The government is set to initiate firefighting support using Japan’s Quasi-Zenith Satellite System Michibiki in Thailand, where air pollution from forest fires is severe. Information about forest fires will be transmitted via satellite to ensure smooth communication, rather than solely relying on potentially unstable mobile phone signals. This approach aims to speed up firefighting activities to prevent the spread of substances that can cause health damage.
The government has been conducting trials utilizing Michibiki since the end of 2022 in Sri Lanna National Park, located close to Chiang Mai in Thailand. Sensors installed in the park detect smoke and transmit information about the location and scale of the fire. This information is sent to a ground station in Japan, then relayed to Michibiki and finally transmitted to a dedicated receiver for the smartwatches of firefighting teams in the national park.
Unlike the U.S. GPS system, Michibiki can send not only location information, but also text messages from space. It orbits over Japan and Southeast Asia, transmitting signals unobstructed by mountains or buildings. This enables message delivery even in national parks, where mobile phone signal strength is low.
In Thailand, air pollution caused by wildfires and agricultural burning in rural areas, particularly in the northern and northeastern regions, has become a significant issue of public concern. This pollution results in levels of airborne PM2.5 particles, which are carcinogenic, often exceeding safety standards. Air pollution in the region has already caused health issues, including asthma. In March, Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin visited the national park to observe the pilot initiative. The Japanese government is keen to further enhance cooperation with Thailand to lead to rapid practical application of the system.
The Japanese government also hopes that the support initiative will lead to expanded sales channels for equipment and systems developed by Japanese companies. In the trial initiative, Sony Group Corp. is responsible for developing smoke-detection sensors, while NTT Data Group Corp. is building the information communication system for the firefighting teams. The government hopes to expand future business opportunities for Japanese companies throughout Thailand and in other countries.
Yomiuri Shimbun

Helloo I'm an exchange student from Germany and I'll be staying until the end of september! On my first two weeks in Tokyo everything was perfect, the aesthetics, finally being able to use some of the japanese I've learnt in my university, kind of getting a fresh start. But as you would expect when your japanese isn't very advanced, it's hard to make friends with the locals. But it's also tough to have a friendship with foreigners that goes beyond surface level .-.
I'm just gonna list my top interests here: I like horror (like h.p. lovecraft, junji ito, biblically accurate angels) and music (my favourite band is maximum the hormone but I do also listen to j-pop and indie/alternative too. I did listen to a fair share of K-Pop but I'm not up to date with that) oh and aside from design and art (the surrealists and impressionists!) I love languages, learning languages, learning about languages but I suck at speaking because I never really get any practise in. Ah yea I also play some guitar and ukulele but only at a level where I can play and sing for myself in my room, so no real incentive to get better, I've tried a lot of instruments and though it's fun I only stuck with my guitar.
and I usually like to draw and paint but I haven't done that here a lot. I'm most inspired while travelling but being here for so long and feeling lonely and thus a little depressed I barely draw... I have a lot of readings to do for university but it's inspiring me to read more for myself again, so I just finished Jennette McCurdys book, I'm reading if cats disappeared from the world and I'm starting the sailor who fell from grace with the sea (that's for literature class. I love to discuss our readings but we get nowhere enough time to do so in class!!)
Cottagecore is one of my favourite aesthetics and I like personality tests! I'm an INFP and I think the description is pretty accurate for me. I also do everything that's artsy and craftsy and involves hands like sewing, embroidery, cooking and baking, I just like grandma hobbies :D Although being queer I never really got deeply involved with anything that would be LGBT-culture since most of my friends are straight and cis, so if you have any clue about that, I'm interested!
Ah and I like videogames, I barely play any myself but I watch a lot of let's plays and I'm passionate about ghost trick and ace attourney (still on the second game) and I like playing league of legends with my friends.
So if anyone goes like hey you seem interesting to talk to and hang out, please write a message so we can chat on Line! :)

The fact that South America, North America, Australia, Africa, Antartica, Europe are all separate and we (I’m East Asian) get just “ASIA” is insane.
East Asia, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, West Asia, Pacific Islanders, etc. are VASTLY different with extremely different cultures, religions, and physical features from facial structures to skin colors. When people say Asians, they mean East Asia and this gets everyone mad bcs the rest of Asians are not represented and the East Asians are not only misrepresented but now also have to fight the rest of Asia with their inaccurately targeted attacks.
Even in the three major countries of east asia, cultures and traditions are very, very different. Hell, our chopsticks all look different and are made with different materials.
I just wish people would stop putting people from very different backgrounds in ONE category. It’s like, oh since I’m a woman, I must be Michelle Obama.

