If ever there was a better time to highlight the evil that is corporate greed, it is right now. As the world, by which I mean us inconsequential plebeians, suffer the erosion of our salaries, the loss of employment, diminishing savings and for some, just damn hard to feed and clothe your kids, corporate pigs continue to …
For those readers who may not know, I actually do something other than ramble on about things that annoy me and scribble out books and poetry. In fact my principal activity is as an English teacher. Not your Shakespeare and Keats English Lit teacher, but a teacher of ESOL. That translates to English as a Second Operating …
Reading today that it will be ten years since that horrific day – 9/11 2001, made me recall the events that happened to me at the time. Oddly enough, I had been in the US on holiday and my flight left on September 10th 2001 out of Atlanta. I had spent two weeks or so …
How do you celebrate your country’s birthday? So many traditions, so many countries. So with the numbers against me, I’ll concentrate on one country. Mine. Well, I have two, so I’d better be clear on this and point out that I’m talking about celebrating the 1st August, the National Day of Switzerland. Although I live …
For those readers who may not know, I’m an old Aussie transplanted slap-bang in the middle of Europe – Switzerland in fact. It’s now been ten years but I still recall two expressions I read just after arriving in 2001. ‘You know you’ve been in Switzerland too long when ….’, which was the introduction to …
Readers of my blog would already know that I like words. However, just for a slight change of pace today, I’d like to introduce you to my home town by other means. Well, nearly my home town. I live just outside of Geneva, but who’s tracking me by GPS? Where was I? Oh yes, my …
Intrepid reporter Said Orquardly continues his interview with Derek Haines, author of the new book February The Fifth. Trying to discover who he really is… FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PRLog (Press Release) – Jan 21, 2011 SO. Would you say that your new book has given you the feeling of an overnight success? DH. Possibly. I’m …
So who thought Toblerones were only chocolate? Wrong. Well, not entirely as of course you can buy Toblerone chocolate anywhere in the world. But The Toblerone Line is actually something completely different. Although named after the famous chocolate shaped as a representation of The Matterhorn, they are in fact a long line of massive concrete …
There is no doubt in my mind that of all the places I have ever visited, the small area of Appenzell in the far north east of Switzerland must be be the most magical place on Earth. Not in the sense of fantasy, but in the daily lives, culture and traditions that live on and …
One of the great things about moving countries is discovering new sports to get mad about. For me, my greatest discovery since moving to Switzerland is Lutte. Or Swiss Wrestling. It’s a very simple idea in that you want to pin your opponent’s back to the ground. But the execution is of course much more …
It is easy to understand that when people think of Switzerland, they think of snow, glaciers, mountains, yodelling, chocolate and watches. A winter wonderland full of little chalets that look like cakes covered in white icing. Children skating on frozen lakes and families gathered around the dinner table eating fondue while the fireplace glows red …
No need for words today. I just love where I live. Derek’s Vandal Blog www.derekhaines.ch Derek on Twitter Derek’s Author Page
