Culture: Betel Nut in Myanmar, Southeast Asia

by maltzajava on February 18, 2010

If you look closely at this little creature on the left, you might see a small green leaf in his mouth.

The little green leaf is filled with lime and a special type of seed, which is called Areca nut (or Pinang in Malaysia, Betel Nut in Myanmar, etc). The leaf, at least in Myanmar, also contains lime, and is chewed up and spit out. If you have not heard of this or seen it before, and are from the US, think of chewing tobacco – chew on it for a while, spit it out, and if you do it for enough years, your teeth will be ruined.

When I was in Myanmar, I decided to be daring and I gave it a try after my driver offered me a leaf. Like tobacco (which actually is sometimes included in the mix), it is suppose to give you a little buzz and make you more alert. I noticed that my driver would increase his consumption in the last few hours of the drive, and from what I could tell, it helped him stay focused.

I did not think it was terrible – in fact, I had two leaves of the stuff when I was there. This was a bit confusing for my brain because, while it was ok, it also reminded me of my bathroom cleaner (because of the lime).

 

My Driver with Betel Nut

 

If you go to Myanmar, and I am told it is similar in India, you will see this at almost every little stall. In addition, you’ll probably walk in, over, and around several puddles of red spit during the day.

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Travel: Guess Where I Was – Three Photos

by maltzajava on February 12, 2010

The following three photos were taken on a trip a took a few months ago. Can you guess where they are from? I’ll give you one clue: they are not from Singapore!

 

Did you guess Penang, Malaysia? If so, you’re correct! (I realize the last photo is a little too helpful).

Penang reminds me a lot of Singapore. The various languages, ethnicities, and religions are very similar to those found in Singapore. If you know anything about colonial history in this region, this should not come as a surprise. Penang was one of the three major port cities when the Brits were here back in the day.

Although they are similar, I like Penang a little better because it seems to have a certain character that is lacking in the city-state…

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Travel: Myanmar, Part II – How I Spent Christmas Eve

by maltzajava on February 3, 2010


Christmas Eve 2009 was definitely one to remember. While most of my friends were back in the States battling the snow and struggling with the slow airline travel, I was hanging out near Inle Lake in Myanmar.

We started the day pretty early, threw on our dusty jackets, and headed to the lake for a boat ride, where we spent most of the day.

The lake was breathtaking, and the tour was enjoyable. Not only did we get to see the sites and observe the locals, we also got to visit some floating markets. The markets had everything from silver to scarves, all of which were handmade.

 

 

Making Silver

At one of the markets, you can see women from the Padaung Tribe. These ladies are known for their long necks, which they get from layering rings on themselves since a young age. The sad thing is that as tourism has expanded, so too has the exploitation of this group (and many other minority groups in Myanmar for that matter). You can do a google search, or check Flickr if you are interested, because I did not take a photo. Due to the fact that these women are placed in these areas for tourists to take photos, I was not comfortable taking part in the ordeal.

One obvious downside to this tour was the fact that we stopped at so many touristy markets. In these areas, salespeople were probably the most aggressive I had encountered in the country, but they were nothing like those I encountered in Cambodia, or even China. In fact, it can be somewhat funny at times. Below is a picture of a young boy that grabbed on to our boat hoping to sell the fish he had just caught:

At first we thought he just wanted to show us, and then he started asking for money…

After a long, peaceful day on the lake, we decided to walk around in search of a place to have our Christmas Eve dinner. In our race to beat the darkness (no electricity in the city, just a few hotels and dining venues), I noticed a sign that read, “Wood Fire Pizza — This Way”. Although uncertain of how it would taste, it seemed like a nice change from our usual Thai/Chinese fusion.

This little Italian place had everything from pasta to gnocchi, which we thought was really interesting for a small restaurant in Myanmar. We decided to order the Pizza, and were really amazed by its quality and taste.

Why? How? What the…?

It turns out that this little place is run by a family that was trained (for three days) by an Italian lady, and have been around for the past 12 years.

In 1997, they met this nice woman on a trek near the town around the lake. She told them that Italian food was easy and delicious, taught them how to make it, and they have been around ever since. They even have a pasta maker and an herb garden! (she mailed them the stuff from Italy).

For other ingredients, such as Mozzarella, they have to import it from other countries. While that might not seem like that big of a deal, I would say you have to go to Myanmar. They don’t even have an address, and when they order a new shipment, it has to go to Yangon, and then be trucked up to Inle Lake…a drive that can take two days.