My boyfriend and I have been in a LDR for 2.5 years. He is studying in engineering in the UK and I am studying Medicine in our home country (Southeast Asia).
Yesterday he told me there is a high chance of him failing several papers and would need to repeat them in the summer. This has happened before during his first year but he made it through. The difference now is that because the average percentage of his grades will most likely be less than 55%, he will not meet the requirement to advance to his final year (Masters in Engineering).
So his plan now is to come back home and ‘maybe’ continue his masters or do a masters in something other than engineering. And because it’s considered as failure to complete the program, his scholarship will be taken back and he will have to pay every single penny back.
When I first met him, he seemed very clear of his goals and career pathway. Over time I realized that he struggles a lot in his studies and social life. He also hid from me for months that he was diagnosed with depression. As a medical student, I understand and don’t judge, but as his GF it hurts me to see him like that and I worry constantly that he won’t be able to cope with the stress in the future.
I love him, but I feel like his future holds a lot on uncertainty and I am afraid it will burden me.
TLDR: My LDR bf is failing Uni and will be in financial debt. I can’t see a future with him anymore.
I feel like I want to break up.

Let’s make it aware that there is a job offer scam that lies and take you to Scam Factories and you become a slave, and you may even die. Post here all cases of Disappearance of people who may be associated with this type of scam.

Know The Signs! Have you been trafficked? * Did you apply for the job via Social Media (e.g. Facebook, Instagram), WhatsApp, Telegram or an online platform? * Did you have an online interview? * Have you been promised a job with a company in Thailand? * Were you promised a lucrative salary? * Did you receive a letter of confirmation for your new role? * Did you investigate the company you applied to and are they registered? * Do you have an agent or consultant handling details for you?
How to prevent yourself or someone you know from being trafficked * Never give anyone your passport! * Research the company you are applying to join. For example, check their website, search for them on social media and LinkedIn, check the legal registration of the company. * Ask for references (face to face or virtual) from current employees. * Ensure you received an official letter of offer and check the email addresses match the companies contact information. * Research the visa requirements for working in a foreign country. * Notify your countries Immigration Office of your intention to travel or contact your countries Embassy once you arrive at your destination. * If you are about to cross a river in north-west Thailand don’t, it is likely you are being trafficked into Myanmar.
Could this be your situation? If you or someone you know has been trapped in forced criminality, contact your nearest embassy or email the Global Alms Counter Trafficking Unit at admin@globalalms.com with the details.

This is a post for awareness. Let’s help each other. Only serious comments.
Below are more links to other related posts.
https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2023/12/asia/chinese-scam-operations-american-victims-intl-hnk-dst/
http://chinascope.org/archives/32233
https://youtu.be/m6qFCdHvYuI?si=rs2J71V1XIeFF7we
https://www.reddit.com/Thailand/s/L8OTm9Lvye
https://www.globalalms.com/protection
(My account created recently for privacy/scam concerns)

Hi!
I just had a question regarding iMessage. I am located in the US, but if I were to travel to another country (in Asia) and I use my phone number as a means to send iMessages to other people (as opposed to iCloud email or etc), would I still be able to send iMessages to people in the US under the same phone number as long as I have an active internet connection in the country I am visiting, or would it count towards the international text messages where my carrier would be charging extra per message?

