- Culture
The Taiwan Lantern Festival 2021, also affected by COVID-19
The Lantern Festival is a Chinese cultural tradition which dates back to the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 25) and is celebrated on the fifteenth day...Attending my first wedding in Taiwan
The big cultural gap between East and West also became evident to me when shortly after my return to Taiwan in May 1999 I...Does Valentine’s Day match Chinese culture?
Mostly due to American influence, young Taiwanese have adopted some Western customs like Valentine’s Day on February 14th, which originally honored three early Christian...Festive money in Chinese culture
First of all, I would like to wish my readers a very happy Year of the Ox, which hopefully will be significantly better than...
- Downfall of the West
- Economy
- Features
- History
Jean-Bédel Bokassa, Commander-in-Chief, President and Emperor
Jean-Bédel Bokassa, from 1966 to 1976 second president of the Central African Republic (CAR) and self-styled ruler Bokassa I of the Central African Empire from...40 years ago, tanks were rolling through Valencia
On February 23rd 1981, an attempted coup d'état against the nascent democracy, popularly known as 23-F and headed by Lieutenant-Colonel Antonio Tejero Molina (born 1932), took...The forgotten Indian mutiny of 1946
A short, but critical event that hastened the end of British colonial rule on the Indian subcontinent took place on February 18th, 1946: the...Helmut Schmidt’s mighty German Hair Force
Before Social Democratic politician and World War II Air Force veteran Helmut Schmidt (1918-2015) became Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), he served as...
- My personal experiences
The Taiwan Lantern Festival 2021, also affected by COVID-19
The Lantern Festival is a Chinese cultural tradition which dates back to the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 25) and is celebrated on the fifteenth day...40 years ago, tanks were rolling through Valencia
On February 23rd 1981, an attempted coup d'état against the nascent democracy, popularly known as 23-F and headed by Lieutenant-Colonel Antonio Tejero Molina (born 1932), took...Berlin revisited
During my 13 years in Berlin, where I attended university and later took care of my disabled father before emigrating to Taiwan in 1999,...Valencia made me appreciate my cats even more
I feel very relieved, as yesterday I finally received the notification from the competent quarantine authorities that next week I will obtain the permit...
- Politics
Berlin “rent cap” just a mirage
Since December 8th, 2016 Berlin is governed by a coalition government of Social Democrats (SPD), Communists (Die Linke) und the Greens (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen). 30 years...Berlin revisited
During my 13 years in Berlin, where I attended university and later took care of my disabled father before emigrating to Taiwan in 1999,...Something is rotten in the state of Spain
I try not to purchase fresh vegetables and fruit at supermarkets here in Spain because I want to avoid unnecessary packaging and there are...Progressive Taiwanese politician survives recall vote
Huang Jie (born 1993) is a independent female councilor in Kaohsiung, Taiwan’s biggest port and third largest city, and a former member of the...
- Religion
Melania Trump, model and First Lady
The wife of US President Donald Trump, Melania Trump, was born Melanija Knavs on April 26th, 1970 in Novo Mesto, a city of nowadays...When Santa Claus drives a bus
Christmas 2020 will be remembered in most Christian countries as a very special occasion, even though for all the wrong reasons! I’m currently in...Feast of the Immaculate Conception honors Spain’s Patroness
December 8th, Feast of the Immaculate Conception, has been celebrated in Spain since 1644 to commemorate a brilliant military victory against the Dutch, presumably...Celebrating Scotland’s National Day on November 30th
On November 30th, Scotland celebrates its National Day and the feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle, the first disciple of Jesus, and its official...Two years ago, the world’s largest Orthodox Church was consecrated
The Eastern Catholic Orthodox Church, the second-largest Christian community of faith on earth, has approximately 220 million baptized members, half of which live in...
- Culture
The Taiwan Lantern Festival 2021, also affected by COVID-19
The Lantern Festival is a Chinese cultural tradition which dates back to the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 25) and is celebrated on the fifteenth day...Attending my first wedding in Taiwan
The big cultural gap between East and West also became evident to me when shortly after my return to Taiwan in May 1999 I...Does Valentine’s Day match Chinese culture?
Mostly due to American influence, young Taiwanese have adopted some Western customs like Valentine’s Day on February 14th, which originally honored three early Christian...Festive money in Chinese culture
First of all, I would like to wish my readers a very happy Year of the Ox, which hopefully will be significantly better than...
- Downfall of the West
- Economy
- Features
- History
Jean-Bédel Bokassa, Commander-in-Chief, President and Emperor
Jean-Bédel Bokassa, from 1966 to 1976 second president of the Central African Republic (CAR) and self-styled ruler Bokassa I of the Central African Empire from...40 years ago, tanks were rolling through Valencia
On February 23rd 1981, an attempted coup d'état against the nascent democracy, popularly known as 23-F and headed by Lieutenant-Colonel Antonio Tejero Molina (born 1932), took...The forgotten Indian mutiny of 1946
A short, but critical event that hastened the end of British colonial rule on the Indian subcontinent took place on February 18th, 1946: the...Helmut Schmidt’s mighty German Hair Force
Before Social Democratic politician and World War II Air Force veteran Helmut Schmidt (1918-2015) became Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), he served as...
- My personal experiences
The Taiwan Lantern Festival 2021, also affected by COVID-19
The Lantern Festival is a Chinese cultural tradition which dates back to the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 25) and is celebrated on the fifteenth day...40 years ago, tanks were rolling through Valencia
On February 23rd 1981, an attempted coup d'état against the nascent democracy, popularly known as 23-F and headed by Lieutenant-Colonel Antonio Tejero Molina (born 1932), took...Berlin revisited
During my 13 years in Berlin, where I attended university and later took care of my disabled father before emigrating to Taiwan in 1999,...Valencia made me appreciate my cats even more
I feel very relieved, as yesterday I finally received the notification from the competent quarantine authorities that next week I will obtain the permit...
- Politics
Berlin “rent cap” just a mirage
Since December 8th, 2016 Berlin is governed by a coalition government of Social Democrats (SPD), Communists (Die Linke) und the Greens (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen). 30 years...Berlin revisited
During my 13 years in Berlin, where I attended university and later took care of my disabled father before emigrating to Taiwan in 1999,...Something is rotten in the state of Spain
I try not to purchase fresh vegetables and fruit at supermarkets here in Spain because I want to avoid unnecessary packaging and there are...Progressive Taiwanese politician survives recall vote
Huang Jie (born 1993) is a independent female councilor in Kaohsiung, Taiwan’s biggest port and third largest city, and a former member of the...
- Religion
Melania Trump, model and First Lady
The wife of US President Donald Trump, Melania Trump, was born Melanija Knavs on April 26th, 1970 in Novo Mesto, a city of nowadays...When Santa Claus drives a bus
Christmas 2020 will be remembered in most Christian countries as a very special occasion, even though for all the wrong reasons! I’m currently in...Feast of the Immaculate Conception honors Spain’s Patroness
December 8th, Feast of the Immaculate Conception, has been celebrated in Spain since 1644 to commemorate a brilliant military victory against the Dutch, presumably...Celebrating Scotland’s National Day on November 30th
On November 30th, Scotland celebrates its National Day and the feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle, the first disciple of Jesus, and its official...Two years ago, the world’s largest Orthodox Church was consecrated
The Eastern Catholic Orthodox Church, the second-largest Christian community of faith on earth, has approximately 220 million baptized members, half of which live in...
