When I was in college, going back home to Paris a friend sent me a letter from Illinois, where she’d gone to visit her grandparents. It was super symbolic because she knew how important living in Chicago had been for my sense of identity. Despite it essentially amounting to the blink of an eye. Don’t…
Author: talesfromyourlocalpubs
Tales From Your Local Pubs is an art-driven look at social structures in Finland, France, Germany, Poland, UK and US and how they can influence and shape cross-cultural and intercultural identity.
For more information about the person behind the scenes, please refer to the About Me page and Mission Statement pages on this blog.
Going Back
I never considered Germany to be home in any way, shape or form. Ever. Unless you count the time before I knew we would move to the US for the first time. We’d gone before, but it always seemed like a vacation. Just another destination among the countless other destination we had been to. In…
October Q&A
In honor of Scary Season, behold a Q&A of the things we may or may not want to talk about. Our own fears and trepidations, to kick off the theme for the entire month of October: things that scare us because we know exactly what they are or because they have a tendency to linger…
Home Is Where The Swearword(s) Live(s)
Except, how do you know which ones? They say that you revert to your native language when you count, which was a myth I believed in for a long time until I realized that – with my stronger languages at least – I’d just count in the language I was speaking in. And in a…
Back to School – what’s in a name (especially when it’s yours)
… my mother’s boss decided to address me as Adelheid. It threw me off for a minute because my middle name was nowhere close to what she was calling me, phonetically or through any stretch of the imagination when it came to meaning. As it soon transpired there was a more sinister element to her bestowing such a Germanic name on my poor teenage self.
Impromptu Guidelines for Surviving Any Given Holiday (at any given point in time)
As the bells toll and the fireworks are popping off, some people might dread that which is to come in a few hours. Namely, the Relative Fight Fest.That occasion when everyone gathers together, tensions mount and you begin to understand within seconds why it is that you normally don’t hang out, unless a “family occasion”…
The Avon Lady Makes An Appearance, Albeit by Proxy
We’ve been back in the neighborhood for four days and so far we’ve been avoiding the Avon Lady just fine, though with the instinct of the truly calculating she must have sussed something out because she is sending her son over for Russian lessons from someone in the household who is truly qualified and should…
When Finnish Independence Day and the Xmas Spirit Collide
As Finnish Independence Day comes and goes the city is ablaze with Christmas lights Finnish style. Which means, more reminiscent of a traditional country Christmas than the neon lights seen in most capitals and cities of importance. For the record, I love and embrace both (much more than the concept of snow beyond Epiphany). The…
City of Hills City of Dreams
It is a city I have come to know intimately after hearing of her beauty (though more akin to varázs, if we are to speak of her in her own language) through the stories of my father. Perhaps it’s a good thing I never (really) listened, for when I finally got there it allowed me…
Snarky Cards & Thoughtful Posters
Having specific tastes meant I was always on the lookout for cards and messages I couldn’t find. I’m not religious per se, but I love playing around with religious imagery, looking at different interpretations, what could have been said and what was left to the imagination. Below is a quick look into that world.
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