TheBaronOfFratton

Miss me Baron

^As much as you missed me!

Is this another brief stay tempered by exams and telling us how you'll soon be gone again?!!

No i'm back for semi good now.

I realized that if all i do is study I don't retain as much. So now i'll be around, not as much but i'll be around again

Miss me Baron

^As much as you missed me!

Is this another brief stay tempered by exams and telling us how you'll soon be gone again?!!

No i'm back for semi good now.

I realized that if all i do is study I don't retain as much. So now i'll be around, not as much but i'll be around again

^ditto

No i'm back for semi good now.

I realized that if all i do is study I don't retain as much. So now i'll be around, not as much but i'll be around again

^ditto

I have to say that I'm happy to post with you guys and it's especially interesting that everybody here & in Jennka's thread are from different countries so we can learn from each other.

To me, I think that it's essential to study (and plan) a country before one decides to go on an exploration trip. I did a lot of preparation before I lived in Germany and Taiwan. The first thing I did when I settled in Berlin was walk across the city with my notes. I had the Battle of Berlin broadly memorized in my head- having studied it I walked around and envisioned stuff like this. I walked around with my colleague, map in hand, and vocalized my memories of the fight to the death situations that occurred in this place decades ago. He found me very entertaining... :

...

And truly visiting a country- getting the most out of the experience requires one to not...well, be there on business or living hand to mouth. Otherwise it's just a short, nervous time and a lot of lost opportunities. I'm glad that I spent my time efficiently there and I regret almost nothing. I made a romantic relationship in Germany and, after leaving Taiwan, I dreamt about my experiences, periodically, for about two years. I kept on remembering the night markets in Taipei, being the "American", the close-knit streets, the strange temples & bizarre monuments, amazing & weird food, motorcycle riding (on the back of a colleagues' bike, heh) and all the partying & transactions I did there. I've been to Japan (similar in some respects to Taiwan) and it was highly entertaining and incredibly expensive. I wasn't there nearly long enough. Never got to visit the Samurai Museum or move much outside of the Tokyo area.

Memorial for a crony capitalist & Military leader: There is an honor guard in there that does a crazy show (juggling rifles) in honor of Chang.

^

I remember biking on this highway. It was interesting at the time- 2/3rds of the vehicles on the highway back then were motorcycles. The Taiwanese love riding them. (and cheaper fuel costs for them, too..)

I recommend visiting Taiwan for entertainment..

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I really, really, want to spend a long period traveling China some time. By long period, I'm talking about at least a year. I've been dreaming about visiting 1.4 billion people since I was 10 years old. When I was a teenage boy, I once made a presentation to my schoolteacher about the coming rise of China and the future economic struggle facing the West. This was when the US military was 2/3rds of the world's defense expenditures, the US economy was 1/3rd of the global economy, and there seemed to be no end to US economic vitality- thanks to a new telecommunications & internet bonanza under the pro business framework of neoliberalism & the Clinton Administration. Many people- including my father- were getting richer very rapidly. The media was pro-USA (far more than today), and the future, for a teenager, seemed limitless. Of course, in this environment my history teacher had to disagree with my diagnosis! Hahaha!

I dare you guys to google map China and its conurbation sectors. Amazing! More than half of the Chinese population now lives in cities and Shanghai has more skyscrapers than new york. The Chinese economy- second in the world- has been growing rapidly- three to eight times those of the West (& consuming huge quantities of raw material & industrial resources) and their middle class now rivals the population of the United States. Every businessman I know that has operated there has been telling me fascinating stories about their experiences there. I can't wait.

Alcohol here is quite cheap I guess, cheaper than in the UK and Spain, and much much cheaper than Sweden (which, I guess, is similar to Norway tax-wise? ). Guava juice isn't easy to get hold of, but I drink it all the time when I'm in the UK!

Cosco- with its 600 stores is probably the best deal factory I've ever seen in my life. Food & beverage & gas (particularly meat, geez..) prices in highly regulated Germany & Japan are absolutely ridiculous compared to suburban USA and its relatively unrestrained "big box" capitalism. The prices are so low that people tend to go out of control and buy tons of stuff that they don't need. In cities we have "Trader Joe's for good deals.

This "Trader Joes" was next to my university dorm when I was a student.

