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What Japanese Envy

05 Jul 2017 Leave a comment

by smkelly8 in Asia, culture, expat life, Japan, postaday, postaweek Tags: , , ,

A Western woman, who’s taken on Japanese style and speaks Japanese very well, asks people in Tokyo what they envy in foreigners.

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Delta

28 Jun 2017 2 Comments

by smkelly8 in Blogging Challenge, China, craft, culture, expat life, photo, photography, photos, postaday, postaweek, Weekly Photo Challenge, welcome to my life Tags: , , , , , , , ,

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Pottery changed to architectural detail

Isn’t “delta,” i.e. change pretty darn close to “transience”? I understand the small difference, but it is in the same ball park.

1. Each week, we’ll provide a theme for creative inspiration. You take photographs based on your interpretation of the theme, and post them on your blog (a new post!) anytime before the following Wednesday when the next photo theme will be announced.

2. To make it easy for others to check out your photos, title your blog post “Weekly Photo Challenge: (theme of the week)” and be sure to use the “postaday″ tag.

3. Follow The Daily Post so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements, and subscribe to our newsletter – we’ll highlight great posts. Add Media photos from each month’s most popular challenge.

North Korean’s View of the US

27 Jun 2017 Leave a comment

by smkelly8 in culture, expat life, politics, YouTube find Tags: , , , , ,

I found these interviews of North Korean refugees by Asian Boss fascinating.

 

Radio Lab: Parasites and More

04 Sep 2016 2 Comments

by smkelly8 in culture, opinion, Review Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

If you like to learn, even if you’re not particularly scientific, give Radio Lab from NPR a try. Today, like any that I listen, I learned heaps about a topic I’d never even think of. This time that topic was — parasites.

Yes, parasites. Not something we hear about on the daily news or in school or in conversation.

Listening to Radio Lab today, I came to respect, yes, respect parasites and the scientists who study them.

Here’s a bit that I learned that parasites like hookworm caused lethargy in the 19th Century South, which is said to explain in large measure economic slow down, that blood flukes can live in your system for 40+ years and eventually make you sick, and they’re monogamous. And that a parasite that thrives in cats can brainwash a rat it might have wound up in driving rats to fall in love with cats and as a result most likely wind up eaten so that the parasite is back at home in a cat. These parasites can also get in people and cause havoc. Some think there’s a relationship between schizophrenia and cats because after people started keeping cats as pets, schizophrenia became more common.

Parasites can be good. Good parasites are getting wiped out, and new diseases like Crohn’s disease have become common as sanitation has wiped out both good and bad parasites.

I’m not making this up. I came away thinking that nature is just astounding.

You can try Radio Lab here and choose a podcast on such topics as: color, synchronicity, time, God and many more. The tone, music and narrative used in these programs makes it fascinating.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Frame

26 Aug 2016 2 Comments

by smkelly8 in Blogging Challenge, China, close up, culture, expat life, food, Jinan, Masterpiece, photo, photography, photos, postaday, postaweek, Weekly Photo Challenge Tags: , , , ,

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Chicago, Illinois

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Nara, Japan

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Thailand

1. Each week, we’ll provide a theme for creative inspiration. You take photographs based on your interpretation of the theme, and post them on your blog (a new post!) anytime before the following Friday when the next photo theme will be announced.

2. To make it easy for others to check out your photos, title your blog post “Weekly Photo Challenge: (theme of the week)” and be sure to use the “postaday″ tag.

3. Follow The Daily Post so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements, and subscribe to our newsletter – we’ll highlight great posts. Add Media photos from each month’s most popular challenge.

Other themed photos:

Weekly Photo Challenge: Fun

12 Aug 2016 2 Comments

by smkelly8 in Blogging Challenge, China, close up, culture, expat life, food, Jinan, photography, photos, postaday, postaweek, travel, Weekly Photo Challenge Tags: , , , ,

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1. Each week, we’ll provide a theme for creative inspiration. You take photographs based on your interpretation of the theme, and post them on your blog (a new post!) anytime before the following Friday when the next photo theme will be announced.

2. To make it easy for others to check out your photos, title your blog post “Weekly Photo Challenge: (theme of the week)” and be sure to use the “postaday″ tag.

3. Follow The Daily Post so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements, and subscribe to our newsletter – we’ll highlight great posts. Add Media photos from each month’s most popular challenge.

Other themed photos:

Car-Free Day

11 Aug 2016 1 Comment

by smkelly8 in culture, expat life, photos, travel Tags: , , ,

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My colleagues

In Pekanbaru, Indonesia on Sunday from early morning till around 10 am, the city closes down one of the busy boulevards for “Car-Free” Day when people gather to walk without having to compete for space with cars. Up and down the street, vendors sell snacks, drinks, clothes, toys, baby chicks and whatnot. There’s a spirit of joie de vivre.

An Indonesian character
Vendors at Car-free Day
Pekanbaru monument

Japanese Ice Cream

30 Jul 2016 Leave a comment

by smkelly8 in culture, expat life, Uncategorized, YouTube find Tags: , , , ,

Ice cream is a summer delight, but somehow Japan adds its own spins, usually cute ones, to icy treats. I just happened upon Simon and Martin because YouTube thought I’d like them. Maybe because I’ve been watching 2Hearts1Seoul videos by a couple in Korea.

I just read that in a given week more video minutes are uploaded than were produced in the last 30 years of television. I’m not sure whether they’re counting all the television produced worldwide, while counting all worldwide YouTube videos. (Statistical problem there if they are.)

It’d be cool if a couple or family in China had a YouTube channel, but how could they with the sanctions and censorship?

Weekly Photo Challenge: Narrow

29 Jul 2016 5 Comments

by smkelly8 in Blogging Challenge, China, close up, culture, expat life, food, Jinan, photography, photos, postaday, postaweek, travel, Weekly Photo Challenge Tags: , , , ,

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1. Each week, we’ll provide a theme for creative inspiration. You take photographs based on your interpretation of the theme, and post them on your blog (a new post!) anytime before the following Friday when the next photo theme will be announced.

2. To make it easy for others to check out your photos, title your blog post “Weekly Photo Challenge: (theme of the week)” and be sure to use the “postaday″ tag.

3. Follow The Daily Post so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements, and subscribe to our newsletter – we’ll highlight great posts. Add Media photos from each month’s most popular challenge.

Other themed photos:

How to Put on Headscarves

29 Jul 2016 2 Comments

by smkelly8 in culture, Uncategorized, YouTube find Tags: ,

As I’ve been in Indonesia for almost two weeks and surrounded by women in hajibs (i.e. headscarves) I wanted to learn more about them. So I found a Dina Tokio tutorial on how they put them on. I never knew about the fabric they use to control their hair under the scarf or the ways they make a bigger bump in the back of their heads.

There’s a seemingly unlimited number of ways to wear them.

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