The family that runs the place is absolutely wonderful, and all members are active in the kitchen:

 

 

Even Grandpa is Helping

And the best part of the whole ordeal? Waking up to leftover pizza on Christmas Day!

My apologies for the late post…I still have a lot I need to get to from my trip to Myanmar…

(for more photos, you can check here)

 

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Site Update: Recent Changes

by maltzajava on February 1, 2010

Well, I decided to change the name of my site one more time. If you are interested, you can check out the site history here.

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Link: New Blog from an Easterner in the West

by maltzajava on January 25, 2010

Quick update – I added a link to a new site from a Chinese friend (and former teacher) working on her PhD in the US. Her blog was inspired by the fascinating Economist article entitles “The Others“. The blog is not even two weeks old, but the post so far have been really fun to read.

You can find the site, called “Journey to the West”, here!

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Travel: Myanmar (Burma), Part I

by maltzajava on January 21, 2010

This is my first post about my recent trip to Myanmar. There is a lot I want to cover, so I decided to write several posts instead of one or two super long posts. For the first installment, I’ll keep it pretty general.

Several people asked me for a short summary, and this is what I came up with: (1) Myanmar is my favorite country in Southeast Asia[1], and (2) my time there had a probably the most profound impact on me since I started to travel (my first two trips abroad are close). The people, culture, religions, languages, and political situation all had something I found interesting, or in many cases, amazing. I hope to show this in my series of posts about Myanmar.

Itinerary and Transportation

We only had 9 days, which was not even close to enough time. This was partly because I loved it there, but also because it takes a lot of time to get from place to place if you don’t fly (which we did not).

After we arrived, we spent a lot of timing working out our plans, and left early the next morning to Bagan (planning trouble = separate post) by car. We were driven around the beautiful country by our driver Tun Tun. He was a sweet man, that took great care of us all along the way.

Since the roads are terrible, it takes a ton of time to get around. It is bumpy, dirty, and narrow. We had to frequently pass people on our why, which was quite scary since he had a right-hand wheel, but was driving on the right-hand side of the road (makes it hard to see cars coming while you are trying to pass). Tun Tun worked hard to get us to and fro, and helped make our experience a memorable one.

The first major stop was Bagan (got there one day later because it is so far). This city is filled with thousands of temples, which most guidebooks say ‘rivals Angkor Wat’. We visited several by horse-draw carriage, and I was blown away. I wish we could have had one more day….

From there we headed to Inle Lake, another major tourist stop. We woke up early, got on a boat, and drove around the lake, stopping at floating markets along the way.

Finally, we headed back and spent a day in Yangon. We went to a few places, including the lake that is near Suu Kyi’s house, and the Shwedagon Pagoda. The first was not that interesting since we were so far from the actual house, but the second was breathtaking. We made it to the Pagoda for the sunset, and were able to see several rituals and prayers while admiring the surroundings.

Some General Comments

I mentioned in an earlier post that I had some ethical concerns about my trip. I am confident I made the right decision, as I was able to gain a perspective and understanding that is greater than withholding a bit of money from the government.

That said, I would totally support anyone that chose not to visit for ethical reasons. Simply put, the government sucks. It was both sad and frustrating to see how much the poor governance of the nation hurts peoples’ lives. I saw – with the lack of electricity, running water, and very basic infrastructure, and I heard  from the locals. One of my first conversations with a local (taxi driver) went like this:

Him: Where you from?

Me: USA

Him: Wow! Obama!

Me: Yeah!

Him: Clinton – lover. Bush – fighter. Obama – talker.

Me: Hahaha

Him: Myanmar government: stupid. Look at this! (referring to the pitch-black street). No water! No lights! The government is worthless.

With an interest in politics, and experience with activism, I had a lot going through my mind. My understanding, perspectives, and opinions went through a lot of molding and shaping during my trip. Hopefully, I’ll get around to writing more later.

As you can imagine, it is hard to do much when there is no electricity (in the city…hotels use generators). With the sun setting early, we found ourselves going to bed super early, which was actually kinda nice…

 

[1] FYI – I have been to every ASEAN nation except for Brunei

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Education: Crazy Week for Singaporean Students – an American Comments

by maltzajava on January 18, 2010

After spending some time in China and other parts of Asia, I did not expect to discover major cultural shock after moving to Singapore. For the most part, this proved to be true – I did not really encounter, or experience, anything that could be considered as ‘culture shock’.

