…I’ll admit, it’s nerve-racking to find yourself in a foreign country, in a classroom full of expectant students, trying to teach a language that’s supposedly your mother tongue. It’s more complicated than you’d think. It was my first time in front of a class.

Shereen is an incredibly organized traveler. From her uber-functional carry-on (I wonder when the last time was that she checked a bag), to packing spare zip locks for oddball items and a #10 envelope to store all her receipts, brochures, and flyers, she’s on top of her game. I’m…

I’m as guilty as the next guy of falling prey to the soulless monsters of modernity. For instance, instead of sitting at the table with my morning coffee to enjoy the last few pages of this lovely story and to perhaps find the courage to jot down some mental musings in the precious stillness, I’m behaving like a multitasking loon. I’m standing, hunched over a…

When I read de Botton admit to having guiltily scoffed down three pain au chocolat while making sure no one saw, I catch a reflection of myself in the author. You see, it just so happens that I too recently ate numerous pains au chocolat in guilty rapid succession while visiting France. In my defense, they were miniature packets of pleasure…

Just finished reading one page of this book after a 3-week hiatus and I’m already giggling. Bloody brilliant! Can you imagine what an effective marketing campaign it would make to simply have people read this book in public? All the spontaneous laughter would surely coax at least a few passers-by to read the back cover.

Remarkable! The entire first chapter describes her waiting at the arrivals gate at Charles de Gaulle airport, not knowing a soul, coming to see the guy she met months before and whose face she’s having a touch of trouble remembering. He’s late, she’s oscillating between panic and…