The problem of induction is a philosophical issue concerning how we can derive general laws from individual observations. A simple example: if we see many white swans, can we then confidently say that all swans are white? The problem is that we can never see all the swans in the world, so we can never be absolutely certain that there isn't a black swan somewhere. How can we solve this?
Approaching this problem by trying to count all swans is rather foolish. Imagine yourself googling: “Where do most white swans live?” and travelling through all of Europe and the US to count them and prove that indeed all swans are white. You might even get emotionally invested because you put so much of your free time into travelling and proving it.
It’s much easier to try and find a black swan. You would google instead: “Are there black swans and where do they live?”. You would instantly find out that many black swans do indeed live in southeast and southwest Australia and Tasmania. Boom – there’s the solution to your problem. The theory is falsified and the problem solved. Not all swans are white.
What I’m trying to say is: JWs are counting white swans. They are taught to feed their confirmation bias and count white swans all life long. “Making the truth your own” is nothing but looking for a distinct number of white swans an individual needs to accept the religion as true. Some JWs need to see 300 swans, some only 50, and some only 10 to accept it as true. But it’s the foolish approach because it will never solve the problem. They will never look for a black swan and if they randomly find one they will ignore it due to their emotional investment. “That’s not a real black swan” they might even argue in order to get rid of cognitive dissonance. Apostates painted it black of course.
Karl Popper argued that we cannot prove scientific theories through counting white swans; rather, we can only falsify them. His idea was that we should formulate theories that are testable and falsifiable. Instead of trying to prove them, we should try to test and disprove them. If a theory withstands many critical tests and is not disproven, we can tentatively accept it, but we should always be open to the possibility that it could be disproven in the future.
Popper addresses the problem of induction by suggesting that we should not rely on confirmation through repeated observations but instead propose theories that we rigorously test and attempt to falsify. If they withstand the tests, they are provisionally accepted but never conclusively proven.

Hello everybody, hope you are having a good weekend. I recently moved here from quite far away and while most people including myself order kratom online, I am hoping to see if there are any stores or even people/vendors who have stock since we have a long weekend and as we all know, Canada Post and other companies won't be moving until Tuesday
For those who are curious, it is a botanical / herbal supplement that has several uses depending on what one wants from it.
"Kratom, (Mitragyna speciosa), is a tropical tree indigenous to Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar and other areas of Southeast Asia. Kratom is in the same family as the coffee tree (Rubiaceae). The tree reaches heights of 50 feet with a spread of over 15 feet. Kratom has been used by natives of Thailand and other regions of Southeast Asia for decades"
Thank you very much, have a good night!

to voice call tonight, not textpals
To regularly shoot the shit and study with 🤷‍♀️ I’m pretty outgoing and chatty most of the time, but also am pretty comfortable with silence with people I click with.
I’m in tech and have had a really shit several months at work. So, emotional support + accountability partners are a plus 💀 happy to mock if you’re in the same role or just bully you into studying. If this is up I’m still looking!
I’m a southeast Asian who’s into technology/startups, weightlifting, travel (just had an LA trip and I’m looking for a reason to go to NYC again), and writing.
I just finished Baby Reindeer on Netflix and tend to watch a lot of psych thrillers/horrors like that. I just got a switch so I’m open to game suggestions lol. Some kdrama and anime (not a lot) too!
Some other hangout ideas:
I like music + enjoy dueting on piano or singing
I’m trying to learn poker and Chinese
it’d be fun to bounce ideas off of someone else who’s interested in startups
I’m open to something more flirty/nsfw but don’t like to lead with that
so ya ~ if you’re in software and have discord lmk :) include your age also and a short intro. If you've reached out before I might've just lost ur msg
(I also like sleep calls sometimes)

Hey all
I love heilung, I understand they stay in Europe mainly due to logistic and traveling reasons. It's quite an operation to travel internationally as a musical ritual group.
But... I've never seen heilung or similar bands come to asia. Maybe it's not the demographic here...
With that said, are there any hopes of an Asia tour?

Hello,
I‘m a South East Asian student currently doing my masters in Medical Engineering in Germany and will be finishing my masters next year. I did my bachelors in Germany as well. My focus in the study has been mainly in equipment/instruments and prosthetics, so more stuffs from mechanical, chemical, material, and a bit electrical engineering. So, programming is not very involved. However, I did some Java and Python basics during my bachelor.
During my time at the university, I did a few part time jobs, the one currently at a hospital as a biomedical engineer as well. However, I still find it difficult to aim what I want to do next in my career. Precisely, which profession and where (company, hospital, etc.).
My ideas now are Field Service Engineering in companies like General Electric and shifting to IT Analyst/Consultant in consulting companies (PWC, Deloitte)
To my fellow biomedical engineers, I need your help with the following questions:

1. What positions or jobs do biomed engineers normally have and in which company?
2. Is programming skills a big of a deal?
3. Where is the career prospect at best for our field, in Europe (Germany, Netherlands) or South East Asia (Singapore, Indonesia)?

