What's going on in Japan? And in the world?

It's been nearly a month since that terrible earthquake+tsunami+atomic issue shook Japan and waked up a worldwide consciousness about our planet. What's going on now in Japan for people who are living there, for the economy, what's going on with charity funds?

One month later, and as any other times, people promissed monney to help Japan standing up. The newspaper slowly stop speaking about the earthquake. And people start forgetting. But stupid reactions can be still seen everywhere: here are some extracts of what can be found on the internet. 

• "Anyway, Japan's too rich to get humanitarian help..." WTF? What about the US when Katrina struck?
• "What happens in Japan is their punishment for Pearl Harbour"... Well, as a friend of mine said, I don't want to know the punisment for Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Enola Gay.

Well, as my father told me when I was an indignant kid at injustice in the world: "y'a des connards partout", "there are assholes where ever you go"... Betty Ming Liu made a good article on it some weeks ago.

One month later, the earth is still shaking. None of my friends over there have been hurt, but I guess we were just lucky. Thousands of people are still homeless, there's food shortage, no tap water, no electricity, lots of people lost everything they had and everyone they loved. Even if the newspaper don't talk about it, Japan still needs help. Badly. North East Japan is one of the most cold part of the country. A friend of mine lives there, on March, there were still lots of snow. And no heating.

How are the other Japanese dealing with that? 180 km away from Fukushima lives a friend of mine. We were really worried about her the days after the quake, because we had no news, but finally, she was fine. Line cut, no water for a few days... and life went on. She has now to carry a big umbrella and maybe drink iode pills to avoid being contaminate by Fukushima's emanations. But she, and the many other japanese are thriving to let life go on, she found a student's job, her friend's just graduated from university... life's going on, whatever happens. In Hiroshima, if you don't watch the news and don't pay attention to people around you, you won't even guess there's been an earthquake.

Last week was Hanami . When all the Japanese go out and look up too the dazzling cherry blossom. Some weeks ago, people were talking about deleting it. A friend of mine on DeviantArt, famous photographer wrote:

"they were talking about this year not lighting up 

/or even have a hanami fest since the disaster but ,

they knew that would just be wrong .

we all need some light .

no matter in what situation ."Yoshi (check his DA, it's absolutely magnificent )

I think this summarise the situation quite well. Wow.

I don't want to make the stupid manga-groupie scream. I silently admire their dignity in view of this situation. My mom, watching the news told me "see, what would happen if something like that happens at home (we're South-East Asians), there will be fights and lootings. People won't even think about queuing up, they'd be able to kill each other without any kind of solidarity". Yeah, it would be like that. Anywhere else than Japan. This must be in the Japanese way of living.

I'm not saying it's perfect. A friend of mine told me they were actually quite slow to distribute the international help because "they don't want to feel like international begging". Well, I'm not in Japan, I can't tell. But I think if Japanese really did not want any help, there would not be 2 accounts from The Japanese Red Cross, and expat Japanese would not be running here and there to raise funds!

Now there are other unpleasant questions that are asked to Japan and to the whole Planet:

• When are we getting rid of nuclear power? From bomb to plants, it's been such a messy world for more than half a century. Hiroshima-Nagasaki-Tchernobyl and now Fukushima, perhaps another one. Radioactive uranium is now leaking from Fukushima to the sea. How many centuries will it take until the radio-isotope become harmless? How much time will it take to our political leaders to understand we should stop immediately with a power which is slowly killing Mommy Earth? I'm currently living in Switzerland, and one of the rulling parties expressed their condolences to Japan, but still show their support to nuclear plants. There are earthquakes in Switzerland. The strongest one, in 19th century, was considered as a 9.00 magnitude.  see... Depressing isn't it? 
• They are talking about burrying Fukushima under concrete or mud. What about the sea? US recommended a 80 km no mans' land around the plants. How's it possible in one of the most densely populated place on earth? What's going to happen with the workers who are working in Fukushima now?

• How much will it cost to repair Japan? $20-30 billion... depressing, knowing that Japan was already on economic issues before that day of March 2011... See, help's needed. Not a lot. 20$ will feed at least 4 people. See? There's no useless donation. If everyone is pushing a bit, then the mountain can be slowly moved. 
• Minamisanriku, Sendai, the martyr, are only two of the many destroyed city. They need help! How can one think "they're filthy rich, they don't need help?"

