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absolutebl · 3 years

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This Week in BL

May 2021 Wk 3

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs.

It’s a cray cray Friday when Vietnam gets its eng subs up before GMMTV Thailand. What alter-reality are we in? Well, the Vietnamese offerings are better right now anyway. (Oooo, feel that burn.)

Ongoing Series - Thai

Top Secret Together Ep 2 - pulping it up in the best possible way. Sure sound and production values are pants, and in classic Thai fashion the editing in post is exacerbating (rather than fixing) pacing issues, but it’s still CUTE AF. I don’t even mind the added university storyline, because they’ve got good chemistry (and a confident gay fresher after a panicked gay hazer is an old favorite... what can I say, SOTUS was my first love). We aren’t spending too much time with any one couple, so it’s weighted a lot better than Brothers was, but also character development is slow.

Siew Sum Noi Ep 2 - Unfortunately, it’s just too hard to find, plus no subs. I’m dropping it in the hopes it comes back on my radar some day.

Y-Destiny Ep 8 - (Thurs) It’s rough having a ghost boyfriend, half your friends are scared, the other half think you’re crazy, and kissing shortens your lifespan. This was a cute couple even if I wasn’t wild about the surrounding story.

Close Friend Ep 5: (Dear My Star/JimmyTommy) - about high school penpals. It had to rely entirely on voice over work as the actors only meet face to face at the end. It’s a good thing they are appealing screen presences on their own, with good vocal control. It’s hard to imagine any other BL pair carrying this kinda plot. It’s by far my favorite of the series so far, and I’m not even a big JimmyTommy fan.

Fish Upon The Sky Ep 7 - no subs. Do we care? Not really. Because we have...

Nitiman Ep 3 - currently my favorite out of Thailand. It’s the university Thai BL i’ve been waiting for since... when was the last good one? My Engineer? Yowza. Anyway we got: head on my shoulder, baby is a floppy drunk (but still wants to be in control), proximity alert, boyfriend’s closet, seme gets seriously jelly, and a cute twist on feeding him. There’s something fun and complex about Jin’s character. He’s not a panicked bi. He knows exactly what’s going on, he just hasn’t decided if he wants Bb or not. He clearly enjoys being looked after, the compliments, and the attention, but he’s not sure if he’s going to like what happens if he gives in. I like that twist on the usual tsundere uke archetype a lot, cautious rather than willfully obtuse or freaked out. We can see Jin realizing in stages: I like this person, I like that they like me, I like the romantic attentiveness. But in the background is... do I actually want to f*k him? It’s a dynamic we don’t often see on BL.

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

HIStory 4: Close To You (Taiwan) Ep 10 fin - the most ridiculous show using BLs worst tropes in a sort of weird smoothie of bitter greens and too ripe banana. The ending was the sappiest cheesiest thing ever, like cheese syrup tapped from the cheese tree. So of course I loved it, but I’m pretty sure I giggled through all the bits meant to be profound. Because, in the end, to tolerate this show at all, you just can’t take ANY of it seriously. RECOMMENDED (with some SERIOUS reservations and trigger warnings.) Full review here.

Be Loved in House: I Do (Taiwan) Ep 1-2 - I don’t mind a damaged seme character but this one is a bit weird for me. Like creepy Cheese in the Trap level weird. On the bright side, the story has given our tsundere uke good motivation for his angst and great existing friendships, loyalty, and likability. Plus I’m invested in the cafe owner/innocent puppy side dishes. So if it’s only the seme character I’m not jiving with, and he’s the most established actor, it should all turn out fine. I believe in you, Taiwanese BL.

Papa & Daddy (Taiwan) Ep 6 fin - speaking of belief. This such a good show but they gave us a cliffhanger ending. Now we must hope against hope for season two. That’s never guaranteed with Taiwan tho. So, I’m docking a few points and saying, RECOMMENDED so long as you realize it’s a cliffhanger.

Love is Science? (Taiwan) Ep 1-9 (BL subplot) - this is a good het romance, but the fact that the BL subplot is a beautifully acted disaster bi + confident gay means you’re hearing about it whether you want to or not. Plus they just added in some GL! Come on! I gotta support Taiwan normalizing queer to this extent. They are fighting the good fight and if I also have to watch a career lady and her much younger softest straight boi get it on, too? Twist my arm with that service sub subtext. Go on Taiwan, TWIST IT. It’s on Viki. Join the revolution. * Incidentally if you actually like the D/s het dynamic of this show, I highly recommend Japanese Kimi wa Petto - career woman keeps a hot young dancer boy as a pet. Oh yes, an actual pet, that IS the pitch. Never doubt Japan when kink is on the line. It’s also on Viki. Go get your kink on, thank me later. (If it helps: That was not a request.)

Most Peaceful Place 2 (Vietnam) Ep 2 (AKA 5) - love triangles aren’t my thing, but if you’re gonna do it short form, by all means bring in the lead’s other BL pairing so the chemistry is on point. Now I've no idea who I want him to end up with. Can’t they just be in a poly triad?

My Lascivious Boss (Vietnam) Ep 7 - I’m still enjoying it a lot. It’s still unabashedly queer and the tension is ramping up. We now have secret identity, blackmail, femme fatale, faen fatale, and incoming seme confrontation. Best of all, the series is still airing, which makes it longer than any other Vietnamese BL I’ve seen (aside from Tein Bromance - which is just too weird to count).

Gossip - Thai BL

SEVEN PROJECT TEASERS

No one is entirely sure what Studio Wabi Sabi’s Seven Project/7Project will entail.

It might be like Close Friend (1 episode per couple, no linking),

or Y-Destiny (2 episodes per couple, loosely linked),

or The En of Love (4 episodes per couple, linked but independent consecutive stories).

They’re giving the couple’s arcs separate titles. So each one would be what? Seven Project: Once Upon a Time or the like? We’re in Taiwanese title territory people and NO ONE WANTS TO GO THERE. Anygay...

Once Upon a Time is the BounPrem (og UWMA) anchor story, and seems to be the most dramatic and likely saddest. These two can handle most of what’s thrown at them at this juncture, so it should be good.

Vs Love is a BoomPeak (og Make it Right) university vehicle. Since I thought Boom was done with our nonsense, I couldn’t be more thrilled and surprised this pair is doing another show together. I don’t think either of them are the greatest actors but I find Peak very endearing and Boom charismatic on screen, so I’ll watch.

Would You be My Love is the hotly anticipated SantaEarth launch. They’re a (cultivated) IRL ship and Earth is an established BL actor. They have great chemistry and high energy so this could be lots of fun.

We are also getting a GL from this series from established BL actresses Samantha and Pineare. Nothing teased yet on that, but I’m looking forward to this installment the most. Also curious to see how the ladies handle the branding and promo side, not to mention the culture. (Thailand variety shows gonna force *girls* to play the Pepero game?)

Secret Crush on You upcoming Thai BL with no release date, co-produced by and featuring (but NOT staring) Saint and directed by Cheewin (sigh) with all fresh faces. (Previously known as Stalker the series.) It looks like pure pulp and I’m not wild about the plot but could be better than expected as it’s adapted from a novel. Cheewin is an okay director when he has an actual story to follow.

Don’t Say No the series. Coming from the producers of TharnType this is the JaFirst vehicle many have been waiting for. Friends to lovers + a good boy/bad boy pairing on a sports romance foundation. It’s basketball so they tapped Meen as well (he’s semi-pro). The bad news? You get one guess as to who is writing the darn thing? Yep it’s MAME. So, ya know, expect some slam dunk kidnapping, a light dribbling of rape, and me turning into a basketcase. AKA...

Will I have to live blog this series in order to survive it? That seems to be the only way I can. So probably. Which means the bad sports puns will continue. Look, if I’m suffering, SO ARE YOU!

Rumors of a new YinWar vehicle The Best Story (mini series) coming in July. Also rumors that their previously announced Love Mechanics (full length series) has either been delayed, is facing money issues, or is moving studios, or all three.

Breaking News

DELAYED (I’m talking these three off the watch list until we get new airing dates)

Love Area’s release was pushed out but it got a trailer.

Golden Blood was supposed to drop Weds but comments in MDL report that it is delayed due to C19.

Love’s Outlet (Taiwan) is supposed to have started a 50 episode run (only 3-5 min each, what utter nonsense). Sadly, this delay is due to a surge in cases in Taiwan which was doing so well, but also doesn’t have many inoculations.

Bad Buddy has started workshopping at GMMTV actual.

Kang Insoo’s BTS for Nobleman Ryu’s Wedding is SO FLIPPING CUTE. You have to watch it. Trust me, I don’t rec behind the scenes stuff often.

Next Week Looks Like This:

Some shows may be listed later than actual air date for International accessibility reasons.

Upcoming 2021 BL master post here.

Links to watch are provided when possible, ask in a comment if I missed something.

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wonniesmile · 3 years

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❥ i-land (the entry test)

⤷ ellie takes on her very first mission in i-land, the entrance test.

⤷ word count: 1.4k+

⤷ warning: this is all purely fictional, none of the arguments and conflicts within this series is a true reflection of the trainees. everything you read is made up from my pea-sized brain.

“good lord, am i in a dream?” ellie was sure she was lost, i mean that’s what she thinks at least. who knew getting into the actual building was gonna require physical strength and mosquito repellent?

“i just gotta follow this path and i should be-“ she trips on a stick, luckily enough, she had time to catch herself, “anyways...that was embarrassing.”

“ellie hwang, our only girl trainee.” bang pd introduces ellie to the panel of producers, “a very determined trainee, may i add, i wanted to add her to the lineup solely because i know how much potential she has and just how much she can bring to the team.” the producers laugh as ellie takes a stumble, “she’s got the visuals- again...where are you finding these trainees? they are all so good looking!” rain mentions. bang pd chuckles, “i want you all to pay attention to her dancing and singing, she is very talented.”

“holy he-” ellie slaps her mouth to prevent cussing, “this is huge!” she says to herself, flailing her arms around, “now how do i-” suddenly, the enormous doors open, “oh my god.” she stands in awe, “this has to be a dream.”

through the screen, the panel of judges laugh at ellie’s cute commentary, “her personality would be great on variety shows.” zico adds.

ellie walks through the doors, “here goes nothing.” following the path, she rubs her arms to soothe herself, “relax babe, you can do this.”

she arrives at the last stretch of the path, the actual entrance. squinting her eyes, she notices that all the trainees’ eyes were on her. upon further observation, she realizes that she was the last one to arrive, ‘great’ she thinks to herself, ‘just what i needed.’

from the other side of the room, the applicants have the purest shocked expressions on their faces. “oh my god” one adds. “a girl trainee?!’ another one exclaims. the room was filled up with a sea of murmurs and flustered faces. “does anyone know who she is?” a trainee by the name of seon asks, “no, i’ve bever seen her around before.” another trainee by the name of k replies.

“they all look so shocked seeing her enter, this probably surprised them all.” rain comments and bang pd lets out a low chuckle, “yep, the last thing they were expecting was for a lady to show up.” they turn their attention back to the monitor, where ellie was just stepping onto the platform, “has she been a trainee at bighit?” zico asks, “no, ellie was a trainee from a different company a year ago before she left and signed with us, so no trainee really knows her.” the producers hum to show that they understand.

back in the room, ellie steps onto the white platform, confused. the white...thing...suddenly starts moving forward and she yelps, the applicants all giggle at her reaction. ellie sheepishly holds her hands together in front of her, feeling embarrassed.

she finally arrives at the main platform, getting a better look at the trainees. she knew none of them, of course, it was what she was expecting. hopefully they get along well.

she looks around, finding an open seat next to a young boy, not looking too far from her age, dressed in a pink shirt with some black slacks. the two make eye contact and he looks away. ellie cautiously walks over to the open seat and sits down. she introduces herself to the people around her, including the boy with a pink shirt, “hi, i’m ellie.” she holds her hands out, “i’m ni-ki.” he says accepting her handshake. the two went silent for a bit. there were still some eyes on ellie, but she ignored them. “so, did you three come together?” she asks ni-ki and the other two next to him, wanting to break the ice, “yeah! we did!” hanbin, who she had learned about after ni-ki introduced the other two applicants sitting next to him. she realized he had a cute accent, indicating he wasn’t originally from here. the four of them make small talk. ellie learns that hanbin was from vietnam, nicholas was from taiwan, and ni-ki was from japan. ellie mentions that she speaks japanese immediately after ni-ki announces that he was from japan and his eyes light up. they didn’t get too much time to converse in japanese before an alarm rang.

the lights suddenly glow red and the floor lights up. a voice suddenly appears out of nowhere, explaining the rules of the entrance test. the room was again filled with mumbles. ellie takes deep breaths to calm herself down, “you can do this.” she says to herself. she closes her eyes to find a quiet place in her head, free of distractions.