Thanks in advance!
TL:DR biomed engineering student in germany needs your advice on these three questions above :)

Given the country demographic of Reddit as well as the primary banks offering large transferrable bonuses being in the US, most of the redemptions we discuss are focused on leaving from or return to the US. However, it's also interesting to discuss flights that don't touch the US for several reasons:

1. More availability
   1. First and foremost, availability is everything in the award space, luckily, most other countries are not as easily able to tap into the award space. Flights between the other continents are plentiful, I rarely have a hard time finding space between Asia, Europe, or even Oceania. There's usually many seats and many dates available, even when looking only a month or so out.
2. Different (Better?) experiences
   1. This is ofc subjective, but many East Asian airlines offer superior in-flight experience, whether it's the food, service, or simply the fact that they offer much more widebody flights on short hops, compared to the US being mostly narrowbody. You can experience widebody seats in Asia almost all the time, imagine flying SQ's business class on a 2 hour flight! Lounge access is plentiful and often higher quality as well.
3. Lower redemption costs
   1. This is the bread and butter of the award game and will the focus of this post. Simply put, everyone wants to milk the North American market and we're also super far away from everything, so we have some of the highest redemption costs out there. For example, you could fly from Dubai to Seoul via Singapore Airlines in J for only 80k Aeroplan miles! With an additional 5k for the stopover, you'd be able to experience 2 longhaul SQ flights in business class, that's pretty great value if you ask me.

But, you might say, ok but I don't live in Europe or Asia, I live in the US, so this doesn't even matter to me!
One of the reasons this can be practical is for extended trips or RTWs! You're already traveling to another continent, so why not explore for a few more days? With this in mind, let's talk about a few popular programs and what their sweet spots are for non-US redemptions. Feel free to share your own in the comments below.

• Delta SkyMiles
  • Starting with the most hated program out there, this is in fact one of the only existing sweet spots out there anymore for SkyMiles
  • Oceania to East Asia for 65k miles
  • Oceania to SE Asia for 70k miles
  • Oceania to Europe for 90k miles
  • East Asia to SE Asia for 40k miles
  • Europe to Middle East for 42.5k miles
  • Europe to India for 65k miles
  • Europe to East Asia and SE Asia for 80k miles
• Flying Blue
  • While Delta does technically cover the SkyTeam availability, I bring that up because SkyMiles have so few practical uses in the first place.
  • Flying Blue is mostly zone based, so you could do somthing like Europe to most of Asia for 70k miles. However, technically because of the zones, you're actually able to get it for even less when coupled w/ your North American leg. For example, LAX-CDG-HND would be 95k miles with a free stopover vs 50k for the LAX-CDG + 70k for the CDG-HND.
• Aeroplan
  • This one is all distance based, but you can get some pretty sick deals. For example, 45k miles for up to 5000 miles long or 60k miles for a 5001 to 7000 miles within the Pacific is pretty awesome. For example, most of East Asia to most of Oceania would only be 45k miles! So the key is play around with distances and see how it all pans out.
• Avianca Lifemiles
  • Lifemiles is region based so the award chart is a little bit different, I had a bit of a hard time researching this, weirdly they have an "others" region for Oceania that doesn't match the pricing for the opposite direction.
  • Oceania to East Asia for 50k miles in business class, 62.5k miles in first class vs East Asia to Oceania for 40k in business class, 50k in first class
  • Oceania to SE Asia for 50k miles in business class, 75k in first class vs SE Asia to Oceania for 40k miles in business class vs 60k in first class
  • Northern Europe to East Asia for 75k in business class, 115k in first class vs East Asia to Northern Europe
  • Northern Europe to SE Asia for 78k in business class, 102k in first class
  • So based on this, depending on where you go and which direction you fly it could be better or worse than Aeroplan
• AA
  • AA is zone based, but I have a hard time finding an actual award chart from them for non-US zones, so these are all based on surface level research
  • Oceania to East Asia for 40k in business, 60k in first class
  • Oceania to Europe for 85k miles
  • Middle East to Europe for 42.5k miles
  • East Asia to SE Asia for 30k miles in business, 40k in first class
  • East Asia to Middle East for 40k miles in business, 50k in first class
  • East Asia to Europe for 75k miles
  • This level of redemption pricing is really good and will not last. Imagine getting an almost 7 hour flight in JAL F from BKK to HND for 40k miles!
• AS
  • Alaska is now also a distance based program after the devaluation. In general, the key is to look for those routes that lie just under the max zone.
  • For me I enjoy the 15k miles spot for flights just under 1500 miles, which is perfect for regional Asia flights. Using their partner Starlux in TPE, many Asian destinations are available such as all of Japan, Korea, SGN/HAN/CEB. Unfortunately, going up one band to the 1501-3000 is 45k/50k miles for Europe/Asia, which is over 3x the cost, so definitely nowhere near as worth it.
  • The band right after though is quite good value, at 3001 to 5000 miles or 55k/60k miles, but still inferior to AA. You could do East Asia to Australia for 60k in business or 90k in first. This is 50% higher cost than AA, so AA is still preferrable.

