The Punchbowl: Another cemetery of note

by Jamie Rhein on

Martha’s post on cemeteries got me thinking–particularly since a few days before I wrote a post that included one of the cemeteries that made her list. While Arlington National Cemetery is a splashy, must-see cemetery on the east coast, across the Pacific Ocean in Honolulu is another national cemetery that offers a glimpse at major happenings in the world ‘s history.

The National Memorial Cemetery for the Pacific, more commonly known as The Punchbowl, is a cemetery developed for those who died in the Pacific campaigns during WW II. Later, people who died in Korea and Vietnam were buried here. These days those who served in the military who want to be buried in a military cemetery are buried at Hawaii State Veterans Cemetery in Kaneohe, Hawaii, also on Oahu because the Punchbowl is full to capacity. Along with the history lesson found by reading the various signage in the cemetery, another interesting feature its it’s punchbowl shape. The cemetery resides in the dormant volcano, Pouwaina which was aptly named. Pouwaina means consecrated hill or hill of sacrifice.

As a person who wasn’t the best at paying attention in social studies in high school, I found my trip here fascinating. I had a tour guide though who had a personal connection. My great uncle who retired from the army as a Lt. Colonel and stayed in Hawaii after wards since this was his last posting (and frankly, if you were retiring and happened to live on O’ahu, would you leave?) served in WW II, Korea and the Vietnam War. Even without my uncle, you’ll get a sense of the far reaches of the people who are buried here. Thousands of them were never identified.

Here’s a website I found Acres of Honor, that has in depth descriptions of the cemetery, plus photos and movies. There is a link to visiting information as well.

Oh China, how you’ve changed! Part 3

by Neil Woodburn on

This is Part 3 of a three part series exploring the tremendous changes that have occurred in China since the author last visited as a tourist in 1995. To start reading from the beginning, click here.

On my most recent visit to China a few weeks ago, I noticed that Chinese communism is becoming increasingly schizophrenic. On the one hand, capitalism is alive and well in China as businesses boom and entrepreneurship thrives. On the other hand, the government stubbornly holds on to communist ideals and iconography that has been stripped from the rest of this planet. As a result, it was a bizarre disconnect to see an animated hammer and sickle icon appear every night before the evening news while a capitalist free-for-all was simultaneously occurring everywhere around me.

In addition, the government continues to idolize Chairman Mao, the country’s legendary communist leader. Statues of the former ruler remain in prominent locations throughout China, including a massive one I came across in Shenyang. And yes, fresh flowers appear every day to pay tribute. In this respect, China has changed very little since 1995.

Be sure to visit our gallery featuring detailed photographs of this amazing statue. %Gallery-10067%

Censorship and the Internet

Naturally, the internet did not exist in China 12 years ago. Today the world’s most populace country is indeed wired, but only to a limited extent.

Although the government has allowed the internet to develop within China, they have not allowed it to do so freely. Censors ensure that anti-government sites and negative content is kept from Chinese web surfers. In fact, the Chinese government operates what is undoubtedly the world’s largest and most thorough attempt to censor and monitor the web: the Golden Shield.

The Golden Shield is a $700 million firewall through which all Chinese internet traffic passes. Servers electronically monitor suspect sites and deny access when content is not appropriate. In addition, human censors surf the web in search of additional sites the computers may have missed.

And so one afternoon I found myself in an internet café in Shenyang. It was crowded, but no one was really online; the entire café was full of gamers. Out of curiosity, I did a quick Google search for the most sensitive of Chinese topics: Tiananmen Square. Up popped the typical links you might suspect for such a search, but something was slightly wrong; I was not able to click on a single one of them.

I switched to Google Image Search to see if I could find any man-standing-in-front-of-tanks photographs. In a non-censored country, nearly 75% of images that pop with a “Tiananmen Square” search are of that iconic photo. In Shenyang, only two photos appeared. I was shocked that even this many got through the censors. When I clicked on the links, however, I discovered why; there was no text about the demonstrations. It was just a photograph with no description of what was going on. Until censorship technology is able to recognize “dangerous” photographs, random shots of that brave, but now very dead protestor will continue to surface occasionally.

Lastly, I tried accessing Wikipedia. I was hardly surprised to discover this simply wasn’t happening. And I found it rather poetic: Just like some of the less scrupulous contributors to this online encyclopedia, China also writes its own version of history and politics.

Oh, and in case you are wondering, Gadling is indeed accessible in China.

Final Thoughts

Looking back on my recent time in China, I am left with a conflicting opinion: so very much has changed since 1995, while at the same time, nothing has changed at all. In other words, China has always been an enigma to the Western world and it continues to be so.