Japan asked such a big question to the world: "How would we react if something like that happens to us"

Cruel to say, but nations, even if they help, are quite self-centered. I would not say they are "happy" such a thing did not happy to them, not yet, but nearly. Well the "something like that" could be anything, anywhere... Maybe we human beings made Mommy Nature so much upset she's getting insane... Phuket, Haiti, Louisianne, Sichuan, now Japan... Mom's definitely furious... Time to behave, hoomin!

Don't forget California is still waiting for "the big One". 

What can we do?

Now? Pray, donate, be informed and like helping any other friend: cry with them when they feel like crying, and laugh out loud with them when they want to stand up and walk away from the drama.

and after that, I forgot our little planet was not fine at all. Lybia, Barhein, Yemen, Myanmar (there's been an earthquake, no one is talking about it!), Ivory Coast... Le monde a mal. 

My dad always told me I should stop wanting to save the world. OK, maybe, but I'm moving my lazy butt the more the better to save the biggest amount. Be an idealist. We need idealists.

I feel like wanting to hug our dear Earth... It's hard not forgetting people, but "if you save one person, you're saving the whole humanity". Don't feel pity. Be useful. 

FOR DONATIONS:

THE JAPANESE RED CROSS

GOOGLE CRISIS RESPONSE

6 good reasons to listen to classical music (even if you're young)

Once upon a time, a gallant was trying to court on a damsel. While they were talking about their own tastes and other happy things, the fair maiden expressed her love for classical music.

" It is not something for thee, my little bird, it's for the old people..." he replied...

Yes, it happened to me. I never talked to the young man anymore. Young people now tend to laugh when they see my playlist, packed with Mozart, Bach, Corelli and Liszt among One Republic, Metallica, K-Pop and Brit-Rock!

Classical Music? For Oldies? Naaaaaaw!

For ___ good reasons:

1. It helps you to focus. It is one of the only music that can help you focus. And to calm down. It was tested on some random cows in UK. The one who listened to classical music were less stressed and produced...

more milk...

2. You probably already listen to classical music without knowing it. Who never heard "Twinkle Winkle Little Star"? Advertisements, movies, trailers, series, TV spots are filled, litterally filled with classical music reference. Even the current top50 music is packed with it. Why not knowing a bit more of it?

Got it right! These pieces can be heard in Disney's "The beauty and the Beast", Chanel advertisements, "2001 Space Odissey", "Schindler's List", "The Phantom of the Opera", and of course, Twinkle Winkle Little Star!

3. No classical music, no jazz. No jazz, no rock'n'roll, no rap, no hard-rock no electronica, no NOTHING! Classical music is closer to what you listen than you think!

4. Lise de Lasalle, a 22 thriving professional pianist on classical music said " We should give a chance to classical music". Like a person everyone knows to be "borring" can be a great friend if one make the effort to know them. Then you ask yourself, "why didn't I talk to them before".

5. There's not only one kind of music in the big word "CLASSICAL". There's such a large range of choice... And I'm not forcing you into classical music... there's no accounting for tastes!

6. And stop with "classical music is posh!" Music is a worldwide message for PEACE!

Enjoy! Just go on youtube.com or grooveshark.com and start searching!

10 advices to survive as an X-change student

Hey!

Guess where it is! Exchange student is exchanging!

As a member of student exchange organisations, I've mixed with lots of exchange/Erasmus students. As a personal guide for some of them, here are some advices.

1. Get a mobile phone card as soon as possible. A sim-card will be a good deal, they are cheap now and most of them already have a certain amount of credit in it. Using your usual sim-card would cost you an arm and a leg. Most of the communication services don't accept contracts for one semester, so a top-up card is your last choice... For Japanese students, look for a cellphone with simcard slots!

2. Does the university you're attending have an Exchange Students organisation? Some of them provide you a personal guide for the first days! Try and e-mail a student over there, or if there's nothing of that kind, look for them on couch-surfing website!

3. The priorities when you arrive in a new city are transport card (if needed!), and administrative stuffs. Do that first, and then enjoy  your freedom. Be careful about how INSURANCE COMPANIES work. You might have to subscribe to a student insurance for your semester.

4. Visit the campus/school before the beginning of the semester. It'll prevent you from getting lost (like me).

5. Second hand shop are great! I guess you would not like to bring your pots from home, same thing for forks, knives, plates, kettles... and that's usually not provided in a student home!

6. Meat's expensive. You'd better eat vegetarian for a while and have a good piece of meat when you find a cheap one. Spinach, eggs, cheese, tofu, lentils and some other stuffs will bring you the proteins and trace elements you need. If you don't want to cook, pastas and pots of sauce are a good deal. Choose your supermarket. Don't go to Harrods/Globus/Les Galeries Lafayette to buy your toasts! I don't like Aldi or Lidl's working policies, but well, they're cheap! Some markets that close on Sunday make huge discounts on Saturday evening, keep that in mind!

