Month: March 2022
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Ode to the Misery of Allergies
Oh the sniffing, the sneezing!Thankfully, I’m not yet wheezing. It’s that time of yearwhen being outside causes fear. How long can I lastbefore the final pollen is cast? I try to stay upbeatnever wanting to admit defeat. But, alas, I cannot keep up the fightas my puffy eyes decrease my sight. I cannot pretend anymore…
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“Home”
Yesterday, I participated in an interview for someone doing research on the adoptee diaspora and was struck by a few thoughts stimulated by her questions. One of them is around my concept of ‘home’, which is a recurring question in my mind. Coincidentally, or not, I had just been talking to my brother for an…
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Returning to Normal-ish
I love to travel. It seems like an obvious thing to say as an expat, but there are expats who live abroad and see the world and there are expats who live abroad as they would in their home countries. I am of the former. Despite this love of travel, I detest the process of…
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My Adoption Journey – 6: The First Adoptive Family
I have just written my second attempt to request information from my first adoptive father. This time, I hand-wrote a letter to send in the regular post. I tried an email address that I found online since post is a bit delayed and sporadic these days; however, after no response and no idea if it…
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The Netherlands in March 2022
When I first arrived in Abu Dhabi, I made friends with some fellow Couchsurfing hosts who are also Asians of Western culture, which at the time was a rare meeting. We stayed friends over the years with a few visits back and forth after they moved on. Our last visit, though, was around ten years…
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“Please”, “Thank you” & Etiquette
Before emails, we had typewriters and regular post for staying in touch or conducting business. Before texts, we had telephones requiring a voice conversation. Before social media, we had to face people directly to express ourselves. While I fully appreciate and take advantage of our modern-day advances, there are some ‘rules of engagement’ that I…
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Busy Busy
March is here already and I’ve spent the last couple of days focusing solely on the platform to get everything in line for the month. I’m not complaining, by any means, as I know that putting in the time now frees up my time later. Still, I find myself less enthusiastic about the platform as…