However, when l I really started working over a year ago, I began to see some real differences between Singapore and the US…and they all had to do with education. The way the system is set-up, how the schools are run, what the expectations are, parental involvement, teacher responsibilities, and probably a few other things I am forgetting – were all different than what I knew of back in the States.

After a crazy week leading up to the ‘O’ Level results, I am reminded of all the differences. With the results out, students have to make a major decision about what to do for the next few years. Parents, students, schools, and even the media are all paying close attention to these youngsters. In all of the madness (as I teacher I am right in the middle), there are a few things that I, as an American, find really interesting.

Releasing ‘O’ Level Scores to Public – Organized by School, Race

Shortly after the results were released, the papers released a list of the names, scores, and schools of the top students in Singapore. This might not seem like a big deal to some readers, but it stands out to me for a few reasons.

First, you would never see a ranking of students in a state, city, or even a school district in the US. If you did, there is no way they would release the specific scores. You might read about a student-athlete with a perfect GPA, but never anything more. My high school did not even announce the grade point averages of our top ten students.

The second thing that intrigued me was the way the list was organized. Students were organized in clusters by race, then arranged alphabetically by school, and then finally, by surname. When I skimmed it, there were two things that stood out: grouping by race, and organizing by school first.

As for the clustering by race, I can think of a few reasons why this is the case, but I don’t want to dive into that topic. I simply wanted to point out a detail that, once again, would never see in an American paper. The second observation is also not a big deal, but I do think that organizing these students first by school, and then by name, communicates something about the education culture here (ok, I might be reading into this too much). This is also something I don’t want to spend time on, so let me just say this – the competitive environment extends beyond the students…

Finally, and probably the reason I decided to write this post, is the fact that these details, are found in a major paper read by a large percent of the population. The attention given to the recent release of ‘O’ level results, to me, really shows how important, and intense, education is in Singapore.  You would never see this type of attention to test results in the US.

However, following the media coverage and observing the various reactions to the different stories simply gives me a new perspective, and a deeper understanding.  The focus on education is intense, and as an educator I have witnessed some incredible benefits, but have not overlooked the drawbacks. While I would love to praise the positive aspects and criticize the negative, I’ll have to save that for another post.

A Note

I just want to clarify that I am not trying to comment on, or criticize/praise the system. The purpose of this post was to point out cultural differences that are subtle and common. These little details and bits of information, when compared to what I know and experienced, help me to gain a better understanding of the place and the culture.

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Language: Two More Tools I Use for Mandarin

by maltzajava on January 16, 2010

I really owe a lot of my progress with Mandarin to Google and Mozilla. I already wrote about the amazing Mozilla add-on, but I thought I would mention two more web features that have helped me.

The first is a Mandarin tab for Google. Some time back, a group of people created a tab that links to several Mandarin resources. You can personalize the page by tweaking the settings, and adding/removing sites. Since iGoogle is one of my home pages (my browser opens two tabs at the start), I always have characters and new lessons staring me in the face. This makes me feel like I never completely neglect Mandarin :-P

You can add the tab to your Google page here.

The second resource I use, and have found to be very useful is not all that special: Google Reader. I follow a lot of language blogs, and I don’t think I would be able to stay so up-to-date if I did not have them all in one simple reader. If you don’t use Google Reader, you should check it out. I don’t recommend adding too many sites (if can be overwhelming), but you can always add and delete as you go.

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Politics: Sino-Sudanese Relations

by maltzajava on January 14, 2010

maltzajava_sino_africaChina has been heavily criticized for its close ties with Sudan. Despite an ongoing humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region, China continues to trade and support the Khartoum regime. Furthermore, China has threatened to veto any United Nations Security Council resolution that would send an international force into Sudan[1]. Those searching for an international solution to the Darfur crisis have long been frustrated by China’s insistence on the principle of non-interference and respect for sovereignty. Recently, however, Chinese policy has started to shift in a favorable direction. The manner with which China has dealt with this situation provides a better understanding of how China deals with asymmetric relationships in Africa.

