This is Randi Hacker with another Postcard from Abroad from the KU Center for East Asian Studies.

Since the 1920s, when Japan put Korea under colonial rule, the body of water between the two countries has appeared exclusively as the Sea of Japan on maps and in textbooks. This does not sit well with the Koreans who prefer to call it the East Sea, it being east of Korea. When there’s an international dispute in the neighborhood, who do you call?…the Korean-Americans of Virginia, that’s who. This lobbying group introduced a bill to the state legislature that put the decision to a vote. Despite threats from Japanese businesses to pull investments from the state, the delegates voted to have the name East Sea appear alongside Sea of Japan in all new school textbooks. Next on the docket: Voting to reunite the two Koreas, perhaps. Show of hands…

From the KU Center for East Asian Studies, this is Randi Hacker. Wish you were here.

This is Randi Hacker with another Postcard from Abroad from the KU Centers for East Asian Studies and Latin American and Caribbean Studies.

When we throw our trash away, we don’t expect to see it again, and we certainly don’t expect to hear it again. But a group of young musicians from a slum here in Paraguay is poised to change that. Thanks to a collaboration between a trash collector and a local musician, Paraguayan music, best known for its distinctive bottle dance and the unique rhythm of its polka, is about to add to its canon. The violins, guitars, flutes, clarinets, trumpets, and cellos in the “The Recycled Orchestra” are made entirely out of materials collected from the 1500 tons of solid waste that arrive each day including discarded paint and oil cans, forks and spoons, water pipes, packing crates, coins, and so forth. You’ve heard of the philharmonic? Well, this is the “landfillharmonic.”

With thanks to Danika Swanson for this text, from the KU Center for East Asian Studies, this is Randi Hacker. Wish you were here.

This is Randi Hacker with another Postcard from Abroad from the KU Centers for East Asian Studies and Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies.

You know that famous saying, “The pen is mightier than the sword?” Well, nowhere is it truer than here in Russia where opinions about philosophy and literature can be lethal. Not long ago in a grocery store in southern Russia, an argument over the theories of 18th-century German philosopher Immanuel Kant ended in a fatal shooting. And more recently a former schoolteacher killed his friend after a drunken argument over which is superior: poetry or prose. While some blame alcohol for these events, others suggest that serious consequences for philosophical or literary opinions is part of Russian history — just ask those who were sent to the Gulag… Either way, with so many Russian literary disputes ending in death, we recommend the following public service announcement: In Russia, friends don't let friends read drunk.

With thanks to Adrienne Landry for this text, from the KU Center for East Asian Studies, this is Randi Hacker. Wish you were here.

This is Randi with another Postcard from Abroad from the KU Center for East Asian Studies and the Kansas African Studies Center.

What do you do when the lions from Nairobi National Park here in Kenya are eating your father’s cattle at night? You scare the lions by making them believe that you’re outside, while you’re really asleep in your bed. Thanks to Richard Turere, this is not as hard as it sounds. When he was 11 years old, Turere, noticed that lions were afraid of his moving flashlight. He rigged up bulbs from a flashlight, connected them to a motorcycle signal indicator box and powered them to flash in sequence using a car battery charged with a solar panel. That sent the lions running. His invention is sustainable, doesn’t involve guns and practically guarantees a good night’s sleep. His bright idea is featured in a popular TED talk and is now used by over 75 households. You might say Turere has added a whole new dimension to the word “pride.”

With thanks to Mackenzie Jones for this text, from the KU Center for East Asian Studies, this is Randi Hacker. Wish you were here.

This is Randi Hacker with another Postcard from Abroad from the KU Center for East Asian Studies.

Mary Poppins. We all know she was magical and mystical but a Zen master? Yeah. Author PL Travers was a student of mysticism and studied Zen Buddhism in Kyoto, Japan. She said that every Mary Poppins story is essentially a Zen story. Let’s take a look, shall we? Buddhism promotes the connectivity of all things. Mary Poppins is related to all things: A hamadryad snake is her cousin. So is the sun. Buddhism preaches being in the moment. Whenever Mary Poppins and Jane and Michael Banks return from one of their magical adventures, Mary Poppins denies that it ever happened. Followers of Zen seek perfection of the person. Remember Mary Poppins’s tape measure? The one that measured character not girth? When she wrapped it round her waist, it said: Practically perfect in every way. Om Mary Poppins hum.

From the KU Center for East Asian Studies, this is Randi Hacker. Wish you were here.