With that, that just about covers most of the core, major alliance programs. I choose these as these are generally the better value programs, for example Aeroplan generally has lower costs than UA. And AA/AS are much cheaper than Avios.

Summary (or tl;dr)

In my opinion, the following are quite awesome.

• SkyTeam
  • The fact that you can even efficiently redeem Delta SkyMiles
  • Use the free Flying Blue stopover for combined segments rather than breaking your trip into two to save on points
• Star Alliance
  • Asia Pacific 45k Aeroplan for flights up to 5000 miles
  • Asia/Europe 60k Aeroplan for flights up 5000 miles
  • East Asia to Oceania for 40k LifeMiles in business class, 50k in first class
• Oneworld
  • Almost all of AAs are really good, in particular:
    • Oceania to East Asia for 40k in business, 60k in first class
    • East Asia to SE Asia for 30k miles in business, 40k in first class
    • East Asia to Middle East for 40k miles in business, 50k in first class
  • 15k AS miles for regional Asia flights under 1500 miles

So, you don't need to book an ANA RTW to experience all these other products. If you can escape the US, then try extending your trip with one of these sweet spots and get even more return on value.
Feel free to share other sweetspots you've found or ones with other programs.

Recently, my school organized a special lecture on the history of the Orient.This lecture was called "The Miracle of the Han River," and it was given by a professor from outside Korea.I was very curious about Korea, so I was looking forward to this lecture. In fact, the reason why this lecture was held was at the request of the students. Since Korean culture has been penetrating into American society for a long time, and many things that we enjoy without thinking are related to Korea, students were curious about what Korea is like.
Then Patrick, the student leader and president of our school, asked the teachers if they could organize a special lecture on Korean history, and they accepted, and eventually the whole class gathered in the auditorium and participated in the lecture. Often, our school invites outside professors to give lectures like this, and most of the time, the interest in such lectures is very high, and the lecture on Korean history was also extremely popular. However, the lectures that invite professors from prestigious universities and the opportunity to gain new knowledge about Korea are popular enough to fill the gymnasium.On this day, there were many students in the gymnasium converted into a lecture hall.As the professor entered, gave a brief introduction, and announced the topic of the day's lecture, everyone looked at him with interest. The professor said that he was asked to give a lecture on the history of the East, and when he was thinking about what topic to tell the students, he thought it would be better to talk about the modern history and economic development of Korea, and for two hours without a break, he explained in depth, in detail, easily understandable, and really interesting.
The professor's first words were impactful: "You all know Haiti, the country that receives U.S. aid, suffered a major earthquake about 15 years ago and has never recovered from it, and is in a state of chaos as one of the poorest countries in the world." "But how would you feel if, 30 years later, you were told to congratulate Haiti on becoming an economic powerhouse?" "I'm the generation that actually witnessed it. "I'm the generation that actually saw that happen, where we were the poorest country in the world, and all of a sudden, we were told that we were an economic powerhouse and that we should be congratulated."The students were surprised to learn that South Korea was once the poorest country in the world, even though it was still a decade after the end of World War II.
"Ladies and gentlemen, Korea was a very poor country until the middle of the 20th century, but since the 1960s, it has experienced rapid economic growth and made remarkable progress, which has been called the 'Miracle on the Han River', and today I am going to tell you the story."
From the beginning of the lecture, the students listened attentively as the professor engaged their interest, and I was particularly curious about how South Korea was able to develop so quickly.
"Korea was devastated after the Korean War in the 1950s, but in the 1960s, a government-led economic development plan began.At that time, Korea made a five-year plan for economic development under the leadership of the government, and fostered industries centered on heavy chemical industries such as steel, chemicals, and electronics.In addition, the country invested heavily in education, and many talented people were produced based on high educational enthusiasm."
The professor's explanation was very detailed and interesting, and I was in awe as he talked about Korea's economic development.
"In particular, in the 1970s, the Saemaul movement was launched to promote the development of rural areas and improve the living standards of the people."At that time, residents in rural areas voluntarily maintained their villages and strived for the development of their communities."These efforts helped Korea to rapidly transform from an agriculture-oriented society to an industry-oriented society.""And this Saemaul movement has become an example for many developing countries to this day, and countless policies have been implemented to copy Korea's Saemaul movement. "It is now accepted wisdom that Korea's Saemaul movement was a seemingly simple campaign that contributed tremendously to building the country's economic foundation, with reports of rapid development in some cases and failure in others." "Korea has written a textbook curriculum on how to grow an economy, and its achievements have become a model."
