Watermelon for the Runner

You know those people you get in hostels who are by themselves and yet seem to be at the centre of everything? This guy seemed like that, firing off jokes to people who walked by or other people sitting around us, chatting amicably to the staff. Despite his age, he seemed to be in his element. He turned back to me and said, “well, are you gonna come and tell me about yourself or what?”

Stories, and what they mean to me

The other day, my friend invited me to talk on Student Radio Maastricht, the radio show he works on. The topic of the evening's discussion would be stories - what they are, how they've evolved, why they matter to us. I thought it was a great topic; I’ve always loved stories. When I was a …

In Defence of Washing Dishes

When I first started dish-washing at age 21 to fund my studies, I winced at the thought of coming into contact with all that half-chewed food, spilt mayonnaise and ashtray contents (it’s not just cigarette butts people put in there, let me tell you that). Then there were the obvious indignities of having a perpetually …

Flying: A Love/Hate Story

I was flying home for Christmas. It was icy and windy in Leeds and the plane was getting thrown about so much that at one point we seemed to be approaching the runway side-on