Links from around the world

 The Garden of Cosmic Speculation from Kuriositas

At the moment I’ve been in Ireland for the last week travelling around and exploring the beautiful countryside. I’ll be posting more when I return home!

The Economist writes about being foreign.

I bought the most beautiful cake cookbook (only available in Swedish so far, but coming out in Finnish and Dutch next year) I have seen in my life the other day, and found the Swedish creator also has a blog in English. Check it out and prepare to be very hungry!

An amazing infographic of the global refugee populations from 1975 – 2010.

This is a fantastic (very long) article from the Atlantic on World War II – one of the best articles I’ve read on the topic, and that is saying a lot given that half the books I read are on WWII.

Want to learn a new language for free? The foreign Service Institute courses are old school, but good – and come in pretty much every language you can think of. Learn Bulgarian, Finnish, Russian, Turkish or even Swahili.

The economist writes about what diplomats really mean when communicating with each other in the EU.

At the age of 15, John Goddard wrote a list of 127 goals he wished to complete in his life – goals ranging from climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, visiting every country in the world (30 to go), study native medicines and bring back useful ones, and circumnavigate the globe. You can check out his amazing list here.

On speaking a foreign language without translating in your head.

Explore the Russian wilderness on the other Trans Siberian railroad, the BAM.

Stockholm Third Culture Kids presentation Thursday 6th of September at 10am

For Adult Third Culture Kids, parents of TCKs and anyone who is interested!

You are invited to come along to the Stockholm Global Expat Centre onThursday the 6th of September at 10am for the international coffee morning where I will be giving a presentation on Third Culture Kids.

Just register here.

I hope to see you there!

Links from around the world

Stunning sand art by Andres Amador

A Swiss right-wing populist politician has called for a limit to the number of Germans allowed to seek work in Switzerland

On the topic of Germany, the countryside is struggling to attract enough workers, both local and immigrants, while more and more move to cities like Berlin despite the lack of jobs to be found there. German industrial representatives and politicians are even visiting schools and universities in Spain and Portugal in an attempt to attracted skilled workers to these regions.

Unsurprisingly, there has been an increase in the number of people learning German in Europe during the last few years.

I love these maps created by artist Szuzsanna Ilijin from the ways in which to say hello from around the world. 

This fascinating website is a goldmine of information about the 6,909 know living languages in the world.

With over 7 billion people now on the planet, 7 Billion Actions gives you a fascinating look the the world based on your date of birth: number of people born in different regions, rural vs living in cities and towns, number of people born since your date of birth, species of animals extinct, average life expectancy, the number of children women in your region can be expected to have during their lifetime, and so on. 

IKEA is branching out into the hotel business. I wonder where they will get their furniture from…

An interesting lecture from the International Migration Institute at Oxford University on why anti-immigrant politics are so appealing – it’s an hour long so you might want to make a cup of tea.

Links from around the world

Photo by Barcroft Media 

Lake Retba in Senegal is a milky pink colour.

I’ve always wondered what English sounds like to foreigners. Here is the best example I have seen so far!

Want to live to 100? Australian journalist Sarah Wilson explains that one common factor between the world Blue Zones (the places where people live the longest in the world) is that they eat pork and don’t eat (much) sugar, like in Ikaria in Greece.

Is the sky really blue? Studies of languages from around the world have shown that as names for colours have developed in languages, blue is always the last due to its rarity in nature. Is our belief that the sky is blue influenced by our culture, rather than reality?

An interesting article (English, German) about the need for a revised, more open immigration policy in Europe. With an ageing population, migrants will be needed more and more in the future to fill gaps in the workforce.

Is Europe’s biggest problem the potential collapse of the monetary union, or a looming generational crisis?

Bike friendly Denmark has created the worlds first bike superhighway, allowing more people to commute to and from Copenhagen every day. I love Scandinavia and the Netherlands attitudes to bike riding!

This is a fabulous online shop for globally minded parents and those with children who have lived in multiple cultures (Third Culture Kids). One of my favourite are these number cards for the wall that come in a variety of languages, and the My Roots collection, where you can pin all the places your child has roots in around the world.

Green card Stories is a fascinating book that explores the stories of fifty immigrants and refugees to the US who recently received citizenship or permanent residency. The book aims to dispel negative preconceptions about immigrants, and instead to show a human side not often depicted in the media.

The most gorgeous food blog I have found in a long time – stunning pictures, and even better, the recipes are all gluten and sugar free! 

Welcome back to Borderless Adventures

Sorry about the long break in posts here – I’ve just spent a month in Australia getting married, among other things!

Here is a photo or two from our wedding – first up, my handsome husband

And the two of us

It was fantastic to be back in Australia, seeing family and friends, enjoying autumn, and being able to speak English without feeling guilty! One of the things I miss most about Melbourne is the amazing food – Chinese, Italian (coffee), Vietnamese, Greek, and delicious fresh Australian produce cooked simply. Melbourne is such an amazing multicultural city, I can’t help but feel completely at home every time I am there.

In other news, I recently gave a speech for the Stockholm International Researchers Association on the identity of second generation immigrants and the children of refugees and European free-movers. I’m going to share some of that research on here, as well as some more tips on moving overseas, and life in Stockholm.

Lastly, I’m giving a presentation about Third Culture Kids on the 6th of September – it’s open to the public so if you are in Stockholm and are interested in attending, send me an email.