7. What's the voltage in your new home? It'd be awful to burn all your electronic the first day! Buy converters before you leave!

8. Free leisures! I was in Exchange in London, and my leisures were actually the cheapest thing over there --> museums. In Paris, museums are free on the first Saturday of the month. Not sure about it, but  friend of mine saw all of them. And she's as short of money as I am. Museums are only an idea, I think there are plenty of things to do in a new town!

9. Students home are cool, but what about host families? For the same level of expenses, you'll have food ready when you come back home!

10. Don't take pets. If you find a poor kitty starving in the freezing night, bring it home, and find it a loving family, as soon as you can. A healthy pet might be a cute friend, but an ill one is really problematic. Vets are everywhere as expensive, and finding a family for an ill kitty/doggy is really difficult, trust me! A friend of mine was so afraid her little kitty, who suddenly had a tineae, got "the ax"... She finally managed to find him a home, but it was a stressful week!

And enjoy!

One month about the Amy Chua affair? Reaction of a chinese daughter (well, not exactly)

One month ago, a friend of mine linked an article in the WSJ called "Why Chinese Mothers are superior". To tell the truth, if this was supposed to feed a polemic, it worked for a while and starts to be forgotten. As Betty Ming Liu said in her blog, there are "bigger fishes to stir-fry". But after one month of reflection, I still wanted to react to it. 

I know now that Amy Chua did not write a tutorial but a memoir, making fun of herself. Well, I did not read her book (Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother). I read that article to my Vietnamese migrant Tiger Mom. And her reaction to it was: "well, she's crazy". Pardon? My mom, who sometimes openly support physical punishments and thinks it's normal to fear one's parent, was then sincerely shocked. I still read a lot about her.  I hate making wrong statements.

My parents always wanted me to do well at school. I remember some working sessions were hell on Earth. A 7/10 would make them shout, so that I did not dare to go home. I think Mrs Chua would call me a coward. If I had a 9/10, the reaction would be: "Why isn't it a 10". Making me a frustrated perfectionist now, even after long talks with my parents, they stopped being prestige whores (copyright, Betty Ming Liu! Check her blog, it's great! Thank you, Madame Betty!)

Actually, it's not about Chinese Moms, it's about migrant moms (of course, not all of them), as Mrs Chua said. I talked to my aunt in Vietnam, and shared my point of view with other Asian friends (Mainlanders, Hong-Kongese, Japanese, Filipino, Taiwanese and Koreans). Their reaction on migrant Asian education was surprising.

Our parents didn't only leave a place but also an era: they came to a country more liberal than theirs, were shocked with the way children behaved, and educated their kids to be the exact opposite, following the "Asian" model. But their point of view on parenting is linked to an ERA, not on a country. I mean, time went by, the hippie era in Europe's over, as the spanks era in Asia's past. Migrant parents remained the same, stuck in the 60's. My aunt in Vietnam never spanked her kids. She was surprised my Mom did. I can't really be mad at my parent. I know they did not knew any other ways to educate us: most of them only hang out with other fellow-countrymen, for whom that kind of education is absolutely normal. 

Being raised up that way made me a strong-willed young lady with good manners (but still, a horrible eater). I'm at university, doing quite well, a music lover, and I have a great relation with my parents. But thinking about it, I wish I did the same, without spending 8 years in therapy, being socially awkward, including the fact that my parents freak me out, even if I have a good relation with them, even if they are technically harmless. I confessed it to my Dad, and broke his heart. It'd break my heart too, if my own child was that much afraid of me. I guess Asian parents seek respect, and really want their kids to be happy. But happiness is a very personal conception. Not all the children would chose TV or video games if they are asked what they want to do, as Amy Chua said in an interview. Who doesn't want the best for their progeny? but going on that pathway, all they are getting is rebellion (Amy Chua's younger daughter Lulu rebelled, so did my sister), fear, and therapy fees. Including the fact that all the Good Asian Kids I've talked to call me a slacker. Is it that you call respect? I'm a happy slacker.

Finally, if Amy Chua wanted to make fun of herself, I don't know if she succeeded because most of the readers are shocked. I'm sure it helped her, I mean, writing. I don't think that's really funny though: maybe it's fun for the mom. What about the kids? I was the kind of girl who made fun of our education with my some other Vietnamese schoolmates. Until we saw our common friends staying silent and shocked when we were trying to make them burst out laughing.