The scope of my expat experience is limited to Asia. However, an informal survey of random online expat forums – as a member and visitor – confirms my suspicions: It’s the same everywhere, and by “it”, I mean the conditional happiness of people trying to make the nut* in foreign countries. *Make the nut =(…)
Queens New York: The World’s Linguistic Melting Pot

In some cases, to find the last speaker of a dying language instead of traveling to remote outposts of civilization or border towns destroyed by war and crippling poverty, you can hop on the 7 train out of Grand Central Station to a stop in the borough of Queens. Heralded as the most culturally diverse(…)
Recounting the Ever-Changing Diversity of New York City

What do Peter Minuit, Pieter Minuit, Pierre Minuit, and Peter Minnewit all have in common? You guessed it! They’re all the same person, with spelling differences. Taking the first version, Peter Minuit, to be our variation, who here knows why he is famous? History may not have been everyone’s strongest suit (or maybe history plays(…)
Population Boom, Language Bust: Homogenization at Work

Since modern science has extended life spans and lowered infant and child mortality rates, world population has been increasing at an exponential rate leading to major changes in human migration. This migration has created larger and larger populous centers that has resulted in cultural homogenization and the dominance of fewer languages (ahem, English). Okay, that’s(…)
Whoops! My Accent Is Showing!

When you hear the word accent, where do your thoughts go? To the fair Emerald Isle where Irish brogue tickles your senses? To Bonsai Beach and laid-back Aussie? To bustling, booming cities with accents as diverse as the many cultures that makes up places like New York or London? Whilst we all have our favorite(…)
Florida hospital embraces multiculturalism
A hospital in Florida is embracing multiculturalism in health care by developing culturally diverse patient services. The Orlando Health Institute in Florida has developed a “cultural tool-kit” for staff to help them deliver appropriate care to patients of different cultural backgrounds. Florida’s population is increasingly diverse, with the third largest number of non-English speaking residents,(…)