Christmas out-foreign (or the year I was asleep by 11pm because I ate too much)

Christmas crept up on me completely. Whatever ‘Christmas spirit’ is supposed to be, it bypassed me until Christmas Day itself … More

Where I write about my first Thanksgiving in America!

The reason for this blog, ostensibly, is to cast an eye on America through the eyes of an outsider, an … More

I write all the time here about things that are different from home, but I was thinking this week that … More

What’s more American than tipping? That infuriating system that makes a $50 meal cost at least $60, where you end … More

I don’t exactly ‘get’ the whole impeachment business. Joe Soaps like me need the complexities of events interpreted for us … More

Chicago’s Art Institute is perhaps one of my favourite places on earth, and certainly in this city. I love to … More

Not me. I’m not hating on Greta Thunberg, I’m a massive fan. And I cannot understand why anyone would disagree … More

The other night Greta Thunberg was asked what differences she saw between the climate movement in Europe and the US … More

I think this is what a listicle is. Here’s ten things I really like about the US/Chicago. As an aside, … More

For decades the Conservative Party (or the Tories as they’re more widely called) have been squabbling about the European Union. The … More

“It wasn’t a conscious thing, but I noticed as the weeks passed that I didn’t feel like an anonymous stranger in this city anymore”

In 2019 it’s awful hard not to look around the world and wonder at all that could have been prevented … More

I’ve started watching Queer Eye, the Netflix revival of the hit show from the 2000s where five gay men – … More

American consumer trends tend to find their way across the Atlantic Ocean, whether it’s via roll-out by a global corporation, … More

I was watching the Democrat debates on Tuesday night when I came across a Guardian article challenging the portrayal in … More

I think about immigration and race all the time. The traces of those who came before me are everywhere in … More

I didn’t buy into the whole sea-to-shining-sea business on Thursday but I was more than happy to participate and be swept up in it. Like a big Yank.

Rogers Park is a suburb in northern Chicago, on the banks of Lake Michigan and ten miles from Navy Pier … More

Springfield, IL is the state capital of Illinois. It has no nuclear powerplant, but Abraham Lincoln is buried there and … More

I’m on Twitter and I’m a constant delight; @doireannmarkham Making friends is not something I’ve had to think about for … More