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I gave them a brief outline of my life and asked them where I should/could call ‘home’, as I often come across to new people I meet as a bit slow, taking far too long to respond to simple questions like “Where are you from?” or “Where’s home?”

I was born on a British military base in Germany, though my parents were living in Belgium at the time (if you are in a similar situation, take my advice- don’t lose your birth ceritficate) and spent my childhood moving around between various places in England, Germany, and Hong Kong. During my GCSE and A level years I was living in Kent and then left home and went to university for 4 years in Manchester, where I stayed for a few more years afterwards to work. Most of my friends from that time have since moved on to other cities/countries but a small group still live in Manchester and I go back once or twice a year to see them.

Since then, I have spent large parts of the last 5 years in Krakow (and 7 months in Tallinn) teaching, the last 2 years of which were spent living in a flat with my then girlfriend, a native of the north of the country rather than Krakow in the south.In the summer, I left all that behind to come back to England and start graduate medical studies and have lived in Coventry since early September with 3 fellow medical students.

Since I left home, my parents have moved a few more times and have owned a house near the South coast for about 8 years, though I have never lived in it.  I’ll finish with the same question I gave my class – Where is ‘home’ for me?

Generally, he suffered in silence, his girlfriend, friends and colleagues oblivious to what he was going through. Occasionally, he would open up a little and tell me how this regular battle with his own body interfered with his life, made it difficult for him to be who he wanted to be, to be who he was expected to be. Sleepless nights, difficulty moving, loss of all round body strength; combined these things all restricted his day to day life in numerous ways.

Seeing that is bad enough, but it is just one of so many examples of suffering that could fairly easily have been resolved (and now has) but went unaddressed for almost 2 years. Why did he live so long under such a burden, you no doubt ask. As in many other cases, he had simply conditioned himself to accept the situation as normal- basically, people really can get used to almost anything. He had obviously devoted a lot of effort toward finding ways of managing the back trouble, avoiding activities which aggravated the pain and resting his back when the opportunity presented itself. A perfect example of people’s misdirected resourcefulness.

For a whole host of reasons, from fear of a serious underlying cause to simple denial, so many people avoid seeking help for their problems until the day comes when it is simply impossible to work around the pain they’re suffering. Often, by this point it’s too late to actually fix a problem that was fairly minor but has now become much more serious. Fortunately for my friend, he got lucky and his back just mysteriously fixed itself without any intervention. Something in his routine changed, though he isn’t entirely sure what. Keeping your fingers crossed for such a turnaround is not advisable.

To start with, the situation seemed quite simple- friends of Mark Duggan, who was shot by police in North London on August 4th, were left feeling angry and cheated by the inquiry into the actions of the officers involved. They took to the streets of Tottenham two days later in what was, to begin with at least, a peaceful protest against what they perceived as a cover up and a whitewash. The chief matter of contention was the claim by the officers that Duggan was armed, and shot at them first. For some reason- as with so many things in this story, numerous explanations abound- the protest started to turn ugly. Missiles were thrown at police officers in attendance, vehicles were set alight and shops were damaged.

At this point the thread became more complex. On the same night, the night of Saturday 6th August, gangs of looters attacked shops in other neaarby areas of North London. The impression on Sunday morning was that this was all still a manifestation of the reaction to the Mark Duggan killing (this prediction was very much a minority voice at the time), but when the looting spread over the following 3 nights to numerous districts of London, and then to Bristol,Manchester, Liverpool,Nottingham, West Bromwich and Birmingham, copycat opportunism became the only feasible explanation for the continuing disorder on the streets. No longer were we witnessing politically-motivated disobedience on our TV screens, now it was simply a series of burglaries, arson attacks, assaults, and murders.

Once it became clear that the streets of our largest cities were crawling with groups of people, largely but not exclusively what the media dismissively call “youths”, the reaction of the general public went through four main stages: fear, anger and revulsion against the perpetrators, a desire to help those people and places affected, and finally questioning how the whole sorry state of affairs came about.

As I’ve said a couple of times already, this is no simple question and there have been many different targets of the blame flying around the nation. Among those designated as the evil in society have been boredom, parents, a culture of shallow consumerism, the austere economic measures introduced by the government over the past year, social media, the police, the rich (again, whoever they are- the family who had run a furniture store in Croydon for 5 generations until it was torched would hardly be described as “fat cats”).

There have been calls from some quarters for censorship of certain content on social networks and digital messaging systems. Even if this were in any way feasible. it’s the thin end of a very dangerous wedge and unlikely to achieve much traction in the corridors of power. Even ignoring the powerful freedom of speech/human rights arguments against such a measure, even simpler is the fact that stopping people openly sharing antisocial thoughts/opinions/incitements to violence online won’t eliminate those thoughts, opinions or incitements, and the high possibility of encouraging more.

