(Dear reader, I promise sometime I will write a post that discusses something other than public transit or language. This is not that post.) Last week, during Sonja’s spring break from school, we took a trip to Japan. It meant that we missed Taiwan’s biggest earthquake in 25 years, which was both a relief and… Continue reading Tokyo trains
Category: Culture
Annals of the imponderably vapid
If any more evidence was needed that parody of the useless lives of the intensely wealthy was impossible, consider this: An intricate Swiss watch that doesn’t tell time, for only $300,000. From Robert Frank’s “The Wealth Report” blog at the Wall Street Journal, we learn about Swiss watchmaker Romain Jerome’s new “Day & Night” watch.… Continue reading Annals of the imponderably vapid
Every fur tells a story
One of the best things about flying is the in-flight magazine–the schlocky voice of corporate marketing and upscale hub-city businesses trying to attract some tourist clientèle. It’s always an odd mix of high prices and low class. From a recent issue of W!ld Blue Yonder, the in-flight magazine of Frontier airlines, comes the ad at… Continue reading Every fur tells a story
How now, gao kao
So this past week nearly 9 million Chinese teenagers participated in the closest thing to a national rite of passage that China has these days: the gao kao. That’s the nation-wide standardized college entrance exam, a grueling two-day exercise that tests everything from a student’s knowledge of advanced physics to her familiarity with, say, the… Continue reading How now, gao kao
Hapless rooster newlyweds
Oh no! It turns out we were married in an unlucky year: the Chinese are apparently calling 2005, the Year of the Rooster, the “widow year” because the last month of the lunar year had only 29 days, instead of 30. So everyone’s waiting for the Year of the Dog (starting January 29th) to get… Continue reading Hapless rooster newlyweds