I realized how much effort Korea, which was poor in the past, made to grow its economy.It was a huge lecture of 2 hours, so I can only write down the core flow, so please understand.The process of Korea laying the economic foundation and starting the high-speed growth was really interesting, and there were many points where I learned how much effort Korean policy researchers made at that time.And the efforts of Korean people who believed in the government and followed the policy, even sacrificing themselves, were also great.
"Today, Korea is an IT powerhouse, with world-class companies such as Samsung, LG, and Hyundai Motor, which have great influence in the global market and are an important pillar of Korea's economy." "The characteristic of Korean companies is that they have always strived to develop technology. "There are five technological powers in the world," he said, "the United States, Germany, Japan, Korea, and France." "The United States and Germany have been doing research and development since the Industrial Revolution, while France has been doing research and development since the Industrial Revolution, and Japan received a huge amount of aid from the United States in 1950, taking advantage of the Korean War. It was thought that Japan, which started 20 years earlier than Korea, would be recognized as the last technological power of the 20th century, but how Korea, which started research and development from the 1970s onwards, became the world's fifth technological power, was a very interesting topic among professors in the 1990s.
And unlike Japan, Korea became a semiconductor powerhouse in the 21st century, and even succeeded in fostering an industry that Japan did not, and created a great foundation for Korea to become a developed country.Look at the iPhone you're using right now, and look at it.Do you see a Samsung product in there?
Most Americans think that the iPhone is made by Apple and developed by Apple, but many of the components in it come from Korea, and without Korea, the product you're using would be half as powerful as it is today.
The professor kept the students' attention for the entire two-hour lecture, explaining the difficult content in terms of the smartphones they use.
At the end of the lecture, the professor said that there are only two role models of economic development in the 20th century, Germany's development and Korea's development are very meaningful, and if you want to major in economics or international affairs, you should familiarize yourself with these contents because they are all liberal arts contents.
And originally, this kind of lecture should be 200 hours instead of 2 hours, but since it was shortened to a hundred and one, the fun is only a hundred and one, and if you want to hear more details, you should study hard and go to the prestigious university where you are, and the excellent lecture ended with the story.
After the lecture, I wanted to ask the professor more questions, but there were already a lot of students gathered around him.Then, my friend Xiao approached me.Xiao was a student who was educated in China until elementary school and then moved to the United States."Avery, how did you like the lecture?" Xiao asked me. I really liked the lecture and I have a lot of questions, so I wanted to ask the professor, but I could already hear the other students lamenting that they wouldn't be able to because the professor was surrounded by other students.I had to leave the lecture hall with Xiao, who was listening to the lecture with interest next to me.As we walked down the hall, I continued to talk to Xiao.Minhwa and Jia told me that they didn't know why they hated Korea so much, and they had to tell me a frustrating story.
In fact, Minhwa and Jia are two students who are very anti-Korean, especially since the student council voted for and against this lecture, and there were two votes against it, so everyone could tell that it was Minhwa and Jia from China, and their anti-Korean feelings, or even hatred, were very strong.
Xiao told me that today's lecture was very different from what they teach in China, and what the professor told us today. Of course, in China, they teach distorted facts, and they don't believe in it, but if you're like Min Hua or Jia, who went to school in China until middle school, it's natural to have a negative opinion of Korea.
Xiao's words were sincere because he had lived in China until elementary school and had been educated in China, so he knew the reality of China very well.In China, Korea is often taught negatively, and Xiao also said that when he went to elementary school in China, he was taught that way, but when he came to the United States and was exposed to different perspectives, he realized that it was wrong.
At that moment, Minhwa and Jia walked up to us, or maybe I should say they walked up to Xiao.Minhwa had a disgruntled look on her face."Korea is so great? I never think so, Korea is worse than our China," Minhwa said unhappily.Jia, who had an equally unhappy look on her face, also spoke up."Right. What's so great about Korea, our China is better."
