Culture in the Blender

You know you’re not American when the first thing that pops into your head as a defense when people accuse you of being classist, even as a joke, is to confess your bourgeoise background (because you know you’re not talking your way out of that one) and proclaim the insignificance of your suffering compared to [...]

Having spoken to people so much about my future and having had to stay a night at the Sixth Avenue Inn recently, even though I am back “home” I still feel displaced. I like staying at five-star hotels because it makes me feel a lot like I came home. It reminds me of the Lidu. [...]

One of my new friends is born in Thailand. Her parents came from Laos to Bangkok, fleeing across the border between Laos and China to escape unrest. If she could go anywhere, she would go back to Thailand with a lot of money, but she feels Chinese, even though she’s never been there. Her heart [...]

After being over that horrid hotel ordeal, I’m having a blast networking. I’ve made four friends in 24 hours, and I love it. I love connecting people across disciplines, countries, cultures, and styles. Something about connecting people makes me feel calm and at peace.

I’m at a conference in Seatte, WA, US. Because I need to work on my presesntation, here’s some recently discovered travel advice:
If you call the Westin Seattle and they’re full, they refer you to another nearby Starwood property called Sixth Avenue Inn. Do not book a room there. It is the nastiest, dirtiest hotel I’ve [...]

My mother sends me an email stream of articles from various news media almost daily. Today’s single article was about public libraries and respect and love for books. Since both of us are avid readers, I thought that was why she sent me the link. However, at the end I realized she had double motives:
“Och [...]

I haven’t posted much lately because I’ve been very busy with my research, trying to really get somewhere. However, it’s difficult not to be reminded that not only do I live in a country that doesn’t take feminism for granted, I am in an atmosphere where discrimination can’t be discussed – a major research university [...]