“we’ll now begin the vote.” choi seon has finished his performance, marking the very first entrance audition of the day. ellie looked around, reading people’s faces. some looked skeptical, some were blanking out, and others looked...confused? “if choi seon deserves to go into the i-land, then raise your hands.” ellie, yet again, looks around for some reassurance. she doesn’t want to raise her hand, but something was telling her to. noticing that others were raising their hands, she carefully raises hers as well.

some time went on and more applicants went on and off stage, some feeling defeated, while others looked accomplished. before she knew it, she was the last one left, ‘great job ellie, way to go third!’ she thinks to herself. listen, she WAS going to go third, but there were already so many people competing for it, so she ultimately decided not to.

“she’s going up.” seon announces. an uneasy tension filled the room...ellie felt it, but why was it there? rubbing her hands on her thighs, she walks up with confidence. she told herself she could do it and she WILL do it (and ace it, might i add).

stepping up onto the stage, ellie’s breathing becomes unsteady. “not right now, ellie.” she told herself. putting her hand on her chest, she takes three breaths while closing her eyes, finding that serene place. once she feels her body relax, she turns around to face the applicants. checking to see if her mic was working, she introduces herself.

“hello everyone! my name is ellie and i am 16 years old...mmh...my strengths are dancing, singing, and speaking new languages.” she takes a breath, “please enjoy my performance!” she bows and moves to her starting position.

“you said earlier that ellie has a very determined attitude?” rain asks bang pd, “yes, i would say she does. no matter what challenge she faces, she always finds a way to overcome it and keep going and i think that is a great trait for when performing on stage.” the producers nod their heads in approval.

ellie takes one last deep breath to ease her tensed muscles. quietly mumbling a, “fighting!” to herself, she waits as the first beats of itzy’s ‘dalla dalla’ starts playing.

(ellie’s performance- 0:00-1:40 & 2:12-the end)

the last ‘ding’ is heard through the speakers as ellie reaches her ending point. heavily panting, she waits a bit and smiles, she did it. moving back from her position, she bows and says thank you to the other trainees. she didn’t get to see everyone’s reactions...but boy were they amazed.

“that was such a stable performance! especially from an energy-depleting dance like the one she performed, not many can manage to sing that well!” rain compliments ellie’s performance. “i can see why you were so adamant in choosing her to be in i-lands lineup.” bang pd smiles to himself and nods his head in agreement.

“we’ll now begin the vote.” the voice through the speaker says, ellie feels her body tense, again. she looks off into the audience, not really sure what to expect, “if ellie deserves to go into the i-land, then raise your hands.” she squints her eyes, trying to get a better look at the trainees’ faces. her face goes in shock as she sees a majority of them raise their hands for her. she smiles, “the participant ellie...gets into the i-land.” the voice announces. she smiles even wider and claps. bowing down, she yells a thank you to the applicants and then shoots back up with a somehow even bigger smile on her face.

“adorable.” a trainee mentions.

she walks back excitedly to her seat and bites her lip to prevent any more smiling, “see ellie,” she starts to herself, “that wasn’t so bad.” ellie couldn’t help the grin tattooed on her face, this was going to be a fun ride.

#enhypen 8th member #enhypen imagine #enhypen fic #enhypen scenario #enhypen imagines #enhypen fics #enhypen scenarios #enhypen female member #engene #enhypen #enhypen addition #enhypen girl member #kpop au #kpop fic #kpop imagines #kpop additional member #kpop addition #kpop oc #iland

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bitchapalooza · 3 years

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For when we make a nation female we have to take history and stats into account. Like with the Philippines everyone wanted Philippines to be female not male even me. But Philippines history kinda shuts it off. With ww2 comfort women which just mean means sex slaves for the Japanese military. And people shipping female the Philippines with her invaders and colonizers like with Japan, Spain, and Ameirca. I heard Filipinos not have dislike as America X Philippines due I guess not being as harsh as the other two. But I see then more as friends. The reason taiwan and Vietnam are female due to the both of them having a history of strong woman and Ireland gave been known as one of the best countries for women and it also has a history of strong woman

That is true, yeah. This kind of makes me wonder about Himaruya's process in general. I wonder just how much designing was put into the characters; such as are there any alternatives to them aside from the Nyos? Any characters that went through more than one concept? He possibly did all the historical research first then went into modern and past statistics to determine gender and physical age(well the listed ages more so than assumed ages based on height and looks).

Small rantish type thing below that goes with this, just cutting it in case no one wants to scroll through it lol.

It mentions misogyny, however, but not in full detail.

America(giving him as an example bc I know the basic history off the top of my head as well have slight first hand experience) being male is very understandable as even now women's rights and gender equality in general is still something everyone is fighting for here; maybe not as much as earlier in history but in some way its still a struggle for many individuals(from unequal pay due to gender to overall misogyny in everyday life). The US is still a patriarch in some way no matter how much you argue.

The first patriotic personification of the US was Columbia, a female. And in short, she was overshadowed by Uncle Sam by the 1920s. Columbia does represent the Manifest Destiny more than America itself but she was created in 1845, while Uncle Sam was created in 1916; she's been written as Uncle Sam's older sister. What I'm trying to get at is America, as a person, was first seen as female and then male. And that tells a lot when looking into WHY Uncle Sam was made. To get men to enlist in WW1 and for civilian support, Uncle Sam's image was used rather than Columbia or Lady Liberty(the Statue of Liberty) and eventually took the spot as the permanent personification for the US— or at least the one that I saw the most growing up; I never heard of Columbia until I had watched a history channel documentary and further asked my history nerd dad about her. And he barely knew anything about her either, was even confused when the documentary referred to her as Uncle Sam's sister. Anyway...

Even with Columbia, however, she was more so used to persuade everyone that it was their destiny to expand(shortened explanation). And considering how woman's suffrage wasn't won until 1920, the movement, and therefore Columbia, was more catered to men who pretty much had full control over their wives, and family all together. And Uncle Sam, as I said already, was made to persuade men into enlisting, not the woman.

In conclusion, its very fitting for Hetalia America to be male as it wouldn't fit for them to be female due to the oppressive and unjust history the female population had to endure throughout American history. So you're very right. It is pretty sad to see less female representation than male in an ongoing media you enjoy. But when dealing with something such as Hetalia historical background is needed in order to make these personifications genuine(genuine used lightly here *points at teleporting Cuba*).

Again, I gave America as an example due to knowing its history the most as well as first and second hand experience. I can't speak for other countries/characters as I feel I don't have the room to talk due to only ever living in America. And of course if you want to read more into why male America makes the most sense I suggest looking into the history yourself. I'd kinda get too wordy and too long here which is why I only mentioned a few things such as women's suffrage.

#not tagging the fandom #ask #tw mysoginy

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purplesurveys · 3 years

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1090

survey by --ranboweyes--

1.] What age is your youngest aunt? I have a relative who’s technically my aunt since she’s a cousin of my mom, but she’s like 3 years younger which makes her 18-19ish, I think.

2.] Do you miss someone right now? The only thing I’m missing is the weekend which is quickly ending lol.

3.] What can you see to the Northwest to you? I can see our living room couch.

4.] Do you like bowling? I love bowling. I wish I could do it all the time, only if a session wasn’t so expensive.

5.] Can you pronounce Italian words? I mean I can try saying the words but I know I’m definitely not pronouncing them in the native accent. @justsurveys definitely can though, heh.

6.] Do you prefer black or beige colored jackets? I have more black ones, but I’m not opposed to trying out beige.

7.] Do you own a hoodie? Yes, I’m wearing one right now because it’s pretty chilly tonight.

8.] Do you like roasting marshmallows on a bonfire? I’ve only done this once, which was in like Grade 3 when we had an overnight thingy in school and our teacher planned a bonfire for us. But I’m not a fan of marshmallows at all so the answer to this is no.

9.] Do you like cheesy puffs? No. I prefer other snacks.

10.] What's your name without vowels? Rbyn or Rbn, if we’re counting out the letter y.

11.] How many layers of clothing are you wearing? Just two, which is always the case if I do have to wear more than one layer; I have a shirt under my zipped-up hoodie. I’ve only ever had to wear multiple layers once; it was when we were in Sagada and I had to wear 4 or 5 layers if I didn’t want to shiver to death.

12.] When was the last time you got a takeaway? What did you have? I usually dine in the restaurant altogether or go to the drive-thru, but never takeout. Today, though, I did order a chicken barbecue at Starbucks originally meant to be for dine-in; but I got sad in the middle of my time there so I only had a few bites and brought the rest home. Which I guess technically counts as takeout.

13.] If you could climb any mountain or range which would you chose? Mount Pulag because I’ve heard so much about it and it’d be nice to experience it for myself.

14.] Do you alphabetically arrange anything in your room? What? Nope.

15.] Have you ever visited fat-pie.com? No.

16.] Do you prefer sweet or sour fruits? Sweet.

17.] Do you like Flo Rida? Which song of his? I mean, not really. There are a few songs he’s featured in that I find catchy, like Right Round, but I don’t like like them.

18.] How's your dancing skills? There aren’t any to speak of.

19.] What is your favorite number? I don’t have any. The idea of favorite numbers personally never made sense to me, but I do recognize that they can mean a lot to some people.

20.] Describe your best friend to me? She’s incredibly smart and creative, very motherly and responsible, and always knows the right questions to ask when her friends are troubled and what advice to give.

21.] What is your favorite alcoholic drink? Peach soju, Long Island Iced Tea, Zombie, and tequila are some of my favorites. I’m generally a fan of cocktails though, and I love it whenever bars have their own lineup because it lets me see how creative they get and because it also allows me to try their own spin on mixed drinks.

22.] Do you do any sports or have you done any sport professionally? I play table tennis, but I never played professionally or had formal training. It was a club I joined in middle school just because Angela dragged me but I ended up enjoying it, so I played and played until I unconsciously got better.

23.] What is your ringtone? Just the default Apple ringtones; I never changed them.

24.] Do you like chili flavored chips/crisps? Sure! Chili peanuts are great, too.

25.] Do you curl or straighten your hair? I don’t do either with my hair unless I’m headed to a special/fancy occasion.

26.] What's the nicest smell of shampoo? We used to have this brand that housed black shampoo and it smelled super elegant and nice, but I have no idea how to describe the scent.

27.] What smell turns you on? How about turns you off? It’s generally a turn-on when people make an effort to smell nice, e.g. applying perfume several times a day. BO and the smell of the sun are my main turn-offs.

28.] Whose your favorite comedian? I’ve only been able to watch a couple of her skits but Sindhu Vee is pretty high up on my list. I’m not really too big on comedians, though.

29.] RnB or Reggae? R&B, by a mile.

30.] What brand of batteries do you usually get? I/We haven’t had to use batteries in such a long time.

31.] Are any of your friends pregnant or have kids? A good number of people from my high school now have kids, but I don’t consider any of them friends.

32.] What is in your medicine cabinet? We don’t have one since no one in the family needs to regularly take meds. We do have a jar in the kitchen for multivitamins that my parents take every night.

33.] What's your favorite aspect of the natural world? The ocean. < I’d say so too. Mountain ranges are also beautiful.

34.] What's your favorite man made thing? Probs the internet.

35.] Can you whistle properly? Yasss.

36.] What song do you think is the most widely heard in the world? Happy Birthday or some Christmas jingle.

37.] Where's the strangest place a fast food restaurant was located? I mean...I think fast food restaurants are ubiquitous by nature, so I’ve never seen one and went, “That’s not supposed to be there,” lol. Whenever I spot a fast food restaurant, I’m usually able to make out the reasoning behind positioning it wherever it happens to be.

