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May Term 2009

The 20 minute ride home

We left Ulanbataar with a better feeling for it than our original impressions as a combination of Eastern Europe and the kind of city you see from the train as you travel out west. It does have features that resemble both, but it’s only 20 years removed from being a Soviet satellite, and is slowly … Continue reading »

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A Few Days at Camp

JR often says, “This is just like Scout camp.” He’s usually right, but this time, he’s more right because Mongolia does resemble Scout camp in many ways. The Lonely Planet, for example, describes it as “The world’s largest campground,” and while there are a lot of places I wouldn’t want to pitch a tent, there … Continue reading »

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In the Land of the Great Khan

Was it less than 48 hours ago that we said goodbye to the students and to Carrie? It seems longer, but when I tell you all that we have been doing (we being me and JR), I think you’ll understand my disorientation. On Friday, we got up early (at least some of us did) and … Continue reading »

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Great Walls and other Great Things in China

The guidebooks say that there are four must-dos in Beijing. We did two of them yesterday—climb the Great Wall and eat Peking duck. The Great Wall is one of China’s relics from ancient times. It runs from the ocean nearly 3,000 miles into the Taklamakan Desert, ending at Jiayuguan on the Silk Road. Consolidated nearly … Continue reading »

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My Home (away from home)

Two quotes infuse today’s blog. The first is Carolyn’s exclamation: “You’re not making them take four train rides, are you?” Well, no. It’s five, as one of the students pointed out, but the last one—hopefully the one they’ll remember best—was both the longest and on the most comfortable train. We left Hong Kong about 3:30 … Continue reading »

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I Was a Millionaire Before I Left Saigon

I was a millionaire before I left Saigon, but in Hong Kong, I’m a pauper. Part of that came from the currency alone. The unit of money in Saigon is the “dong,” which is in serious need of reducing the number of zeros. One dollar equals around 18,000 dong, so when I had to pay … Continue reading »

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Before I let Saigons be Saigons

Before I let Saigons be Saigons (again—see my January post for the first impressions), there are two items that were in the Singapore paper this morning that sum up well what I’ve mentioned about Singapore: 1) The strict controls by the government (which have led to close business-government cooperation): A minimart had its license to … Continue reading »

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Singapore—the “No lyin’” Lion City

In front of the merlion in Singapore harbor. In the late 1930s, Singapore was held out as the great hope of the British Empire to stem the advance of Japan, the Gibraltar of the East. Unfortunately for Great Britain, it was instead the scene of the biggest loss in British history, the 80,000 troops surrendering … Continue reading »

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Mallacka in Mallaysia

Malacca or Melaka seems to be a fit place to end our stay in Malaysia, which bills itself as “Truly Asia.” An old city at the southern entrance to the Straits of Malacca, through which pass over half of the shipping of the world, Malacca traces its history back to the 13th century or so, … Continue reading »

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A Confucian Saying Comes True in Kuala Lumpur

I’ve used the Confucian saying before to introduce a topic, and I’m going to do so again: the Old Sage remarked, “It is a pleasure to welcome guests who come from afar.” The person who demonstrated the truth of the saying was the alum I mentioned in my last blog, Johnny C.H. Lai, an IWU … Continue reading »

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