I’m 36, and originally from Australia, but now I live in Kent. I came here in 2006 on a PhD scholarship, and am now a lecturer in political science at the University of Greenwich, a job that I enjoy. Before living in England I spent two years in Japan teaching English.
I love cycling, both as a means on transport and as a hobby, particularly cycle touring. I’ve always wanted to go on a long distance tour, but study and now work commitments have meant that shorter trips are more realistic. I also enjoy rock climbing, which I did a lot of in Australia. However, south-eastern England is not well known for its abundance of rock climbing locations, so this is something I do less often than I’d like.
I started reading the international editions of the Guardian and the Observer in the late 1990s as an undergraduate student in Australia. I was initially attracted to them because many of the Australian papers, even the broadsheets, were (and often still are) very focused on Australian-centric stories, and I wanted to read about issues and events beyond my national border. One of the cafes I used to go to stocked copies for customers, so I would go in and read them on a weekly basis.
I still read the Guardian and the Observer now for much the same reasons – they both have a healthy dose of international news and analysis, in addition to domestic. Indeed, it is one of the papers/websites that I urge my students to consult on a regular basis. Being a cricket fan (let’s not talk about the Ashes), I enjoy the cricket writing, and more recently the “You are the Umpire”. My only real criticism is the lack of substantial AFL (Australian Football League) coverage!
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