Seven Wonders of the World

There have been a few versions of the "seven wonders of the world."  The oldest list, known as the "classic" seven wonders were located around the Mediterranean and the Middle East.  Of the classic wonders, only one, the Great Pyramid of Giza, still exists.

1.  Great Pyramid of Giza in El Giza, Egypt.
2.  Colossus of Rhodes, was located in Rhodes, Greece.
3.  Hanging Gardens of Babylon, in Babylon, Iraq.
4.  Lighthouse of Alexandria, in Alexandria, Egypt.
5.  Mausoleum at Halicarnassus in present-day Turkey.
6.  Statue of Zeus in Olympia, Greece.
7.   Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, Turkey.   

Next month, we're off to Kuşadasi for a week and will visit Ephesus.  I'll get to see what's left of the Temple of Artemis and will be the only item on the classic list I'll have seen.

The Seven Wonders of the Middle Ages include:
1.  Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa in Alexandria, Egypt.
2.  Colosseum in Rome, Italy.   
3.  Great Wall of China, in China.
4.  Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey.
5.  Leaning Tower of Pisa in Pisa, Italy.
6.  Porcelain Tower of Nanjing, in Nanjing, China.
7.  Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England, UK.

So far I've managed to see four of seven from this list.  I missed out on going to Nanjing during my Shanghai trip due to rain.

In 1994, the American Society of Civil Engineers paid tribute to the what they thought were the greatest civil engineering achievements of the 20th century by releasing their list of Seven Wonders to the Modern World.

1.  Channel Tunnel, between the UK and France.

2.  CN Tower in Toronto, Canada.

3.  Empire State Building in New York City, USA.

4.  Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California, USA.

5.  Itaipú Dam between Brazil and Paraguay.

6.  Delta and Zuiderzee Works in the Netherlands.

7.  Panama Canal in Panama.

From this list I've been to the Empire State Building and the Golden Gate Bridge.  Toronto's been on my list of places to visit for years but who knows when I'll get a chance to visit Canada.

In 2001, a New Seven Wonders of the World was released.  The Great Pyramid of Giza didn't make the list but was added later as an honorary mention.

1.  Great Wall of China.

2.  Petra in Jordan.

3.  Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

4.  Machu Picchu in Peru.

5.  Chichén Itzá in Mexico.

6.  Colosseum in Italy.

7.  Taj Mahal in India.  

From this list I've been to the Great Wall, Petra, Christ the Redeemer, and the Colosseum.  Back in 2007, Steven and I were getting our MBAs from Georgia State University.  We did a two-week study abroad programme in Argentina and Brazil.  One of my favourite memories is of us in a helicopter flying around Jesus's head in Rio.

Ephesus for sure will be the next place from all of these lists that I'll see.  Beyond that, who knows?  The Taj Mahal and the Great Pyramid are both on my bucket list.  Stonehenge would probably be the easiest to visit.

Commonwealth of Nations

Today is the 5th of November which is Guy Fawkes night.  So Happy Bonfire night to all of my Commonwealth peeps.  

Here's a bit about the Commonwealth of Nations.

The Commonwealth of Nations is a political association of 56 countries, most of which, 52 of them, were once part of the British Empire either as colonies or dependencies.

With the passing of Queen Elizabeth II's passing, Charles III immediately succeeded his mother as monarch of the Commonwealth realm even though he has not yet be crowned king.

Once Charles III will be king, he will be both monarch and head of state, of the 15 countries of the Commonwealth realm.

These 15 countries are the United Kingdom, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, the Bahamas, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu.

There are five countries that have other monarchs but are still a part of the Commonwealth.  These five are Brunei, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malaysia, and Tonga.

The remaining 36 members of the Commonwealth are all republics.  They include Bangladesh, Barbados,  Botswana, Cameroon, Cyprus, Dominica, Fiji, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guyana, India, Kenya, Kiribati, Malawi, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Nigeria, Pakistan, Rwanda, Samoa, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, Vanuatu, and Zambia.

The Commonwealth consists of 31,5 million km² (12.2 million square miles) which is about 21% of the world's total land area.  The Commonwealth countries are home to 2,4 billion people which is about ⅓ of the world's population with 94% living in Asia and Africa.

