The Traveler's Tavern IV : Othor Games

» Sun May 13, 2012 7:13 pm

the american flag i have is made in china :tongue:

Woe betide us.

» Sun May 13, 2012 2:16 pm

The what?

I'm half afraid you're serious.

» Sun May 13, 2012 11:49 am

I want to visit Germany. I'm learning German, and it's very beautiful there too.
I love posting random things when I have no idea what really going on. :banana:

» Sun May 13, 2012 11:24 am

The what?

Not sure if serious...

» Sun May 13, 2012 11:41 am

I want to visit Germany. I'm learning German, and it's very beautiful there too.
I love posting random things when I have no idea what really going on. :banana:

Geese have very soft necks, but they get very angry when you try to feel them.

» Sun May 13, 2012 10:46 pm

Geese have very soft necks, but they get very angry when you try to feel them.

A car dealership near to where I used to live had a roving herd of "guard geese" patrolling the place overnight. They were apparently very effective.

» Sun May 13, 2012 2:11 pm

how did the rest of the world view the cold war?
and communism?
and america?

Not as bad as having the cold.
Didn't reach it's full potenial.
Biggest hypocrite ever.

» Mon May 14, 2012 2:14 am

Not to derail thread, but human greed and nature was never going to allow communism to flourish now, was it? "We are all the same, I just get a bigger house...and a nicer car and I get to tell you all what to do, but we're still all equal!" :blink:

» Sun May 13, 2012 5:43 pm

Not to derail thread, but human greed and nature was never going to allow communism to flourish now, was it? "We are all the same, I just get a bigger house...and a nicer car and I get to tell you all what to do, but we're still all equal!" :blink:

That's just the problem with humanity in general though, isn't it? However many idealists there are, there're always a few who aren't...

» Sun May 13, 2012 8:19 pm

I'm half afraid you're serious.

And you'll never know! OooOOOooo!

(~~ o_o)~~

» Sun May 13, 2012 10:47 pm

Hahahahahaha

All your base are belong to us! You have no chance to survive make your time! ha ha ha!

Seriously China is big and it's good at sustaining itself without reliance of others. Problem is, we seem to have over harvested our natural resources just to sell them to other countries. That's why our central government is desperately trying to ban or control the export, but since mainland China legislation is still full of loopholes, people always finds a way to get through. This leads to some quarrels over our treaties with WTO and deficit with USA.

Chinese labor is cheap, even with the rise of RMB a lot mainlanders are not really earning more than $400 USD a month. There are of course a lot of millionaires, but their are a lot more living in poverty. This is what we call Chinese Socialism. Let some get rich first, then spread their wealth over the community. In essense it's capitalism with heavy government intervention.

Like I said before, you can compare some of modernized cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tianjin, Wuhan, Chengdu with any other big cities in the world, but know that 80% of Chinese are still in poverty, earning less than $3/hour. It didn't work out as expected in communism (perhap never expected that way), but at least the economic growth provided enough money to sustain a quite modernized and powerful military force to defend itself.

I think I might enjoy working in mainland cause I don't have to worry about expensive meals in Hong Kong, their corporates often provide free meals to their employees. But again I have to get used to the way that traffic lights are pointless in there. Drivers don't stop at red lights and we don't give a darn on a car moving at our general direction.

I hope you didn't think I was criticizing China itself, I think it's great that your country is expanding its economy. I just don't like the fact that my country has stopped producing many things, how can we pay for all this stuff we import if we don't export anything. I was being critical of my country, not yours :smile:

And, I'd like to visit China and more particularly Hong Kong in the future, this city looks like a fascinating place. I made friends with students from HK when I was in Canada 2 years ago, sadly we lost touch but they left me with a good impression of the people from HK. I thought at one point of going to live in HK temporarily and taking small jobs, but it doesn't seem possible to do that legally so I dropped the idea. Still would like to visit.

the american flag i have is made in china :tongue:

reminds me of the mugs and the stuffed toy highland cow my sister brought back from Scotland a couple of years ago. They were all made in China...

» Sun May 13, 2012 2:53 pm

reminds me of the mugs and the stuffed toy highland cow my sister brought back from Scotland a couple of years ago. They were all made in China...

It's funny because it's true!

» Sun May 13, 2012 10:30 pm

That's just the problem with humanity in general though, isn't it? However many idealists there are, there're always a few who aren't...

Some times some few is enough to wreck havoc to millions lives. It has been historically proven.

I hope you didn't think I was criticizing China itself, I think it's great that your country is expanding its economy. I just don't like the fact that my country has stopped producing many things, how can we pay for all this stuff we import if we don't export anything. I was being critical of my country, not yours :smile:

My country deserves criticism. I do agree if everywhere in the world is producing Chinese goods where is the diversification of culture banner we've been happily waving on our heads? Production agitates economy, it makes you expand and let others feel your culture.

And, I'd like to visit China and more particularly Hong Kong in the future, this city looks like a fascinating place. I made friends with students from HK when I was in Canada 2 years ago, sadly we lost touch but they left me with a good impression of the people from HK. I thought at one point of going to live in HK temporarily and taking small jobs, but it doesn't seem possible to do that legally so I dropped the idea. Still would like to visit.