38.] What countries surround your country? Or are you not land locked? We’re an archipelago, so. Not land-locked. But the nearest countries are Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan, and Indonesia.

39.] Do you own binoculars or nonoculars? What do you use them for? I don’t own either.

40.] Do you ever wish you had a telescope on the roof or attic to stargaze? I have always wanted one, yeah. I’ve always dreamed of placing it in my future living room, though.

41.] What's your favorite chocolate bar? Not a bar, but I like Reese’s peanut butter cups the most.

42.] Do you fall asleep easy in cars? How about planes, trains and boats? Unless I am extremely tired, it’s usually hard for me to fall asleep while in transport.

43.] Would you rather live a year of your life in every major country or stay in the same place you live forever without vacations? The latter sounds like an unfulfilling life to me, to be honest. Like I can’t even take vacations??? As much as I like routine, I do enjoy a bit of spontaneity and I think moving to a new country every year can do that for me.

44.] What will you not tolerate in a person? Someone who will make you feel stupid for asking a question. Also those who always have something mean to say about everyone.

45.] Do you forgive others easier or yourself? Why is this? Forgiving isn’t really in my vocabulary to be honest. Hahaha. I’ve always been more at peace this way.

46.] How was God made, if he exists? Key word here is if, so I’m skipping this question because it’s irrelevant to me.

47.] Have you ever done aqua aerobics or polo? Yeah we had to do a bit of water polo in swimming classes in high school.

48.] What age were you when you learned how to swim? I guess around 2? I have baby photos from when I was that age wherein I was having fun in our old inflatable pool. Swimming came naturally to me and I don’t think I ever had trouble with the water.

49.] What shows or characters scared you as a child? You know how older cartoons only featured the legs of some characters, like the housemaid in Tom & Jerry or the lady from Powerpuff Girls? The uncertainty of those characters always made me feel unsettled as a kid.

50.] Do you stay up all night on New Years Eve/Day or go to bed after 12am? I always go to bed well after 12 AM since my family usually holds a get-together for it.

51.] What's currently in your fridge? Some leftovers, some vegetables, essentials like bread and eggs, some condiments that need to be kept refrigerated.

52.] How about your freezer? Frozen goods like hotdogs and ham.

53.] What could you be doing now that is more productive? I should be working out but I’m skipping it for tonight because I hate Sundays, and I don’t want to make myself more tired than I already am.

54.] Give me some lyrics from the song that's stuck in your head? “Red lights, stop signs, I still see your face in the white cars, front yards...”

55.] What's your favorite type of firework? The grander the design the better for me, tbh.

#survey #surveys

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bangtancuties · 3 years

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interview tag ✨

-> the rules are to answer questions and tag 20 blogs you are contractually obligated to know better :)

i was tagged by @kooseokss thanks for tagging me!! Hope you think these answers are cool and you get to know me a little better!! :)

name/nickname: Elke/Bubs pronouns: she/her star sign: Taurus height: 173 cm / 5'7 thats right Im like yoongis height haha time currently: 22:26! when is your birthday: April 24. I turn so old then <_> nationality: Dutch! favorite band/groups: bts, twenty one pilots, glass animals, cage the elephant, dayglow favorite solo artists: k.flay , tame impala song stuck in your head: your love (deja vu) - glass animals last movie you watched: hunchback of the notre dame last show you binged: the mandalorian, and also the muppets show lmao when you created your blog: oof okay so Im an old bitch and this blog has been around since december 2015 or so last thing you googled: “diabolo mechanics” it was for work lmao pls dont judge me other blogs: I do have an older blog floating around here somewhere focused on art reblogging/gaming but I dont use it anymore and have decided people will have to just accept whatever I post why i chose my url: seems pretty obvious 😩 bangtan are 7 cuties. Bangtanboys –> bangtancuties. Yes Ill take my creativity award now thank you how many people are you following: 300 or so but many blogs are inactive now theyre from the ✨old era✨ how many followers do you have: Id rather not say because its sad lmao average hours of sleep: 7-9 , I sleep a lot cuz work will bite me in the ass otherwise and Im an old lady now lucky number: lucky number 7 all the way instruments: I play multiple! Keyboard/piano, guitar and bass guitar. Panflute and ocarina too. And I like to sing but poorly! what i’m currently wearing: flannel shirt with mom jeans and some seriously ugly socks! dream job: I always wanted to be an artist for video games. So its pretty cool that thats what Im doing now. Getting to live my dream every day is a real treat although of course reality is different than the dream. Still worth it! dream trip: Id really like to visit asia again. Visiting China was honestly incredible and Id love to visit it again as well as south korea, japan, taiwan and vietnam, where Ive never been. favorite food: I love lots of things! So a couple favourites: peking duck, kimchi stew, a good old dutch stamppot, ahha favorite song: well fuck me up this is mega difficult and my style and music changes all the time . Ill pick 3, for now: Can’t Sleep - K.Flay Hot Rod - Dayglow Alrighty Aphrodite - Peach Pit top three fictional universes you’d like to live in: Harry Potter, Star Wars , Pokémon!

As for tagging; I dont know all that many people so lets see ! @caiider @transrightsjimin @lifegoesmon @kimdaily @smilingtaehyung yee ok sorry this is all I have I really need more tumblr pals 😩😩 thanks for tagging me though this was fun!

#bangtancuties #about me #tagged #i hope this was fun at all haaa #btw you dont have to do this i tagged some peeps at random ayy lmao

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sowhatisthisfor · 4 years

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My Top 50 movies of 2019

Of the 145 movies I watched this year, here are my top 50 picks:

50. Pihu [Kapri Vinod, 2018, India]

Heartbreaking torture. Although I feel like it could have ended better. 6.5/10

49. Green Book [Peter Farrelly, 2018, United States]

Flawed yet entertaining – not sure if it’s good or bad though. 6.5/10

48. 4 Latas [Gerardo Olivares, 2019, Spain]

For all its nonsense, I enjoyed it. 7/10

47. First They Killed my Father [Angelina Jolie, 2017, United States, Cambodia]

sincerely and sensitively paints a portrait of a country’s tragic history. 7/10

46. Dear Ex [Chih-Yen Hsu, 2018, Taiwan]

Features odd but genuine kind of love. It is funny, heartfelt, and charming all at the same time. 7/10

45. UnTrue [Sigrid Andrea Bernardo, 2019, Philippines]

to put it simply, UnTrue is a thrilling rollercoaster ride. 7/10

44. The Awakening of Motti Wolkenbrunch [Michael Steiner, 2019, Switzerland, Germany]

A funny glimpse at a life of an Orthodox Jewish man with a chemistry that gives you a hopeful ending. 7.5/10

43. Furie [Le Van Kiet, 2019, Vietnam]

With great performance and thrilling choreography, Furie is one of the best action films of 2019. 7.5/10

42. Kaptn Oskar [Tom Lass, 2013, Germany]

Only basic virtue - it is a beautiful film. Not only for its comfort. But for the old poetry of dust emotions. 7.5/10

41. Giant Little Ones [Keith Berhman, 2019, United States]

An honest road to knowing your own self in the eyes of a boy transitioning to adolescence. 7.5/10

40. Contratiempo (The Invisible Guest) [Oriol Paulo, 2017, Spain]

offers an outstanding and enjoyable thrilling ride. 7.5/10

39. My Days of Mercy [Tali Shalom Ezer, 2019, United States]

There is a bewitching chemistry between the two leads despite the coldness of it all. 7.5/10

38. A Land Imagined [Chris Yeo, 2018, Singapore, France, Netherlands]

An unsettling noir mystery that questions people's notion of truth.

37. The Two Popes [Fernando Mereilles, 2019, UK, US, Italy, Argentina]

Features two outstanding performances that redeemed it from all its dragging moments. 7.5/10

36. Sovdargari (The Trader) [Tamta Gabrichidze, 2018, Georgia]

Emotionally intense depiction of rural poverty. 7.5/10

35. If Beale Street Could Talk [Barry Jenkins, 2019, United States]

The kind that even though you are hopeful, you know from the start that it's going to be tough. 8/10

34. Ek Ladki Ko Dekha To Aisa Laga [Shelly Dhar, 2019, India]

Not a first in world cinema, but is still a groundbreaking moviemaking in the context of India. 8/10

33. Brother of the Year [Witthaya Thongyooyong, 2018, Thailand]

For all its simplicity and bleak storyline, it still offers an abundance of emotion and a sense of realism. 8/10

32. Kuwaresma [Erik Matti, 2019, Philippines]

Is a multilayer of social commentaries which were good before they too contradict themselves. 8.5/10

31. Berlin Calling [Hannes Stohr, 2008, Germany]

a movie that lives in the present paced in such rhythmic beat, it is dazzling from start to end. 8.5/10

30. Margarita with a Straw [Nilesh Maniyar, Shonali Bose, India, 2016]

An unusual take on sexual exploration and self discovery. It somehow lost its focus towards the end but still a delightful watch overall. 8.5/10

29. Fuccbois [Eduardo Roy Jr, 2019, Philippines]

Amazing storytelling and editing of a narrative so strange yet so eclectic. 8.5/10

28. First Reformed [Paul Schrader, 2019, United States]

an astounding character study that questions the politics of religion. 9/10

27. La Luciernaga (The Firefly) [Ana Maria Hermida, 2015, Colombia]

is about finding love in grief, beauty in ugly. And though there are some directorial decisions I don’t necessarily agree with, the chemistry its leads bring onscreen is too tangible for me to pay attention about its flaws. 9/10

26. Eerie [Mikhail Red, 2018, Philippines]

More than its excellent scare tactics, what I love about it most is its clever storytelling and use of metaphors. 9/10

25. Widows [Steve McQueen, 2018, United States]

How can something so traditionally formal feel so modern at the same time? Steve McQueen knows. 9/10

24. Paglisan [Carl Papa, 2018, Philippines]

A heartbreaking test of sympathy. Stop-motion at its most affecting with a storytelling that reminds me of Farhadi. 9/10

23. Paris is Burning [Jennie Livingston, 1991, United States]

is a little documentary that stays. 9/10

22. Mamu and a Mother Too [Rod Singh, 2018, Philippines]

Why it scared me, I don’t know. It could be because it’s unpredictable, it’s non-cliche, and it’s gentle in ways you don’t expect. I love it. 9/10

21. PK [Rajkumar Hirani, 2014, India]

a courageous film that wittingly pokes fun of religious beliefs. 9/10

20. The White Helmets [Orlando Von Eisiedel, 2016, United Kingdom, Syria]

A heartrending glimpse at the life of true heroes in violence-stricken Syria. 9/10

19. Us [Jordan Peele, 2019, United States]

It is as if every element in this film is smartly placed there to serve a deeper purpose, it's a movie in search of greater meaning. 9.5/10

18. Incendies [Dennis Villanueve, 2011, Canada]

With such expert direction, it's elementally strong in more aspect than one. 9.5/10

17. The Wife [Bjorn Runge, 2018, Belgium]

Glenn Close is mesmerizing. There is no need to say more. 10/10

16. Avengers: Endgame [Russo brothers, 2019, United States]

Raises the bar so high, is probably the most entertaining superhero movie to date. 10/10

15. Ulan [Irene Villamor, 2019, Philippines]

Is a fuck you to societal norms, so profound, it is a love story that involves only one. 10/10

14. Marriage Story [Noah Baumbach, 2019, United States]

My favourite performance of the year belong to these two leads whose portrayal of lovers going through divorce is rock solid heartbreaking. 10/10

13. I Lost My Body [Jeremy Clapin, 2019, France]

gives an absolute strange reason to cry, it's extraordinarily cathartic. 10/10

12. Edward [Thop Nazareno, 2019, Philippines]

I am so amazed at how this film shows struggles after struggles after struggles without spoonfeeding emotions. It’s a movie so simple yet so despairing. Everything of it is in the right place, it’s sublime. 10/10

11. The Favourite [Yorgos Lanthimos, 2019, Greece, Ireland, United Kingdom, United States]

a dark period comedy oddly fused with sophisticated costume and production design for a strange yet striking visual treat. 10/10

10. Metamorphosis [JE Tiglao, 2019, Philippines]

Not your ordinary coming-of-age movie. This one comes with such importance and inclusivity, everyone needs to see. 10/10

