You might have seen the photos of the Ukrainian female border guards or passport control staff having makeovers ready to greet the football fans. What you have to understand is that women in uniform over there always dress up to look their best. Police women wear high heels on duty – as you can see [...]
and Moldova, and Bulgaria. South Korea, the global leader, narrowly pipped Lithuania with an average download speed almost three times that of the UK. MacUser magazine isn’t one in which I would expect to find an article about Lithuania but there it was in the latest issue: “UK broadband getting faster, but still nothing to [...]
unless you are a German businessman. The Knigge Society, a body set up to preserve etiquette, is not happy and is complaining. It says that kissing has become commonplace with men and women kissing each other in the office and in meetings. Traditionally Germans are taught to keep a respectful distance (60 cm is recommended), [...]
What can we offer you to renew your contract? Free language lessons? 5 weeks holiday? How about a free boob job? A report in the New York Times described how nurses in the Czech Republic were offered such perks. One nurse in the private sector who opted for the cosmetic surgery had breast enhancement and [...]
The first time I went to Ukraine in 2003 friends took me to the Chernobyl Museum. I can’t say I really knew a lot about what happened 130 km north of Kyiv, now Ukraine’s capital city, in April 1986. But walking round the museum, seeing the remnants of everyday village life that survived – broken [...]
Cornish pasties have now got protected status under the EU Protected Geographical Indication rules which lay down the composition and appearance of this working man’s delicacy. So, just like Cornish clotted cream, Cornish pasties can only be made in Cornwall. There are 40 or so British food products similarly protected but we are way behind [...]
Hungary has just taken over the presidency of the EU for the next six months and already its hard-line Prime Minister has been criticised for introducing legislation seen as undemocratic – such as giving his government control over the media to maintain “balance”. The German socialists are particularly unhappy with Mr Orban because of this [...]
Witches in Romania are up in arms because they are going to be taxed. The tax office says they earn a good living from casting spells and putting curses on people. The witches, led by “queen witch” Bratara Buzea, are now planning to retaliate in the only way they know how – by putting a [...]
