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Owen Bennett Jones introduces personal stories, insights and wit from ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ correspondents around the world. In this edition, Mike Thomson reflects on how jealously Kabul guards its privacy, as well as its security, while Jason Palmer invites us to a traditional rural Thanksgiving with his family in Georgia.

Walls within walls

The decade since 9/11 has meant huge changes for Kabul, the Afghan capital: the end of the Taliban, the influx of foreign money, the gradual slide back to insecurity and violence. It's not the same as it once was - and it's certainly not the same as most other cities.

Mike Thomson has just been there, and explains why it can be a strange place to work for a foreigner - and just how far you have to go to get to know this city's hidden charms.

Cornbread and cane syrup to be grateful for

Early in the 1600s a tradition began of an annual meal – a feast – with these sorts of ingredients: cod, eels, clams, lobster, ducks, geese, swans, venison, pumpkin, maize and squash.

Where was this bounty eaten? America. It was called Thanksgiving. And it still is - although while the holiday started out as a deeply-felt commemoration, some people today feel it's really just an excuse for a gigantic meal and a glut of televised sport.

But for Jason Palmer, it’s still a day of rich, longstanding family ritual - and a time when he reconnects with the gathering and preparation of precious, local food.