There's no requirement that a member has to have been a British colony.  Mozambique, Rwanda, and Gabon never were.  The Commonwealth Charter states that members have shared values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

The human rights thing is a bit funny to me.  The UK left a legacy of anti-homosexuality laws, particularly during the 19th century, at the height of the British Empire.  Being gay is still a criminal offence in more than 30 Commonwealth countries.  There's a direct link between anti-gay law and increased rates of HIV.  While the Commonwealth accounts for about a ⅓ of the world's population it has more than 60% of the world's HIV cases.    

Membership in the Commonwealth isn't forever.  Ireland was the first country to leave.  It left when the country became a republic.  Prior to India becoming a republic the rules were changed so that India could remain a member.  Zimbabwe left in 2003 but it is now trying to rejoin.  Other potential members currently include Somaliland, South Sudan, Suriname, and Burundi.

The three Crown dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey, and the Isle of Man aren't happy with only being represented by the UK.  All three want to have direct representation with the Commonwealth.

The Commonwealth Games are held every four years.  They began in 1930 as the Empire Games.  They contain the usual Summer Olympic events plus "British" sports like bowls, netball and rugby sevens.  The next games take place in 2026 in Victoria, Australia.

Update August 2023:  Looks like it's getting too expensive for cities to host the Commonwealth Games.  Two cities have withdrawn their bids for upcoming games.  Here's a BBC report about it.

©BBC News

Geetha's Farewell Lunch

Today was Geetha's farewell lunch.  I've more or less worked with Geetha the whole time that I've been here in Czechland.  She worked in India with my team located in Brno.  She's always been a rock star so several years ago I sorted out a transfer for her to Brno.  Then a few years later, we worked together in a different team before I left to do something else.

But after more than five years in Brno she's ready to go back home.  That's one of the things about expats.  For the most part they come and then one day go back to their home country or head to the next adventure.

When I first moved here I thought that I'd be here for 2, maybe 3 years, and then either head back to the USA or perhaps end up in another country.  Yet, even after almost 13 years, I don't have any plans to leave Brno.

Safe travels back to Bangalore Geetha!  We'll miss you!!

Expat or Immigrant?

So what's the difference between an expat and an immigrant?  Both terms apply to people who live outside of their native country.  An expatriate, or expat for short, is usually someone living and/or working in a foreign country, usually temporarily and for work reasons.  Most of the time, expats either return to their native country, or move on to another, but not always.  When I would hear "expat" I would immediately think of American authors James Baldwin or Ernest Hemingway living in France.  

This blog is "Christopher's Expat Adventure" because I came to Brno for a two to three year gig with the intention of going back to the USA.  Then after five years I got permanent residency which meant that I could stay in Czechland without having to continually apply for new visas every couple of years.  In my head I was still an expat.

An immigrant, just like an expat, is a person who lives and/or works in a foreign country.  Usually with the intent to remain for good and not return back to their home country.  Now that I'm going to apply for Czech citizenship I suppose that I'm officially an immigrant.  Or am I an expat until I get Czech citizenship?

Quite often it seems that the difference between an expat and immigrant comes down to race, social class, economic status and country of origin.  Expats tend to describe usually white, educated, financially well off professionals working abroad while people working in less prestigious positions are immigrants or even migrant workers.  A well educated person from North Africa working in Europe would more likely be considered an immigrant rather than an expat.

Someone from the Philippines working as a maid in Hong Kong would not be considered an expat.  She most likely wouldn't even be an immigrant but rather a migrant worker.

During the migrant crisis I remember talking to my friends and mentioning that I too was an economic migrant in Europe.  They simply told me that I was the good kind of migrant.  Hmmm...  Yet I still remember that anti-imigrant flyer I received by Zeman supporters.

There are an estimated 6,32 million Americans and 4,7 million British expats living overseas.  I don't know about the British but the majority of Americans living abroad are in Canada and Mexico.

Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait, Jordan, and Singapore are the top five countries with the highest percentage of foreign workers based on their total populations.

