A European mongrel is what I call myself. Born in Ireland to a German mother and Dutch father, I have lived in and travelled to many places both in Europe and further afield and after much deliberation I have chosen Australia for my longer term home.
I am an enthusiastic high school English teacher, currently living and working as a teacher in NSW, Australia.
I am an avid reader, my mum used to ration me to one book a day when we went on holidays when I was younger. I love travelling, food, meeting new people and experiencing new cultures and ways of life. I am also a keen advocate for human rights.
I started this blog in 2009 when I lived and worked in Sri Lanka for six months as a 
journalist. It was originally a series of musing and observations that I wrote down and sent to family and friends and eventually – on someones recommendation – it morphed into a blog. It is now a compilation of my interests, ramblings and hobbies.
I hope you enjoy reading it and do drop me a line if you have any questions or comments. I’m always happy to hear from people.
Brave It All 
The Street Food book, when you looked through it, which entries most surprised you? Did they list Jakarta or Colombo at all? Speaking of Colombo, the photo of you, was it taken at Galle Face? I was there in January 2008, and it seemed many of the locals were a bit afraid to go out and “be,” due to daily threats of bombings. Then, three years later, Galle Face was hopping, kids were swimming, and I stumbled upon some damn good savories that seem like the vendors just dipped batter into the sea and said hey, that’s how we should roll. The ones with crab in particular…anyway, you also said the word “chuffed” in your Greece post, so I dig it.
Glad you liked the post. The book is pretty amazing with some great recipes and where to find them in the country/city. There were no real surprises, they got it pretty spot on. Yes Colombo is listed with a recipe for Hoppers – there were a few entries from Indonesia, but can’t remember what food off the top of my head. Funnily enough Sri Lanka is going to be my next entry, I’m going to attempt to make Hoppers and I also want to make my favourite Sri Lankan street food, Kottu Roti, it’s just so good! Well spotted the picture of me was taken on Galle Face. I was there in 2009, a month after the war ended, it was OK to walk about but I remember we were still stopped by the military that day to ask for ID, where we were going and what we were doing. It’a an amazing country though.
I am a high school student at Jindabyne Central School NSW Australia You taught me in the self select class this year) (and i am thinking about becoming a Journalist when i am older. Can you tell me a bit about the work that you used to do. e.g Sri Lanka.
Hi Keely, I’m so sorry I didn’t reply to you sooner, I have not been on my blog much in the last year, but I plan to change that. I hope you are well and that school is going good for you. Sri Lanka, it was quite an experience and a very exciting place to work as a journalist and I absolutely loved it. They offered me a full-time job at the end of the placement but by then I wasn’t sure if journalism was what I wanted to do. Regarding journalism itself, I’d suggest getting involved in any school Year books, looking at Year 10 work experience at a local newspaper or magazine and then when you are at University the University newspaper. Those are good ways of gaining experience and seeing if that is in fact what you want to do. There are lots of different types of writing and areas as a journalist and also papers and publications you can work for. It can be quite an aggressive industry and you have to be thick skinned and persistent at times. One thing I didn’t like while working as a journalist, in particular within the News section, was the way you have to write things even if you don’t believe in them, because that was the view of the paper or the editor and as it was your job, you simply had to write it. But there are some great publications and areas you can work in as a journalist and who knows what the media industry will be like by the time you are at University or finished. You’re a good writer, with lots of potential and I can only imagine you will continue to improve and evolve as a writer. Keep writing and exploring the different industries and fields where you can work as a writer. I still want to write a book one day, we shall see if that comes to fruition at some stage. Good luck and keep in touch about how you get on.