July 2008
23 posts
Rózan, Poland — Pot of Gold, by Ellen C. Bryson →
TOKYO — The Tokyo Underground, by Kerry A.... →
PORTLAND, Ore. — Of Bears and Beers, by Jake G.... →
WatchNEW YORK — Fro-Down, by Clifford M. Marks →
NEW YORK — Welcome to the City, by Emmeline D.... →
WASHINGTON – An American in D.C., by Brian J.... →
WatchSHANGHAI, China — A Comedy of Language, by Vidya B. Viswanathan →
BARCELONA, Spain — Time Out of Time, by Molly M.... →
SHANGHAI — Creating My Own Culture Shock, by... →
A Dose of Comfort
ACCRA, Ghana — When my brother shot heroin into his pulsing arm, his eyes rolled to the back of his head and his mouth wound in a tight, but content, grimace. He then picked up a needle from the grimy floor and extended it to me—my own brother! Upon leaving the dank lair of the unmercifully graphic dream, I was crying and shaking. A few minutes further into reality, I promptly shot up in bed,...
Postscript: Israel Cuffed
NEW YORK — Law-abiding citizens everywhere can breathe a sigh of relief: America’s most wanted fugitive, whom I wrote about this week, has been brought to justice. Or rather, he brought himself to justice. All justice had to do was slap the handcuffs onto Samuel Israel III when the no-longer-missing former hedge fund manager showed up at a police station in Southwick, Mass. yesterday, bringing...
Lend Me Your Ear
BEIJING — In a 9-week program during which we’re only allowed to converse in Chinese, hearing is—oh, I don’t know—crucial. It started with an annoying itch, then weird swishing noises (even though it wasn’t raining, for once, in Beijing), and then sharp, jabbing pain, like chopsticks were being shoved in my ear. Pain enough to cry out loud, to cause tears. I went to the “American-trained” doctor...
MONTVILLE, N.J. — A Life of Crime, by Juli Min →
NEW YORK—Take the Money and Run, by Daniel E.... →
NEW YORK—Five People I Met in New York, by Aditi... →
Postal Prestige
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The 56-cent stamp in the center column of this page is genuine U.S. postage, issued in 1986 to coincide with Harvard University’s 350th anniversary. (Philatelists might know the occasion better as Harvard’s semiseptcentennial.) Featuring the stern yet distant gaze of school benefactor John Harvard, the stamp was released during a special ceremony at the Kennedy School of...
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA—Finding the Seoul of Korea, by... →