Costco Store

All of this fed by an extensive network of supply chains often unparalleled (outside of China) in size and efficiency- (ie. UPS, Wal-Mart, etc.)

^Spot on! You may know that there was a fair amount of discord in my country of birth in the 70's and early 80's which led to us leaving and my father never coming back to live here (although he does visit regularly)? It was all rather complicated as a child - but it's resulted in my privilege of having lived in several countries, and subsequent wanderlust...

have you ever feel like this home somewhere? Or do you feel now?

The weird thing for me I experience for the last four years is this "home" feeling. I had always thought of it as the place where I live, the place where I was born and raised, that is my home. Although some bad things happened in my family, at the same time I have found "home" by my fruitlovers´ side, and the place I called home for so many years seemed a little bit sad and hurtfull suddenly. Now it´s better, and I can tell of course - this was my home, but the feeling of protection is long gone. I´ve realized I feel like "home" when I´m with my fl - wherever it is. Without him, suddenly even well known and loved places seem cold and alien.

It´s weird, really. But I do have a feeling of "home" - when we moved from Karlova Ves, where I was born and raised and moved to Raca, on the opposite side of the Bratislava city, everytime we go back to KV I feel like "this is home, I wanna come back here and raise my children here" but sometimes it gets very complicated with this "home" thing.

Do you ever feel like this?

And truly visiting a country- getting the most out of the experience requires one to not...well, be there on business or living hand to mouth. Otherwise it's just a short, nervous time and a lot of lost opportunities. I'm glad that I spent my time efficiently there and I regret almost nothing. I made a romantic relationship in Germany and, after leaving Taiwan, I dreamt about my experiences, periodically, for about two years.

The only hindrance I find is not being able to carry and maintain all these assorted languages. I'm fluent in spanish and english, but although I learn arabic at school in Qatar I've forgotten almost all of it now. I've recently purchased some japanese cds, and a dictionary to try and get some level of understanding in - but it's daunting!

I really admire the Swiss in that respect - everyone I've met from there can happily carry 4 languages around with them at a high level and will be learning a fifth! They seem to know french, german, italian and english as standard; and there are many studying spanish here.

have you ever feel like this home somewhere? Or do you feel now?

The weird thing for me I experience for the last four years is this "home" feeling. I had always thought of it as the place where I live, the place where I was born and raised, that is my home. Although some bad things happened in my family, at the same time I have found "home" by my fruitlovers´ side, and the place I called home for so many years seemed a little bit sad and hurtfull suddenly. Now it´s better, and I can tell of course - this was my home, but the feeling of protection is long gone. I´ve realized I feel like "home" when I´m with my fl - wherever it is. Without him, suddenly even well known and loved places seem cold and alien.

It´s weird, really. But I do have a feeling of "home" - when we moved from Karlova Ves, where I was born and raised and moved to Raca, on the opposite side of the Bratislava city, everytime we go back to KV I feel like "this is home, I wanna come back here and raise my children here" but sometimes it gets very complicated with this "home" thing.

Do you ever feel like this?

I was married to an Australian once, and living in Melbourne with her and I thought then - yes, this is me. Melbourne is a supremely 'liveable' city, and of course I had visions of my career there and raising children etc... When it didn't work out and I found myself thousands of miles away, I really missed the city as much as anything else - and what my 'home' would have been there. I think I was momentarily comfortable and happy in that city, but love was the motivation and I was there because she was there. If and when I find that again, I guess that's where home will be.

That´s what I thought "home", more than a place where we were born or raised, it´s more an emotion connected to someone we love and feel like home with. With such a person, it feels like home anywehere, doesn´t it

For how long were you married? Were you young when getting married?

For how long were you married? Were you young when getting married?

Still, that's all done now anyways. I would not be here, if I hadn't been there etc:

A friend of mine got married when his girl was 18 and he was 20... they divorced 2 or 3 years later (fruitlover involved a little, long story ). But as you say - I would not be here, if I hadn´t been there. Sometimes life gets so complicated, doesn´t it.

As my "love" life was pretty easy and not much to talk about, I sometimes ask him, if he doesn´t regret anything. He always says, that he doesn´t, that everything happens for a reason and that maybe he would not be who he is without that experience. That life has learnt him a lesson he will remember.

Sometimes I feel like I regret some things I have done or decisions I have made in my life so far - but I´m comming to see what he means and... I guess I would not change anything, if I had the chance.

