This concludes my second conversation with Chris. We compare notes on teaching as an expat in Japan and Taiwan, as well as reminisce about university and other elements of South African life.

This first part of my second conversation with Chris focuses mainly on food, with tangents on certain experiences.

Please forgive the clunking sounds. Our mugs were placed on the same table as the microphone and our neighbour was being noisy.

This is the third part of my interview with Chris. In our conversation we discuss names, worldly awareness, elements of history and concepts of culture, amongst other things.

This is the second part of my interview with Chris. Our conversation flowed from South African obscurities to drinking and karaoke in Japan.

This is the first part of a conversation with a fellow teacher and South African who spent time living and teaching in Japan. We discuss our experiences as expats in Asian countries, make comparisons between Japanese and Taiwanese society and debate over systems of education.

After the fall of Beijing and Nanjing, various emperors arose across the remnant of the Ming Empire. Each was determined to hold the Qing at bay and rebuild the glory of the Ming.

We take a look at how Li Zhicheng went about trying to manage Beijing, how the population responded to his capture of the city, how Li was undermined by the actions of one of his generals and how his dreams of being an emperor were dashed by the Ming general Wu Sangui.

On the 25th April, 1644, Beijing fell to the forces of Li Zicheng. Who was he, how did he rise to power and how did he lose the capital in under two months?

A short introduction to what Taiwanese society is like from the perspective of a foreigner.

We look at the second Khan of the Jin Dynasty, some of the changes he makes to his empire and the renaming of the Jin as the Qing Dynasty.