Liebster Award

Last week, a nice little surprise greeted me in the form of a Liebster Award nomination. My friend, David Long, who writes about positivity and gives advice on life, from the prosaic to the extraordinary (you can check out his site here), is the culprit. Thank you, David!

So the rules are as follows:

• Post the award on your blog.
• Thank the blogger who presented this award and link back to their blog.
• Write 11 random facts about yourself.
• Nominate 11 bloggers who you feel deserve this award.
• Answer 11 questions posted by the presenter and ask your nominees 11 questions.

Random facts about myself:

1. I am the fourth of eight children.

2. I like cheese and prosciutto.

3. I make a really mean green curry.

4. I am secularized.

5. I like peace. A lot.

6. I like airplanes because they symbolize mobility.

7. I prefer mom and pop to franchise, but I also drink a lot of Salted Caramel Mocha Frappuccinos.

8. I trade on the stock market. Emerging markets, specifically.

9. I am fluent in four languages, but don’t have a clue how to type the tildes on the keyboard. The “Alt +” just confuses me.

10. I dream of working in a bookstore and getting paid minimum and being ok with that.

11. I am always inconsistent.

My Nominees for the Liebster Award are the following (please click on the links and do visit their blogs):

1. Jujufilms for the unpretentious snapshots of African life, yam dowries and all.

2. tellthemisaidsomething because we all dream of dropping everything and setting off into the great blue yonder.

3. thelifeofm23 for the struggles and rewards in rebuilding her family after the passing of a loved one.

4. Ruins and Relics because history is awesome and Rome should be in everybody’s bucket list.

5. goeatrepeat for unbiased reviews of food I hope to eat some day. But no Chickpea Crepe at Le Cocon. Mon Dieu!

6. acbistro because Andy cooks Indian food (open a restaurant already!) and school teachers rock!

7. The Squeaky Robot Everybody finds their way to Southeast Asia, eventually. Let the Squeaky Robot give you an excellent introduction.

8. Domestic Urbanite I tend to fry everything. But now, I am enlightened. Filipino food made easy.

9. The Journey Within Betsy decided to become a flight attendant to have more time to write, showing everybody it’s never too late to become somebody else, to do something else. At fifty!

10. Teach.Travel.Taste says it all.

11. Ultimatunu Ingkasi and Ruth Aaqqii’s blog on the everyday life of Greenlanders.

Answers to David’s Questions:

1. How long have you been blogging?

Three months now.

2. What do you intend to achieve through blogging?

I wasn’t so sure at first and then I realized it was connection that I had needed. I needed to connect to a community much bigger than I have.

3. Are you a happy man/woman? Care to share your reason?

I am a happy man because I have learned to make peace with the fact that once in awhile, I will be sad.

4. What is your goal in life now?

Finish law school.

5. What’s next for you in life after achieving this current goal?

Walk the Camino de Santiago and write about it.

6. What is your favorite past time?

Traveling.

7. Have you ever lived and experienced life in a culture that is different from yours? Can you share your experience with us if you have?

Yes. I have lived in Thailand for school (which was a couple of blocks form Patpong, and you know what that entails). Although most of my classmates were from the UK, I tried to get as much local experiences as I could by scouring little towns and beach huts on the weekends. I am not Thai, but thai food runs in my blood primarily because I’ve ingested so much. I’ve also made a lot of friends in Phi phi when I volunteered to help rebuild homes after the tsunami.

8. Spring / Summer / Autumn / Winter – Which is your favorite?

Autumn.

9. Coke or Pepsi? (Neither is also an option!)

Coke.

10. Can you take a joke?

I am a walking joke.

11. Do you like David Long?

Yep (you know it).

And finally, here are my eleven questions:

1. Do you ever see your blog shutting down? And for what possible reason?

2. If you were somebody else somewhere, what would you be and where?

3. What’s the first thing you do after waking up?

4. What’s the last thing you do before falling asleep?

5. When and how was the last time you felt so down and out?

6. Mac or Windows?

7. What are you currently working on?

8. What’s your average blog word count?

9. If you have a dollar, what would you buy right now?

10. What is your wish for the world besides world peace?

11. What’s the first word that comes to your mind after this?