The fact that these groups were wantonly destroying their own areas, ruining the lives and livelihoods of fellow residents of their cities and boroughs, shows that a lot of the problems lay in their detachment from these facts, their disenfranchisement from the societies they lived in. Nobody who truly felt part of their local community would even think about breaking into the shops there, stealing whatever they could get their hands on, torching cars and buildings in the wake, and attacking the few people who dared try to intervene.

Where does this sense of isolation come from? Those involved seemed to have no respect for what msot of us consider to be the authority figures in our lives- parents, politicians, police officers and so on. While respect for politicians has been steadily dwindling over the years, fuelled by a series of scandals and revelations, most recently the Daily Telegraph’s epic expose on the near universal abuse of MP expenses (which, it should be noted, resulted in only a handful of successful criminal convictions), the apparent impotence of the police was something new for many of us and TV pictures showing police in riot gear standing by watching hooded, masked gangs smashing shop windows and making off with the contents came as quite a shock. A lot of commentators have placed the blame for this erosion of respect on the UK’s overly PC society, removing much of the power previously wielded by parents at home and teachers in schools.

Whatever the reasons, the aftermath of these events, trying to reinvolve what some are calling a ‘lost generation’ and help them make a contribution to wider society will be far from easy.

In short, the last ball before the tea break, Bell’s batting partner Eoin Morgan hit a ball out towards the boundary rope, contact with which means 4 runs to England and the end of play for a 20 minute break. Praveen Kumar, one of the less unathletic Indian fielders, dived to stop the ball, got his hand to it, flicked it away from the rope hoping to prevent said 4 runs. The ball ricocheted onto his shin and Kumar’s momentum took him beyond the boundary rope. At this point, Bell and Morgan are completing a third run and Bell, seeing Kumar’s intervention, believes the ball reached the rope (as, it has to be pointed out, does Kumar himself). Bell turns to Morgan, says ’4′ and starts walking off the pitch, the umpire gives the bowler his sweater back and it seems to everyone that it is tea time. Then the drama starts.

Kumar eventually gets up, throws the ball languidly back to his captain Dhoni, who, similarly without much haste or energy, passes it on to another Indian stood over the stumps in Bell’s now vacated end of the pitch, who breaks the wicket. After some discussion between the Indians, the umpires, and the 2 England players, who were stopped just before leaving the field once it became clear all was not well, Bell was adjudged run out- the ball did not go to the rope, therefore play was not over, Bell left his ground and the laws say that when the wicket is broken, the batsman is out.

Laws are one thing, etiquette another, in cricket especially, and the umpires were keenly aware of this and seemed to ask Dhoni several times something along the lines of “Are you really sure you want to appeal for this?” (if there is no appeal, the batsman cannot be given out). Clearly the answer was “Yes” and Bell was given out, to the absolute disgust of the majority of the crowd (i.e. the English supporters). The umpires and the Indian team walked off accompanied by many a shaken head and cold stare from the England team and boos from the crowd, and walked back on again after the break to much louder boos ringing around the stadium. The match, the series, relations between the two countries even, were on the brink of being irreparably soured. But no, wait, Ian Bell reemerges from the dressing, walks back out and continues his innings, after a last minute decision from the Indian captain to withdraw the appeal in the name of The Spirit of Cricket. Boos turn to cheers and applause, Dhoni is proclaimed by all to be a thoroughly decent chap after all and England dish out the hiding of their lives to India; everyone (except 1.2 billion Indians) is happy.

The story may not quite end there, rumours abound about how exactly the reprieve came about, how much the England captain and coach were involved and who in the Indian dressing room really instigated the reversal of the decision (the name featuring heavily in the whispers was Sachin Tendulkar, is there nothing he can’t do?). After all, if Dhoni is such a gentleman and respecter of the Spirit, why did he choose to make the appeal at all? Anyway, the right decision was made, and all is right with the world of cricket.

Why the ‘Reasons to hate sport’ subtitle? Simply, the reason that this story, and other similar gestures, like Andrew Strauss recalling Sri Lanka’s Angelo Matthews after he was run out following a perfectly accidental collision with an England bowler or Paolo Di Canio catching a cross when he noticed the opposing goalkeeper was on the floor injured, are so rare- 99.99% of the time, machismo and the almighty dollar mean that sportsmanship is squeezed out.

Did I forget to mention they have some cool pictures on the walls?

The Mbassy is the city’s finest example of the classic model followed by Irish bars around the world- beer, food, and football and occasionally other sports, honourably including actual Irish ones, with a dash of admirable customer service drummed into the not unpleasant on the eye staff

For value for money, I recommend the Morgan’s nuggets- 14zl for the breaded meat of an amply proportioned chicken and chilli sauce to dip it in. For those wanting to splash out a little more, the Thai Curry and Bangers and Mash are also excellent. For those who place absolutely no value on life, either their own or more likely a friend of theirs who with an imminent wedding appointment, I recommend the ominously named Irish Trash Can. I won’t list what spirits it contains, life is simply too short, but suffice to say it also has Red Bull to take the edge off.