I was offended by their words, because the facts I learned about Korea all seemed interesting and amazing, so why didn't they think so? And when they said that China was better, they didn't have any basis, they just said that China was better, what's so great about Korea, and there was no power in their argument.Xiao was also not happy when his two Chinese friends asked him to sympathize with them.
Xiao usually doesn't like to argue with them, but this time he was in the mood for a fight.I intervened first."Korea has made great progress, and you'll see that when you do a little more research," I said calmly to Minhwa and Jia.But Minhwa and Jia didn't listen to me.They wouldn't even look at me when I was talking to them.That's when Xiao stepped in and said.
"I'm sorry Avery, Minhua and Jia have been mis-educated, so I'll apologize for them.I know why they think that way, but I know the truth is different, so I want to apologize to you."
After hearing Xiao's words, Minhua and Jia still showed their disapproval. They even loudly argued with Xiao in the hallway. All the students passing by couldn't help but notice that two Chinese friends with wrong ideas were bullying Xiao, a normal thinking Chinese friend, again.
In fact, this scene was not uncommon, but this day was different. Despite the fact that everyone had attended an impactful and fact-based lecture by a professor from a prestigious university, Min Hua and Jia seemed to have no room for improvement, and they were still shouting distorted facts and misinformation without any basis.
From that day on, they were increasingly bullied by their schoolmates. Even when Minhua and Jia tried to talk to their American friends, all their American friends would scold them, saying, "Are you going to distort American history like that?" and no one would listen to them.
At first, Minhua and Jia's attitude was nonetheless brazen and confident, but two Chinese students armed with wrong ideas can't live in isolation in this school. Our school has group work as the basic form of class participation, so there are many tasks that require the help of other students.
Eventually, Minhua and Jia came to me, Xiao, and our Korean friend Minji and apologized to us.To be honest, to this day, I don't know if their apology was sincere.They said that they had learned that much of the education they had received was false, and they promised that they would never say anything wrong again in the future.Part of me wanted to tell them that I knew they were lying to survive, but I couldn't turn my back on them, so I accepted their apology.After Minhua and Jia's disturbance and apology
Although I'm still a high school student, I know that when I grow up, I want to exercise my right to vote and join the anti-China movement. We also realized that China's policy of teaching the wrong history and the wrong international affairs is having a negative impact even here in the United States, a country so far away, and that it is causing the Chinese people to suffer.China's ambitious plan to turn the tables by playing shallow games is just ridiculous and will not work.
I can't help but think that the impact of these lectures on our school is great: first of all, we learned how important it is to filter out misleading and distorted information, and how important it is to listen to such information; secondly, many students have a deep understanding of what exactly the "Miracle of the Han River" is.
As a reminder, South Korea was very poor until the mid-20th century, but through government-led economic development plans and people's efforts, it has achieved remarkable growth, especially spontaneous rural development movements such as the Saemaul movement, which played a huge role in accelerating South Korea's industrialization.
Korea's development has been not just economic, but social as well, with Koreans overcoming difficulties and achieving remarkable results through their high levels of education, hard work, and sense of community.
Now, do you feel that there is any reason for Chinese people here to say that China is greater than Korea? Isn't it just that Korea has created a remarkable growth in the history of East Asia, and it is because of Korea's development that China's factories are able to operate? Just because China is lagging behind, to say that Korea is a lesser country is an expression of inferiority, and it is seen as a desperate attempt to deny their own lack.
This is a good liberal arts course where you can learn the facts about what Korea has done and speak about it with confidence in public, but I think the disturbance by the two Chinese students clouded the essence of the course, because the impact of the miracle of the Han River was diluted by the emotion of outrage at the Chinese students' behavior.
In my final presentation at the end of the semester, I plan to find more information about the Han River Miracle, add new information, and present it to my class, because I feel that it is unfair that the attention to Korea has been diverted for a while, and I think that it would be meaningful to talk about Korea in front of Minhwa, Jia, and my Korean friend Minji.
I hope that the country will soon develop into a mature society that can accept the truth as the truth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mhfg7Ty1bEQ