Back in 2018, foreigners in here in Czechland made up about 4,7% of the population.  The top three groups coming from Ukraine, Slovakia, and Vietnam.  Brno was home to more than 30.000 foreigners from 150 countries.

In Brno there are around 40.000 Slovaks but I don't think that Czechs really consider Slovaks as foreigners.  For one thing, Slovaks do not have to register for residence like other EU citizens here on work contracts.  So skipping the Slovaks, the biggest groups of foreigners in Brno come from Ukraine, Russia, Vietnam, Romania, India, and Turkey.  All of the American expats are in Prague.

According to the "Brno Expat Survey" that was conducted in 2019 here are some details about the typical Brno expat.

I came to Czechland as an expat and ended up an immigrant.  Hopefully I'll get Czech citizenship and become an American Czech in Brno.  Or would that be a Czech American in Brno?

2018 India Trip Summary

Last week was my whirlwind trip to Bangalore.  On Tuesday, I had Qatar Airways flights from Prague to Doha to Bangalore.  I was ready to drop by the time I got to my hotel at 4 am on Wednesday.


Thursday was the Out & Equal LGBTQ India Forum.  The first of its kind event in India.  It was awesome to meet with executives from so many top Indian companies.

On Thursday night, the hotel held a drag show at the roof top bar.  I can't remember the last time I saw a drag show.  The headliners were Maya The Drag Queen, Rimi Heart, DJ Summer Camp, and Lady Bai.  The show was great!

We couldn't make it too of an evening because we had an IBM leadership workshop that started early Friday morning.

Another excellent day with IBMers from all over the world.  It really is a small IBM world sometimes.  For example, one of the participants from who recently transferred from Australia to Singapore is someone that I knew back in Atlanta.  We hadn't seen each other in probably 12 years.  Well, except for on Facebook.

I also got the chance to catch up with Mirek who used to work in Prague but is now in Singapore.  It's kind of funny that the Czech guy came to India to represent IBM in Singapore while I, the American, was here representing Czechia.

We were so busy that our first chance to even leave the hotel was on Friday night.  Several of us headed out for dinner and to get our first sight of India beyond the hotel lobby.

Rather than fly back home on Friday night, I paid for an extra day so that I could fly out Saturday night (actually super early Sunday morning).  This gave me the chance to see some of the sights in Bangalore during the day on Saturday.

On the way back I had a ten hour layover in Qatar which gave me a few hours to check out Doha.  But sightseeing in 46℃ (115℉) heat was a bit extreme though.

Bangalore, India

Bangalore, in southern India, is home to 12,3 million people making it the country's third-largest city.  This city is bigger than the entire Czech Republic.  Since 2014, the city's name is officially Bengaluru, ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು. 
Bangalore is the English language version.

The city was founded in 1537.

The official language is Kannada while English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu are widely spoken.




Bangalore has one of the world's most highly-educated workforces and the city is considered India's Silicon Valley.




ISKCON Sri Radha Krishna Temple is one of the most famous temples in Bangalore with thousands of visitors daily.  The temple was completed in 1997.

Just don't wear shorts or you'll be walking around with a sheet wrapped around your waist.

Tipu Sultan's Summer Palace was completed in 1791.  Today it is a museum.

Dodda Basavana Gudi, also known as the Nandhi Temple, was built in 1537.  The current tower was built in the early 20th century.

The temple is home to one of the largest bull statues in the world.

Not sure if it was a coincidence, or not, but there was a decorated bull not far away from the temple.



Lalbagh Botanical Gardens dates back to around 1889.  It is home to the country's largest collection of tropical plants.  I was fortunate to catch part of the Independence Day Horticultural Show.



Vidhan Soudha is one of the largest legislative buildings in the city.  It is home to 22 government departments.




Attara Kacheri is the High Court of the Karnataka State of which Bangalore is the state capital.





The Sir Seshadri Iyer Memorial Library is the State Central Library.  It is over 100 years and has a collection of more than 3 million books.




Bangalore Palace was completed in 1862.  It was built to look like a smaller version of Windsor Castle.




