2001

The Notting Hill Thrill

Perhaps made famous to foreigners thanks to Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts in the film of the same name, this part of London is really on the map because of the annual carnival in August, second only to Rio de Janeiro's.

If you imagine the Notting Hill Carnival as a colourful, loud and fast moving pageant, you are wrong. It is far more resplendent and clamorous, and way too crowded to move with any speed at all - the streets are not as wide as in Rio!

2001

Get a Diet, Get Fat

In the all-American health kick, it's not sport but food that's at the center of the obsession with healthy living. But have they got it all wrong?

2001

The American Gambler - it's in our blood!

If you wanna make big bucks, beware: America encourages the gambling addiction....

2001

Return to Eden

In March this year a feat of architectural technology opened in the English county of Cornwall. From inside one of man's most modern buildings, the Eden Project brings you something as old as the world - Nature.

2001

Sept. 11 - A Day That Will Long Be Remembered

Where were you on September 11? What were you doing? And how did you react when you first learned about the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington? That day is likely to be remembered by many World of English readers, just as their parents recall the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the day martial law was declared in 1981 and when a Pole was elected pope three years earlier.

2001

Only Joking!

The Smiths were proud of their American family tradition. Their ancestors had arrived in America on the Mayflower. Their family included senators and Wall Street wizards.

They decided to compile a family history, a legacy for their children and grandchildren. They hired a fine author. Only one problem arose: how to handle great-uncle George, who had been executed in the electric chair. The author said he could handle the story tactfully.

2001

To a Certain Degree

America draws thousands of foreign students every year. If youre interested, remember the famous American can-do attitude and our saying, Where theres a will, theres a way!

2001

Working Capital

London offers the best of what can be expected of any European capital: excellent galleries and museums, fantastic bars and clubs - and a top quality education. It's difficult to resist the pull of London when making your choice of where to study abroad, so Jan Majdecki opted for it. Here he describes briefly how to get into a British university. But be warned: it doesn't come cheap!

2001

And the Winner Is ...

Except in New Orleans, Americans don't celebrate Carnival properly. So we fill the dreary season between New Year's Day and Easter with Oscar madness: lists, speculation and arguments and, when the big day comes, big parties in Hollywood and New York City, elsewhere a beer in front of the TV, and in London a middle-of-the-night mug of hot chocolate.

2001

A-Z of Slang

"Slang" is the secret argot of a group of people who share a similar lifestyle, sub-culture or workplace. Its purpose is to conceal the meaning of what is being said from those outside of the group. The Polish slang used in prisons, for example, (grypserka) is meant to conceal what is being said from the prison guards.

2001