Alone Together
I witnessed three rather extraordinary events, or should I say, modern phenomena, recently. 1. While leaving my gym, I watched two cars approach a street from the opposite directions of an alley. Both drivers were looking to turn southward onto the street. Both drivers glanced only in the northward direction. Both drivers were on their cell phones, apparently texting. Both cars proceeded to turn entirely...
Good Memories Are Built
Think about all your fondest memories. Your first kiss. Your favorite vacation. The time your life changed for the better. Imagine what it would be like to NOT have those memories. Imagine what it would be like to have MORE fond memories.So, what causes these valuable "I'm a better person because I experienced that" memories?To figure this out, let's break it down:You recall them because they are significant....
Laugh, Travel & Be Creative
The opening line of a recent Wall Street Journal article “How to Be Creative” says “Creativity can seem like magic.” Many of us may agree. However Jonah Lehrer in his book Imagine - How Creativity Works (www.amazon.com) says creativity isn’t magic. It isn’t in our genes. It’s a skill. One that can be developed. http://online.wsj.com/arti/SB10001424052970203370604577265632205015846.html The...
Immersion is Best Path to Fluency
The blogger immersed (and negotiating) in East Africa This brief New York Times science update affirms that immersion enables the foreign language learner to build brain processing capacity at the level of a native speaker. Dr. Michael Ullman, a neuroscientist at Georgetown University Medical Center, said that a new study “…should help us understand how foreign-language learners can achieve...
Whatchu Lookin’ At?
I recently had an odd experience while walking my dog. We were in the back yard playing fetch with her favorite ball when I threw it and it bounced off a birdbath and ricocheted into a flower bed. My dog proceeded to run around, sniffing, and looking (unsuccessfully) for the ball in the wrong part of the yard.She's not the smartest dog (we refer to her as our "special needs dog"), so wanting to help...
China’s Youth, A Lost Generation?
Avril Liu, 22, graduate student, Guangxi province. Photo by Adrian Frisk. Read this New Yorker story on the confused, uncertain attitude youth in China have on life in a swiftly evolving period in their history. Which picture from the China project stays with you most? How did you meet? It is hard to pin down the one image that made the deepest impression on me—as many of them did. But if I had...
Delightful surprises of travel
Through the fog of jet lag I recall highlights of my recent travels. There are the images of monkey, camels and elephants along the streets in Jaipur. The joy of seeing the Eiffel Tower again. The central market in Florence filled with a mix of languages, displays of porcini mushrooms everywhere. And of course, the taste highlights. The breakfast buffet at our hotel,...
Fatal Benchmarking Mistakes
Much has been said of benchmarking – the act of looking to best-in-class companies and measuring yourself against their methods. Of course, the expectation is to gauge how you compare with industry leaders, identify where you can improve, and adjust your methods to achieve those same best-in-class results. Most fail because they are going about benchmarking in the wrong way.The second most common...
Untranslatable Expressions
Lost in Translation Do you ever reflexively spring to use a word in a foreign language when you can’t think of anything adequate in your mother tongue? Well, that may not happen to many of us, but this post on the Matador Network relates 20 words that do not have counterparts in the English language. They can only be described, which often diminishes the original sense of the word. Here are a...
