about this...
{lourakz} is a little space I launched in 2022. As a South-African born New Zealand citizen who did high school in Australia and university in the Netherlands plus a little bit in Germany, I like to take things one day at a time, and avoid questions like 'where are you from?' because I don't really know the answer. I do know, however, that I'm not alone in this globalised, migratory world, so hereby a space to share what that means for me, and maybe for others too.
A little about me:
- Loura is {L-oh-ra}, a combination between Louisa and Maria (my grandmothers' names), and is only logically pronounced with ou as 'oh' in RSA. Across the globe I also go by Lo and Lou, or Laura to make things easier. But I'll always try Loura first ;)
- As for the last names, Kruger is pretty straight-forward, although fun to know that in Afrikaans it's pronounced {kreer} with rolled r's, and Zwart is Dutch, said {zw-ah-rt}.
- I completed Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree in Euroculture at Rijksuniversiteit Groningen NL and Georg-August Universitët Göttingen DE.
- I have a Bachelor of Arts from RUG in European Languages & Cultures, specialising in literature, politics, and Spanish, and minoring in development studies.
- I currently work as the writer and editor at a European data tech company.
- My own little family and my in-laws live in the Netherlands, my immediate family lives in Australia, and my extended family lives in New Zealand.
- I speak two languages well and three other languages badly...
Here you'll find information, personal experiences and hopefully some insight into what it's like to live a life like this one. And, if you ever have any questions, feel free to reach out on the contact page!
navigating lourakz.com
So far, there are three categories of content on this site:
- life/times is where you'll find blog-style articles about life and experiences in general. Think migration (im- and emigration), studying and working, getting married, travelling, visiting home(s), and other kinds of information that I feel I need to get out of my head and on paper. Also I love to bake, so expect recipes.
- portfolio is the space where I return my previous work from the void of submission portals, to have it in a nice little overview here and reflect on the work I did. It includes essays and the like from my BA studies, my MA studies, and some things I've written for the Euroculturer.
- professional work is where I'm cataloguing the work I produce within the context of my employment. Think digital culture blog articles and company marketing materials.
- euroculture is a series of smaller articles reflecting on my time as a student in the programme - dealing with the application, admission, funding, procedures and bureaucracy, as well as the social, academic and mobility aspects of my experience with Euroculture too.
BUSINESS ~ LKZ Copy & Style Editing
With the other part of this site, I'd like to start building a business: copy & style editing. I've done a lot of this kind of work for friends, but would like to expand and help more people write smooth and accurate essays. My focus is usually on grammar and spelling but I've been working on content editing/essay planning recently too, which could be beneficial for some!
The business-y stuff will be up soon here.
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