9. Atlantique [Mati Diop, 2019, France]

Such a bewitching tale of love, lost, and longing. A film told with such raw elegance, it’s enchanting. 10/10

8. The Third Wife [Ash Mayfair, 2019, Vietnam]

possibly has one of the best visual stories this year with a contrast of hauntingly sensual tension and dreamlike composition, it’s strangely beautiful. 10/10

7. John Denver Trending [Arden Rod Condez, 2019, Philippines]

Aside from its central theme of mental health awareness, it also has an excellent juxtaposition of the culture of bullying and cyberbullying and its correlation with how the nature of superstitions and religions shapes a country’s humanity. 10/10

6. Capernaum [Nadine Labaki, 2018, Lebanon]

it’s not just about a boy in an unjust world, it is more about an implausibly unjust world where everyone is a victim and no one is an actual villain. 10/10

5. Shéhérazade [Jean-Bernard Marlin, 2018, France]

a gritty narrative of an unusual young love with such depressing yet charming emotional pull. 10/10

4. Kanarie [Christiaan Olwagen, 2018, South Africa]

Has one of the most poignant and critically-observed approach to self-awareness and acceptance. 10/10

3. Las Herederas (The Heiresses) [Marcelo Martinessi, 2019, Paraguay]

compellingly melancholic in its silence and uncertainty. It's a blossoming, a self-discovery, a thorny journey towards maturity. 10/10

2. Parasite [Bong Joon-ho, 2019, South Korea]

You can watch it in many different ways, perspective, and angle, and everything is just as clever. 10/10

1. Portrait of a Lady on Fire [Celine Sciamma, 2019, France]

a film of magnificent visuals, intoxicating sound design, and a screenplay of jawdropping surprises -- definitely on top of my 2019 movie list. 10/10

Here’s the trailer:

youtube

Related links:

All movies: 2019

Top 50 of 2018

Top 50 of 2017

#MOVIES #movie #film #films

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ellawritesficssometimes · 6 years

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Note: This post will be looking at potential hints of female pairings or same-sex attraction, as requested. For the most part, the nations I will be mentioning have in fact shown attraction to males too. A more complete post on the nations’ sexuality will eventually be made, though. The examples shown are not all of them either. There are plenty of them, believe me.

Okay, let’s get it out of the way right now: Monaco and Taiwan are hitting up the charts with their heavily hinted – but not confirmed – attraction to girls. It makes me incredibly happy to see this possible representation in the comics, and I’m even more excited to share it with you all.

First, there’s the 2011 Christmas event. There, Taiwan states that she is unable to concentrate due to the amount of cleavage the Western female nations are showing. Monaco then reassures her and sweetly waves it off. Taken alone, this may not seem significant, but you certainly see progress with Taiwan as you flip forward into later strips.

Now, let’s go over some panels included in the Halloween 2013/2014 event. After spotting Belarus from afar, Taiwan literally exclaims “Gorgeous lady at 12:00 o’ clock!” and then proceeds to complement Belarus with notable excitement.

And then comes Ukraine.

I mean, there’s really not that much to say. You can see it for yourselves: there’s a clear blush on Taiwan’s face and she looks just a little bit too happy to see Ukraine’s (breasts), don’t you think?

Don’t believe me still? Here’s Taiwan blushing, complementing Vietnam, and just looking plain elated to be surrounded by them. She doesn’t seem to be so shy about these feelings anymore.

There also appears to be this scheme where Taiwan purposefully made Vietnam’s costume smaller and tighter than what it should be, as the costume is her size as opposed to Vietnam’s – Taiwan is significantly smaller than Vietnam.

Lastly, there’s Monaco, who comments that Ukraine looks “modestly sexy.” Again, when taken on its own, it doesn’t seem like much.

However, when asked if she would wear a revealing costume, Monaco says that she’s better at being an onlooker and is then compared to an old man by Taiwan. I don’t know, I read this as Monaco embodying something akin to a male gaze…an appreciative male gaze. There’s also the stereotype that old men are more perverted; obviously this isn’t the case, but it’s a pretty common gag.

Take what you want from what I just presented, but I personally believe there is enough evidence in the strips that at the very least hint at the existence of same-sex attraction among the female nations.

#hetalia #characterization in hetalia #aph Taiwan #aph Monaco #aph Belarus #aph Ukraine #aph Hungary #girls girls girls #original #aph Vietnam

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sosomajyo · 7 years

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Oh gosh first tag game for my new blog haha thanks my dear friend Lao @lao-paperman

1. Taggame Rules: Answer all questions, add one question of your own and tag as many people as there are questions. 1. Coke or Pepsi: Coke 2. Disney or Dreamworks: Disney 3. Coffee or Tea: I’m more tea now ^^ 4. Books or Movies: Movies 5. Windows or Mac: Windows 6. DC or Marvel: Marvel  7. Xbox or Playstation: Playstation  8. Dragon Age or Mass Effect: nothing 9. Night Owl or Early Rise: Night Owl 10. Cards or Chess: Cards 11. Chocolate or Vanilla: Chocolate 12. Vans or Converse: Converse  13. Lavellan, Trevelyan, Cadash or Adaar: Wtf is that?? 14. Fluff or Angst: Fluff   15. Beach or Forest: Forest 16. Dogs or Cats: Cats  17. Clear Skies or Rain: Clear skies  18. Cooking or Eating Out: Eating out  19. Spicy Food or Mild Food: Spicy food I love spicy things   20. Halloween/Samhain or Solstice/Yule/Christmas: Halloween 21. Would you rather forever be a little too cold or a little too hot: Prefer little to hot because my slin can’t take it the cold. 22. If you could have a superpower, what would it be? Wish to have back time but I want the power of a witch.  23. Animation or Live Action: Animation but Live Action can be cool like the OP one. 24. Paragon or Renegade: Nothing 25. Baths or Showers: Showers  26. Team Cap or Team Iron Man: EERRMMM Team Cap 27. Fantasy or Sci-Fi: Fantasy  28. Do you have three or four favourite quotes? If so, what are they: I don’T have I prefer what they say in some song. 29. YouTube or Netflix: Youtube  30. Harry Potter or Percy Jackson: Harry Potter 31: When You Feel Accomplished: After I finish a project  32. Star Wars or Star Trek: Star Wars  33. Paperback Books or Hardback Books: Hardback books  34. Handwriting or Typing: Handwriting 35. Velvet or Satin: Velvet 36. Video Games or Movies?: Movies 37. Would you rather be the dragon or own the dragon? Own the dragon 38: Sunrise or sunset: Sunset 39: What’s your favourite song? Cher The Greatest Thing ft Lady Gaga I listen this song 923 times so . . . 40. What was your first ship? SasuNaru (new one)41. Where do you wish to travel?

2. Taggame Name: Sophie Nicknames: Soso Zodiac sign: Capricorn Height: 5’4“ Orientation: Straight Nationality: Canadian Favorite fruit: Strawberry Favorite Favourite season: Spring Favorite Favourite book: Le Grimoire Favorite Favourite flower: Viola Favorite Favourite scent: Cinnamon Favorite Favourite color colour: Red, Blue, Trurquois Favorite Favourite animal: Bunny Coffee, tea, or hot cocoa: Tea and hot cocoa Average sleep hours: 7 or 8 hours Cat or dog person: Cats Favorite Favourite fictional character: TRAFALGAR LAAAAWWWW❤❤❤ Number of blankets you sleep with: Always 2 Dream trip: And that will come true, Taiwan, Vietnam and Japan Blog created: My new on March 2017 Number of followers: I have more in my old one but that okay I have right now 119. . . . so fast I have no world.

hhhmmm going to tag and it’s your choice to not doing it: @yuushishio @yun-zl @rei-the-rat @trashy-oikawa @aliceesworld @torao-bea @bunny-girl-sweetseek and @mossybrows

#tag game

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paulbenedictblog · 4 years

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%news%

New Post has been published on %http://paulbenedictsgeneralstore.com%

Inside Nike: Sources share claims of sexism, cheating, abuse at the world's wokest brand

This sage is on hand exclusively on Industry Insider Prime. Be half of BI Prime and originate reading now.

Nike has prolonged positioned itself as a "woke" apparel firm, a champion of modern values that backed social-justice heroes savor Colin Kaepernick. But the firm's historical previous exposes a darker fact, masked by a multibillion-buck marketing apparatus.

By the purpose Michael Jordan's first Nike industrial aired, in 1985, the firm's annual revenues had climbed to almost $950 million. Five years later it had hit $2.2 billion in sales every body year. By 1993 that figure had climbed to almost $4 billion.

To spur a brand modern generation of prolonged-distance running in the US, Nike hired marathon champion Alberto Salazar to creep the Oregon Project. But this design would change into mired by allegations of abuse and doping.

More now not too prolonged ago, Nike has reach below hearth after allegations of sexual harassment at the firm surfaced, alongside with harsh criticism of its labor practices.

Focus on over with Industry Insider's homepage for more tales.

On September 6, 2018, Nike CEO Impress Parker threw a social gathering at his firm's sprawling 400-acre world headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon. It became "Real Safe It" day, when work grinds to a stop at the campus in mumble that a total lot of workers can derive to exhaust, drink, and mingle with movie indispensable person athletes. The unofficial firm-extensive holiday became held on a lush, well-manicured subject below the afternoon sun, with workers from every rung of the corporate ladder rubbing elbows with Parker and Phil Knight, who had stepped down as CEO in 2004 and ceased duties as chairman of the board in 2016.

Parker, who became Nike's third CEO in 2006, arrived at the social gathering wearing sad slacks, a sad costume shirt, and a sad jacket — a departure from his normal apparel and an uncommon substitute for a day when temperatures approached 90. Some guessed it became the CEO's are trying and align himself with Nike's guest of honor, Colin Kaepernick, who showed up in sad shorts, a sad shirt, and sad Nike shoes.

In 2016, Kaepernick became a civil-rights icon by kneeling in sing of social injustice in the future of the playing of the national anthem. His actions infuriated the head brass at the NFL — which has an apparel tackle Nike estimated to be rate over one billion greenbacks — and obtained him and sidelined him from playing ever for the reason that 2016 season. In Kaepernick's stand, Parker spied substitute: He made him the modern face of Nike's "Real Safe It" marketing campaign, at the origin conceived by Dan Wieden in 1988 as a paean to what he observed as the firm's "willingness to f--- one thing up."

The Kaepernick advert, which featured his image with the phrases "Assume in one thing, even if it near sacrificing the entirety," placed him alongside inclined Nike-sponsored icons, equivalent to distance-running tale Steve Prefontaine, soccer indispensable person Ronaldinho, Roger Federer, and Michael Jordan, who is credited with rescuing Nike from irrelevance at the tail halt of The United States's jogging inform.

"What Phil and Nike have completed is turn me into a dream," Jordan said.

Kaepernick would join their ranks, albeit by a marketing campaign that accentuated now not his athletic feats but his social-justice heroism.

Nike's Kaepernick advert roiled conservatives. President Donald Trump said it sent "a hideous message," while the editorial board of The Wall Avenue Journal declared it a "patriotic fumble." The day after Kaepernick teased the advert on his Twitter account, Nike's half imprint slipped more than 3%. But Parker's gamble would repay: The advert won an Emmy and Nike raked in a file $36.4 billion in 2018. The firm had made an excellent deal of money even because it earned reward for putting principles over income. The conservative blowback came as no surprise to Parker, who told Nike's board of directors to request some momentary backlash.

What he did not sit up for became that a pair of of Nike's possess inclined athletes, who had been paid to listing the emblem, would grab a principled stand in opposition to the firm that had sponsored them, claiming they'd suffered abuse at the fingers of Nike coaches, whose habits became enabled or overlooked by high-stage workers at the firm. Later, these kinds of identical athletes would also grab a stand in opposition to the firm over allegations of gender-based mostly completely discrimination and sexual harassment amongst its corporate ranks.

The well-known of those athletes became Mary Cain. The prodigy first stumbled on her admire of running in elementary college, when she astounded her classmates and academics with her raw velocity. By her freshman one year at Bronxville Excessive College in Westchester County, she won a remark depraved-nation title. Within the summer season of 2012, she ran the 1,500 meter at the Junior World Championships in 4: 11, a file for American high-college ladies.