Shouldn't be hard. Of course if you speak neutral English and have some English education diploma of some sort it should be a lot easier for you to be a teacher here. A lot of big brand corporate deploys their asia hq here. They often send some important roles down here so if you work your way up you might have a chance.

» Sun May 13, 2012 9:27 pm

When I was a kid I was always apprehensive about visiting my family in Paris because the metro was so dirty, I remember once at a station it smelled so bad I thought there had to be rotten eggs somewhere on the floor. :/ so yeah, Paris is a really dirty city.

Yeah, that particular "romantic" parisian smell... :lmao:

Oh, yeah, yeah, this it true. My grandmother warned me before my first visit, "If you want to retain your romantic notions of Paris, never go there." She was half right. Still one of the greatest cities in the world, pultritude aside.

how did the rest of the world view the cold war?
and communism?

Some of us (most of us?) are probably too young to remember or know much about it.
Everyone who's had a taste of communism will tell you it svcks. Most who haven't will tell you it svcks. Only blinkered idealists or sneak-thieves will tell you it's a good idea.

What is china like? is it really the economic powerhouse ive always heard?

Yes. Although, apparently the construction market will be tumbling shortly. There's too much being built over too short a period. The inflation and loans can't be sustained. If it happens, everyone, everywhere will be hurting. Imagine what America did to the world not too long ago, again, possibly even worse.

A car dealership near to where I used to live had a roving herd of "guard geese" patrolling the place overnight. They were apparently very effective.

Fascinating.

» Sun May 13, 2012 11:35 am

Forgot my question.

To: everyone.

What's the most beautiful place in your country?

» Sun May 13, 2012 12:06 pm

... What's the most beautiful place in your country?

I am particularly fond of Saihō-ji (a temple in Kyoto).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saihō-ji_(Kyoto)

» Mon May 14, 2012 1:09 am

What's the most beautiful place in your country?

I suppose http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loch_Lomond is pretty beautiful, even just being on top of some of the hills with a view is rather beautiful

» Mon May 14, 2012 2:04 am

Forgot my question.

To: everyone.

What's the most beautiful place in your country?

I'll narrow country down to state. The most beautiful place to me in the Old California Republic is Plumas National forest. That's just nostalgia though, really.

» Sun May 13, 2012 9:33 pm

What's the most beautiful place in your country?

I live in Canada, take your pick. :biggrin:

» Sun May 13, 2012 4:32 pm

Forgot my question.

To: everyone.

What's the most beautiful place in your country?

Black Cullin mountains on the Isle of Skye.

» Sun May 13, 2012 7:46 pm

I live in the south downs on a farm, it's a very beautiful area. I haven't been to the lake district or Scotland, but I hear they're beautiful in parts.

» Sun May 13, 2012 8:47 pm

Lake District is overrated far as I'm concerned. I go to mountains to avoid looking at... other people, DON'T FOLLOW ME TO THEM.

» Sun May 13, 2012 9:02 pm

I live in the south downs on a farm, it's a very beautiful area. I haven't been to the lake district or Scotland, but I hear they're beautiful in parts.

They are.

I'm quite fond of Dartmoor and its general surroundings too.

» Sun May 13, 2012 11:31 pm

Personally, I love the Smokey Mountains up in the states of Georgia and North Carolina. Depending on where that is - some of it is really built up, but other areas are just pure wilderness... beautiful.

Oh.. and I killed a dragon in Dartmoor once...

» Sun May 13, 2012 11:48 am

Shouldn't be hard. Of course if you speak neutral English and have some English education diploma of some sort it should be a lot easier for you to be a teacher here. A lot of big brand corporate deploys their asia hq here. They often send some important roles down here so if you work your way up you might have a chance.

well I looked into it some time ago but getting a visa didn't seem all that easy. I wanted to come and find a job as a teacher since I have a diploma to teach French to non native speakers, but I'm not sure people are interested in learning French in Hong Kong and there is no visa that I could get to stay in HK to do that. I've read some people stay 90 days as "tourists" and then they leave HK and reenter as tourists, but that's illegal, so :shrug:

http://www.batgung.com/How-can-I-get-a-Visa-to-live-in-Hong-Kong is a link that lists the different types of visas available... I'm envious of Australians, Kiwis and Irishmen, they have a special agreement with HK, unfortunately France doesn't :/ of all the options listed on that site, only the last one (number 9) could apply to me, but it's not really an option. So I guess I'm out of luck.

What's the most beautiful place in your country?

I don't know, I haven't visited most of my country. The http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loire_Valley with all the chateaux is rather nice, so are http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chamonix_Valley_Panorama.jpg and the http://www.locasun.fr/img_ville/auvergne0.jpg. On a more personal level I miss the vineyards of Burgundy (don't live there anymore), they have a certain charm and remind me of my childhood. http://buckheadwineshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/burgundy-vineyards.jpg I found on the web.