Information

Address: Follow all the other Brits

WiFi: they have booze and telly, you don’t need WiFi

Prices: Irrelevant

Just about squeezed the whole name in...

People in the know, tourists and locals alike, head here for comfy leather seating, coffee, darkness and, almost uniquely in Krakow (and Poland when it comes to it), for some English style real ale- Smoczna Glowa. Experts from back home will no doubt have tasted better but its certainly not bad stuff and a welcome change from the omnipresent Zywiec.

Check it out while you’re around the old town one evening, you won’t be disappointed- just make you know where you’re going, it’s not the easiest place to ask for directions to….

Information

Address: ul. Stolarska 2 (guess what, it’s the first place on the left…)

WiFi: I think so, don’t hold me to it

Prices: Smocza Jama 7.50zl, other beers from 8zl, coffee from 6zl, sandwiches available at lunchtime for around 7zl

Tackling Tram Bar square on

Coffee isn’t all TramBar has to offer though- come back in the evening to chat with the inevitable mix of regulars, local first timers and tourists and have a try of some of the offerings from the impressive cocktail menu.

Personally speaking, I love TramBar and it seems that increasing numbers are coming around to my point of view, join them!

Also, if for some reason you happen to be applying for a visa to go to the US and for this, or some other reason, need to visit the Consulate next door, Tram Bar will, for a small fee (1 or 2zl), look after anything you have with you that cannot be taken in with you- i.e. everything you almost definitely have with you

Information

Address: ul. Stolarska 11

WiFi: No (I think), but they have lots of newspapers for those who get bored easily

Prices: Coffee from 4.50zl, Iced Coffee 9zl, beer from 7zl, cocktails from 12zl

The old name referred to the tremedous range of ice cream available here (‘lody’ being the Polish word for ‘ice cream’) but forget about ice cream for now, this is without doubt THE place to head for when you feel the need to sit down, look through a window that doesn’t have price tags behind it and eat some tiramisu.

The name and the extensive menus will try to trick you into thinking that when you sit down here after pounding the floors of Galeria Krakowska what you want is a big glass full of assorted fruits and 20 flavours of ice cream. Think again, skip to the back of the menu and you will find the true gem- the best tiramisu in town!

If you really must submit to their creamy sub-zero wiles then go for the ‘Talerz Tiramisu’ which will give you the best of both worlds (2 flavours of your choice but bring your own fruit to avoid disappointment on that front). Since you’re here to recover from your hard-earned shopping fatigue, why not have a coffee too? They’ll give you a little boiled sweet as a bonus which is never a bad thing.

If you can’t bear to drag yoursefl out of the shops for so long as to actually sit down, they also have a small take away ice-cream bar on the bottom floor of Galeria, outside Saturn .

Information

Address: In Galeria Krakowska, the big shopping centre near the train station, in the centre part of the top floor

WiFi: Yes

Prices: Coffee from 6zl, tiramisu 10zl, ice cream from 3zl

Over the time I’ve lived in this city I’ve heard of many pretenders to the throne as the king of Krakow pizza and the debate will never, indeed can never, be resolved but the time has come for people to stop overlooking this suburban gem. Living right across the road a couple of years ago, I must have pushed my body to the limit with the frequency of my visits- when it started to become lunch and dinner I had to take drastic action, but I didn’t want to.

The classic Margerita is enough to keep me satisfied, and very wallet friendly too. The ‘Dracula’ and ‘Szpinak’ (spinach and garlic) are also recommended. If you feel like a more extravagant evening, see if you can match the friend of mine who ate an entire large (18inch) mushroom laden beast. Warn your friends beforehand of the subsequent inability to interact with the world as your entire body focuses itself exclusively on 2 hours of digestion!

Information

Address: ul. Pradnicka 77

Web: www.pinokiopizza.pl

WiFi: No

Prices: Pizza from 7.30zl, Pasta from 10zl, Polish dishes from 4zl, beer 6zl, coffee 4zl (in other words, cheap!)

How Bambus looks on a busy day in the Market Square

Like many places in Krakow, and in particular on the main square, the prices have gone up recently- their 9zl white coffee is one of the steepest around and the food they serve can certainly be found cheaper elsewhere. Luckily for them, there are advantages which outweigh the price problem and more than justify opting for Bambus.

Obviously the location is great; in the summer you can sit outside and watch people on the square, laughing at the tourists climbing inside the big head sculpture nearby and the famous bar Pod Baranami (and the cinema of the same name) are on the doorstep. The service is good, most of the staff speak English and are very friendly and the atmosphere inside is lively and positive.

Information:

Address: 27 Rynek Glowny (Main Square) – in the corner near the big metal head

The aforementioned 'big head'. If you're looking at this, Bambus is behind you

WiFi: Yes

Prices: Coffee/Beer 8zl, cocktails around 15zl,  Zupa Bambusowa 15zl, cakes around 10zl