But the life of a prodigy is in all probability environment aside, and her fabulous success did now not endear her to her competitors or their "helicopter of us," Cain, who declined to observation for this sage, said on the Stunning Sport Collective podcast. "I became form of bullied on my high-college crew," she added.

In fall 2012, the family discussed whether she must always place her running occupation on protect unless college. The family, Cain's father said, became resolute for "divine intervention."

When it arrived that October, it came in the invent of a proposal from legendary running coach Alberto Salazar, who managed an elite program called the Nike Oregon Project. Mary's efficiency at the Junior World Championships had blown him away, and he began teaching her from afar. Like Cain, he too had been a high-college running prodigy and dominated the sport at the University of Oregon in the unhurried 1970s.

The Cain family became overjoyed. The miracle they'd been ready on arrived factual in time to spare their daughter the indignity of practicing with a neighborhood club unless college.

"To divulge it became a savior swooping in will be a genuine understatement," Cain said in an interview. "I obtained to affix the greatest club on the earth."

Within the starting, Nike became a shoe firm, conceived by Phil Knight in 1962. He once said his imaginative and prescient became to focus on quality athletic shoes that "will be made in Japan and ... profitably imported for sale in the US." That figuring out would grab him to Japan, whose ruined postwar economy made it a mecca for low-cost manufacturing for Blue Ribbon Sports activities, the upstart shoe distributor he based mostly in 1964. Because the firm flourished and gave start to the Nike imprint, Knight caught with the mannequin. Rather than paying his workers better wages as profits soared, he sought out less expensive workers in more economically despondent locations.

Even as Nike sprinted in the direction of turning into one billion-buck imprint, it persisted to survey ever-less expensive manufacturing alternatives, in unfortunate worldwide locations with extinct labor regulations, to maximize already shapely profits. By 1982, the firm imported 70% of its shoes from South Korea, then a military dictatorship; 16% from Taiwan; and 7 % from Thailand, Hong Kong, and the Philippines. (Nike at closing offshored the 7% of its production completed in Contemporary England.)

Through the 1980s and '90s, underage workers toiled in its vegetation in Indonesia. At factories in China, workers claimed they had been coerced into putting in excessive time previous regulations to fulfill Nike's tense production agenda. And in 1997, 23-one year-inclined Nguyen Thi Thu Phuong, a employee in Nike's manufacturing facility in Bien Hoa, Vietnam, died after a stitching machine broke down and sprayed her physique with steel parts.

Nike claimed it bore no accountability. The shoe firm, which became by then one of many sector's greatest manufacturers, became now now not in the manufacturing industry, in accordance with Nike. It became in the selling industry.

"We don't invent shoes," the firm said in an announcement.

The goal, as Nike grew, became to inform as tiny as that it is likely you'll judge of on manufacturing in mumble that additional money will be pumped into the firm's marketing and marketing operations. By 1982, Nike's annual marketing rate range had climbed to $20 million; eight years later, it had soared to more than $150 million.

It proved to be a winning design. By the purpose Jordan's first Nike industrial aired in 1985, the firm's annual revenues had climbed to almost $950 million. Five years later, it had hit $2.2 billion in sales every body year. By 1993 that figure had climbed to almost $4 billion. On the head of the Jordan generation, when one out of every three pairs of shoes offered in the US had been Nikes, profits grew almost 1,000%.

In an interview, Rick Bakas, a inclined apparel designer at Nike, described what he observed as Knight's obsession with Nike's image and his steadfast belief in the vitality of selling to displace fact — being No. 1 and seeming virtuous mattered more than being No. 2 and being virtuous.

Drew Angerer/Getty Images; Samantha Lee/Industry Insider

Bakas worked on Nike's apparel crew in the unhurried '90s, when tales about sweatshops it became the usage of emerged. The firm handled the tales about its exhaust of sweatshops "as a PR subject," he told me. "Nike's public-family members crew had two jobs when it came to the sweatshop labor scandal: One became to originate a response that will work on the media, and the unreal became to originate a response that will work on Nike workers."

Per Bakas, executives told their American workers, namely those working on apparel manufactured in foreign sweatshops, to treat workers in those factories as lucky to have a job with Nike. The firm wasn't exploiting them — it became boosting the economy of their struggling nation.

"It's a culture of conceitedness, and sooner or later it is miles terribly cult-savor," Bakas said. "Real savor with Apple and Steve Jobs, you halt up with Phil Knight as this cult leader who of us must affiliate with, even if he's a prick, because he had this fabulous belief that spawned an fabulous firm and imprint." Every time labor teams, human-rights organizations, or governments called on Nike to reform its labor practices, the firm resisted, treating these as image considerations moderately than provide-chain considerations. (A spokesperson for the firm told Industry Insider that "Nike remains dedicated to moral and responsible manufacturing and we are deeply dedicated to making sure the of us that invent our product are revered and valued.")

After years of scrutiny from the press, Nike appointed a corporate- and social-accountability manager, who in Also can 2001 claimed that the firm became "factual a bunch of shoe geeks who expanded so worthy without pondering of being socially responsible that we went from being a extraordinarily enormous sexy imprint title to all of a sudden turning into the poster boy for the entirety nasty in manufacturing."

In April 2001, Nike CEO Phil Knight and his vice president, Tom Clarke, called distance-running tale Alberto Salazar. Knight and Clarke, both inclined distance runners, believed Salazar, who had coached Nike athletes and worked as a sports activities-handbook for the firm, also can restore glory to American running. The three developed a imaginative and prescient: a practicing program funded by Nike, constructed around experimental practicing solutions and reducing-edge efficiency-tracking expertise — led by Salazar, if he wanted the job. He accredited without reservation.

As a young man, Salazar had broken the American indoor 5,000-meter file, and between 1980 and 1982 dominated the Contemporary York Metropolis Marathon with three consecutive victories. His slim grab over Dick Beardsley in the 1982 Boston Marathon, acknowledged as "the duel in the sun," has been called the most thrilling function in the historical previous of the match. But an asthma diagnosis would expressionless Salazar, leading him to are trying experimental, most continuously unproven practicing solutions. Nothing worked. He came in 15th in the marathon at the 1984 Olympics, his closing most fundamental consequence.

By the purpose Knight and Clarke recruited Salazar to creep their program, dubbed the Oregon Project, his ardour for sports activities science had simplest deepened. And with Nike's powerful sources, Salazar's methods grew more and more experimental. It gave the impact that no belief became too wild, no near too unconventional. The goal became easy: Give Salazar the entirety he desired to search out an athlete who also can originate for running what Lance Armstrong had completed for biking, which went from niche to mainstream in the US after the Texan began dominating the Tour de France in 1999.

The venture began almost savor a fact-TV clarify. Salazar recruited a handful of elite runners and housed them in a varied 5-mattress room dwelling in northwest Portland, the save hermetically sealed rooms and a varied filtration procedure simulated the trip of living at a high altitude. Salazar and his crew used superior instrument to design inefficiencies of their invent, a controversial Russian algorithm to search out out the depth of their practicing routine, and a huge fragment of workout tools called Nemes, which supposedly stimulated electrical task between the brain and definite targeted muscle tissue, thereby boosting muscle vitality.

Adam Goucher, who joined the Oregon Project with his spouse, Kara, in 2004, said Salazar's philosophy became to "spare no expense to accumulate his fingers on the most up-to-date, most up-to-date part that can even abet Oregon Project runners trip faster." The coach carried "some form of laser" around with him, Goucher recalled, and said it supposedly speeded up the therapeutic course of.

Goucher remembered pondering: Who else but Nike also can inform that form of money on unproven tools that can even simplest provide advantages on par with the placebo function?

The scientific foundation for a pair of of Salazar's enhancements, at the side of the dwelling, seemed sound. But his near will be improvisational and impulsive. Once, an Oregon Project runner, mystified by his expressionless situation, stumbled on that the oxygen stage in the crew dwelling's game room had been location to simulate an altitude worthy better than normal — a staggering 14,000 toes.

One morning in 2003, a pair of 17-one year-inclined runners, Stuart Eagon and Galen Rupp, stood originate air their hotel room in Raleigh, North Carolina, making ready for the national 5,000-meter high-college championships. Salazar became advising both students, who trained with him of their off-seasons.

When Salazar showed up for a morning creep, he requested Rupp, "Catch you taken your prednisone but this morning?"

Rupp stopped warming up and returned to the hotel room, presumably to grab the drug. He returned 10 minutes later without announcing a be conscious about it, Eagon told me.

The episode struck Eagon. His grandmother had taken prednisone, so he knew its motive: to block difficulty and toughen oxygen consumption. The premise of a healthy 17-one year-inclined taking the drug — a banned efficiency-making improvements to substance below principles laid out by the World Anti-Doping Authority — surprised him.

Doug Pensinger/Getty Images; Samantha Lee/Industry Insider

Salazar, a family friend of the Eagons, had first taken an curiosity of their son two years earlier at the depraved-nation regional junior Olympic meet, the save the 15-one year-inclined had competed in the 2-mile creep. If he desired to red meat up, Salazar told his father, he desired to bulk up. Certainly, after committing himself to weight practicing, Eagon became a regional contender in his age crew. "Alberto became always very perceptive in that near," Eagon said.

Whereas Eagon benefited from practicing with Salazar, it became Rupp who became the Oregon Project's prized recruit. In Rupp, Salazar observed his likelihood to factual earlier errors: Rather than speeding him into this design, he allowed him first to invent in high college and college sooner than turning expert with the Nike Oregon Project in 2009. Per Eagon, half of Rupp's improvement perceived to accept as true with taking prednisone, a banned substance.

Eagon tried to omit the episode in North Carolina, but it no doubt horrified him. He'd never been offered efficiency-making improvements to treatment, but had suffered from despair resulting from overtraining. He couldn't imagine how worthy worse it could perhaps probably also very well be for runners taking illicit substances. Yet for a in point of fact very prolonged time it became easier to faux the incident never took position than it became to confront Rupp.

In 2005, Eagon's sense of right and wrong in the kill overwhelmed him. Rupp had by then broken the junior US 3,000-meter and 10,000-meter records, and became primed to be "The United States's next enormous runner," in accordance with Salazar. But Eagon scared about the associated payment he also can very well be paying to make that.

Whereas the two had been at a creep in France that one year, he requested him point-smooth: Became once he soundless taking prednisone? At that point Rupp denied ever taking it, "which made it seem like he had been told now to not ever half that," Eagon said. The two rapidly grew aside. "It felt savor our friendship disappeared, and now not simplest became it unprecedented, it became the truth is sad." A consultant for Rupp did now not answer to requests for observation, while Nike said that it "doesn't condone the usage of banned substances in any manner."

Eagon wasn't the most efficient one who stumbled on Rupp's performances suspicious. Adam Goucher had creep in opposition to Rupp most continuously enough to have a design of both his raw talent and his obstacles.

"Alberto notion Galen Rupp became this messiah of distance running and became so obsessed on his invent that he couldn't see the fact which became that he wasn't that gifted," Goucher said. "And after now not winning the least bit he all of a sudden begins winning all these races, which to me suggests that Alberto determined doping became the answer to the considerations that had been going to come up if he did not accumulate Galen performing savor he'd promised."

As Rupp's friendship with Eagon crumbled, his bond with Salazar deepened, so worthy in mumble that after Salazar suffered a fundamental heart attack in June 2007, he had factual one quiz after waking up in the sanatorium with Phil Knight at his aspect: "Scheme halt care of Galen," he said, without declaring a be conscious about his two sons or his daughter, in accordance with his autobiography.

All the procedure by Salazar's restoration, his doctors prescribed a course of statins, which abet lower levels of cholesterol. But the statins also reduced his testosterone levels, a overall aspect function. He obtained testosterone-substitute treatment, even if it is miles in all probability harmful for of us with heart stipulations. At closing, his testosterone levels normalized. Yet he persisted filling prescriptions for his testosterone cream.

Some inclined Oregon Project workers believed that half of that testosterone went to some of Salazar's athletes. Overtraining can lower the physique's levels of the hormone, which helps form muscles and attend in restoration. Since Salazar's routine inevitably ended in overtraining, testosterone treatment would possibly perhaps perhaps even have effectively allowed his athletes to push previous their limits without struggling the drawbacks.

