Free Tibet flag factory discovered — in China

by Grant Martin on

What happens when you mix a rapidly growing manufacturing economy, unbridled entrepreneurial enthusiasm and uneducated workers? Sweet mistakes like what happened this week in China.

Police in Guangdong, China just raided a factory that was apparently manufacturing “Free Tibet” flags, the same ones that protesters have been flying across the world, at Olympic events and in the face of frustrated Chinese bureaucrats.

Apparently the workers initially didn’t know what kind of flags they were making, they just thought that they were making colorful, fun flags for export. After finally getting suspicious, they found out what the Snow Lion flag meant and notified authorities.

Who has the gall to try to manufacture something like that in a communist country? The workers can plead ignorance all they want, but someone had to authorize the order.

Awwwwwkward.

Cheerleaders cause uproar in India

by Abha Malpani on

The minute I read that cheerleaders are being imported to shake their booties at India’s IPL tournament, I knew it would cause trouble: blonde and brunette “goris” (white girls) who are not shy of showing lots of skin is what the average Indian man only gets to see in films. Such girls live, only meters away from them, is enough to leave them drooling and dreaming of you know what. I am surprised that this wasn’t foreseen by Indian organizers before they spent the money to get them there.

Spectators are passing lewd and insulting comments and politicians are disgusted as they find the bopping boobs and and gyrating bums on the cricket field too vulgar for Indian tolerance standards. Having said that, Bollywood films these days are no less provocative so this uproar is a prime example of India’s double standards.

I had to laugh when I read in the BBC this quote by an Indian politician: “This thing is meant for foreigners and not for us. Mothers and daughters watch these matches on television. It does not look nice.” It reminded me of the most famous line Indian men say to other men when they are being lecherous: “Don’t you have mothers and sisters!?” It works wonders in making Indian men being sleazy to stop.

Anyway, security measures are at maximum for these poor girls who thought that coming to India and dancing in a national event would be all fun and games, meanwhile talks are being held to define the “line of decency” or to ban their appearance.

On second thoughts, I bet this uproar was foreseen: sexy international girls jiggying and thousands of Indians strongly reacting to it is enough to get another round of publicity in the international press — which is exactly what has happened.

Okayama, Japan: a place to see Japan at a quieter pace

by Jamie Rhein on

When I went to Japan several years back, the U.S. dollar was the pits against the yen. Luckily I had a friend of a friend of my brother’s to stay with in Tokyo. I had a Japanese rail pass for a week so we ventured out on day trips mostly, except for two nights in Kyoto. We went on a day trip to Nara from there. Other trips were to Kamakura and Nikko. This was an impressionistic sort of trip. Japan is such a vivid place that I can conjure up pictures of most of it.

Now that my friend has moved back to Japan, I’m thinking another trip to Japan is in order, particularly since we have another place to go. Okayama, where my friend now lives, looks like it’s a perfect sized city for visiting with children, and one where its possible to taken in the nuances of Japanese culture. In an odd way, it seems to be to Japan what Columbus is to the United States–a reflection of the rest of the country without being overwhelming. There is enough to see and do to make it interesting, but because of the size, the people and sites are accessible.

I’m getting this from the Okayama page at Wikitravel that lists several attractions you can take in.

Here are highlights:

There’s the Korakuen Garden, one of the three Great Gardens in Japan. It dates back to 1687.

The Okayama Castle is a tribute to the tenacity of the Japanese. Destroyed during WWII, it was rebuilt to look like it did before. This might be a place my friend could be an English speaking tour guide–a suggestion Shane left on my post about helping my friend find English speakers.

The Oriental Museum is the place to find out about trade between Persia and Japan. I bet this is a great place to see similarities between textile designs of Persia and pottery designs of Japan. Maybe not, but I would guess.

Sogenji Temple offers free meditation. Plus, temples in Japan are some of the most relaxation producing places on the planet. Here’s also a place to participate in a tea ceremony.

Shizutani School is possibly the oldest public school in the world. It is the oldest school in Japan to be built as an every person’s school. Today it is a national treasure.

There’s also Muscat Stadium, a sports stadium that has baseball games from time to time; a big monthly flea market and the statue of Momotaro. Plus, there’s Mt. Misaoyama for hiking, hot springs for soaking and bike rentals.

Okay, now that I’ve outlined some of what there is to do in Okayama, I have to say, it looks a bit more interesting than Columbus–by a mile.

Phone call: Back in Japan and looking for Americans

by Jamie Rhein on

My Japanese friend, who recently moved back to Japan, called me this weekend. Her kids are doing fine. Her husband is in the throes of work, and she is wondering how she can keep up with her English. As a person who fit well in the United States, her life back in Japan is taking some adjusting. She’s happy to reconnect with family and friends, but she’s missing here.

I promised to find her some Americans in Okayama where she is living. Okayama, a city past Kyoto, even further from Tokyo, is not exactly an expat hot spot. She’s been on a hunt for English speakers without much luck. I did a Web search after we hung up and, although I have yet to find any Americans for her, I think I found English speakers. There is a Toastmaster’s Club.

Most of the Okayama Toastmaster Club’s Web site is written in Japanese, but there is another site with information on Toastmaster Clubs in Japan with links to each of them. From what I can tell, the purpose of Toastmasters in Japan is to give people a venue for giving speeches in English and to help people improve their public speaking abilities in general.

Toastmasters International has clubs all over the world. If you’re in the need for some public speaking help and a place to meet people, here’s a suggestion.

Photo of the Day (04/28/08)

by Iva Skoch on

This shot reminded me of walking through the streets of China and having people staring at me and yelling ‘laowei’ (foreigner). I didn’t mind it. It was funny. I like villages, where the old folks still hang out outside–be it in China, Greece or Eastern Europe–and carefully examine everyone who is “not one of them.”

It seems that StrudelMonkey had a similar experience when he taking this shot in Suzhou-Dongshan, China earlier this month. I love it!

***To have your photo considered for the Gadling Photo of the Day, go over to the Gadling Flickr Pool and post it. Make sure it is not copyrighted, otherwise we can’t post it here.***