Archive for March, 2007
Cultural awareness through virtual reality
The U.S. military apparently recognizes the need to train troops in cultural awareness, so it has developed some virtual reality technology that enables soldiers to practice interacting with people from different societies. At the moment, not surprisingly, this is particularly focused on learning about Iraqis and Arabs. According to an article in the Arizona Daily Star:
The U.S. military [...]
Cricket and culture
The 2007 World Cup of Cricket is currently being played in the Caribbean. The sporting event is not getting much coverage in the U.S., not surprisingly, especially with March Madness going on. Shashi Tharoor, a diplomat and writer who recently published an op-ed column about his passion for cricket, says he is resigned to the [...]
Chinese classes a challenge in U.S.
Suddenly, it seems, U.S. students are clamoring to learn Chinese. In the past seven years, according to this article in the Christian Science Monitor, enrollment in Mandarin classes has jumped tenfold among primary and secondary students. Of course, it’s still a mere pittance compared to the huge numbers of people in China who are learning English. [...]
Discovering Victoria Falls
Michael Joseph Gross loves waterfalls. So when he heard that a group was planning a short hiking expedition to Victoria Falls in honor of the 150th anniversary of its discovery by the Scottish explorer David Livingstone, he had to go. Later, he wrote about his experiences on the Zambia-Zimbabwe border in this travel article.
On the [...]
Popular posts
I just had the one-year anniversary of my first entry on this blog. When I began writing, I labored in solitude for more than a month before finally having somewhat of a public launch May 12. I’m pleased that readership has consistently increased and is now more than triple what it was just six months ago. So thanks [...]
A tale of Ghana and Africa
If you are interested in understanding more about Africa, there is a fascinating story in Time Magazine that traces the history of Ghana over the past 50 years, along with some of the successes and failures of the African continent in general. The story achieves this by focusing on the lives of three generations of a single family – [...]
1,000 places to see on a sabbatical
First came the book, 1,000 Places to See Before You Die. Then the Travel Channel decided to base a television series around the concept and selected a Denver couple, Albin and Melanie Ulle, to embark “on a 14-week excursion across 13 countries.” The Ulle’s experiences were filmed for the series, which premieres March 29, according [...]
Speed limit on the Autobahn?
A debate has broken out in Germany over a suggestion to enforce a speed limit on the autobahn in an effort to cut down on carbon dioxide emissions. Although some areas of the legendary highway do have speed limits now, the Germans obsessively protect the wide open stretches and are legendary for taking full advantage of the [...]
Ethical Travel
Jeff Greenwald directs a program called Ethical Traveler, which promotes the idea that we should all be more aware of how we impact other cultures and communities by the decisions we make when traveling. Or, in Greenwald’s words, to realize that “what we do as travelers really does matter.” The NY Times ran a short profile of Jeff [...]
Japanese respect comes to American baseball
The Japanese are known to have a polite and respectful culture. When two people bow in greeting, the younger or lower ranking individual traditionally bows lower. This week, even the world of American baseball glimpsed an example of this formality. I was amused to see this Boston Globe article, which describes the first on-field meeting between Yankees [...]
Cross-cultural health care
A simple conversation between a doctor and a patient can often cause problems when the two individuals are from different cultures. Due to a growing awareness of such challenges, some efforts are now underway to improve the cultural competence of health care providers. One such program has been launched in Maryland and was recently profiled in this [...]
Chinese gaining a taste for wine
There is a fun article in Newsweek International about the increased interest in wine in China. In part, the story lays out the evidence for China’s arrival as a wine drinking nation.
The average Chinese has doubled his or her wine intake over the last five years. In 2005, the Asian giant eked into the world’s top-10 wine-consuming [...]
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Bob Riel is a writer and a traveler. Go here to read more about Bob, his work and the Travels in the Riel World blog.
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My travel memoir - Two Laps Around the World: Tales and Insights from a Life Sabbatical - is about two round-the-world journeys with my wife.
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