Note

Tags

block, break, hiatus, Holiday, leisure, rest, rest work balance, taking a break, Vacation, Work, writer's block

Hello all,

This is a note to say that I will be taking a break of four weeks from this blog. It has become clear to me of late that it is impossible to juggle the many things in my life and retain the required passion for each of them. I am working privately (as a tutor) for much of the week, which means my writing must be squeezed into the weekends, during which I have to find time for various other things as well. This all combines to make writing seem like a chore and something to ‘get out of the way’ – which is not an attitude conducive to creating sincere or interesting pieces of work.

I’ve been rather unimpressed with my recent posts. They were rushed and ended up being quite generic. You were too generous to say so, of course.

My tutoring is due to finish sometime in the next few weeks, after which I shall have too much time to write articles. Things unfortunately tend to swing between extremes. My next post will be on May 9th. I hope you will continue to visit this blog, and I am genuinely grateful for the attention I receive, especially on those plentiful occasions when such attention is unmerited.

Have a fantastic few weeks.

David.

Defend the Modern World.

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Vacation in Padania.

Tags

AC Milan, Berlusconi, Civilisation, Defend the modern world, Enjoying myself, Inter Milan, Italy, Juventus, Lega Nord, Milan, Milano, Northern italy, Padania, Summer, Sunshine, Vacation

I’ve been in Italy for five days. A late summer holiday. (I’ll of course be back to writing next week.)

I must admit it has been nice to have a break from thinking about doom-laden things. It’s also a great pleasure to return to Italian soil.

One can hardly overstate the beauty of this country. Every nook and cranny is worthy of a painting or a poem. Streets are glamorously narrow (the kind you see on those posters in Caffe Nero). Houses are artworks in themselves. Even the poorer-seeming buildings, marked with age and sour in colour, retain a strange and ancient dignity, unlike any equivalent on England’s threadbare estates.

I’ve been travelling mainly around the Northern cities this time; a region quite remarkable on its own two feet. The area is referred to as ‘Padania’ by its more nationalistic residents and there is a well-established movement to make it independent. This movement (spearheaded by the Lega Nord – Northern League) is stupid, but its motivating logic is not difficult to grasp.

Padania (Northern Italy) is one of the most productive regions of the European Union. Every Italian carmaker you’ve ever heard of has its base or construction centre here; Maserati, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Alfa Romeo being some of the largest and most well known. ‘Padanian’ cities include the historic splendours of Milan, Venice, Turin and Genoa. (Milan incidentally is every inch as beautiful as Rome). The people of Padania are said to be ethnically Celtic and are resented for a snobbish attitude towards their southern countrymen, much like the English North-South divide in reverse.

Despite this affluence, and though I’ve tried to keep politics out of my mind, the signs of the European times are visible even here. Young people seem in a different (lower) mood than the last time I was in Milan. Though the employment rate is better than in the South, there are still many sad and bored looking faces to be found in the afternoon. The Piazza del Duomo is fuller in the daytime than before. There are more drunk people than before. There are more unused buildings than before.

Still, for a comfortable resident or tourist, the life here is almost faultless. The time goes by too quickly. Europe has never seemed so precious.

D, LDN.

Korean Expedition.

Tags

Defend the modern world, Holiday, Monoculture, Notes on Travel, Personal Reflections, SIlkworms, South Korea, Vacation

Another schoolboy sick-note I’m afraid, this time to say I’m in Korea at the moment.

I shall post on Korea when I get back this week. For now, I’ll just say it really is a fascinating country.

The perennial war between Hamas regression and Jewish modernity is in the headlines even here. I believe that most South Koreans have a bias towards friendship with the Jews (a lot of Korean military equipment is manufactured or maintained by Israel), and so none of the disgraceful Eurabian protests currently holding up traffic in London seem viable here.

The Korean people I’ve encountered so far are calm, orderly and friendly. Sometimes they are very friendly. After informing a shopkeeper of my English nationality, I was given a discount on my shopping.

True to stereotype, everyday technology here is wildly superior to the West. The air-conditioning, broadband and intercom in this apartment all seem space-age by comparison.

It is also absurdly safe. One can very easily wander down a street at night speaking into a smartphone (try doing that in South London). I haven’t seen a single Muslim or Mosque.

Anyway, an extended post on the West vs Asia once the jet-lag subsides.

As ever, I’m honoured by your attention (whether critical or friendly).

David. Gangseo-gu, Seoul, Korea.