What would I say to Young Mungo?
Sometimes, you desperately want to enter a book to warn a character you have grown to love in the short time that you have spent together. Or to convince them to leave their story and go home with you to yours. That’s what happened to me when I got to know young Mungo. I was…
Food for the body, food for the soul
The more they eat, the lighter they feel. ‘Usually in Bervelaag, people did not speak while they were eating. But somehow, this evening tongues had been loosened’. Babette’s feast lasts for about 28 minutes in a film that runs for 99. In these 28 minutes, a group of sober Lutherans, her guests – who look…
From here to Tokyo and beyond….sharpen your cross cultural competency
Try telling your expat friends, ‘the Dutch are very hospitable’ or ‘the Dutch love to spend their money’. You should get some interesting responses! Turning stereotypes around can show you the underlying truth when grouping people on the basis of their cultural background. This handy tip is to be found in Esther Janssen’s book ‘Van hier…
“Falling Star”
My mother in law asks me if the exhibition that I am about to go to contains paintings and when I say no, I don’t think so, she wants to know what then? Well, I tell her, Monali Meher is a performance artist, and with growing curiosity, I go to see ‘Falling Star’. The ‘performances’…
The Shoemakers and the Elves
On a recent autumn day, while water-laden clouds and sunshine displayed behaviour as erratic as a cardiogram of a person in grave danger, I found myself following my nose. For no particular reason. And my nose led me to a place I had been to several times in the not so distant past. I heard…