No birds; dogs only in bags
posted in: cross-culture, taipei
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228 “Incident”
posted in: cross-culture, taipei
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Today is a public holiday to commemorate 2/28. Since we didn’t know much about the origins of this holiday, we decided to take a (rainy) walk down to 228 Peace Memorial Park to check out the museum. The museum was free but unfortunately all in Chinese (except for a single-page brochure in English). So although it was decent-looking enough, we didn’t spend too … Read More
canadiano
posted in: cross-culture, food
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… is an americano with milk.
Jehovah’s Witnesses in Nairobi
posted in: cross-culture, nairobi
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The strangest thing, when shopping at Nakumatt Prestige, I’ve been approached several times by black people speaking to me in Chinese. The first time it happened I was so startled that I chatted with them back. They’re always Jehovah’s Witnesses (presumably learning mandarin in order to convert the many Chinese in Nairobi) who inevitably invite me to an event “all … Read More
Christmas in Nairobi
posted in: cross-culture, nairobi
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The weather is always great in Nairobi, so being 25 degrees every day makes me forget that it’s almost Christmas time. There are some tell-tale signs though, like the workers in Santa hats at Nakumatt: We live near the Junction Mall, and I saw them set up a Santa corner–but it was only now that I noticed his hours: a … Read More
Norwegian queue culture
posted in: cross-culture, oslo
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I think this ad, by the public transportation authority of Oslo (ruter), is hilarious–and passive-aggressive. It says: “THANKS for showing a queueing culture…”. And yet if you’ve ever been on a bus or train in Norway you would know that Norwegians don’t queue, they mob (while jabbing with their elbows, or at least that’s how it feels to me). Same … Read More
meet the somalis
posted in: cross-culture, oslo
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Over the past year, my colleague Cindy Horst has been researching how inclusion and exclusion processes have affected the Somali community in Oslo. As part of a larger “Somalis in European Cities” project, it has just released a wonderful set of illustrated stories depicting life in seven different cities around Europe (click image above to access). Somalis are one of … Read More
norwegian advertising
posted in: cross-culture, food, oslo, video
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Sometimes I don’t think I’ll ever understand Norwegian mass culture. This ad for vanilla sauce, for example: NYHET! Endelig med skrukork! (“NEW! Finally with a screw cap!”) It doesn’t market any other feature. No great taste, no new recipe, just… a screw cap.
africans and indians
posted in: cross-culture, travel
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In Nairobi, the upper middle class are Indians–and not “fresh-off-the-boat” Indians, but those that have been here for several generations. According to wikipedia, the origin of Indian migration was for the construction of the Uganda railway (or “lunatic express“; see also last post) in the late 19th century. There are now over 100,000 Asians in Kenya today–and all the successful … Read More
creative infographics
posted in: cross-culture
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on whether Danes think it’s ethical to wear religious symbols in public professions (click to see more)…