From Difference to Connection
11 MINUTE READ We followed the violent emergence of tea in Tea and Power Part 1, when we saw it become a coveted trade commodity that consolidated the reach of the British Empire. Here in Part 2 of the story, Belonging Across Cultures author Yang-May Ooi, looks at how this initially new high-end product impacted... Continue Reading →
12 MINUTE READ Belonging Across Cultures is fascinated by the connections between nations, peoples and ideas. You may be sipping a cup of tea while settling down to read this story. As you can imagine, this evergreen shrub, Camellia sinensis, used to grow in the wild. Until the Chinese discovered what it could offer us... Continue Reading →
Is a feeling of Belonging solely defined by place or a community? What happens if you find yourself a stranger in a new place with no support system due to circumstances you cannot control? What if your home life is chaotic and you have no-one stable you can turn to for guidance or help? Is... Continue Reading →
6 MINUTE READ Continuing the occasional series on British Culture I Love, author Yang-May Ooi reflects on the difference in walking cultures in the hot tropical landscape of Malaysia and cold winterland of the UK - plus the courtesy with which the Brits greet strangers while walking in the countryside, dispelling the idea of English... Continue Reading →
7 MINUTE READ Cross-cultural author, Yang-May Ooi, celebrates the things that perhaps most British people take for granted in this new occasional series on Belonging Across Cultures. When we are born into and live in a particular culture, what we see, say and do every day is unremarkable to us. But when we have come... Continue Reading →