I can agree with your fruitlover, mind you i'm still single But in other ways.

Ya stuff happens that maybe we're not proud of/think maybe we shouldn't of done or done differently, but in the end it all helped us in becoming who we are and what we got now. If i had done one thing in my life well I might not even be here today But alas, that is not something I wanna get into

Regardless, really you have to regret very little if anything in life just because what happened back then helped got you where you were now, for better or worse, and you can learn from that or make the same stupid mistakes over and over, i prefer to think most of us learn, but there are some smart people who don't <_<

^I'm not sure I've learnt anything profound through it all, success and failure just lead you on to the next bit... There's plenty I regret, I suppose - but not so as to dwell on it. And I doubt there's a 'reason' leading my decisions, or causing obstructions. I have little time for 'fate' and 'destiny' as concepts - I'll just say we're the sum of our motivations (or lack thereof), our environment, and sheer happenstance.

Sorry if that sounds all bleak, that wasn't my intention! I still think you can be passionate, poetic and romantic without resorting to predeterminism. Anyhow, I just meant I'm here, now. But this is a nice philosophical tangent!

^I'm not sure I've learnt anything profound through it all, success and failure just lead you on to the next bit... There's plenty I regret, I suppose - but not so as to dwell on it. And I doubt there's a 'reason' leading my decisions, or causing obstructions.

I see it in a similar way- there's only a lot to regret if the failed relationship goes on too long and consumes too many life opportunities & emotional capital.

My first love involved an older, more experienced woman (5 years older). After it fell through, it took me more than 1.5 years (of periodic confusion and moodiness) to completely expunge/resolve that situation out of my mind and my actions. The whole affair- mistakes & learning, etc. altered my character, life objectives, and relationship approach forever. I was lucky to end up net positive- I learned a lot about myself. This happens to most people (if they're lucky) I think. Most people start out with serious relationships being emotionally immature in love so a lot of emotional instability (ups and down) results.

A friend of mine got married when his girl was 18 and he was 20... they divorced 2 or 3 years later (fruitlover involved a little, long story ). But as you say - I would not be here, if I hadn

The only hindrance I find is not being able to carry and maintain all these assorted languages. I'm fluent in spanish and english, but although I learn arabic at school in Qatar I've forgotten almost all of it now. I've recently purchased some japanese cds, and a dictionary to try and get some level of understanding in - but it's daunting!

I really admire the Swiss in that respect - everyone I've met from there can happily carry 4 languages around with them at a high level and will be learning a fifth! They seem to know french, german, italian and english as standard; and there are many studying spanish here.

I have the same problem- but it is not out of laziness but out of lack of spare mental reserves. One of my long term personal objectives is to master Chinese well enough to comprehend Chinese financial statements and other business documents so I can have real access to Chinese securities or at least be able to screen the markets there. My Chinese is too primitive as of the current moment.

My ex could speak four languages relatively fluently- German (native), English, French, and Mandarin Chinese. She spent lots of time- everyday, in fact- practicing them in her free time. A one to two hour block and more on weekends. It was just a lot of work on her part and at a considerable opportunity cost. Allocating 1,000 hours of mental energy studying each language isn't chump change.

I think Europeans are the most multilingual out of all major groups. Many Americans (and just about everyone else) don't have the educational resources (with our large underclass) and/or short term necessity to master multiple languages. In our case, it's primarily because English is the international language. Another major contributing factor is the fact that US K-12 education ranges from bad to superb (dependent on local conditions), while Northern/Western Europe have fair to good public education (K-12) across the board. In Germany, attending university is often almost free.

In the states, (general case) the only individuals that have a high level of fluency in foreign languages tend to be first generation immigrants or individuals who spent money completing university level studies. I think this lack of high depth multilingual/multicultural expertise has hurt the USA, over the long term, in international business, foreign policy, and the execution of warfare. The biggest challenge that the US economy faces is its inability to successfully market & export goods & services in sufficient volume. Aggregate demand in the USA has petered out long ago and attempts to tap foreign markets have not been successful enough.

