The use of time is an important issue in understanding human behaviour. Among cultures the perception and understanding of punctuality can vary quite a bit. Where Germans are known for their strictness, accuracy and punctuality, I definitely have to register a deficit in the last category. I'm not the most punctual person. Anyways, some of my friends know me so well that they would rather tell me a different time to meet just so they wouldn't … [Read more...]
A Local’s Guide to Vancouver’s Top Ten Free Attractions
I grew up in Toronto, Canada. While Toronto is a tremendous city - boasting eclectic neighbourhoods, lush city parks and a vibrant cultural scene - it's also a place people get really practiced at leaving. Every Friday night in summer, the 400-series highways leading out of town are jammed with cars crawling towards the promise of fresher air and a lakeside cottage up north. I've left Hogtown for good and for the past six years have called … [Read more...]
Cruise Clues
This is the season for vacations and probably a goodly number of Dave's Travel Corner readers will take a cruise. Today's cruises-unless they are aboard a river raft on the Amazon-offer our grandest dreams of indulgence. These are floating luxury resorts, dedicated to recreation, education, cultural enrichment-and SHOPPING. I've chalked up my sixth cruise by now on the world's seas, rivers, and through locks and fiords. (I'm not counting the … [Read more...]
Linger Longer at Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park
Hawai'i, the Big Island (June 22, 2011) -You know what breaks our heart? Hearing about visitors to Hawai'i Island who are staying in Kona, and who drive two or three hours over to Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, then drive around the park for a couple of hours, dashing through the visitors center, taking a snapshot of the steaming summit crater, maybe a quick walk through Nāhuku Lava Tube, then off they go again all the way back to Kona. This … [Read more...]
In the Place of Many Zebras
In a hot dormitory at the Olooloitikoshi Girl's Rescue Center in Kenya, Jane inspects my arm freckles. She brushes her finger over my arm hair and traces my blue veins from the crook of my elbow to my wrist. I play, searching her arms and face for freckles. She examines my blonde hair and plucks strays from my shirt. She holds each one up to the light and giggles. I play, picking hairs from myself and placing them on her sweater, as if they … [Read more...]
Not Everyone’s Idea of a Family Vacation
'Where are you going this time?' my dad asked as he viewed the half packed cases lying on my living room floor. 'Barcelona.' I replied. He wrinkled up his nose. 'I've been there,' he said. 'Not really a place you'd take a holiday, is it?' Isn't it? I smiled at him, but I knew what he was trying to say. The same thing most of my friends and family say when I tell them where me, my husband and my two daughters are off to next. Not really … [Read more...]
First Greeting – Ghana, West Africa
The soft roar of the electric fan wakes me in darkness. A cool breeze pushes back the mosquito netting and lifts the thin sheet off my feet. We are fortunate to have such luxury in this tiny rural village of Apimsu in Ghana, West Africa where an electric appliance often costs more than a year's income. My husband lies next to me, and our son Casey, who has called this place home for many months, sleeps on a floor mat a few feet away. It's been … [Read more...]
Three Days in Apimsu – Ghana, West Africa
The brilliant sunlight stings my eyes as we make our way out of the airport in Accra, Ghana, but it's the view ahead that has me fighting tears. Our son Casey has been waiting at the entrance gate. Since he entered the Peace Corps in West Africa his father and I have been separated from him for many months and 7,000 miles. Now, just fifty feet across the courtyard, I see that his pale northwest skin is shades darker, his brown hair cropped close … [Read more...]
Vanuatu: One of the World’s Remaining Paradises
When you think of a romantic island vacation, what do you imagine? Basking away peaceful days in the sun, just you and your special someone? Stealing away to hidden beaches where you frolic in the waves like children, uninterrupted by human life? Sipping a drink in your beach chair with a view over your feet that could easily be the setting for a Corona commercial? Picturesque, pristine, and private- this is the dream setting for couples … [Read more...]
The origin of Spanish stereotypes
When people hear the term "stereotype" it has somewhat of a bitter taste to it and one immediately assumes it is something negative and it slips into the meaning of "prejudice." However, if we are being accurate a stereotype is merely a popular belief about a specific group based on assumptions and conceptions. Curious about it, however, is that whether we condone them or not, we often use them as a point of orientation, when we don't know much … [Read more...]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 117
- 118
- 119
- 120
- 121
- …
- 150
- Next Page »