Posts tagged as:

Asia

Culture: Differences Between the East and the West in Pictures

October 16, 2009

Recently, my friend in Beijing posted some photos comparing the differences between the East and West. The artist was born in China, but has lived in Germany since 1990. I think this particular project is incredible because the pictures are so simple, but they say so much (west left, east right). **(see notes at the [...]

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Culture: White Guys in Asia – Do You Have the Fever? An Ang Moh Discusses.

September 15, 2009

So, as a white guy studying East Asia and three Asian languages, a lot of people I meet think I have the fever. For those of you that are confused, I am referring to Yellow Fever, which in this context is defined as a white male that has a strong preference for Asian females. According [...]

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Politics: American Luminaries and U.S. Diplomacy towards Pariah States

August 22, 2009

Guest Post from Dragoman

Earlier this week, the New York Times reported that Senator Jim Webb (D-Va.) had successfully negotiated the release of John Yettaw, the American much maligned for his unwitting involvement in the recent intrigue against Aung San Suu Kyi. Earlier this month, Bill Clinton returned from Pyongyang with the two American journalists whom North [...]

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Religion: Ramadan Karim! رمضان كريم!

August 22, 2009

Guest Post from Dragoman

Today marks the beginning of the month of Ramadan, throughout which Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset. The fasting period culminates in the celebration of the festival عيد الفطر :Īd al-Fiṭr‎ (Romanized as Idul Fitri in Indonesia and Aidilfitri in Malaysia), which is also known as Hari Raya (Malay for “The Grand Day”) in [...]

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Politics: The Russo-Japanese Nuclear Deal and Pondering the Future of Security in Northeast Asia

May 25, 2009

Guest Post from Dragoman

The Moscow Times recently reported that Russia and Japan had agreed to expand their bilateral nuclear cooperation during Prime Minister Putin’s visit to Tokyo. The deal, which still awaits ratification in the Diet, will supply uranium fuel to Japanese nuclear reactors, enable Japanese firms to mine uranium in Russia, and may pave [...]

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Politics: Indonesia’s Parliamentary Elections: What’s Next?

May 23, 2009

Guest Post from Dragoman
The official results of Indonesia’s legislative elections were recently announced in Jakarta, indicating that President Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party (PD), with 150 seats out of the total 560, will hold the largest number of seats in the upcoming parliamentary session. Golkar will hold 107 seats, while Megawati’s Indonesian Democratic Party—Struggle (PDI-P), with 95 [...]

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Politics: Indonesia’s Embrace of Democracy and the Future “Asian Values” Debate

May 11, 2009

Guest Post from Dragoman
More than ten years ago, popular agitation in Indonesia, particularly in Jakarta, led to the downfall of post-colonial Southeast Asia’s longest-ruling strongman Soeharto. Since May 1998, Indonesia has moved from soft authoritarianism to being a thriving regional democracy with the experience of three relatively orderly and popularly legitimate general elections. With the [...]

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Travel: Reaching the Southernmost Points of Asia & Europe

February 2, 2009

Interesting realization – in 2008 I traveled to the Southernmost points of the European and Asian continents. Well, at least according to some definitions.
The Southernmost point of the European continent (proper…excluding the islands) is in Tarifa, Spain, which is only 14 km from Africa.
Tarifa, Spain
In Asia, the Southernmost point is in Sentosa, Singapore – [...]

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Travel: Phew, Going To Make it to Indochina

December 2, 2008

Well, it looks like I am going to make it to Indochina in a couple of weeks. I was a bit concerned because we are connecting in Thailand, but it looks like the occupation is going to end!
Thai anti-government protesters have agreed to end their occupation of Bangkok’s airports, allowing thousands of stranded tourists to [...]

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Life: Denver Nuggets in Asia

November 30, 2008

My students always know how to distract me – talk about the Nuggets.
The NBA is really popular here (and other parts of Asia, especially China). My students always update me on scores and results (most of the time I pretend I already know), and always make a point to rub it in when the Nuggets [...]

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