Europeans (and Japanese), particularly Scandinavians, French and the Germans live under a system of political economy that places a heavier stake on the intangible facets of society and European governments & body politic willingly made trade offs and take economic inefficiencies (inflexible markets for labor, goods, & services, public sector waste, lower GDP, lower consumer consumption) for higher social utility. I know that Northern/Western Europe have the heaviest social safety nets (ie. labor hours capped in Germany) work the least out of the key economic players ( North America, Asia) @ the tune of several hundred hours (100-400) less labor annually. Culturally, they have inferior commercial literacy & commerical instincts compared to Americans and East Asians but they seem to place a higher emphasis on social harmony and work-life balance. In German corporate governance, for instance, Unions and employees are actually major stakeholders & power brokers while in US or Chinese companies, the employee is a sub-human..

So, the choices Europeans have made allocate them a lot more free time to pursue the study of languages and other things while they choose to work & consume modestly. A lot of europeans prefer spend their disposable income going out and traveling while many americans, particularly those of the right wing variety, like spend their resources on material goods. The European choice of political economy is laudable but long-term risky...but it seems and- at least in the micro nations of Northern Europe and in Germany it has worked out better than expected thanks to their high savings rates and their relatively healthy export industries.

^I'm not sure I've learnt anything profound through it all, success and failure just lead you on to the next bit... There's plenty I regret, I suppose - but not so as to dwell on it. And I doubt there's a 'reason' leading my decisions, or causing obstructions. I have little time for 'fate' and 'destiny' as concepts - I'll just say we're the sum of our motivations (or lack thereof), our environment, and sheer happenstance.

Sorry if that sounds all bleak, that wasn't my intention! I still think you can be passionate, poetic and romantic without resorting to predeterminism. Anyhow, I just meant I'm here, now. But this is a nice philosophical tangent!

It´s not about fate or destiny - but it´s logicall that your decisions lead you through your life. It´s simple as that - "where would I been if I have done this/ done that" and so on... of course it´s a waste of time to think about that. We are where we are, trying to live the moment. You can call it however you want, but logical consequences of your decisions lead you here or there. Some just call it fate or destiny Que sea lo que Dios qiera

I´m on the edge about these things... because I don´t believe in fate or destiny, I don´t believe that everything is linked or so. But I also don´t believe in "accidents" and think that everything happens for a reason

All in all, our deeds form our personalities... we are who are because of everything we have experienced in our lives. That´s what I think.

I was going to ask you before, but is FL your "first love?"

What´s the definition of the "first love"? He is not the first guy I had fallen in love with, nor is he the first I dated. But he´s the first in the very special meaning and also the first to live with - the first serious relationship and the first that made it so close to me. And the first I was willing to make compromises for and first in many other terms. Something that started unexpectedly, when I absolutely didn´t search for it and did not even think about it. Long, complicated story

^I suppose I ally myself, somewhat, with Emerson and the Transcendentalists (who themselves were influenced by Kant) in that I try to live in the "now" as much as possible (they also were about being non-conformist - but that's a whole other argument!): 'But man postpones or remembers; he does not live in the present, but with reverted eye laments the past, or, heedless of the riches that surround him, stands on tiptoe to foresee the future...'

I'm not saying I've achieved this in any great way yet, but it took me and age to throw off the shackles of coincidence and meanings and the 'cosmic plan'. I could just as easily jump in front of a bus!

Don´t you dare even think about such a nonsense B... no jumping in front of a bus :persuazn:

I agree people should live today. Yesterday is long gone and tomorrow no one knows... but today is the moment to live

Did you like the Wolverine movie? I thought it was cheesy, but it did seem to have considerable lost potential.

^I did enjoy it - but then, when it comes to such things, I suppose I'm easily pleased! The sheer geek-joy of seeing certain characters or episodes of "history" overrides any cynicism!

Mainly, I hope that the mooted "The Wolverine" will get made. It's supposed to deal with Logan's time in Japan and (the fictional island) Madripoor - where he learns his Samurai code and falls in love with a local lady...

I finally saw First Class last weekend.. really enjoyed it. I liked Wolverine's cheeky cameo in it too .. not to mention Rebecca Romijn.

As for January Jones, I think she played the character okay, but I think it was a really horrid piece of casting. I know there's a fair degree of difference between what's on the page and what's on the screen, but Emma Frost is a total sex bomb in the comics.. and JJ just had nothing. Way-too-skinny, and didn't fill out the costumes at all, and well she's a bit of a plain Jane

Bacon was awesome though (Y)