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Pompous Rhombus posted:It just means "work" in German, right? I told my German friend that it meant part-time work in Japanese and he laughed and said that's what a full-time job in Germany must look like to a Japanese person Yep. Arbeiten is to work. My favorite was he asked me to conjugate it, I did so, and he stared at it and said "This isn't English verb style" and I almost shouted BECAUSE IT'S loving GERMAN. That guy was the embodiment of every bad stereotype about Koreans though. Not typical. He also tried to argue that everyone in the world eats kimchi because if you don't eat kimchi daily, you will die. Therefore everyone must eat it, right?
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Jun 27, 2012 01:09
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Gumog posted:Well, it turns out that I have connections to Myanmar as well. Just asked a Burmese foreign student at my school about his home country - he's putting me into contact with Americans who already live there. Oh you have loans to pay? ugh. Better put Taiwan back on the list.
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Jun 27, 2012 02:44
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Sheep-Goats posted:Oh you have loans to pay? ugh. Its not too bad, minimum payment of 50 dollars a month, which I suppose is doable. Myanmar seems really interesting - is Cambodia's economic development comparable?
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Jun 27, 2012 04:43
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It's hard to compare Cambodia and Myanmar. Myanmar started off way ahead maybe five or six decades ago, but through an incredible level of mendacious ineptitude, managed to decay for pretty much the entire time. It has a bunch of old infrastructure and, while it ran out most of its industrious or intelligent people through the absurd authoritarian policies, it still has a base to build on. Meanwhile, Cambodia cleansed itself of anyone with two brain cells to rub together about four decades ago now and destroyed most of its infrastructure as well, after which the Vietnamese kicked out the KR, took over and hosed around for a decade not doing much, so it had to start from scratch. Cambodia's been back at it again for 15 years, starting slowly, but rolling ever-faster like a ball going down a hill. Burma's barely officially started its climb out of its slumber, but it doesn't face challenges like, "We have no banks at all," or "No one knows how to wire a traffic light" or "We have no energy laws on the books." It's sort of apples and oranges in a way I guess?
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Jun 27, 2012 05:54
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ReindeerF posted:It's hard to compare Cambodia and Myanmar. Indonesia has a few developed tourist oasis like Bali but overall it's pretty horrible because of all the shanty towns and rural poverty. In the Philippines you have entire families who live at trash sites who boil leftover meat from dumpsters and then fry it up in gutter oil. That sort of poverty is just on another scale. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQdHG66ZhXA
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Jun 27, 2012 06:30
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Just in terms of character I personally find myself dividing the Greater Mekong Region (Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam) from the archipelago nations below (Indonesia, Malaysia, The Philippines & Singapore - Brunei doesn't *really* exist). Burma probably fits with the Mekong countries, I suppose, but I never think of it in the same moment. The Philippines is a bit of an outlier too, due to the oddball colonial history when compared to the other nations (Spanish + American has left it with a completely different vibe) - but the poverty there is almost certainly similar to Indonesia. The languages up here are similar and the languages down there are similar. Most of the people in most countries up here are Buddhist and most people in countries down there are of Abrahamic faiths, etc. Poverty here is bad in places like Cambodia, but somehow it doesn't *feel* as desperate and violent as poverty in the Philippines.
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Jun 27, 2012 07:03
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Apparently in the '60s, the Philippines sent over engineers basically on a humanitarian basis to build bridges and buildings for South Korea. Oh how things have changed.
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Jun 27, 2012 07:42
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eviljelly posted:Apparently in the '60s, the Philippines sent over engineers basically on a humanitarian basis to build bridges and buildings for South Korea. Oh how things have changed.
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Jun 27, 2012 08:15
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There's no light at the end of the tunnel in the Philippines either. The unemployment situation and lack of mobility is so bad that it's better to leave the country to work abroad. Massive generational brain drain. The monopolies there price fix so thoroughly that commodities and other basic goods are sky high compared with the rest of SE Asia. Thus crushing the lower class even more. Rural poor people can't resort to subsistence level farming because all the land was monopolized by various wealthy families and corporate entities. Birth rate is pretty out of control there with a growing population density. Contraceptive use is unheard of. So you have tons of single mothers dropping kids that they can't raise. The Philippines government also kind of screwed lots of investors and foreign governments a couple decades ago so FDI has dried up in comparison with the % pouring into countries like Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam.
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Jun 27, 2012 08:55
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Yeah, I think a "The Philippines: So Many Smart People, Why You No Haz Cheesburger?" post in the D&D thread would be pretty interesting - and we have a local Pinoy in that thread, which is helpful. I still have a number of friends there, one of whom I talk to almost daily. They're outwardly proud of their country, but among one another and friends they're basically despondent over it and most seem to agree with the assessment that there's no end in sight.