Learning of the Chinese language is falling in the West, but appears to be picking up in Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

Some of the factors the reporters touch upon that could be contributing to this decline in interest in learning Mandarin Chinese include the rise of AI, the resultant decline in value of Mandarin knowledge in the business world, and souring political and economic relations between China and Western countries.
They even mentioned that young people were becoming afraid that knowledge of the Chinese language would make them more prone to accusations of being politically pro-China or communist spies. Which is quite ridiculous IMO; Mandarin Chinese is the most widely spoken language in Taiwan and Singapore too.
At least the same trend doesn't appear to be happening in other countries, and the video even discussed countries like Saudi Arabia and the UAE that have made Mandarin a compulsory subject in high school - countries that have had almost no direct cultural connection with or influence from the Sinosphere, that nevertheless understand the value of learning Chinese.
How does all this make you feel? And why do you think is happening? The Sinophobia arguments make little sense once you consider that the CIA always seems to be looking for fluent Arabic speakers. In addition to the reasons mentioned in the video, some people in the comments are wondering if it's because Chinese is so difficult compared to other popular foreign languages like Spanish.
Do you think that the decline in Mandarin course enrollment reflects a genuine loss of interest in learning Mandarin as a second language, or is it simply a statistical artifact from people preferring to self-study instead? Unfortunately I feel like the Sinophobia issue is very real, and not getting better anytime soon. Exhibit A: the U.S. federal government passing a bill banning / forcing a sale of TikTok, and granting them the power to easily do so with any other website perceived to be a "threat to national security".
If you plan on having children, do you intend to teach them your heritage language and/or Mandarin? (If you already have children, do you?)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mhfg7Ty1bEQ

Learning of the Chinese language is falling in the West, but appears to be picking up in Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

Some of the factors the reporters touch upon that could be contributing to this decline in interest in learning Mandarin Chinese include the rise of AI, the resultant decline in value of Mandarin knowledge in the business world, and souring political and economic relations between China and Western countries.
They even mentioned that young people were becoming afraid that knowledge of the Chinese language would make them more prone to accusations of being politically pro-China or communist spies. Which is quite ridiculous IMO; Mandarin Chinese is the most widely spoken language in Taiwan and Singapore too.
At least the same trend doesn't appear to be happening in other countries, and the video even discussed countries like Saudi Arabia and the UAE that have made Mandarin a compulsory subject in high school - countries that have had almost no direct cultural connection with or influence from the Sinosphere, that nevertheless understand the value of learning Chinese.
How does all this make you feel? And why do you think is happening? The Sinophobia arguments make little sense once you consider that the CIA always seems to be looking for fluent Arabic speakers. In addition to the reasons mentioned in the video, some people in the comments are wondering if it's because Chinese is so difficult compared to other popular foreign languages like Spanish.
Do you think that the decline in Mandarin course enrollment reflects a genuine loss of interest in learning Mandarin as a second language, or is it simply a statistical artifact from people preferring to self-study instead? Unfortunately I feel like the Sinophobia issue is very real, and not getting better anytime soon. Exhibit A: the U.S. federal government passing a bill banning / forcing a sale of TikTok, and granting them the power to easily do so with any other website perceived to be a "threat to national security".
If you plan on having children, do you intend to teach them your heritage language and/or Mandarin? (If you already have children, do you?)

I'm looking for a venue in the Southeast US, near Tennessee/Georgia but I'm potentially willing to travel for the right place!
I really love the vintage wrought iron look over the modern and definitely want something indoors. There are no arboretums or conservatories in my city, so I thought maybe someone here knows of a secret gem location that I just haven't found yet!
I currently do not have a date set, I am just putting feelers out at the moment, so please throw any suggestions my way! Thank you!

Hi! Going on a trip to Australia this August. Need recommendations for what clothes to buy, layering and also packing. Im originally from south east Asia so this will be a first time travelling in cold weather.