The Darfur conflict in Sudan began in 2003[2]. Rebel groups from Darfur, a poor, disenfranchised part of Sudan, rebelled against the government after years of discontent. The militias managed to cause a great deal of destruction, which humiliated the Sudanese government. Instead of negotiating or attempting to find a political solution, the Sudanese government responded forcefully. The Khartoum regime mobilized militias to carry out a brutal anti-insurgency campaign against the non-Arab people in Darfur.  The government-back militia groups in Sudan have killed over a hundred thousand people, displaced over a million others, and have completely destroyed villages. In 2004, US Secretary of State stated that the killings in Darfur constitute genocide.[3] Two years after that, Kofi Annan stated that it was the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.[4]

China has a close relationship with Sudan, and was initially not willing to support any action that interfered in its domestic affairs. For China, Sudan is a vital trade partner because of its oil reserves. China is now the world’s second largest importer of crude oil. Experts predict that by 2020, 60% of its oil will be imported.[5] It is estimated that China has invested around $4 billion in Sudan, which in turn exports around 40% of its oil to China.[6] The need for economic resources is real, and China cannot afford to lose its partnership with Sudan.

In addition to the revenue that Khartoum generates from oil sales, they are also obtaining weapons from China. Sudan has purchased fighter aircraft, gunship, transportation helicopters, and military trucks that were used in attacks in Darfur.[7] Human Rights First, an organization based in the United States, recently linked Chinese arms sales with the violence in Darfur[8]. These reports focused on increased small arms sales, which occurred after the United Nations arms embargo went into effect. Since then, China has been virtually the only arms supplier to Sudan, completely ignoring the sanction.[9] The Chinese government has expressed its concerns over the validity of the story, and noted that the accusations were supported by a misinterpretation of data.

Why China is Slow to Respond

China has opposed all UN resolutions that have not been accepted by Khartoum, including those that propose economic sanctions. Various observers have argued that the main reason for Beijing’s opposition has to do with the fact that China is trying to protect its oil interests in Sudan. This explanation, however, oversimplifies China’s policy toward Sudan. China would of course like to maintain strategic ties with Sudan, but that is not the only reason for opposing international action in Sudan. In order to fully assess the implications of China’s changing policy toward Sudan, it is important to have a more complete understanding of why China has been unwilling to submit to the demands of the international community.

[click to continue…]

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Language: My Favorite Mandarin Tool

by maltzajava on January 11, 2010

Hua Yu at MaltzajavaI recently received an email from a buddy of mine that is doing an intensive Mandarin program in Taipei. During his studies, he had discovered many of the amazing tools available on the web for those trying to learn Mandarin. He rattled off all the flashcard programs, websites, and textbooks that I have come to know over the past couple of years. After listing all of these great resources, he asked me if I had heard of them, and if I had any recommendations.

The question made me think back to an earlier post about ‘information overload‘ when studying languages. My friend had discovered so many good resources, but did not have the time to test them out and figured out what worked for him. After some quick reflection, I realized that there is one study tool I have decided is crucial to my battle against Mandarin: Chinese-Perapera Kun Plugin for Mozilla.

I don’t think I realized how much I used this program until I was temporarily unable to do so for a short period of time. When Mozilla released an update a few months ago, I installed it, and quickly discovered that this Chinese add-on was no longer compatible. I thought I could deal using another program, but I eventually decided to download an old version of Mozilla so that the add-on would work again.

After following the Perapera-kun blog desperately waiting for an update, the news finally broke that the add-on was approved, and I was able to update all my programs.

So why is this program so useful?

Well, for me it is the easiest way to get a dose of Mandarin everyday. Whether it is an email from a friend, or a news article, I can always learn a new character, or finish a paragraph without moving to a new site to look up definitions.

All you have to do is install the program, enable it on a Chinese site, scroll over characters you don’t know, and the pinyin and definition will pop up.

I use this program so often, and find it so useful, that I think it is the only program I have considered donating to!

If you have gone this far in your Mandarin studies without this add-on, or a similar one, I hope you’ll enjoy it (after you kick yourself for not knowing about it sooner :-P ). When dealing with the ‘information overload’ problem, I have found that this add-on has been crucial. I can continue to learn new characters – even if it is passively – by simply scrolling over the ones I don’t know. In cases where one or two characters is crucial to helping me understand the main idea, I have been amazed by how easy it is to retain the meaning.

So…check out the add-on, and happy learning!

-Maltzajava

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