Stylish Christmas street decor. [iStockphoto] Is it just me, or does the meaning we attach to holidays metamorphose as the years pass? In the last five years, I’ve noticed feeling a disjointed relationship with Christmas and New Years it feels as if my holiday spirit is still searching for its identity. Whenever December rolls in, it has borne a stark resemblance to any other month of the year for me and, in fact, has felt a tad lonelier than I imagined. For many years in Australia, the holidays were celebrated with chosen family. We cooked and ate too much food,…
Author: By Dorcas Mbugua
Family having Christmas dinner. [Courtesy/GettyImages] Can we all agree that there are extremely dark forces and witchcraft at play, the kind that attack in unexpected ways; like when you have lathered soap to wash your hands in a public establishment and the layer of soap is as thick as a cast on a broken arm, you open the tap and not a drop of water locates you. Imagine this happening on a day when you also sent money to the wrong person, and they were quicker to withdraw than you were at reversing the transaction. These are also the kind of days…
Nakuru residents at Sarova Woodlands Hotel during the traditional cake mixing ceremony that dates back to the 17th century. [Kipsang Joseph, Standard] ‘Tis the season to be jolly but if the nostalgic thoughts are not arrested early, it can quickly turn into the season of folly. The holidays carry different meanings for different people – for some, it is an opportunity to put down the preceding year and bask in the slow pace of upcountry life for a while. For others, it’s business as usual – for people working in the service industry and essential services, there’s scarcely a difference…
A woman with a travel bag walking in the airport. [Courtesy/GettyImages] People in Australia often ask me what it’s like being home, while people in Nairobi ask why I would ever leave Australia. Both questions are framed with the same fear of missing out as a child who sees that every other child around them has a lollipop except them. .fade-out-overlay { position: absolute; top: -80px; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 60px; z-index: 1; background: linear-gradient(to bottom, rgba(255, 255, 255, 0), rgba(255, 255, 255, 1)); } .paywall-container { position: relative; max-width: 100%; margin: 0 auto; padding: 25px; border: 1px solid…
Australia was the perfect equaliser. In an individualistic culture, no one really cares who you are. Individual freedoms are highly revered and respected – you can dye your armpit hair green, you can dress however you choose, you can actually hold public servants accountable. There’s even the option of deciding whether or not a higher power exists. I remember a time when my dad learned the hard way that Western culture was an entirely different kettle of fish, and when I also simultaneously began to brandish powers never before accessed in my African upbringing. I was fortunate that my…
There was a time I was dangerously close to securing a lifelong tenure inside the moral high ground. Living in a society like Australia has its perks and pitfalls, with the downside of going against even the simplest law amounting to severe consequences that will make you question your own intelligence. First world societies operate with painstaking precision – speeding and reckless driving on the road is regulated and heavily punished, healthcare in Australia is free for residents and citizens, and keeping time is the norm. Follow The Standard channel on WhatsApp Drink driving could lead to losing the right…
Heavy rainfall in Nairobi causing disruption and making it difficult for people and motorists. June 20, 2025. [Jonah Onyango, Standard] The worst kind of loneliness might be the one that lingers even whilst surrounded by people. Once again, I was translating myself even to my own kinsmen. Living abroad had challenged the very fibre of my being, and the result was severe independence of thought, action and beliefs. Australia was a great teacher: some lessons were very difficult, others were enlightening, others unexpected. Having to chart my own path as an adult resulted in me facing various versions of myself…
More often than not, living as a migrant means eternally existing in a long-distance emotional marathon. The suitcase is never fully shut, yet old realities must be cast aside even temporarily, to make room for the new: new identities, new cultures, new accents, new rituals and, in my case, predominantly GMO food. .fade-out-overlay { position: absolute; top: -80px; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 60px; z-index: 1; background: linear-gradient(to bottom, rgba(255, 255, 255, 0), rgba(255, 255, 255, 1)); } .paywall-container { position: relative; max-width: 100%; margin: 0 auto; padding: 25px; border: 1px solid #e0e0e0; border-radius: 8px; box-shadow: 0 2px 10px rgba(0,…
Kenya is not for beginners – another lesson I learned ‘kwa ground’. I migrated back to Kenya in 2020, reverse migration if you will – I had lived in Australia 13 years by that point, and after slowly and gradually losing a battle with the voices in my head, I tendered my resignation in favour of the unknown, unexplainable forces were pulling me back home. To the untrained eye including my own, my choices made little sense. Worse still, it’s a severely impossible feat to attempt to explain choices resulting from voices that only I can hear. In my case, what I can say for…
A woman studying in the library. [Courtesy/GettyImages] At the time, it was a no-brainer for me, I would take up the offer to remain in Australia for 6 months without breaking the law or breaching visa conditions, so I could think about how I wanted my life to unfold. In those six months, I stayed grounded in my desire to find myself. My identity had been shaken and as a result, my self-esteem gradually eroded. I found no joy in my studies nor my surroundings – I didn’t enjoy even the most basic things like eating – my tastebuds had…
When an international student is granted a visa to study abroad, that visa will usually have conditions imposed. For Australia, those conditions will usually include restrictions on hours of work, and conditions imposed on the mode of study – as a general rule of thumb, international students must attend a minimum of 80 per cent of their classes in person. In 2011, I found myself in a predicament: I had been left inside my head without supervision. The result of this was a failure to attend classes for weeks. Follow The Standard channel on WhatsApp At the time, I had…
Residential houses in a Rockingham Suburb – Western Australia. [Courtesy/GettyImages] People out here are going about their day-to-day business as usual, but do they know I was almost deported from Australia? Let’s all repeat together – We read, and we don’t judge. As promised last week, I offer a glimpse into my life as an international student in Australia, with my motivation being two-fold: Firstly, I provide information that I wish someone had provided me when I was at the decision-making stage of studying abroad, and that I may serve as a walking cautionary tale and that through sharing experiences, we can use them as…
It was amazing grace that kept me in Australia as an international student. The journey of international education is one that I know very well, having migrated to Australia at the age of 19 to pursue tertiary education in Adelaide, South Australia. I completed my International Baccalaureate in May of 2007 and two months later, I was sat on a single bed in student accommodation on a brutally cold July day in Adelaide – unprecedented chills for this child of Africa. Just like that, it was just me. My mum had travelled with me to Adelaide and stayed the maximum…
A hand signing an agreement form. [Courtesy/GettyImages] The quickest way to know whether an education agent is a legitimate partner for an international education institution (whether college or university), is to search for them on the website of the institution you wish to attend. Most, if not all, Australian universities will have a section on their website with a comprehensive list of all agents they partner with and their regions, together with how to contact them. This process is free – and yet many Kenyans have paid dearly and fell victim to scams by rogue agents. Certain regions in the country have…