Thinking about China lately

Tibet:
Inappropriate terminology – “unrest” is such a castrated word. Riots took place.
No one knows what China will be like in 20 years. We know what it is like now, i.e. oppressive, chaotic, predictably nationalistic. No one should be shocked by how the Lhasa riots were reported. The hilarious part is that the government kicked out [...]

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Blepharoplasty

I had no idea cosmetic eye surgery was so common in Japan, and I can’t believe I never noticed this before. I understand models are supposed to keep their eyes wide, and I’m willing to bet this Youtube video could have mismatched some photos, but…hint: there are just not that many [...]

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oh mah gawrsh ah do de-clay-uh: Wish Fulfillment

Scary Go Round always has the best written dialect.
Voices from China’s Past: Zhang Banglin on Manchu Assimilation by Jeremiah has some personal relevance to me. Reading articles like these makes me very happy to see the direction my field is going. One of the things that always bothered me about my classes at Rice was [...]

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hair piece and whole wheat company

So my coworker places a call mistakenly. His bumbling Japanese confuses the man on the other side enough that clarification is required. This man explains that yes he is Mr. Hayashi, and he works for “hair piece and whole wheat company.”

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Back on the mike

Dear You,
Thank you for your incredible generosity during Beer Bike. You helped make it my favorite so far, and you have no idea how much I appreciate that. I wish I could have had more time with you (especially if you are Jing or Dorothy) and I miss you terribly already.  But I need you [...]

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