South Korea: Speaking a universal language
Singer-songwriter from U.S. shares Korean experiences through music.
With no attachment to Korea to fall back on and having never even been to Asia before, independent American singer-songwriter Audra Connolly decided to leave her home in Idaho and take a short-term position as an English teacher on the outskirts of Seoul.
Nearly three years later, Connolly is still living and working in Korea ― much to her surprise.
“I thought I would come here for a year, and then I thought I would be here for two years,” she said, laughing. “I’ve kind of made this life here.” …
The Korea Herald
Germany: Conservation Gets Controversial in the Black Forest
The regional Green government plans to create a national park in the northern Black Forest, much to the consternation of many locals. Although well-intentioned, the state project has unleashed a culture war.
Andreas Fischer’s home overlooks a meadow lined by a classic German forest of spruce trees, their tops adorned with wisps of early morning fog. But he isn’t looking at the view.
He knows what his forest feels like, how it smells and even sounds different every morning. Fischer is a staunch advocate of forest conservation, which is why he has four flat-screen monitors set up next to the view, arranged next to each other in an arc, like a second horizon. This is his office, his control center, his “war room.” Fischer, an IT consultant from Hundsbach in the Forbach district of the Murg River Valley, has been waging a war for the last year and a half, and he’ll continue doing so, if need be. Fischer, like his forest, isn’t in a hurry.
The future of that forest is at stake. …
Spiegel Online
Canada: Violinist virtuoso plays 300-year-old violin for last time
Yi-Jia Susanne Hou performs with $6M violin, which was crafted in 1735.
World-renowned Canadian violinist Yi-Jia Susanne Hou has performed for the last time with a nearly 300-year-old violin worth $6 million in a tribute with the London Symphony Orchestra.
Hou is the daughter of Alec Hou, the first person in 1970’s China to be permitted to perform western classical music after it was banned during the Cultural Revolution. The violin was crafted in Italy in 1735, and played by Austrian violinist Fritz Kreisler. …
CBC News
Australia: Clothes we regret wearing
Fashion regrets, I’ve had a few. Like the impressively ugly green crushed velvet top I basically lived in when I was 12. The reason being that a boy I had a crush on who legitimately looked exactly like Zac Hanson once touched it. Or my fondness for leggings, scrunchies and boots circa 1995. And the period when I was 21 and a true believer in tandoori tan.
Yet when I look back at the photos of me wearing Blossom-esque hats, and happy pants and head to toe surf wear I really refuse to accept any shame. Because gosh darn it, I loved those outfits. And so I have put together a list of common fashion regrets, with a caveat that we can’t truly regret any of these items because we loved them so much at the time. Where’s the fun in looking back at old photos and not cringing a little bit. …
The Sydney Morning Herald
Wales: Duchess of Cambridge welcomed to glittering fund-raiser by Tanni Grey-Thompson
Duchess wows the crowds as she arrives at glittering fundraising dinner for SportsAid to be greeted by some of the charity’s brightest stars.
Paralympic champion Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson welcomed The Duchess of Cambridge as they celebrated some of Britain’s most promising Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls at a glittering gala ball. …
Wales Online
India: Anti-sexual harassment rules may be notified next week
A person accused of sexual harassment can be restrained from reporting or appraising the victim’s work performance during the course of the inquiry under the draft anti-sexual harassment rules. The rules also give the complaints committee powers to admonish, censure, withhold promotion, salaries, increments or sack the person depending on the gravity of the crime. The draft rules — mooted by the ministry of women and child development — are likely to be notified next week. …
The Times Of India
China: Why It’s Still So Hard To Find Safe Baby Formula In China
How difficult is it to find safe milk in China? The answer is: really, really hard.
That does not stop dairy producers from swearing their products are top quality. The China Dairy Industry Association recently announced that domestically produced baby formula was of higher quality than imported formula. China’s new standards for baby formula, the association claimed, are the strictest in the world.
Meanwhile government regulators have intensified a crackdown on violations linked to the milk-powder industry, threatening that unscrupulous businessmen would be severely punished. The government also announced that it would tighten supervision of baby milk quality to the same standards used for pharmaceuticals. However, despite of all these guarantees, the majority of Chinese try to avoid buying local milk for their babies. …
Worldcrunch
