Tag: culture
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Our Culture in a Headline: “Beyoncé convinced Jay Z is hiding things from her”
I saw this headline on a news site the other day. I simply have one question: do people really care? I’m serious. Are there people out there who will gladly click on that link to find the latest gossip? I know the answer to that. I’ve come across Justin Beiber groupies and Miley Cyrus fans…
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Community Shopping Carts
A scene, perhaps, unique to Asia. I was heading off on my powerful Honda 100cc scooter, approaching the large Tesco Supercenter complex not too far from my house. About a quarter of a mile before getting to Tesco is a small enclave of houses. The houses are small too. It is a mainly Malay village…
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Sit down, drink some tea.
“Sit down, drink some tea.” Never was there such a dreaded phrase if I had a list of tasks to complete, and it’s a phrase I never encounter any more. When I lived in Vietnam, completing ordinary, everyday tasks was sometimes a huge challenge. Getting something fixed or trying to find the right item to…
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Fast Food, Globalization, and Culture (Part III)
Here’s part III (the final segment) in this series. The most interesting part (in my opinion) of this post is the fascinating way that fast food has helped change and mold certain parts of modern China. Read Part I HERE! Read Part II HERE! The new fast food culture that has been introduced into many countries over…
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Fast Food, Globalization, and Culture (Part II)
Here’s part two of a three part series. Read Part I HERE! Many of these food related trans-national corporations are now controlling a large portion of food production and distribution in various parts of the world (Phillips 40). McDonald’s and other trans-national franchises do not merely set up restaurants overseas but import entire systems of agricultural…
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Fast Food, Globalization, and Culture (Part I)
A while back, I wrote this (rather long) essay on fast food and culture. I’ll be dividing it up over the next few days. I would appreciate your comments. As you travel down Mt. Erskine road in northern Penang Island and look out over the sprawling Hokkien Chinese cemetery which the road splits in…
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Music, Brazil, & Culture
Let’s mix things up a little bit today. Here’s an excerpt from an essay I wrote about how music in Brazil has mirrored the historical and cultural changes which it has experienced in the modern era. In this excerpt, I highlight the influence of the talented vocalist and musician Milton Nascimento. Milton Nascimento is universally…
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East -West Culture: Skin Color & Beauty
Perhaps you’ve seen this graphic spreading around the Internet recently. http://bsix12.com/east-meets-west/ Having lived nearly the last twenty years in Asia, I enjoyed seeing these depictions and understanding clearly the different world views, or better yet, value orientations which these graphics represent. A westerner moving to Asia could learn a lot just by studying and understanding…
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A Simple Way to Compare and Understand Eastern and Western Culture
I was eating at some outdoor food stalls the other day – you know, the kind I can never get enough of – and we saw it, right outside the food stalls, a dad holding his son’s hand as the young boy peed into the rain gutter. Honestly, I don’t see this nearly as much…
Author Mark W Sasse 