January, 2011

Recently, I contributed my first post to Back in a Bit. It was an introductory piece with the aim of establishing my voice as a contributor and giving a rough idea of my background as an Australian living in the Cayman Islands. Never had I imagined that it would be contentious. Never had I imagined that my normal life would be considered a hotbed of self-indulgence and conceit.

Editor’s Warning: some of the below photos are gruesome and show dead animals. Robin O’Brien writes: For something different, I tagged along to an eagle hunting carnival. This event is held every year in Bokonbayevo, Kyrgyzstan and it was a big one, since eagle Oymok was making his return from injury, having been bitten by a [...]

I celebrated Australia Day 2010 in Warsaw, Poland, with our little bunch of Aussie expats  here, in pretty much the same way I do most years: some of our mates, in this instance Pete and Fiona, fired up the barbie, we got some cold beers, and we played a bit of backyard cricket. We certainly [...]

I’d like to present a study of the sometimes misunderstood mammal that is the Young Expat.

Mention the words “tropical island” and most people conjure images of towering palms, sugar-white sands and sapphire waters, writes India Lloyd.

Here is a hot tip. If you must have your passport stolen, try and do it in a country where you have consular representation. And if your passport does happen to be stolen in a vaguely obscure location — Kampala, let’s say — don’t let it happen on a weekend or the day after New [...]

Sure, sure, it’s a week since we nursed New Years Eve hangovers and I’ve been back at work for several days and most blogs did their look back at 2010 last week and all the rest of it, but I’m finally ready to take a look back at 2010 in Back in a Bit and examine [...]

Only one more day to go of Paul Jonannessen’s part-time gig teaching English to Japanese people, as he introduces us to all his students. From the cheeky young kids to the chronically shy teenagers and older middle management men, it’s a sneak peek into Japanese society.

Sure, Frodo and Sam may have trekked all the way from The Shire to Mount Doom, but as far as epic journeys go, I can go one better. As a young girl I made the journey from Melbourne to Oxford, by way of Wellington, all to catch a glimpse of a real-life hobbit.