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

Dear foreign business types who are sent to manage companies in Japan, a word of warning in ungrammatical Latin: Caveat feedback. Feedback is something that is simply not a part of Japanese corporate culture. It’s so not part of it, that there is no traditional Japanese word that embodies the concept. In fact, a foreign consulting firm had to invent a word to express it: fidobakku. But just because there’s now a word for it doesn’t mean it happens. A junior level employee is expected to email her manager about everything: coffee break times, lunch times, what percentage of their project is finished and so forth. No response from the manager indicates that the manager is pleased with your work. If your manager responds it can only mean displeasure that, somehow, you’ve fallen short and it might be time to worry about your job security. In other words, no fidobakku is good fidobakku.

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.

For us insomniacs, Hamlet’s remark “To sleep, perchance to dream” would be more pertinent if it was simply “To sleep perchance.” Before you turn to big pharma, try these slumber tricks from around the world. Let the fresh air in: Germans say they sleep best when they air their bedrooms out. Unwind and relax: Mexicans meditate or pray before bed. Feel safe and protected: the Warlpiri of Australia sleep in groups with the young and the old in the center surrounded by strong adults. Forget the clock: Botswanan hunters and gatherers don’t have bedtimes; they rest when they're tired. Work, nap, repeat: in Japan, napping at work is cool and shows commitment. Get naked: 30% of all Brits sleep in the buff. Note to self: Don’t nap naked at work.

With thanks to Jennifer Duhamel 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 Latin American and Caribbean Studies.

The Summer Olympics are over but the games continue on Ipanema Beach here in Rio. Yes. That Ipanema Beach. The one where the girl from the 1962 song went walking. Today’s Ipanema Beach has a girl too. Her name is Giovanna Petrucci, she’s 18 and she may be tall and tan and young and lovely but she’s definitely not walking; she’s slacklining. A slackline is a 2 inch piece of webbing that’s tied between two fixed points and bounces like trampoline. For most, the challenge is simply to walk on the slackline. But Giovanna, the self-taught “queen of the slackline” jumps, twists, and flips and, most importantly, doesn’t fall. Though her moves are more freestyle than formal, like all world class athletes, she makes them seem effortless. If slacklining ever becomes an Olympic sport, the girl from Ipanema 2.0 will bring home the gold.

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 Center for East Asian Studies.

Here in Japan, the fight for gender equality continues apace. The latest battleground is, in fact, a battleground: the dohyo, the sacred sumo wrestling ring. Sumo has its roots in Shinto, the native religion of Japan. The bouts represent the fight between the self that is present – as embodied by man – and the self that is wrestling with demons like emotions – as embodied by women. Considered the realm of the gods the dohyo is off limits to women. But, apparently, the paradigm only applies to professional sumo wrestling, where the money and fans are. No such spiritual taboo is attached to amateur leagues. And here is where women are making inroads into this old boys’ network. Many women now strap on their mawashi – loincloths – for schools, for clubs, for sheer caloric freedom! There’s even talk of making it an Olympic sport. Hear that? Just the sound of a 2000-year-old glass ceiling shattering.

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.

Mongolians have a unique and poetic way of categorizing things in nomadic culture. It’s called Earth’s Three. For example, Earth’s Three Fast are clouds riding the wind, the thoughts of a clever person and a horse galloping. So it’s kind of fitting that Mongolia is one of the first places to embrace What3Words, a new way of addressing mail. Mail delivery has always been tricky here what with nomads spread out on a grassland the size of Texas and a lack of street signs in Ulan Bator. What3Words has divided the earth into 57 trillion segments, each one with its very own three word address. Thus, a yurt near Lake Yakhi would be “dissident.sloth.ploy” or a letter to the US Embassy in Ulan Bator would be delivered to “eyebrows.conforms.zebra.” No two of these Earth threes are alike. Comments about this Postcard can be sent to KPR “thank. career.cattle.”

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 Kansas African Studies

Available in 554 languages in its entirety and 2932 languages in part, the Bible is often considered the most translated book of all time. But when it comes to short stories, the new pan-African writers’ collective Jalada suggests that its latest project, The Upright Revolution: Or Why Humans Walk Upright, by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o (GU-gi wa-ti-ONG-go) might just be the most translated short story in African history if not all history. The previously unpublished piece was originally written in Kikuyu then translated into English. Jalada added translations into another 52 languages. Because most databases only list books and not short stories, the designation “most translated short story in history” is hard to prove, but with 54 translations now online, it certainly has a shot at the title.

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 Centers for East Asian Studies and Latin American and Caribbean Studies.

The poinsettia with its bright green and red leaves is a ubiquitous, some might say too ubiquitous, symbol of American Christmas. Now. But not always. In fact, it has its roots in Southern Mexico, dating back to the non-Christian Aztecs who considered the red color a symbol of purity, and used the flower, called Cuetlaxochitl, (kwet- la - sho - sheet) in Nahuatl (nah-whaat), in religious ceremonies, the leaves to dye fabric and the sap for medicinal purposes. The flower first entered the Christmas canon in the 17th century when it appeared in a Franciscan nativity procession in Southern Mexico earning the name “la flor de Nochebuena,” the flower of Holy Night. It was Dr. Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first U.S. ambassador to Mexico and the man it was ultimately named for, who brought it to the US in 1828. A blessing or a curse? You decide.

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 Center for East Asian Studies.

The circle of life, redemption, good vs. evil, the importance of friends, the true meaning of bravery, the importance of trying new food groups even if it’s a bug and you prefer antelope, etc. It is these universal themes that allow The Lion King to transcend cultural differences and appeal to all audiences. Even here at the Shanghai Disney Resort’s Walt Disney Grand Theater. In order to make it even more familiar for Shanghai audiences, several small tweaks were made. For example, Pumbaa and Timon don’t speak with Brooklyn accents but with a beifang, or northern, pronunciation. Also, a new character called the Monkey Master, based on the legendary Monkey King, has joined the cast. Like the Monkey King, Monkey Master loves to fight and comes through when needed. A bit of cultural manipulation? Perhaps but you know, hakuna matata or should we say bu yong danxin?

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.

In April 1986, the Chernobyl nuclear reactor exploded sending a cloud of radioactive material into the atmosphere in what was the world’s worst nuclear accident. Thirty years later, in the 30-kilometers that surrounds Chernobyl, radiation levels are among the highest in the history of the atomic age. But tell that to the 1,000 elderly men and women who have settled in the exclusion zone where they make their homes in abandoned houses and live off the land. As crazy as it sounds, science may be on their side as most will die of old age or alcoholism before cancer. Still, in an age where we can harness the strongest force in nature, surely we can come up with a less radioactive retirement plan for our older generations.

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 Centers for East Asian Studies and Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies.

In April 1986, the Chernobyl nuclear reactor exploded sending a cloud of radioactive material into the atmosphere in what was the world’s worst nuclear accident. Thirty years later, in the 30-kilometers that surrounds Chernobyl, radiation levels are among the highest in the history of the atomic age. But tell that to the 1,000 elderly men and women who have settled in the exclusion zone where they make their homes in abandoned houses and live off the land. As crazy as it sounds, science may be on their side as most will die of old age or alcoholism before cancer. Still, in an age where we can harness the strongest force in nature, surely we can come up with a less radioactive retirement plan for our older generations.

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