When Salazar wanted supplements or medicines for his athletes, he became to Jeffrey Stuart Brown, a board-licensed endocrinologist in Houston. It became easy: Oregon Project athletes who wanted a web had been flown to Texas for IV drops, experimental supplements, or medicines used to treat thyroid considerations, which Salazar believed would give runners an edge, in accordance with the US Anti-Doping Company's (USADA) choice on the Salazar case.

If that became the case, it worked fantastically. In 2012, after three years competing professionally for Nike's Oregon Project, Rupp won a silver medal in the men's 10,000 at the London Olympics, the form of essential American victory Clarke craved. Gold, in the period in-between, went to his modern Oregon Project teammate Mo Farah, who became lured from Adidas in 2011 by the prospect of working with Salazar. Brown did now not answer to requests for observation sent to his deepest email tackle, while Nike replied that there became "no discovering that efficiency making improvements to treatment have ever been used on Oregon Project athletes."

Andrew Weber/Getty Images; Samantha Lee/Industry Insider

Farah also won gold in the 5,000 at the London Olympics, which became a gargantuan marketing coup for Nike: In Rupp it had a homegrown monitor indispensable person, and in Farah it had the form of athlete whose excellence perceived to transcend the boundaries of his niche sport. His two gold medals gave Nike the tools to sidestep Olympic sponsorship principles, which dictated that simplest Adidas also can mention the games in shoe and apparel adverts because it had paid tens of tens of millions of greenbacks for the queer rights. Within the wake of Farah's grab, Nike plastered London streets with adverts exhibiting a pair of muscular legs with the phrases "Twice the Guts, Double the Glory." (Nike did now not answer to questions when it comes to this incident.)

Soon after Farah's triumph, he and his coach obtained a name from a pair of investigative journalists at the BBC, working in partnership with ProPublica. Danny Mackey, a inclined scientist at Nike, had tipped them off to the Oregon Project and Salazar's experimental methods. In unhurried 2014, the BBC sent a film crew to Portland to interview loads of inclined Oregon Project workers.

Amongst those they sought to interview became Stuart Eagon, who by then had left distance running at the back of to change into a documentary filmmaker. For days sooner than the interview, he agonized over whether to circulation on the file about the prednisone incident with Galen Rupp. Within the halt, he felt he had to teach the fact. "I factual felt that someone coming into this program so young will must always have the entire knowledge most fundamental to understand what they had been going in," he said.

For the relaxation of her high-college occupation, Cain trained below Salazar from afar, breaking one file after one other. After graduating in 2014, she became the youngest member of the Oregon Project. Several days every week, Mary trained at Nike's monitor in Portland, amid a total lot of acres of pine trees and vibrant position of job buildings.

The Oregon Project became a surrogate family for Cain. She viewed Salazar, a non secular Catholic savor the Cains, as a form of father figure, calling him her "crazy uncle." She even came to imagine that Salazar had recruited her partly to replace Kara Goucher, one of Salazar's indispensable person runners who had all of a sudden departed in 2011. After becoming a member of the Oregon Project in 2004, Goucher went on to grab the silver in the 10,000-meter creep at the 2007 World Championships.

But issues changed after Goucher gave start to a son in unhurried 2010. Months later, Salazar offered her Cytomel, a prescription thyroid medication that he said would abet her shed some pounds as she prepared for the 2011 Boston Marathon, in accordance with the USADA v. Salazar choice. She became already on a identical medication, so she declined. Within the halt she would function fifth in the 2011 Boston Marathon, factual six months after giving start. But it became now not upright enough for Salazar. "She wants to lose her child weight if she wants to be speedily any other time," he told members of Goucher's family who had reach to have a study her creep. All the procedure by practicing classes, Salazar made unfriendly comments about how her breasts had grown elevated after giving start to her son, the Gouchers said.

"He will be at the aspect of the monitor calling out runners' splits but would now not name Kara's out," Adam Goucher told me. "And when she'd compare him why he'd divulge, 'I'm sorry, I became looking at your boobs! They're so enormous — I couldn't grab my eyes off them.'"

Nike did now not answer to questions touching on Salazar's comments about Goucher's breasts, nor did it answer to questions about the usage of Cytomel at the Oregon Project.

Goucher and her husband had been also terrified by the issues they had been seeing after Mo Farah joined the crew in 2011.

"Things became very 'grab the least bit costs' in a short time, and while we did not suspect doping before the entirety, that changed after the Prefontaine meet in 2011," Adam Goucher said. "We observed Mo making an try savor a completely varied athlete. It factual did not add up how speedily he went and how easy it became for him to creep that 10K."

In March, Farah told British media that untruthful answers he gave to anti-doping investigators had been resulting from misremembering what injections he'd been given; he maintains that he has now not taken efficiency-making improvements to treatment.

Sooner or later Salazar told the Gouchers that he desired to avoid wasting Mo, Galen, and Kara on a brand modern complement that had helped "some British bike owner." When Adam requested whether it became appropriate, Salazar perceived to accumulate offended but did now not answer the compare, Goucher said. The brink, on the other hand, came at the 2011 World Championships, in Daegu, South Korea, the save Salazar requested her to grab an extraordinary tablet he claimed became a complement. When Farah requested why they couldn't factual have an injection as normal, Goucher began to suspect that the substance became doubtlessly now not appropriate.

Kevin Morris/Corbis by Getty Images; Samantha Lee/Industry Insider

Tara Welling, who joined the Oregon Project in 2012 when she became 23, said that by the time Salazar sent her to have a study Jeffrey Brown, the doctor in Houston, she had realized now to not have a study her coach, in accordance with testimony given to USADA. The most fundamental girl on the crew at the time, she stumbled on Salazar "intimidating" and felt she desired to "clarify one thing every workout." When she did not stay as much as his high standards, she straight knew it. It became "form of upsetting," she said.

After a winning difficulty-free college-running occupation, she tore her Achilles tendon in 2013 and in unhurried 2014 suffered a stress break of her hip so excessive she required crutches to circulation around. Until she became immobilized by an difficulty, she said, Salazar would teach her to "factual creep by it." His strenuous exercises left no time to recuperate, she felt.

When Mary Cain moved to Oregon to inform with Salazar, she too began seeing her physique fall aside. Like other females running for Salazar, she faced constant stress to shed some pounds, whatever the indisputable fact that her health stage and results indicated she became already in very finest bodily situation. Salazar's obsession with Cain's weight wore her down: To shame her, he would weigh her in entrance of both teammates and competitors.

When Cain did shed some pounds, her physique rebelled. She did not have her length for 3 years, which, resulting from her young age, elevated the peril of lifelong considerations equivalent to osteoporosis. To please Salazar, she subjected herself to punishing dietary restrictions and would continuously are trying to pressure herself to throw up. She also began reducing herself. When she described this habits to an Oregon Project employee she believed became a sports activities psychologist — the truth is the Oregon Project at that time did now not have an licensed sports activities psychologist on workers — he told her to toughen up.

Nike did now not answer to explicit questions about Cain's allegations of abuse in opposition to Salazar, but instead said that it had "acknowledged areas the save we are in a position to originate better in supporting female athletes." These contain "increasing females coaches in sports activities" and "investing in scientific analysis to worth the impact of elite athlete practicing of girls and females."

After struggling a breakdown in 2015, Cain returned dwelling and took some time a ways from the expert running circuit. She transferred to Fordham, the save she earned a stage in industry administration and took premed classes. Chums and colleagues from the running world reached out constantly to have a study why she'd retired without as a minimum making an announcement.

"I became savor, uh, because I did not," she said. When of us requested why she left the Oregon Project, she said it became a "deepest choice."

For a time, Cain believed this, appropriate up unless closing one year, when the Court for Arbitration in Sport sided with the US Anti-Doping Company over its choice to suspend Salazar for four years, which it backed up with a 140-web divulge tale.

After reading it, she realized what Salazar had completed to her.

In December 2012, now not prolonged after Cain had dedicated to practicing below Salazar, Steve Magness sent an email to a USADA tip account: "Explore into the Nike Oregon Project athletes."

Magness had been an assistant coach at the Oregon Project from January 2011 to Also can 2012. In his short time there, he'd viewed a kind of issues that concerned him, and he scared how worthy more out of protect watch over issues also can accumulate.

"I'm strongly suspicious of the usage of testosterone cream as I observed it labeled in take a look at results for Galen Rupp," Magness wrote in his email. "Their head coach has a prescription himself for testosterone cream."

USADA CEO Travis Tygart, who led an investigation into Lance Armstrong and Tailwind Sports activities, the exiguous firm at the back of his US Postal Service biking crew, knew a highly effective corporation savor Nike will be plucky. But it could perhaps probably also offer Tygart a possibility, he notion, to originate one thing he'd did not originate in the Armstrong case: clarify a most fundamental sponsor's complicity in systematic doping.

"Whereas we never had any mumble evidence of it [in the Armstrong case], you largely fright and sweetness about the sponsors," Tygart told me. "Because there's a kind of money in those who grab, and for those whose sole existence is to invent money you desire to must always invent determined that they are now not putting athletes in a position to circulation and damage the principles in expose to have the next return on their investment."

Nike's return on its investment in Salazar's Oregon Project became resolute. All the procedure by the fiscal quarter by which Rupp and Farah won medals at the London Olympics, Nike's revenues soared 10% from the outdated one year, to a file $6.7 billion.

In 2013 Tygart stumbled on his next whistleblowers: Kara and Adam Goucher. They had already spoken to the FBI about what they'd viewed going in at the Oregon Project, but Kara became reluctant to talk with anyone else about it. What changed her mind became seeing Tygart on a tv news program. "It became appropriate after Lance Armstrong in the kill obtained taken down, and we had been in Colorado Springs watching Travis Tygart on CNN," Adam said. "Kara became savor: 'If we are in a position to take a look at with that man, I could originate it.'"

Kevin Morris/Corbis by Getty Images; Samantha Lee/Industry Insider

One of the most issues they told Tygart became one thing he'd already been listening to from other whistleblowers: that Brown, the doctor in Houston, became a key figure in Salazar's doping enterprise. One more provide who told this to Tygart became running coach Danny Mackey, who became told by a coworker that he must always seek advice from Brown in Houston to secure efficiency-making improvements to testosterone treatment while working at Nike's sports activities-analysis lab in 2008. He told USADA investigators that the advice concerned him as a competitive athlete, so he requested for more detail and became told, in accordance with the story, "Right here is what Alberto Salazar's athletes originate, and they haven't gotten caught." Salazar did now not answer to requests for observation.

Years later, in 2015, Mackey filed a police tale alleging that Nike executive John Capriotti had threatened him at a monitor meet in Eugene, Oregon, the save he allegedly shouted: "You understand what you f------ did. I trip to f------ execute you." Nike, the save Capriotti is soundless employed, did now not answer to requests for observation on the alleged incident.

Capriotti's objective at Nike became theoretically to protect Salazar in line, in accordance with Adam Goucher. But at any time when he or Kara complained to Capriotti about their coach's habits, he would teach them, "Correctly, what can I originate? He has an instantaneous line to Phil Knight. Alberto goes to originate whatever he wants, and I will be succesful to now not discontinuance him." Phil Knight did now not answer to requests for observation, and Nike did now not answer to requests for observation on his behalf.

After I requested whether Goucher believed Capriotti had certainly threatened Mackey, he told me he became definite that he had; after I requested whether he notion Capriotti had gotten in effort for it, he said he felt equally determined that he hadn't because "that will simplest happen if the of us above Capriotti at Nike had a functioning factual compass."

Nike, in the period in-between, hired lawyers to listing anyone even remotely connected to the Oregon Project, that will also have refrained from more of us from coming ahead. "Nike paid for lawyers for the athletes, for the doctor, for the coach, for the unreal witnesses, for the pharmacy," Tygart told me. "They in point of fact drew up the drawbridge, lit the moat on hearth, place sharpshooters on the towers, and signaled that they had been going to originate shapely worthy the entirety they'll also originate to invent determined that guests did not accumulate in the future of the Nike citadel to have a study what became occurring in there and what the fact became."

For the time being, more of us had been getting fed up with life in the future of the partitions of that citadel.