The Olympics, however, may be just what China needs to pull its head even further out of its shell–although there is still a lot more that needs to come out. In the meantime, the Summer Games are going to be very interesting times for this confused, schizophrenic nation.

Yesterday: Oh China, how you’ve changed! Part 2

One for the Road: Around the World – The Grand Tour in Photo Albums

by Kelly Amabile on

Long before the birth of travel blogs, online trip journals or digital cameras, there were photo albums and paper scrapbooks. Remember those? Sure you do, and of course, plenty of folks still use these traditional forms to chronicle and capture their travels. But today’s Moleskines and Kodak Photogallery albums are modern day versions of an artistic journaling phenomenon that dates back to the invention of photography.

A new book from Princeton Architectural Press traces the history of the travel photo album with an impressive collection of snapshots, postcards and passenger lists that capture the stories of early voyages. Around the World – The Grand Tour in Photo Albums includes amateur photos, diary entries, ship menus and newspaper clippings that transport readers back to the dawn of world travel. Read author Barbara Levine’s Confessions of an Armchair Traveler essay to learn more about how travel tales were chronicled at the turn of the twentieth century. And pick up a copy of this book to be whisked away on a vintage journey full of classic travel ephemera.

Remember Michael Fay? Does caning sound familiar?

by Jamie Rhein on

Justin’s post “Joey, have you ever been to a Turkish prison?” (one of the funniest lines from the movie, “Airplane,” by the way) got me thinking about Michael Fay. He’s the guy who, as a not-thinking-too-clearly-adolescent, pulled some pranks that earned him in a stint in a Singapore prison and 4 lashes with a cane.

Fay was a student at the Singapore American School when I taught there, although I was teaching in the elementary school at the time so I never met him. I was on the school crisis intervention team though. The only time we met that year was the day after he got arrested. When you’re in a high profile community overseas like the school was and still is, the antics of those who are associated with you can have repercussions. As beautiful as Singapore looks, and as pleasant as it can be to live there, this is a place you don’t want to mess around. If one in your community does break the rules, it’s a balancing act between helping to solve a problem and offer help while keeping some distance. Places of employment and your kids’ school will stick by you to a point, but when you live overseas and you mess up, you’re generally on your own with little intervention.

For weeks after his arrest, Michael Fay was discussed at lunch tables, during parties, on stair landings, anywhere people caught a minute to voice their opinion. Generally, the feeling was, “I feel sorry for him, but the law is the law.” When you move to a country, following the local laws is part of the deal. This was a case where rambunctious teenagers who do things like spray painting cars and stealing road signs shouldn’t be living in Singapore, perhaps. It’s a country that doesn’t tolerate much rule breaking. There are other countries I’d also think twice about before living there with an adolescent. The rub is that when a parent’s job pays well and happens to be overseas, it’s difficult to make a decision that home-sweet-home needs to be back home. Plus, often overseas schools are top rate schools with all the bells and whistles. It’s hard to give up the glory.

During this particular saga we read The Straits Times which published in depth articles with a Singaporean bias about what exactly happens when caning occurs and discussed why we found the idea so repulsive. Because the articles often appeared with detailed photographs, nothing was left to the imagination. It was like reading the National Enquirer day after day. Finally, Michael Fay was caned, landed back in the U.S. and on the talk show circuit. If you remember, his claim to fame was cut short when a white Bronco sped down an L.A. highway in a high profile police chase. O.J. Simpson stole Michael Fay’s thunder.

The following school year life returned back to normal at the school and one of the biggest rule breaking worries was how to keep the teenagers at the high school following the dress code. Tuck that shirt in.

For a detailed account of the Michael Fay incidence, here is an article that was published in Asia Week back then. I read it and it’s exactly what I remember. The cartoon is from a Web site that includes several articles from various sources. The caption bubble reads: “That’s the last time I go there on Spring Break.”

Chicago’s Festival of Maps

by Kelly Amabile on

The Field Museum exhibit I mentioned yesterday is part of a larger cartographic celebration that kicked off in Chicago earlier this month. The Festival of Maps is a citywide event that celebrates exploration, discovery and mapping. It began on November 2, and will continue into 2008, as over 30 scientific and cultural institutions participate with activities and exhibits highlighting these themes.

The exhibit at the Field Museum is the cornerstone event, featuring over 100 maps created by ancient navigators and modern Internet pioneers. Other organizations with exhibits beginning this month or in the weeks to come include Encyclopedia Britannica, The Polish Museum of America, The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, the Brookfield Zoo and the Chicago Botanic Garden.

There are plenty more galleries, museums and libraries around Chicago with map-themed exhibits on the horizon. Keep up to date with announcements about exhibits and events at the Festival’s blog, which most recently posted news about 16th century maps of Rome currently on view at the University of Chicago’s Regenstein Library.