About Me (…and what you have gotten yourself into)

 

Welcome!

Thanks for taking the time to stop by my blog!

You’ll occasionally read a rant (or two) about my thoughts on various social injustices but you may also see me reviewing the latest teas that I want you to know about.

I love Japan. My literary, food and tea choices will often reflect this love of the country I hope to visit one day.

I adore travel and photography. Photographs allow me to immortalise fleeting moments and then share them with the world. I’m not a professional by any means. I discovered a love of street art and graffiti over a number of years of travel in a job I was surprised that I loved (and now miss!) I have amassed quite a collection of amateur photos that you’ll see from time to time!

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Taken by me in Lausanne, Switzerland

 

I am a former bookseller and law student blogger (you can read my old blogs here if you so wish. In fact, I encourage it!) I was quite the ranter in my student days! Anyway, my experience as a bookseller has only perpetuated my addiction to reading, talking about reading and purchasing more things to read on paper or electronic format.

I am a lover of languages. French, English (in all of its quirks and exceptions to all of its rules), Japanese. (I’m still working on Japanese! Hai!) I’d love to be fluent in at least 5 languages in my lifetime!

What’s in the name?

I can speak French, albeit not fluently but can understand more than I can speak. One half of my parents is from the French Caribbean (sort of, does St. Lucia count?) Therefore, I have a Creole (KWEYOL in patios) brain and French sounds like second nature to me.  The name came out of a combination of the two things that I enjoy; Tea and Books.

I hope you will find something interesting to read. Learn something you didn’t know before. Leave my blog feeling enlightened. Happy. Intrigued. Adventurous. Inspired.

See you around!

Jam xx

36 thoughts on “About Me (…and what you have gotten yourself into)”

  3. Hi Jam

    I have nominated your blog for the Liebster Award. Not sure if you are aware of this Award. It is to recognise and promote new up and coming blogs of a good standard with less than 200 followers.

    If you visit my post in the link it explains about it and you will see where I have listed you as a nominee.

    I look forward to seeing your post.

    See – https://cultivatingtime.wordpress.com/2015/11/24/i-am-hit-girl-living-in-a-magical-treehouse-surrounded-by-daffodils/

    From Debra

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  5. Wow, how can I not follow you when you love everything I love – travel, photography, languages, food … lovely to stumble across your blog. I look forward to reading more. Cheers from a kindred blogger in Australia.

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    1. Thank you very much for stopping by and don’t mention it. I’ve been reading your blog and like the way that you have discussed some pretty sensitive issues. Very brave and I like your blog! 🙂 Come back again soon. Books and tea are awesome!

      Like

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  10. Pingback: The Versatile Blogger Award! – lifexperimentblog

  11. You have such a great site here and I really hope you peg down that UK Blog Award! In the spirit of peer recognition, and since your blog offers so much, I put you down for this versatile blogger award 🙂 Best Regards for a successful and happy 2016!

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    1. Thank you so much for your kind words mliae and for stopping by my blog 🙂 I’m also very honoured to receive your award! I will get my post up soon! 2016 is 366 days of opportunities to be seized!

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  14. You seem like a very welcoming person with a diverse set of interests. If you don’t mind me asking, what are some tips you’d be willing to share about learning languages? I’m slowly teaching myself Spanish, and would welcome any advice you’d be willing to give.

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    1. Hello Josh, thanks for stopping by the blog and for your lovely comment 🙂 I’m by no means fluent in lots of languages but can hold simple conversations in Spanish (though my pronunciation is rubbish) and French. There are quite a few great apps out there and I would also recommend trying to listen to native speakers. Ideally, spending some time in the country, so that you can practice your skills, helps! It depends on what aspect of the language that you are trying to focus on: Writing, speaking or reading.

      What are you currently using for your self -studies?

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  15. Thanks for your detailed response! My pronunciation in Spanish is actually good (or so I’ve been told), but my grasp of the grammar and vocab are less so. I mostly use Spanish All-in-One for Dummies, from which I construct note cards that I review daily. I say everything out loud, with the hope that eventually the repetition will beat the information into my brain. Not literally; I don’t hit my head on things.

    I also use a CD that came with the dummies book, and frequently watch Univision (a Spanish channel) and listen to a Latino radio station to get used to hearing the language. I’d love to be part of a Spanish language club or something like that, but I have been unable to locate any within reasonable driving distance.

    Which apps do you recommend?

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    1. Don’t mention it Josh. When I was toying with teaching myself Japanese, I used apps that only focused on Japanese. I could learn the various characters using it etc. For European languages, I like Duolingo but I have been recommended Busuu. Duolingo is probably for an absolute beginner and it sounds like you have had quite a bit of exposure to the language. I wonder if there are any language forums that you could get involved in so that you could correspond with native speakers and work on the grammatical part. I just remember practising various conjugations of verbs and learning tenses and sentence structure in school. Ultimately all the things you are doing will help – go you! 🙂 Reading a Spanish novel might also help you to see the sentence formation and expressions!

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