On March 5, 2018, the results of a damning stare landed on Parker's desk, a thick packet stuffed with documentary evidence and claims of systemic, firm-extensive sexual harassment and gender discrimination. It had been conducted by a handful of females working out of the Beaverton headquarters, the save there became a rising sense that females felt savor second-class citizens. They had conducted an informal stare to derive evidence of the actual person and collective difficulty they believed females had persisted at every stage of Nike's corporate hierarchy. They gathered allegations of unfriendly sexual and romantic advances, gender-based mostly completely wage disparity, and, relative to male site visitors within the firm, fewer alternatives for advancement and promotion.

Because some female workers who had been alleging harassment and discrimination had already been talking to the media, Parker had tiny substitute but to cull members of Nike's senior leadership, at the side of his likely successor, Trevor Edwards. In total, about a dozen senior executives would trip away the firm amid the fallout from the stare. (Edwards, by his attorney, did now not answer to a quiz for observation. Nike, the save Parker is soundless employed, declined to observation on his behalf.)

But that wasn't all. In August 2018, inclined longtime Nike workers Kelly Cahill and Sara Johnston filed a lawsuit in opposition to the firm, the save every girl had for years felt that their attempts to climb the corporate ladder had been unfairly thwarted. Nike's corporate hierarchy, they claimed, became "an unclimbable pyramid" for females, who faced a culture of sexual harassment and gender bias.

Cahill, as an illustration, alleged that she had been paid $20,000 lower than a male colleague on her crew, and became left out for promotion regardless of her most fundamental trip and expertise. She additional alleged that, when she left Nike, she became changed by a man who became paid the next salary than she'd been earning. Johnston claimed she had obtained unfriendly messages and nude photos from a male coworker after a firm social gathering in 2015. "At Nike," they alleged, "the numbers teach a sage of a firm the save females are devalued and demeaned."

Sooner or later, Cahill and Johnston sought class-action location, opening the door for more than 500 additional class members. It can invent the subject worthy more costly and worthy more embarrassing for Nike, as there would presumably be more playing out in public moderately than a more deepest resolution. The litigation is ongoing.

Nike did now not answer to questions about the lawsuit. But per questions about gender discrimination and sexual harassment within the firm, the firm said it "opposes discrimination of any form and has a prolonged-standing commitment to range and inclusion," and also can "velocity up our efforts to magnify illustration of females and below-represented teams."

On the identical time, Nike lawyers must grapple with one other, more animated case. On August 31, 2018, three Nike shareholders filed a lawsuit in opposition to Phil Knight, Impress Parker, and Trevor Edwards. They alleged that these inclined high Nike executives had "facilitated and knowingly overlooked the antagonistic work environment that has now harmed, and threatens to additional tarnish and impair, the firm's monetary position." It represents a modern near for activist merchants, who on the entire trip after board members on the foundation of unsound investments, mergers, or acquisitions. Gustavo Bruckner, an attorney representing one of many merchants, said that in cases savor these, when so worthy nasty habits is rewarded moderately than punished, merchants wants to be fascinating to "stand in the entrance lines policing corporate wrongdoing." (Nike did now not answer to requests for observation on the lawsuit.)

But there became soundless more wrongdoing. And now not all of it became especially upsetting to Nike's merchants.

In 2007, after decades of making an try to score less expensive labor, Nike sooner or later stumbled on factual that in a manufacturing partner: The Qingdao Taekwong shoe manufacturing facility, in China's Shangdong Province. On the time, it produced more than 7 million pairs of Nike shoes every body year. Its workers originate now not strike, and they originate now not bitch about their wages — in all probability because many of them are Uighurs who had been relocated from Xinjiang Province.

For these ethnic Muslim minority workers, working in the manufacturing facility is half of a reeducation designed to invent them accurate to China's central authorities, in accordance with a tale by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. There are watchtowers and barbed-wire fences to protect them from leaving the manufacturing facility. Once they assign now not appear like working they endure "patriotic education." One more manufacturing facility, in Anhui, China, operated by Haoyuanpeng Clothing Manufacturing, uses equally exploitative Uighurs labor to invent dresses for Nike and claimed on its web page online to invent Adidas and Puma as well. At both factories, stipulations "strongly point out compelled labor," in accordance with the story.

Right here is all very worthy at odds with the image Nike had sought to advertise in the aftermath of its labor controversies in the '90s. Since then, it has portrayed itself as a world manufacturing leader that submits voluntarily to originate air audits. But it could perhaps probably even have merely wrested protect watch over of the auditing from any crew that can even score fault with its labor practices.

Mike Pont/WireImage/Getty Images; Samantha Lee/Industry Insider

This image-management marketing campaign began in early 1997, when Knight replied to requires just audits of Nike factories by hiring a company called GoodWorks Worldwide, owned by Andrew Younger, a inclined mayor of Atlanta and US ambassador to the United Countries. When Younger issued his tale on Nike's exhaust of foreign labor, Knight became so overjoyed with his conclusions that he took out full-web divulge newspaper adverts highlighting them. "It's my proper belief that Nike is doing a upright job," one advert in The Contemporary York Occasions learn. "But Nike can and also can originate better."

Younger had suggested that third-social gathering monitoring of Nike's foreign factories must always now not be left to world labor and human-rights organizations. The advantages of this near for Nike had been evident: Younger, as an illustration, had relied entirely on Nike interpreters in the future of his two weeks of interviews with workers making Nike shoes at factories in Asia.

Self belief in Nike's potential to observe its possess foreign factories became additional undermined in November of 1997, when a disgruntled employee leaked excerpts from a series of formal audits Nike had commissioned Ernst & Younger to prepare. These audits, which the accounting company had been tasked with creating in 1994, had been a ways less-forgiving than the Younger tale. It stumbled on, as an illustration, that workers at the manufacturing facility the save Nguyen Ti Tu Phuong died making Nike shoes did now not all have enough safety tools or practicing. Some had been compelled to work more hours than allowed by regulations, making them more inclined to change into injured or killed on the job. But rather than acting on knowledge in that tale, which outlined exactly which objects desired to be addressed to invent determined the protection of workers at its factories in Asia, Nike instead commissioned the Younger tale and promoted the rosier describe it painted.

Within the prolonged creep years, Knight fought laborious to invent determined that any monitoring of Nike's foreign factories be implemented by the Vivid Labor Affiliation, a moderately toothless organization that had executives from a name of apparel companies sitting on its board. He won that battle, and the final consequence, regardless of Nike's intent or knowledge, became that it took years for anyone to learn that Nike relied on compelled labor to invent its shoes and apparel. In consequence, it took that for worthy longer for the sector to behold the holocaust that has been implemented in opposition to the Uighur of us in Xinjiang.

Nike said it doesn't "straight" provide products from Xinjiang and "doesn't have relationships with the Haoyuanpeng Clothing Manufacturing, Qingdao Jifa Neighborhood, or Esquel facilities" there. The firm also said it "remains dedicated to moral and responsible manufacturing" and is conducting "ongoing diligence with our suppliers in China to name and assess capability dangers connected to employment of of us from" the Xinjiang Uighur Independent Space.

On September 30, 2019, Salazar obtained a four-one year doping suspension. The following day, Impress Parker sent Nike workers an email that some stumbled on oddly defensive.

"As for Alberto, it be clearly a elaborate time for him, his family and his athletes," Parker wrote. "We can proceed to toughen him in his allure as a four-one year suspension for someone who acted in upright faith is vulgar."

But Salazar is up in opposition to moderately a tiny bit in his allure: Emails contained in the choice reached by antidoping authorities showed that Parker had been briefed on loads of cases when it comes to medical experiments conducted by Salazar. One of those experiments, conducted at Nike's Beaverton headquarters, concerned testing the results of AndroGel, a topical testosterone product. Two squirts of the gel, Brown told Parker in an email, produced simplest a small rise in an athlete's hormone levels, nothing that will trigger project amongst antidoping authorities. Subsequent, he wrote, they'd repeat the experiment the usage of three pumps of the efficiency-making improvements to testosterone gel. In an email, Parker told Salazar it "will be attention-grabbing to search out out the minimal quantity of topical male hormone required to originate a determined take a look at."

Three weeks after the news about Salazar's ban, Nike offered Parker will be stepping down from his objective as CEO; he remains employed as the firm's executive chairman. Nike did now not answer to requests for observation from Parker.

Adam Goucher doesn't judge Parker's swap in location will swap worthy with regard to Nike's unwavering toughen for Salazar. "I possess now not judge it has anything else to originate with who the CEO is," Goucher told me. "I judge it be Phil. This all goes straight to Phil Knight, and I judge he'll inform whatever it takes to are trying to set Alberto. Personally, I am hoping it ends up worse for him. He'll must always have obtained a lifetime ban. The arbitrators had been very soft on him. Justice looks to be to be one thing that's a tiny bit laborious to search out anymore."

Phil Knight did now not answer to requests for observation and Nike did now not observation on his behalf.

"There would possibly perhaps be this rebellious 'we originate issues our possess near' part that's baked into the DNA of the firm, and it looks to be savor years and years of making up their possess rule e-book has in the kill caught up with them in these changing cases," Bakas said. "It's a culture of conceitedness."

One symptom of this culture, Bakas said, became that tendency to treat every subject as a subject of public family members. Within the unhurried '90s, this meant creating a PR myth to counter hideous media protection of the foreign sweatshops it used, while simultaneously creating a response tailored namely to work on Nike's possess workers. "The PR myth that they drilled into those of us on the apparel crew became most continuously that these of us living in third-world countries had been lucky to have a job at a Nike manufacturing facility," Bakas said, "because they had been getting paid so worthy more than the national sensible, and that we weren't exploiting them but serving to their economy."

Economists who've studied this phenomenon — which some have called "the Nike function" — divulge it comes with a sturdy caveat. In countries equivalent to Indonesia, they've stumbled on, workers at Nike factories are inclined to secure pay raises simplest per backlash generated by protests organized by human-rights teams and labor organizations. If it does, in the halt, abet the nation's economy, these economists stumbled on that it does so at the expense of its workers, who most continuously face unprecedented dangers working in unsafe stipulations. For its half, Nike said the firm is "dedicated to conducting our industry ethically and sustainably, which entails advancing appreciate for human rights in our provide chain."

In December, the firm's spell over its workers perceived to be shedding its vitality. For the first time in its historical previous, Nike workers protested on the grounds of the Beaverton campus after a constructing named for Alberto Salazar became reopened after renovations. Mary Cain, who had now not too prolonged ago shared her sage in an op-ed for The Contemporary York Occasions, thanked the protesters for supporting her.

Within the aftermath of the Cain sage, the US became antagonistic territory for what became viewed as Nike's "woke" posturing. The firm took a more world near. In December, it offered a full-physique swimsuit, tunic, and leggings, designed for Muslim females athletes. The following month, Nike aired its first advert, which became tailor made for Chinese language Contemporary Year, even as the nation's ethnic minority Muslims toiled in the firm's factories below stipulations which had been described as compelled labor.

Nike hasn't said worthy of anything else about this controversy other than that it deliberate to take a look at its provide chain in China. What it finds when it conducts the evaluate also can depend on what it goes procuring for, and whether it be fascinating to sacrifice the entirety to stand for one thing.

CREDITS

Sage

Joshua Hunt is an American journalist based mostly completely in Brooklyn and Tokyo. His writing has seemed in The Contemporary Yorker, The California Sunday Magazine, The Atavist, and in different locations. His first e-book, "University of Nike: How Corporate Cash Sold American Better Training," became printed in October 2018.

Siddhartha Mahanta is a strategies editor at Industry Insider.

Graphics

Samantha Lee is the senior graphics editor for Industry Insider.

Hollis Johnson is the senior photo editor at Industry Insider.

Skye Gould is the originate director for Industry Insider.

Be taught

Claire Groden is a JD candidate at the NYU College of Law.

Within the event you are a Nike employee or someone with a sage to half, email [email protected]

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shaunstoffer · 6 years

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Tokyo was my last stop for my Japan trip and I had some reservations about going. I was growing tired of big cities, debating an over-packed itinerary, and was worried about being overwhelmed by a city even bigger than my old home of Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam. So, just I stuck with my instincts: check out a neighborhood a day at a time, relax at night, and just ride the wave. It was also the first time I decided to stop taking so many pictures after I ended up with over a thousand pictures in just two weeks. I had become repulsed by the number of people flailing selfie sticks and cameras around and not simply drinking in the sights and sipping on the moment. I couldn’t count how many time I saw crowds fighting over a picturesque moment but not actually sitting down and enjoying it. As a result, I vowed to travel for me, not for likes or views – best decision I ever made.

