Around the world
I had a wonderful time yesterday catching up with a dear friend. I had forgotten how easily we can pass time together, talking about all sorts of things, to the extent that we looked up at one point to realise we had been talking for more than three hours on the strength of one cup of tea! Considering we started at 10am, this meant that we hadn't even noticed that it was time to have lunch! An hour later I left, and yet we felt that we hadn't had enough time to catch up!
One of the reasons time flew without us noticing was that we had moved to a room to look at a map of the world while we talked about different places and events. This is a common thing for the two of us to do, as we both have an interest in places we have been and would like to go, and how people live all over the world, and how they come to live in this beautiful country. This friend and her family moved here from the UK about five years ago, and it has been truly delightful to compare and contrast our experiences, to realise how much we have in common even though we have so much that has been different in our lives.
One of the amusing parts of our conversation was realising that her eldest son and I have become hooked on the same series of novels, with her son telling her she should read it! The Temeraire series by Naomi Novik which I have mentioned here. (If you would like to know more about this series, have a look at this website.) So I may have to lend her my copies, so that she doesn't have to rely on him borrowing them from the school library. Pity I only have the first one here with me at the moment! We both love the idea of a novel series which moves around the world so much, describing different places and peoples and cultures. I'm up to the part in the series which comes to Australia! Looking forward to this story! So you'll probably here more about it in the next few weeks.
How easy it is to be caught up in our own little part of this big world we live in! We rarely see news items from other countries, and the problems that we have can be so different from the problems people face in other countries that it is hard to understand why people think and act the way they do. It is so easy to take for granted all the blessings we have, living in a Western country like Australia. Things which are so nearly invisible to us, like running water and regular electricity, the ability to buy whatever food we want all year round, even seasonal food, and roads which are easy to drive on. I have a few friends currently living in developing countries, and their stories are quite different. Potholes in which you could lose your car, limited range of food options, eclectic electricity and water, and a lot more rain than we get here! Some truly beautiful places, with some amazing people they have the opportunity to meet because of the work they are involved in.
How good is your knowledge of geography? How many countries do you know in Asia? In Africa? In South America? In Europe? Can you find them on a map (without Googling it)? For those of you not from or in Australia, do you know how many states we have? For those not in the United States, can you list more than five of their states? How would you respond to the question of an eight year old that if South Australia is in Australia, which country is South Korea in? Most of my understanding of geography comes from an interest in particular languages and in history, and from reading fiction! It is amazing to realise how we learn different things!
For the first time (that I've noticed) a country other than the one in which I live has hit the top of my stats for pageviews for a day! This is not a statistic I necessarily check very often, although I usually check the audience map when I visit my blog. And finally I can also say I have had someone from every inhabitable continent read this blog. I'm looking forward to collecting some islands now... Happy travels!
One of the reasons time flew without us noticing was that we had moved to a room to look at a map of the world while we talked about different places and events. This is a common thing for the two of us to do, as we both have an interest in places we have been and would like to go, and how people live all over the world, and how they come to live in this beautiful country. This friend and her family moved here from the UK about five years ago, and it has been truly delightful to compare and contrast our experiences, to realise how much we have in common even though we have so much that has been different in our lives.
One of the amusing parts of our conversation was realising that her eldest son and I have become hooked on the same series of novels, with her son telling her she should read it! The Temeraire series by Naomi Novik which I have mentioned here. (If you would like to know more about this series, have a look at this website.) So I may have to lend her my copies, so that she doesn't have to rely on him borrowing them from the school library. Pity I only have the first one here with me at the moment! We both love the idea of a novel series which moves around the world so much, describing different places and peoples and cultures. I'm up to the part in the series which comes to Australia! Looking forward to this story! So you'll probably here more about it in the next few weeks.
How easy it is to be caught up in our own little part of this big world we live in! We rarely see news items from other countries, and the problems that we have can be so different from the problems people face in other countries that it is hard to understand why people think and act the way they do. It is so easy to take for granted all the blessings we have, living in a Western country like Australia. Things which are so nearly invisible to us, like running water and regular electricity, the ability to buy whatever food we want all year round, even seasonal food, and roads which are easy to drive on. I have a few friends currently living in developing countries, and their stories are quite different. Potholes in which you could lose your car, limited range of food options, eclectic electricity and water, and a lot more rain than we get here! Some truly beautiful places, with some amazing people they have the opportunity to meet because of the work they are involved in.
How good is your knowledge of geography? How many countries do you know in Asia? In Africa? In South America? In Europe? Can you find them on a map (without Googling it)? For those of you not from or in Australia, do you know how many states we have? For those not in the United States, can you list more than five of their states? How would you respond to the question of an eight year old that if South Australia is in Australia, which country is South Korea in? Most of my understanding of geography comes from an interest in particular languages and in history, and from reading fiction! It is amazing to realise how we learn different things!
For the first time (that I've noticed) a country other than the one in which I live has hit the top of my stats for pageviews for a day! This is not a statistic I necessarily check very often, although I usually check the audience map when I visit my blog. And finally I can also say I have had someone from every inhabitable continent read this blog. I'm looking forward to collecting some islands now... Happy travels!
I love geography! And yes, a fair bit of it I have learned through studying history - I need to have a map near me if I'm reading about different places. And that goes for reading fiction too, when they don't provide a map I get frustrated.
ReplyDeleteI too find it frustrating to read a novel which includes many different places but doesn't have some sort of map. However, my sense of direction is negligible, so I am not concerned over accuracy issues! Thanks for sharing!
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