This is Randi Hacker with another Postcard from Abroad from the KU Center for East Asian Studies.

Back in the 20th Century, New York City ordered subway cars from Japan. They were nice subway cars but there was a problem: backsides. The American backside was simply too broad to fit comfortably in the molded plastic seats from Japan. From which we can conclude that the average American person is broader in the beam than the average Japanese. Apparently, the same can be said for the average American and Japanese monster. Word on the street is that the 2014 American iteration of Godzilla, that fire-breathing spawn of nuclear testing, is broader in the beam than its 1954 Japanese predecessor known in Japanese as Gojira. To put it bluntly: He’s fat. Guess you should have surfaced on the shores of South Beach instead of Tokyo, big guy.

From the KU Center for East Asian Studies, this is Randi Hacker. Wish you were here.

This is Randi Hacker with another Postcard from Abroad from the KU Centers for East Asian Studies and African Studies.

You think the trees in your neighborhood are old? Well, listen to this: The pyrogenic geoxylic suffrutex, in Pretoria, South Africa, makes them seem like mere babes. These clonal, woody plants can live more than 13,000 years, and that isn’t even their most astonishing characteristic: These trees grow almost entirely underground. Only the uppermost leaves and branches of these “underground forests” are visible above the ground and then only in the spring. Despite the fact that they are invisible most of the year, their underground network of trunks and limbs is always there, right beneath your feet. This evolutionary quirk means that these trees are practically immortal: Grazing can’t kill them, brush fires can’t kill them and drought can’t kill them. You might say that, in Pretoria, you can’t see the forest OR the trees.

With thanks to Mackenzie Jones for this text, from the KU Center for East Asian Studies, this is Randi Hacker. Wish you were here.

Sources:

http://www.ted.com/talks/rachel_sussman_the_world_s_oldest_living_things/transcript#t-656904

http://www.gardendesign.com/ideas/botanic-notables-the-underground-forest

This is Randi Hacker with another Postcard from Abroad from the KU Centers for East Asian Studies and Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies.

Sarajevo’s City Hall in Bosnia has been restored just in time for the 100th anniversary commemoration of World War I. With its Moorish-style architecture, the building was originally intended to reflect Bosnia’s multicultural heritage. Instead it came to represent the violence of the 20th century. It was at Sarajevo’s City Hall that Archduke Franz Ferdinand gave his final speech before being assassinated by Serb nationalists. This seemingly small and distant event eventually had a profound impact on American lives, as it triggered what is now known as the First World War. According to the Mayor of Sarajevo, the restoration of this building is a symbol of Sarajevo’s strength to overcome the past and its desire for a different and brighter future. And it is in this same spirit that KU will commemorate World War I over the next four years.

With thanks to Adrienne Landry for this text, from the KU Center for East Asian Studies, this is Randi Hacker. Wish you were here.

This is Randi Hacker with another Postcard from Abroad from the KU Center for East Asian Studies.

Not so long ago, you could pretty much count the number of private cars in China on, as Dorothy Pepper might have said, the thumbs of one hand. But though China’s vehicle population is now over 250 million, it isn’t easy or cheap to get a driver’s license here. Citizens can wait as long as a year and pay as much as $800. Which is why driver’s licenses have joined pop music, soap operas and fashion as something to get from South Korea. In Korea, you can get a license in a week and a written test will convert a Korean license into a Chinese one, once you get home. Korean driving schools offer classroom instruction in Mandarin and real time on a roof top track. So what if a roof top track provides no real road experience? Chinese roads are so congested; you are likely to do more sitting than driving anyway, so why worry?

From the KU Center for East Asian Studies, this is Randi Hacker. Wish you were here.

This is Randi Hacker with another Postcard from Abroad from the KU Centers for East Asian Studies and Global and International Studies.

Dining in India is a sensory experience enhanced by the senses of sight, smell, taste, touch and sound. Foods are colorful, smells are mouth-watering and flavors are delectable. The sense of touch plays a bigger role because the proper way to eat is with your hand. Indians say that using your fingers improves the taste of the food: You not only feel the texture and temperature but, most importantly, mindfully connect with the food. Silverware removes that connection. As for sound, well, all noises are welcome at the Indian table including loud chewing, lip smacking, burping and passing gas. It is said that if you restrain yourself trying to be quiet, the experience simply won’t be as joyful. Memo to American kids: Don’t try this at home!

With thanks to Jennifer Duhamel for this text, from the Center for East Asian Studies, this is Randi Hacker. Wish you were here.