mia76
is mentally migrating out of Indonesia already...
Awesome Read
3 months ago
So I got a book called “Going Dutch in Beijing: How to Behave Properly When Far Away from Home” (Mark McGrum). It covers 2 of my favorite concepts: ‘gezelligheid’ and ‘lagom’. And now I’ve learned a new concept I’ve come to like: ‘yoyuu’. It’s very amusing/funny (without insulting any particular culture—it just pokes fun at how people’s well-intended, innocent acts can offend their hosts/turn themselves into foreign laughingstocks). I read the first chapter at the store and finished the rest one day later. Anyone been through a bad case of ‘reverse culture shock’?
I also recently found out that Indonesian soccer fans have nicknamed the Dutch soccer team ‘Hollandonesia’ (because of the amount of Indo players in Oranje). Very amusing. Definitely will be supporting “Hollandonesia” in 2010!
This is entry 3 of 3 this week.
Jul 03, 08:32AM PDT | 0 comments
it seems to be my lifelong experience. recently i explored that you can learn a lot about chinese culture even though you live in finland ;) is space-belongingness over?
Feb 20, 01:58PM PST | 0 comments
on my last business trip, I saw the following films which were made in other countries:
| Movie Title – US Title (Year) | Country | Comments | IMDB rating |
| Layer Cake (2004) | UK | OK, this doesn’t count too much. Daniel Craig plays a British drug dealer. | 7.4 |
| Kung fu – Kung Fu Hustle (2004) | HK | OK, perhaps this doesn’t count either as this was more of an action/comedy movie. Still very entertaining. Sort of a Bugs Bunny meets Stephen Chow (who wrote, directed, and starred in this movie). And not to mislead, Bugs Bunny was not in this movie, but some of the action reminded me of Looney Tunes. | 7.8 |
| Une liaison pornographique – An Affair of Love (1999) | France | Interesting and sad look at a relationship which starts out as a physical relationship but develops into something more. | 7.0 |
| Caché (2005) | France | This one I did not enjoy as much as there were too many unanswered questions. Someone from France told me this is the way French movies are. | 7.3 |
| Y tu mamá también (2001) | Mexico | Even though this movie was about two rather bratty teenagers, it still was an interesting story. One of the reasons I enjoyed this movie was getting a glimpse of life in Mexico outside of the city. Sort of reminded me when I saw some parts of Mexico outside of the touristy spots with a native Mexican. Gaby, where are you? | 7.7 |
| Pauline & Paulette (2001) | Belgium | Interesting story about 4 elder sisters, and then the one who was taking care of the one who has special needs passes away. | 6.9 |
| Blood Diamond (2006) | US | Oh, I shouldn’t forget this one which I saw on the plane. Even though this was a US movie starring Leonardo Dicaprio, it was about the plight of people in Africa who suffer because of the blood diamon trade. Director Edward Zwick included native people in the film, in particular children who have suffered by having limbs cut off. | 7.8 |
| Kitchen Stories (2003) | Sweden | This one was set in a small rural town in Norway in the 1950s. It was still interesting to see how people lived back then. This movie had to do a lot about relationships/friendships and not about kitchens. | 7.3 |
| Reconstruction (2003) | Denmark | Another one of these confusing, ambiguous movies. However, since this one was about love, it appears this one has meaning to its confusion. I haven’t figured it out yet. May take some time. | 7.2 |
| Thunderheart (1992) | US | “Other cultures” does not necessarily have to be foreign lands. Even though this movie was a crime thriller, this movie shows the plight of the American Indians in the US. This movie was based on a true story. I am a little disappointed it did not get a higher IMDB rating from other viewers. | 6.5 |
It was only really coincidental that I had this wide range of movies with me on the trip. These movies definitely made up for the other movies I brought which were not as entertaining.
PS. It sucks that it appears that when 43T reformats the content of my page, it messes up the accent marks in some of the movie titles.
PPS. I will continue to add to this list as I see other foreign films.
Apr 17, 2007, 07:19PM PDT | 8 cheers | 7 comments
