The Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) is, like so many things with Communist countries, the peak of irony. It is, in fact, one of the most militarized places on the earth, loaded with landmines, and everyone pointing their gun at the other guy. Friday, May 1st, the 3 of us, all Americans, made our way to Camp […]
Yesterday was my first day attending the Beijing Olympics and was it a busy one! From the brand new but crowded subway to the mega-security lines and then into the Olympic Green, Beijing has impressed all around. After wondering around the Olympic Green, we attended the quarterfinals and the semifinals of fencing (men’s team epee). […]
The Beijing 2008 Olympics will start in 4 days!! As of this morning, my plane tickets to Beijing are bought and in hand! I have a place to stay and the promise of Olympics Games’ tickets. Beijing Olympics, here I come!!! I’ll be in Beijing from the evening of August 14th to the morning of […]
In the past 3months, I have eaten more bread than I have in years. I started out in Chile and Argentina, 2countries that eat a lot of bread, meat, and cheese. Then I went on to Egypt and Jordan both of which eat a lot pita bread with cheese. Then on to East Africa where […]
Treatment of Women Most of us have some idea though not a good understanding of the poor treatment of Muslim women in Muslim countries. That is a lengthy and complex topic and I could write about some of the rumors I’ve heard, but lacking concrete evidence I will not venture there. Instead, I will use […]
In my job as a tour leader in China, I have developed a secondary purpose for myself. Beside fulfilling my role and duties as a tour leader, I’ve also started educating Chinese people as to Western standards of politeness, appropriateness, and generally just good behavior. Undoubtedly this sentence reads as very arrogant and culturally insensitive. […]
Saturday marked the start of the Lunar New Year holiday as it was New Year’s Eve. Lunar New Year in China is like Christmas, New Years, and 4th of July all rolled into one massive holiday. Its a very important family time, religious time, and also a time for presents and celebration. On New Year’s […]
I’m so proud of myself in terms of my geographic knowledge and country knowledge. Even though it was not enough to let me pass the US Foreign Service exam it’s still far more than the average person and enough to impress others at cocktail parties. 🙂 When I was at the Interchamber Mixer on Wednesday […]
Recently I returned from Singapore and Hong Kong, where I enjoyed site-seeing, shopping, dining, clubbing, etc with many friends. Pictures wth friends mentioned below. In Singapore, Brenda and I were able to spend time with our mutual friends: Stuart, Stanley, Melissa, and Quan. And she saw another friend from high school. I also saw Aana, […]