Nigel O Mahony

Hello, my name is Nigeria, and I come from Iceland. This is the inevitable impression I have to battle against in my introduction classes. My name is tricky to pronounce for my students here, so I get that they find Nigel hard to say, but I am still baffled as to why they have no idea what or where Ireland is. Well I’m not really surprised that they don't know about Ireland, but more that they do know about Iceland. I don’t think kids in Europe would know exactly where Iceland is; yet 90% of these kids know exactly where it is. They always point out Iceland on the map when I bribe them with coins to guess where Ireland is (even after I’ve showed them the map of what Ireland looks like!). They sometimes even ... read more

Jet Program Nearly 10 months after handing in my application for the JET (Japanese Exchange and Training) program, here I am, finally in Japan. I knew I wanted to teach English abroad somewhere, and by far and away the JET program was the best of all the options I saw. It is the largest exchange and training program in the world! It differs from other TEFL jobs mainly because the Japanese government directly hires you through their embassy in your home country. The JET community is very large and useful, and I have contacts in every prefecture in Japan, so it is amazing for travelling in not just Fukui, but all of Japan! The other big difference is that half our job on JET is teaching English, the other half is teaching and learning culture or ... read more

Vital statistics: -Total Distance: 2700km -Longest Day: Day 9, Udaipur to Jodhpur at 12 hours -Falls: 1 on gravel(day 9), 1 on sand(day 14) -Punctures: 1 on Day 9 (overtaking a big truck) -Close Calls: every second day -Closest Call: Day 14, Rich getting run off the road by a tractor at about 50kmph (still don’t know how he kept it together, on what was essentially rubble, and didn’t crash) -Engines damaged: mine on day 12, Richies’ on day 15 lol (Piston knocking) -Cows seen on road: circa 5000 -Most common hazards: Merging traffic, camels, roundabouts(they’re a hoot), cows, local busses, dogs, local busses, bricks, local busses, gravel, local busses, potholes, LOCAL BUSSES -Traffic Police: none seen in 15 days outside Delhi -Worst roads: Day 15 -Most dangerous traffic: Day 15 -Did I mention day 15 ... read more

Darjeeling used to be the main British hill top retreat when the Raj was ruled from Calcutta. From here they could manage the empire during the stifling heat of the Indian summer. And my what a spot they picked! Situated in the north-east of the country, up high in the hills with magnificent views of the Himalayas, and rolling tea plantations covering the hillsides, it is one of my favourite spots in Asia. It is like a different country compared to the rest of India, more like Tibet or Nepal. Many Tibetan refugees fled here when China annexed Tibet, and Nepali workers used to tend to the plantations, so an interesting cultural diversity exists here. Darj is clean and spacious (no dust and it even had bins!), has some beautiful guest houses, and the people were ... read more

Kathmandu – Home Sweet Home Its funny how a place that felt completely alien to us 3 weeks prior on arrival, now on our return seemed like our home. We expected cows to be patrolling the streets, we expected rubbish to be all over the place, we expected people to be trying to push tiger balm on us like it was the absolute business! We strolled around the streets of Thamel relaxed and feeling like locals; we knew where to get jacks paper and Cadbury's treats now... we were invincible! No amount of tiger balm or chessboard toting touts could put a damper on our day:-) We were lucky to get to Kathmandu that day at all though as we had missed the tourist bus, which leaves Pokhara daily at the insanely early time of 8am. ... read more