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Jun 27, 2012 09:02
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Pacquiao will punch away the hunger with his drug fueled fists. In Cambodia I saw a nearly comatose twenty year old mother riddled with Aids spots half lying next to the road while her five or so year old son begged for money nearby. He was wearing only a pink dress, I assume because that was the clothes she found found for him. In New York I had a homeless guy with new looking wool coat and nice white Nikes on ask me outright for five dollars.
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Jun 27, 2012 11:50
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I'm a local Pinoy, and I wish I could contest any of this. Sigh.
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Jun 27, 2012 12:05
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Sheep-Goats posted:Pacquiao will punch away the hunger with his drug fueled fists. As I told my friend, I'm not sure what the Hell you do there. These specific people are run by beggar pimps, so if you intervene and cause a fuss you risk being targeted by violence by the beggar pimps. If you tell the cops they could give a poo poo, probably standing around laughing. And, because these are the non-sexy victims of human trafficking (saving women from prostitution brings in donations, not so much anything else), there's pretty much no one to donate to, to specifically help them. It's a Goddamn mess.
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Jun 27, 2012 13:42
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You know what song rocks? This goddamn song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDvWvvFsMis
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Jun 27, 2012 14:05
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The whole album rocks. Did you listen to Sao Lam Plearn yet? I bought the whole album the other day, you can get it off their site for like $10 or something.
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Jun 27, 2012 14:22
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There was this old blind lady the beggar pimps would stick in the full sun in the middle of a pedestrian bridge in Bangkae with a little drum she would beat while her mealy eyes purposelessly scanned the sky. Most miserable goddamn beggar I've ever seen. Death would have been a mercy.
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Jun 27, 2012 15:05
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Jun 27, 2012 15:16
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Sheep-Goats posted:You know what song rocks? This goddamn song. Thanks for this, it rocks indeed. There's a similar album, Saigon Rock and Soul (1968-75).
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Jun 28, 2012 10:18
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I am coming to Saigon for five days August 1st to 5th.
If anyone wants to babysit a dumb tourist and show him the good spots at any time during those days I'm your man. I'll buy you a beer for the privilege of not wandering around with a thumb in my mouth.
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Jun 28, 2012 18:08
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Toussaint Louverture posted:I am coming to Saigon for five days August 1st to 5th. I know quite a few good restaurants in Saigon, hit me up. I have to go to Indonesia for 2 weeks soon but I will try to make sure I'm free for those dates. I haven't had dog meat yet, we could try that! I'm not gonna try the egg-with-bird-fetus-in-it though. VVVV Hahahahaha Senso fucked around with this message at 12:06 on Jun 29, 2012 |
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Jun 29, 2012 10:31
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This reminds me. A friend of a friend was in Vietnam with his girlfriend. The girlfriend saw a place where they sold dogs for consumption. She wanted to save one and picked the cutest and payed for him. The merchant took the dog out of the cage, swiftly chopped his head off, put it in a bag and gave it to her. She was quite upset.
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Jun 29, 2012 10:48
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Viet-owned.
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Jun 29, 2012 12:05
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Rapsey posted:This reminds me. A friend of a friend was in Vietnam with his girlfriend. The girlfriend saw a place where they sold dogs for consumption. She wanted to save one and picked the cutest and payed for him. The merchant took the dog out of the cage, swiftly chopped his head off, put it in a bag and gave it to her. She was quite upset. I shouldn't laugh, but I did. A lot.
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Jun 29, 2012 12:09
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I really hope the dog vendor knew what the girl wanted but chopped the dog's head off quickly to spite her. "Rescue this, white devil!!!" Bad-rear end.
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Jun 29, 2012 13:07
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eviljelly posted:I really hope the dog vendor knew what the girl wanted but chopped the dog's head off quickly to spite her. "Rescue this, white devil!!!" Bad-rear end. I won't let the scenario play out any other way in my head.
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Jun 29, 2012 15:25
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I'll try the gross out food if it's got a reputation for being tasty, but if its just to say you've eaten it I'll pass. I only have so much room in my stomach and I may never return to Vietnam so I want to savor every meal.eviljelly posted:I really hope the dog vendor knew what the girl wanted but chopped the dog's head off quickly to spite her. "Rescue this, white devil!!!" Bad-rear end. What are the odds that a person's "Oh god that is the cutest one lets save it" face is anywhere close to a "Ooh, look at the brisket on that one" face? I think it's pretty clear. On a similar note, how much if any hostility can I expect? I am white as a pre-industrial glacier. I'm an American, but I can do a pretty convincing Russian if I have to. I'm also far, far more left wing than any political party in the states. Eifert Posting fucked around with this message at 17:35 on Jun 29, 2012 |
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Jun 29, 2012 17:32
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Toussaint Louverture posted:What are the odds that a person's "Oh god that is the cutest one lets save it" face is anywhere close to a "Ooh, look at the brisket on that one" face? I think it's pretty clear. Toussaint Louverture posted:On a similar note, how much if any hostility can I expect? I am white as a pre-industrial glacier. I'm an American, but I can do a pretty convincing Russian if I have to. I'm also far, far more left wing than any political party in the states.
