Resolution to learn a language?

by Jamie Rhein on

My husband comments every so often that he’s going to learn Chinese. “That’s nice, honey,” I say. I think he might some day once he puts his mind to it. I used to have a resolution that I will learn American Sign Language. I have a deaf brother-in-law and sister-in-law. I can finger spell, kind of. I also know how to sign spaghetti, please, thank-you, and I have to go to the bathroom. The one complicated sentence I know how to sign is “The houses fell down. Why? Tornado.”

If you have a resolution to learn a language, there is a method I saw advertised on TV last night that I’ve heard about as being is an effective method. The Rosetta Language System has been mentioned more than a few times as being one that works in English as A Second Language meetings I’ve attended.

The system is an interactive computer software program. As you click on various pictures, the language is spoken so you can practice by repetition, however, it’s more dynamic than that. I noticed there is a Mandarin version. There’s Valentine’s Day coming up. Maybe this would be a better present than chocolate. It’s more expensive though. At $209 for level 1, the price might keep a person hitting the computer to make it worth the price tag.

Seven must-see abandoned wonders

by Jerry Guo on

Here’s a nice gallery of seven derelict structures around the US that you can visit. Yes, I know, I’m two months late on this one (Halloween), but by the looks of these pictures, the places look like they would be cool to visit year-round.

There’s one that I didn’t expect on the list: the old headquarters of Sun Microsystems in Palo Alto. Isn’t real estate in Silicon Valley going through the roof? It’s incredible that there’s all these abandoned buildings in the middle of bustling metropolises.

For something closer to home, there’s Western Penitentiary in Pittsburgh (I wrote for a paper there this summer). For some reason, there’s apparently lots of abandoned prisons in that region that are catering to tourists now. I dug up this nice article that a colleague of mine from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review wrote about a prison tour he went on.

Now, my question is does anyone know of urban exploration clubs around New York (or anywhere else) that arrange expeditions to these kind of places?

Times Square and New Year’s Eve, the 100th year

by Jamie Rhein on

Years ago, when I was in undergraduate school I headed to Times Square on New Year’s Eve with friends of mine to watch the ball drop. When you watch the event on TV, you see massive crowds for sure, but going there is not as bad as it looks. Everyone can’t pile in up close. Where you stand depends on how early you get there. As the blocks fill up, they are closed off to more people in order to keep the crunch of people bearable.

Since this is the 100th year of the ball dropping in Times Square, perhaps this is the year to head to the lights in person. The ball is brand new for the occassion.

When we went, we weren’t all that early, so we were not up close. Still, the ball is way up there, and it’s big. It’s not like people can get in your line of vision.

Maybe you’ll even run into someone you know. I did. While I was standing around with my college friends waiting for a new year to start, I heard my name called. Standing two people away from me was one of my friends from high school. He was down in the city like I was visiting friends of his.

If you go, bring noise makers if you have them, but if not, there are plenty of confetti and noise makers without your addition. Just yell “Happy New Year” and hug someone when 2008 lights up. Plus, fireworks are much more impressive in real life than on TV–and there is nothing like a New York City crowd in a partying mood.

Trans-Siberian: Trading in experiences for luxury

by Neil Woodburn on

Well, I suppose it was only a matter of time before the Trans-Siberian was up-scaled.

Back in the early 1990s when I traveled the legendary journey, it cost just $150 to travel nearly a quarter of the globe, from Moscow to Beijing. And I paid inflated tourist prices at the time.

Today, discerning travelers can opt for a $14,000, 19-day pampered adventure that is completely opposite of everything I experienced on my journey. The berths, for example, aren’t “sleeper” or even First Class. No, for $14,000 you get Gold Class, an entirely elevated level of comfort that includes “power showers and under floor heating…, state of the art DVD/CD player, LCD screens, audio system, individual air conditioning, recessed lighting and wardrobe space.”

Wow. I, on the other hand, shared a 4-person berth with Mongolians smuggling consumer items out of Russia. The bathroom was nothing more than a nasty toilet that was shared by the entire carriage and cleaned only once a day. And, the dining car had nothing but beef stroganoff for seven days straight.

While Gold Class certainly sounds inviting, all that money will never replicate the wonderful experience of sharing meals with my Mongolian bunkmates and listening to them drunkenly sing BeeGees songs out of tune.

That, folks, is priceless.

Church of the Nativity and Bethlehem Memories

by Jamie Rhein on

It’s only a few days after Christmas and people are asking, “How were the holidays?” as if once the 25th passes there’s no more need for cheer bearing gatherings or reasons to feel merry and bright. I’m still resonating.

When I read Jamil Hamid’s essay about the real Bethlehem and what Christmas used to be like there when he was a child, I felt the same wistfulness about world peace that Hamid, a Muslim, expresses. He mentions the Church of the Nativity, thought to be where Jesus was born. It has a fascinating history and one that continues to transform with Bethlehem’s changing cultural make-up.

His essay also reminded me of my own Bethlehem feelings that I experienced one Christmas Eve in The Gambia. I also thought about the Ohio connection to The Church of the Nativity. (When you live in Ohio long enough, the connections to other places are amazing. I can come up with about anything, however, I can assure you this is an honest to goodness connection.)

This past October, I headed to the Bethlehem Cave and Nativity Museum outside Akron to interview the woman who gives tours and take photos for an article I was writing on nativities across Ohio. The cave and museum are housed in the Nativity of the Lord Jesus Parish, a Catholic Church that picked up on the nativity theme and ran with it. The cave, built in a room downstairs is patterned after the one in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.

Akron’s replica was designed by the church’s priest based on sketches he made when he used to take tours to the real Bethlehem Cave. He is an expert on the church’s history but does not take tour groups there anymore because ihe believes it has become too dangerous. His church, though, is devoted to the place. Throughout the rest of the church in Akron there are references to the church in Bethlehem.

Along with the cave, the church has a nativity set collection filled with nativities from all over the world. If you ever want a good tiding fix, head here. You can find out a lot about the church in Bethlehem that Hamid writes about. You can also see the star at the bottom of the alter.