December 2010
7 posts
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Anti-Corruption Officials Laud the Internet →
hmm, interesting hypocrisy…
they praise it, but at the same time they fear it.
“Anti-corruption officials in China praise the Internet’s role in enhancing public supervision—even though the government frequently tries to quash discussion of sensitive corruption cases on the Web.”
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Why Chinese beats French →
Some reflections on the future of language teaching in American universities.
I would say that the article holds true for Britain also.
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Magnetic Fields gig, Amsterdam (31/03/10)
On Wednesday night I finally saw my favourite band, The Magnetic Fields, live in Amsterdam. And it was most certainly worth the trip. For starters, the concert venue was unusual. De Duif, an old church on the Prinsengracht. It was a perfect choice for this band though, quirky, imposing, a bit majestic and ever so slightly creepy. When we got inside De Duif, I was surprised to find that the whole...
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Constructive criticisms of China - from a Chinese... →
Foreigners have said these things before, but are usually accused of ‘not understanding China’ (which could be true in many cases). Here are some insightful criticisms of China, written by someone who understands - a Chinese research fellow in sociology.
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Adjustment Blues (from January 2010)
The following is a post from my old blog dated January 17 2010. I remember feeling totally jaded with Brussels after only a few months, and thinking fondly back to the China days. At the time of writing, those days seemed rosy in comparison to the here and now, but in hindsight I think this was probably just another case of the adjustment blues. After five years of living abroad, I firmly...
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The dangers of a rising China →
“China and America have one advantage over history’s great-power pairings: they saw the 20th century go disastrously wrong. It is up to them to ensure that the 21st is different.”
From the Economist (December 8th 2010)
Here’s hoping.