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Jun 29, 2012 17:44
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I dunno. I know dog people, I am dog people, and we're pretty clear when we're freaking out over a cute dog. I'm picturing baby talk and cooing turning into a wailing scream. Cool. My Viet-Australian friend said Saigon had gotten pretty hostile towards backpackers since so many of them are douchebags.
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Jun 29, 2012 18:02
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The douchebaggery of the Vietnamese is a hotly debated subject in this thread, but whatever douchbaggery they have isn't much motivated by hatred for any race/ethnicity - it's mostly motivated by greed for cash moneyz. EDIT: Slightly misread your post, but anyway, when I was there, I didn't sense any backpacker hate (I wasn't backpacking but I probably looked like a backpacker). And I say this as one of the most ardent Vietnam-haters in this thread, even.
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Jun 29, 2012 18:10
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Toussaint Louverture posted:On a similar note, how much if any hostility can I expect? I am white as a pre-industrial glacier. I'm an American, but I can do a pretty convincing Russian if I have to. I'm also far, far more left wing than any political party in the states. You'll be far more left wing than most Vietnamese you meet, in any case. I think it's better not to bring up the subject unless they do first. My "No Gods No Masters" tattoo stays hidden. Toussaint Louverture posted:Cool. My Viet-Australian friend said Saigon had gotten pretty hostile towards backpackers since so many of them are douchebags. Nah, it's cool. Of course, you might be bothered by touts or xe om (motorbike taxis) but they're usually not aggressive, just annoying. They just figure most young white guys are Aussie drunkards just here to waste money.
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Jun 29, 2012 18:11
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eviljelly posted:The douchebaggery of the Vietnamese is a hotly debated subject in this thread, but whatever douchbaggery they have isn't much motivated by hatred for any race/ethnicity - it's mostly motivated by greed for cash moneyz.
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Jun 29, 2012 19:45
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Toussaint Louverture posted:On a similar note, how much if any hostility can I expect? I am white as a pre-industrial glacier. I'm an American, but I can do a pretty convincing Russian if I have to. I'm also far, far more left wing than any political party in the states.
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Jun 29, 2012 19:47
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Rapsey posted:Pretending you're Russian might be useful if you're being harassed by touts. They would back off sooner most likely. Russian tourists are not liked anywhere.
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Jun 29, 2012 19:52
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As a French speaker (and my boss is French and has been living in Vietnam for 10 years), that works too. I've been pulled over by cops 4 times so far on my motorbike and every single time I just have to speak some random French and they let me go immediately.
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Jun 29, 2012 19:58
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Just came back from Poipet today. A friend of mine bugged me to go with him on a Visa run. I bought a liter of Jack Daniels at one of the "duty free" stores inside a casino called Grand Diamond. Now i'm trying to figure out if it's fake or not. It was 800 baht which seems normal. Sipping on it though..it seems "off" but I haven't had Jack in so long i'm not sure if i'm just being paranoid or not. The more I sip the more real it seems though.. edit, mindless details: The bottle had a plastic seal, upraised lettering on the glass, and looking through the back of the bottle I see the printed code. I still don't know though I just don't trust any products in Cambodia. I'll just have to continue my research throughout the rest of the night. Modus Operandi fucked around with this message at 13:06 on Jun 30, 2012 |
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Jun 30, 2012 12:57
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I had what I think is my favorite dish so far last night, stewed pigs feet and eggs over rice, it was super good. Today I have been totally incapacitated throwing up everywhere nonstop with the worst case of food poisoning I've ever had. I still plan to eat dem pigs feet again before leaving. Though sadly I don't think we can make the floating market, I was really looking forward to it but this is our last weekend and there's no way that's going to happen. Invisible Handjob fucked around with this message at 16:36 on Jun 30, 2012 |
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Jun 30, 2012 16:33
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One thing you can do nearby to you, instead, is to go down really early on a weekday to Lumphini Park, starting around either 05:30 or 06:00 - I forget. A bunch of Thai senior citizens and elderly muckety mucks meet down their every morning in different groups and eat breakfast, while drinking tea or coffee, before shuffling around the park waiing one another for an hour and gossiping. It's really cute and some of the food is excellent. Granted, it's Thai breakfast food so it's going to suck as a breakfast, but you live in China so you know the drill on that. There's everything from dim sum to fried fish to whatever.
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Jul 1, 2012 07:10
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mmm duck berries
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Jul 1, 2012 14:54
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Jul 1, 2012 17:27
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I've eaten a lot of duck in my life but i've never had the pleasure of sampling the berries.
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Jul 1, 2012 18:30
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