Postcard from Bishkek

Today is the Day of Kyrgyz Literature. Because the nomadic Kyrgyz had no written language until the twentieth century and relied on oral tradition, most of the information about them come from external sources such as the Chinese Chronicles. That is not to say that there was no literature. The stories of the nomadic Kyrgyz […]

These days I often wonder how we survived without the conveniences of modern day life such as mobile phones and the internet – especially Wikipedia … Back in 1950′s we acquired something that changed out lives in much the same way – the television set.  Like a Russian icon, it was put into a corner […]

World Diabetes Day is part of a global awareness campaign which is held on November 14th of each year.  The event is commemorated in over 145 countries around the world – including, of course, Kyrgyzstan. This date was chosen as it marks the birthday of Frederick Banting – who, along with Charles Best, first conceived […]

Yesterday was another one of those days … as well as being the International Day against the Death Penalty, October 10th is also World Mental Health Day,(or WMHDAY). WMHDAY was first celebrated twenty years ago, in 1992, at the initiative of the World Federation for Mental Health, (WFMH - a global mental health organization with members and […]

Today is the World Day Against the Death Penalty. The first such day was launched in 2003 by the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, which unites various organizations from all over the world, (international non-governmental organisations, (NGOs), bar associations, unions and local governments). The death penalty, (otherwise known by the less emotive term Capital […]

September 20th each year is another one of those “professional holidays” commemorated here in Kyrgyzstan: it is Entrepreneurs’ Day. The word is a loan word derived from French and is used to describe someone who undertakes a business venture accepting the risk involved in the possibility of failure …  someone who is enterprising and shows […]

Today is World No Tobacco Day.  It was established by the World Health Organization, (WHO), in 1987 to draw global attention to the widespread use of tobacco and the negative effects on health which this has, (currently leading to millions of deaths worldwide each year).   It aims to encourage a 24-hour period of abstinence from all […]

Today is WMD – no, that’s nothing to do with “Weapons of Mass Destruction”, but World Meteorological Day – another one of those special UN Designated Days. This one was to commemorate the establishment of the World Meteorological Organization in 1950, based on the International Meteorological Organization which was originally founded in Vienna in 1873 […]

Apparently, yesterday was Customer Service Day … or was it? “Customer Service Day is on January the 17th. At least, it is in America. Not sure about the rest of the world.”  That’s what the article on the internet said … but I couldn’t find any other reference to it.

I like to surprise people sometimes by doing unusual things – like celebrating Beethoven’s Birthdayevery year,  (that’s December 16th, by the way).  Some people assume that I do this because I am a great fan of the composer but, although I do like his work, that’s not the original reason behind it.  It’s all to […]