Stories from 26 January 2007
Romania: EU Residency Permit
Csikszereda Musings has just received his third residency permit for Romania in two years: “Because now, of course, Romania is in the EU, and my ability to stay here is determined by that new status. (Romanians can't stay in the UK longer than 3 months, but fortunately for me the...
Romania: On Resourcefulness
Romerican reports on the amazing resourcefulness of Romanians: “When you have given up all reasonable hope of finding a corkscrew and resigned yourself to suffering without wine, the ingenious engineering mind of the typical Romanian kicks into second gear and — come hell or highwater — finds a method to...
Serbia: Blogging from Davos
Belgrade 2.0 announces blog reports from Davos posted by Bozidar Djelic, a Serbian “financial expert.”
Slovenia: Hospital Experience
The Glory of Carniola is forced to spend one night at a Slovenian hospital with his daughter – and ends up hating the experience: “Unfortunately, the boy had pissed all over himself in the meantime. I felt bad for not having gotten the nurse sooner, but in a way he...
Former Yugoslavia: Intermarriage
Halfway Down the Danube writes on “intermarriage, Yugoslav versus American style.”
Russia: Cops vs Tourists
Russia Blogs warns tourists of some of the dangers of Russia travel: “But there is also a dark side to the extended holidays for unsuspecting travelers visiting Russia’s cities – namely, Russian cops shaking down foreigners for bribes because they lack valid stamps on their visas.”
Romania: Media vs Blogs
Owlspotting writes about the situation with the Romanian mainstream media and bloggers: “So my problem with hailing Romanian bloggers as the salvation of Romanian journalism (or at least a serious threat to it) is that we’re comparing apples and oranges. Good journalism, great writing and great reporting is what anybody–no...
South Korea: Hongdae redevelopment
Matt in Gust of popular feelings blogs about his experience of Seoul city culture: eating places, cafes, etc. Such spaces are disappearing with redevelopment plan, the upcoming one is Hongdae redevelopment.
Japan: Namba Yasaka Shinto Shrine
Ampontan introduces the Namba Yasaka Shinto Shrine in Osaka: The outdoor structure is called the Ojishi-den, or Palace of the Great Lion. Visitors say it’s about the size of a three-story building, and officially it is 12 meters high, 11 meters wide, and 10 meters deep. The ferocious face is...
China: political reform
ESWN translates an interview with former People's Daily deputy editor-in-chief Zhou Ruijin published in Mingpao about the challenge for political and legal reform in China.
China: why I don't like Chinese blogsphere
I Yee explains why he doesn't like Chinese blogsphere. He will leave the Chinese blogsphere and try on English from now on.
China: historic church further demolished
Dan Washburn from Shanghaiist reports on the fire outbreak that further demolished the old Union Church which had been converted into offices in Shanghai.
China: new Chinese movement
Joel Martinsen from DANWEI translated an interview at New Century Weekly with Tang Yi, an etymologist and world religions researcher, who argues that a “New Chinese Movement” is needed to return standards to the language.
Indionesia: Speeding up Economic Growth
Sarapan Ekonomy says cutting red tape is a sure fire way of accelerating Indonesia's economic growth in his post comparing the economies of China, India and Indonesia.
Indonesia: Movie on Bali Bombing
The Swanker talks about a new movies on the event related to the Bali Bombings of 2002 has just been released in Indonesia. The blogger says “In a majority-Muslim country, the importance of a frank portrayal of Islam's role in driving the terrorists to murder cannot be underestimated and certainly...
