MoreTaiwan for the National Holiday
I spent a week Taiwan and travelled to various places. Other than Taipei, I also went to Hualien, Gaoxiong, Yeliu and Kenting. I had a wonderful time there, and the weather and seafood were two constant highlights. I enjoyed strolling through the night markets, practicing my Chinese with locals (they speak a lot slower there),…
Read MoreRiver in Mittenwald – Oliver de Planta
Breathtaking views – Mittenwald, Munich, Germany
Read MoreSpanish Super Cup 22 August 2014 – Ashton Lily-Woolley
Atletico Madrid beat Real Madrid to win Spanish Super Cup
Read MoreLes Estivales
Had a lovely night, seeing new things and meeting different people!
Read MoreThe Maximilianeum Building, Munich
The building is situated on the bank of river Isar before the Maximilian Bridge and marks the eastern end of the Maximilianstrasse, one of Munich’s royal avenues which is framed by neo-Gothic palaces influenced by the English Perpendicular style
Read MoreSchloss Nymphenburg Castle and Grounds, Munich, Germany
The palace is beautiful both outside and inside. A visit to the gardens in the summer is a must in Munich. They are beautiful and a nice and quite spot just outside the city centre.
Read MoreSchloss Nymphenburg, Munich, Germany
The palace itself is quite opulent and beautiful. When you walk into the main room upon beginning the tour, you will be amazed at the over-the-top decorations – cherubs, cherubs, everywhere!
Read MoreAllianz Arena
The Allianz Arena is a football stadium in Munich, Bavaria, Germany with a 69,901 seating capacity. Widely known for its exterior of inflated ETFE plastic panels, it is the first stadium in the world with a full color-changing color exterior. Located at 25 Werner-Heisenberg-Allee at the northern edge of Munich’s Schwabing-Freimann borough on the Fröttmaning…
Read MoreAbril en Madrid
Abril en Madrid , sin duda marcó el inicio de la primavera , ¡por fin! También se inició una serie de fiestas de la comunidad de Madrid, que me han permitido viajar y conocer Barcelona. Desde Navidad han sido unos meses muy intensos desde el punto de vista del trabajo con el re- lanzamiento de…
Read MoreEdward Mortimer – Final Case Study
My John Speak Scholarship took me to Pakistan for a period of ten months to perfect my command of the Urdu language; widely accepted as the lingua franca of the Indian Subcontinent, a rich blend of Persian, Arabic and Turkish vocabulary with a Hindi grammatical base. Much like the English we speak today it could…
Read MoreOceans Full of Words…
I am now almost in the final week of my John Speak scholarship. I have been enjoying reading in Urdu a lot of late, perusing literally anything I can get my hands on (discarded flyers, road signs, food packaging…you name it). I find reading in any language a very empowering experience. Often I read something…
Read MoreEnjoy the Ride
It’s been a few days since I’ve blogged, and life has not been dull in the interim. It is sad to think my scholarship will come to an end in approximately two weeks, but I intend to make the most of the time remaining, and develop myself as much as possible. Even at this stage…
Read MoreFrom the Summits to the Sea…
As promised here is a photograph I took of one of the Kalashi children last week. The clothes she is wearing are ‘normal’ attire; I can’t imagine what they wear at wedding or birthday celebrations! If you look closely you can see the intricate embroidery in the cap which is adorned with shells, despite the…
Read MoreQueries…!
I get asked all sorts of bizarre questions whilst I am here in Pakistan. For example ‘What kind of face cream do you use?’, ‘Is London near the UK?’ and ‘Where you ever any good at cricket?’ I always try and answer these questions to the best of my knowledge (it’s Nivea, just in case…
Read MoreFeeling Humbled
I have been reflecting a lot on education of late, and how the receipt of it (or not as is often the case here) can have such a profound impact on person’s life. But that said I have realised intelligence is not just about ‘what we know’, i.e. naming the World’s ten fastest growing economies,…
Read MoreThe Spice of Life
I was invited by a family to lunch today, and I had a wonderful time. They made ‘peeka’ food in my honour. ‘peeka’ means ‘tasteless’ and is used by Pakistanis to refer to food that doesn’t have any spices in it! I really enjoyed the food; I just hope they didn’t mind it too much.…
Read MoreDifferent Countries, One Future…
As two of Pakistan’s neighbouring countries, India and Afghanistan undergo general elections it is interesting to reflect on developments in one country affect the wider region. Both countries are geo-political heavyweights (due to a booming economy and the presence of NATO forces respectively) and as such the government ministers in Islamabad will be watching closely.…
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