Due to the conference, I only had a single day to explore Bangalore so these are just the highlights that I was able to squeeze in.  The thing that stood out the most was the insane traffic.  There is no way that I would ever drive here.

Here's a video I found out on YouTube about the traffic.

©Wild Films India

2018 Out & Equal LGBTQ India Forum

The Out & Equal LGBTQ India Forum was last Thursday in Bengaluru, India.  This was the first time the event has ever been held in Asia Pacific and I was proud to see IBM there as the presenting sponsor.

This was an amazing event with 150 people from over 100 different companies coming together to champion diversity and workplace inclusion.

India has a law called Section 377, which the British introduced in the 1860s, and it carries a life's prison sentence for gay sex.  India's Supreme Court is expected to rule on the constitutionality of 377 and people are hopeful that the law will be overturned soon.

This made me truly appreciate the the Czech Republic is one of the most liberal countries in Central Europe.  In 2006, the country legalised registered partnerships, registrované partnerství, for same-sex couples.  However, this is not the same thing as equal marriage. Currently registered partners have no right to joint property and widow's or widower's pensions.  A bill will be debated in Parliament this Autumn that, if passed, will make Czech Republic the first post-communist country to legalise same-sex marriage.

IBM has a history of being out front when it comes to inclusion.  As of 1.1.2017, IBM is one of the first companies in the country to recognise registered LGBT partnerships in the area of paid time off. So even though the labour law doesn't require a company here to provide paid time off for the following scenarios, IBM does it because it is the right thing to do.

• marriage/registered partnership ceremony
• child birth
• death/burial
• accompany a family member to the health-care facility for examination or treatment in emergency illness or injury and for the planned examination, treatment, or cure.

This type of forward thinking comes from leaders who recognise the value of diversity and inclusion, and who understand that ultimately it's good for business.

On Friday there was a leadership workshop for IBMers from across the world.  It really is a small world and a few people I met before in 2016 at a European LGBT leadership workshop in Amsterdam.

IBMers from Australia, Czech Republic, Germany, India, Israel, Japan, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, UK, and USA

Update:  India's Supreme Court overturned parts of Section 377 on 6.9.2018.  Consensual homosexual sex between adults is no longer illegal.  I'm so happy for all of my Indian colleagues.

Republic of India

The Republic of India, in South Asia, is the 6th largest country by area.  It is home to 1,28 billion people making it the the world's second most populous country after China.

New Delhi is the capital, and largest city, with over 28,5 million people.


India is a little bigger than 1/3rd than the USA.  The country sits on the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal and borders Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, China, Nepal, and Pakistan.

©Wendover Productions

The Indian subcontinent was home to one of the world's oldest civilisations during the 3rd millennium BC.

Numerous empires and  dynasties ruled the area of the centuries.  Europeans started making footholds in the 16th century and by the 19th century the UK held control of India.  India gained independence in 1947 and eventually it split in to India and Pakistan.

India is a federal parliamentary republic with 29 states and 7 union territories.  It's a nuclear power and has the world's second largest military.

The Rupee (₽) is the official currency.  India is the world's 7th biggest economy known for providing outsourcing services.

When it gained independence, Indian Standard Time (IST) was established so that the whole country would be on the same time.  Daylight Savings Time is not observed and India time is UTC+5,5 hours.

There are 15 official languages.  Hindi is the most widely spoken language used by 41% of the population.  The other official languages are Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, and Sanskrit.


English is a subsidiary official language and is used for most political and business situations.  Hindustani isn't an official language but is widely spoken in northern India.

©NDTV

Hinduism is the largest religion and overall the society tends to be quite conservative.  This makes it difficult for gay people.  Homosexuality was decriminalised in 2009 but it was then decriminalised in 2013.  Officially it is illegal with harsh penalties on the books.  However the ruling is currently being reviewed and there is hope that it will be decimalised again.  On the plus side, in 2014, India granted legal recognition of a third gender.

Bangalore is the Indian Silicon Valley and home to their outsourcing industry.  Here's an interesting video I found out on YouTube about the next wave of outsourcing in India.

©Financial Times

Here's a short 2014 video about how powerful the country is.

©Test Tube News