Life around us

Carrying it on with more than thanks: what can young people do to be worthy of those who came before?

Miscellany - Life around us - Thanks offered to an earlier generation becomes most convincing when it turns into a way of living. Learning a trade properly, working honestly, caring for a family, protecting what is held in commo ..

29/10/2026
4,994

Letters, photographs and keepsakes: learning gratitude for earlier generations through family memory

Miscellany - Life around us - Gratitude towards earlier generations usually begins with very small things: a faded photograph, a carefully folded letter, a work notebook or a story told again and again over dinner. Once we ask a ..

19/10/2026
4,802

A city is clean and safe because of people who start their working day before we do

Miscellany - Life around us - While most of the city is still asleep, many people are already sweeping the streets, collecting rubbish, checking gates and getting spaces ready so that a new day can run normally. Seeing the work ..

12/10/2026
5,020

One phone-free hour a day: a small gap for returning to real life

Miscellany - Life around us - A phone-free hour is not a war against technology. It is a small experiment to see how your hands, your attention and your conversations change when the device is out of reach. The value comes from ..

10/10/2026
4,770

Small rituals that keep a family close inside a busy schedule

Miscellany - Life around us - A family is not kept close only by big trips. A fixed mealtime, a short call or tending a plant together can become an anchor in a busy week. A ritual is not the same as a rigid obligation A family ..

09/10/2026
4,963

Repair instead of replacing in a hurry: a small habit for a sturdier home and less waste

Miscellany - Life around us - A button that has come off, a loose chair leg or a cupboard handle that rattles is not necessarily the end of the object. Repair extends the life of what you own and teaches you your home, but a goo ..

01/10/2026
4,885

A happy family is not a family that never argues

Miscellany - Life around us - Disagreement turns up in every family made of real people. What marks out a healthy relationship is not the number of arguments but the way people keep each other safe, stay on the issue, and come b ..

30/09/2026
5,018

Do not only ask your child what they scored — ask whether they were happy today

Miscellany - Life around us - Marks give part of the picture about learning, but they do not describe a child's whole day. The question “were you happy today?” opens a door onto friendships, fears, curiosity and the things a chi ..

27/09/2026
5,185

Siblings scattered in different places: how do you keep the bond from fading?

Miscellany - Life around us - As children, siblings share a room and a meal. As adults, work, marriage and distance mean closeness is no longer automatic. From then on the bond has to be tended with deliberate habits. Do not get ..

23/09/2026
4,996

From a greeting to a liveable neighbourhood: connecting with neighbours while keeping your privacy

Miscellany - Life around us - Relationships with neighbours rarely begin with something big. A regular greeting, a heads-up before building work, or taking in a parcel can build a thin but important layer of trust. Closeness tha ..

21/09/2026
5,098

The stories from grandparents that families should record while they still can

Miscellany - Life around us - One day the old photograph will still be there, but no one will remember who is standing in it. Recording what grandparents have to say is not a grand project; it is a way of keeping names, voices a ..

20/09/2026
5,030

The Meaning of the Cold Food Festival for Vietnamese People

Miscellany - Life around us - Although originating from China, the Cold Food Festival (Tết Hàn thực) of Vietnamese people still possesses its own distinct nuances, deeply imbued with Vietnamese culture. Every year, on the 3rd da ..

04/08/2026
5,119

Coffee for the Soul

Miscellany - Life around us - Each of us has our own quiet space in our soul. But because no one shows it, you cannot see it. I, an introvert, have never thought that I belonged to the noisy, rushed crowd. Being alone with the q ..

01/08/2026
5,260

How Hotel Star Ratings Are Calculated

Miscellany - Life around us - Basically, to be rated, a hotel needs to meet standards for service, amenities, cleanliness, location, and price. The hotel star rating system is widely recognized as a way to determine the overall ..

30/07/2026
4,935

WHY LIVING AN ORDINARY LIFE IS A WONDERFUL THING?

Miscellany - Life around us - MIRACULOUS EVERYDAY LIFE: WHY LIVING AN ORDINARY LIFE IS A WONDERFUL THING? We live in an era that excessively admires extraordinary lives—lives that most of us will never attain. Our heroes have bu ..

30/07/2026
5,103

Comparing Arabica and Robusta Coffee: Which One Tastes Better?

Miscellany - Life around us - The preference between Arabica and Robusta coffee usually depends on personal taste and the intended use of the coffee. Both types of coffee have distinct characteristics and flavor profiles, and it ..

30/07/2026
4,787

A Series of Collages Contrasting Two Realities

Miscellany - Life around us - Artist ugurgallen makes a strong impression with a series of collages contrasting two realities. Each frame juxtaposes joy and tragedy, art and war, forcing viewers to reflect on the modern world. i ..

30/07/2026
4,828

The Calligraphers on Hang Bo Street, near Tet in 1907, there seem to be few customers hiring them to write couplets.

Miscellany - Life around us - The Calligraphers on Hang Bo Street, near Tet in 1907, there seem to be few customers hiring them to write couplets. But each year they grew fewer Where are the patrons now? The red paper grieves, u ..

30/07/2026
4,852

Understanding the Hippie Lifestyle

Miscellany - Life around us - The hippie movement, sometimes spelled hippy or known by a less common name as flower children, is a movement advocating a lifestyle shift from traditional to unconventional across many aspects. Thi ..

29/07/2026
4,792