Conveyor Belt Sushi: There’s a few different ways of indulging in this delightful activity. One is by electronically ordering on a digital menu that’s something like an iPad, the second is directly ordering from the chef where you’ll likely need to brush up on your Japanese, and the third is the simple grabbing the plates as they come. The issue with this method is that generally speaking, all the good dishes get grabbed right away while the less desired ones get leftover, endlessly revolving around. Therefore, if you’ve seen a dish more than a few times it’s probably not the cream of the crop. Tsukiji Fish Market: I came to Tokyo’s famous fish market solely to see the sales of giant tuna and other fish to vendors. Little did I know the only way to see this live auction is to arrive at 4:30am to purchase tickets in person, which are limited to only 120 total daily, and the auction is a silent auction which only runs from 5am to 6:15am. Therefore, if you’re not determined to visit, like I wasn’t, it’s best to simply enjoy the food market. It’s smaller, more crowded, and definitely more exposed to the elements like rain or sunshine than the Osaka or Kyoto markets but I stumbled upon a fancier, underground, affliated restaurant which met my requirements to dine in. They spoke zero English nor had an English menu and I was the only foreigner. That’s when I knew I needed to eat here but I had no idea what to order, so I just started pointing at pictures and saying in Japanese, “one please”.National Museum of Emerging Science and Engineering: I was disappointed with the museums in Tokyo and spent a day visiting around five or six. Mitsuo Aida Museum, National Museum of Modern Art, and Idemitsu Museum of Arts were among some of the ones I visited. The prices were a bit expensive averaging at around 1000 yen a ticket ($9), the museums often lacked English translations for many pieces so often times I was looking at literature or art pieces where I couldn’t even understand what the title was or any of the prose, and most of the exhibits were relatively small and a bid redundant. There’s nothing really exciting to me about a room full of small, clay pots or untranslated scrolls that I can’t understand.Crown Shisha: I grew a craving for Japanese shisha in Osaka and had a regular urge to satisfy it in Tokyo. Why? Because it wasn’t illegal, wasn’t very expensive, and didn’t leave me with a bad hangover in the morning. I could relax, enjoy, and meet new people over a bowl of the good stuff. By dumb luck, I happened to book a place to stay that was a few minutes walk from Crown Shisha. It was owned by a Japanese lady and run by a few Indian gentleman who spoke Japanese and English on top of their native tongue fluently. I ended up making friends with the staff and some of the regulars and ended up going nearly every night. The one downside was when the bar closed they all went to the clubs until the the crack of dawn. I have a bad reputation of losing control in clubs. Meaning I’ll spend all my money on bottles, I’ll get drunk as a skunk, and plainly I’ll party as hard as I can with whoever I can till the sun comes up. Needless to say, I was very tempted to join in on their festivities, but managed to summon the resolve to say no whenever invited. Odaiba and the Little Statue of Liberty: I was told this man-made neighborhood island was a place that couldn’t be passed up. People came for the shopping and the restaurants but I came for the architecture and the views.

Sleeping Pods: I figured I’d try something new and try out staying in sleeping pods which are exactly what they sound like. Many joked that it felt like sleeping in a coffin but to me it was more like what I imagine a space pod would be. I’m mildly claustrophobic, so I initially thought I had made a huge mistake upon first seeing my “room” but after entering it ended up feeling surprisingly cozy, like a warm cave or tent almost. They come equipped with a light, AC fan, and WiFi so it was really not a terrible experience although I wouldn’t revisit the idea again as it’s not exactly easy to bring a lady back from a bar – wink wink*.

Ginza: Ginza was the neighborhood I decided to stay in. Everyone told me it was the Times Square of Tokyo. God help me I should have known it was filled with overpriced international brands and restaurants that were selling the same quality dish for twice the price you could get down the street. That being said, I loved how the streets glowed at night and I never ran out of options on where to eat.

Taco Bell, Hooters, & Red Lobster: Mock me if you will but I hadn’t come across these restaurants since leaving America well over a year ago. It was a funny flip seeing locals treat fast food quesadillas and boneless lemon pepper wings like foreign delicacies. I will however never forgive Red Lobster for discontinuing those damn delicious cheese biscuits!

World Cup: I came to Tokyo during the world cup and left right before Japan was eliminated. People in Japan are avid soccer lovers and were wearing fake Afros, foam fingers, and jerseys to sports bars all over the city rooting for their team. That being said, they aren’t hostile or excessively belligerent like other countries can be. They simple want to drink, cheer on their team, and go home which is the way it should be.

Imperial Palace: Little did I know that the only entry is through escorted tours which must be applied for well in advance and little of the actual palace is accessible to the public. Instead, most opt to admire from afar as well as go to the East Gardens which is flourished with nature and free to visit.

Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden: As I’ve said before, during the summer you won’t encounter a big variety of colors but everything is SO green!

Earthquake in Osaka: I encountered my first earthquake early in the morning in my hostel in Osaka. It woke me up but I was too naive in my half-asleep stupor that I started yelling at my bunk mate above me to shut up and quit shaking the beds. After going back asleep I awoke to news that an earthquake had struck and I had pretty much slept through it. Needless to say, I owed my bunk-mate a highball.

Luckily for me, the first week I made it to Taiwan, my new home, I encountered another earthquake at the bar. The bar was relatively full and out of nowhere the entire building shook for a few seconds. I’m the only one who jumped up and got into a fighting stance out of sheer instinct because I didn’t know what was happening. Everyone just paused until it stopped then resumed what they were doing like nothing happened. Culture shock at its finest.

To Taiwan: I nearly didn’t make it out of Japan as I was entering Taiwan on a 3-month tourist pass where travelers are sometimes required to have an exit ticket to show proof of exiting the country within the allotted 90 days. I didn’t because I was moving and upgrading my visa to an ARC working visa which is much easier to do in person than through emails, mail, and phone calls abroad. After a solid ten minutes of being polite, calmly and honestly explaining my intentions, the immigration, which consisted of four younger Japanese ladies, allowed me to enter with merely a gentle warning. Turns out a smile, a wink, and compliments can get you through a lot of pickles.

Exiting Japan: Tokyo Tokyo was my last stop for my Japan trip and I had some reservations about going. I was growing tired of big cities, debating an over-packed itinerary, and was worried about being overwhelmed by a city even bigger than my old home of Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam.

#Asia #Backpacking #Ginza #Japan #Taiwan #Tokyo #Travel Writing

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melissafinn-blog1 · 6 years

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Body Painting: Henna Tattoo

Henna tattoos are an ancient custom in India: women and ladies are frame painted before ceremonies, like marriage. They painted complex styles on their fingers and feet to represent their fertility.

Henna (or ' Simple Mehndi designs ', the Indian call) is crafted from the henna plant (Lawsonia Inermis). The leaves of the plant are dried and ground. The powder receives combined with water and you get a sort of green-brownish mud. If you placed that dust to your pores and skin, let it harden, after which peel it off, you'll be aware it has left an orange colour.

You can get your henna at an eastern save or a 'souk' in many exclusive colours. There's orange, mahogany, brown and black. The orange one is the traditional henna. The black Simple Mehndi designs henna is artificial. It consists of PDD (P-phenylenediamene) and can motive hypersensitive reactions. Even if it does not purpose irritations, it is still unhealthy. Moreover, within the past, black henna at your wedding changed into considered a disgrace.

Henna Recipe

With one percent of henna, you'll have enough to body paint the entire soccer crew. Put the henna in a bowl and lightly pour a few lemon juice and boiling water inside the bowl. Don't use an excessive amount of water, the dust has to resemble the thickness of sate sauce. The cause of the lemon juice is to help the color preserve higher on your pores and skin.

Your pores and skin must be clean, dry and not fats. If you need to coloration your nails too, they shouldn't have nail polish on them. Make certain you really need this, because your nails will be orange for about 2 months. It would not come off! When the easy mehndi designs bloodless, you may get to portray.

If you want to color your foot soles, which is a traditional custom in Marokko, make sure you have got a pillow of a few kind to keep your feet off the floor, earlier than you realize it, the henna dust is everywhere! You can practice the henna with all forms of devices, what works fine is a syringe (without the needle of route).

Symmetric and geometric shapes work great. Don't make the traces too thin, the color won't come on to your skin very well. The bigger the floor, the brighter the colour might be. Now: the traumatic element: Waiting...

Let the henna dry within the sun, the warm temperature of the solar gets your coloration deeper into your skin. You can also use a hairdryer.

If you are making a mistake inside the photo your painting: ACT QUICKLY! If you wipe it off too late, the simple henna designs will leave a pink spot.

After some time, the henna will begin to burst. Don't peel it off but! The henna has to stay on for as a minimum two hours. Then you could begin putting off the crusts of dust.

DON'T eliminate the henna with water! Just scrape the crusts of your pores and skin, you may do that with a formidable knife. Don't allow your body portray get in touch with water for the first couple of hours. Right when you scraped off all the crusts, rub your pores and skin in with olive oil. It will make the coloration brighter and help hold the color on so long as possible. Your henna painting will live on for approximately a month or so.

Also excellent to know: Swimming, frame mehndi designs simple peeling, scrubbing your again, and bodyscrub merchandise will make the henna tattoo become worse faster.

Top 12 Countries for English Teaching Opportunities Overseas

None English speakme usa has the satisfactory English education technique opportunities. The pinnacle 12 nations with high ranking English tesol certification teaching jobs offer to earn a dwelling foreign places are:

english training opp

Czech Republic Our #1 on the list of countries with excessive demand for English teaching is Czech Republic. English isn't the first rate language but a second language in Czech Republic, this creates super opportunity for licensed English instructors. At Czech Republic, English observe want is immoderate, this offers upward push to high call for for licensed instructor. The Prague Post in Czech Republic is one weekly English newspaper with feasible English hobby provide for you. You can follow to Prague Post from your own home u . S .. Entry into Czech is particularly clean for foreigners so your journey worries can be without problems taken care of.

South Korea The low price of residing in South Korea makes it smooth for foreigners to cope with a few element cash earned. You can find cheap and first-class airfare to special locations. There are right Housing, insurance payments and advantages as a way to revel in with your first rate salaries. At South Korea, you have were given the possibility to earn proper cash as an English instructor. One real English training task distant places for you in South Korea is at Dave’s ESL Cafe, they require a bachelor’s diploma and offer 1 12 months settlement jobs too.

Mexico If you like sun and comfort Mexico is probably a outstanding preference for you. The famous requirement to educate English in Mexico is not less than a university diploma plus TESOL certificates. English education jobs are difficult to find earlier than get entry to (from your house usa), but upon arrival, there are heaps of jobs. Looking for jobs in university is one desire. You should have get right of access to to great mission alternatives from online are seeking for. Check ESL Employment to get greater.

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China China has big attractive package deal for foreigners. You can get strong income, visa sponsorship, pinnacle rental and at times airfare gives. This is making china a well-favored desire to at ease remote places English education jobs. To discover all the many possibilities in china go to Journey East hyperlinks. Where you will locate offers like paid internships, jobs positions with buoyant profits and other useful facts.

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Russia English coaching Jobs abound in Russia, however the stereotypes that vodka and lawlessness is the order of the day and the manner Russian fuels her monetary systems scare away nearby English language instructors. Therefore, the Demand for English instructor is a ways more that the organized deliver. To inspire English instructor in-go along with the glide to Russia, a certified teacher can discover task placement with visa guide, airfare reimbursement and accommodations provisions. You will discover maximum of such gives from schools like English First and BKC International.

Japan English teachers are desperately wanted in Asian countries. When you do a Google search about English teaching in jobs in Asian countries, Japan tops the list. You will find plenty job options and possibilities to choose out from. Most of the technique placements are positioned in faculties and Japan has the massive variety of faculties. Recruitment in most is spherical the one year, so you can comply with each time. Successful applicants are presented visa sponsorship, with national coverage in part paid, rental and lots of more. You will find AEON the maximum vital schools. You can practice to educate at JET (Japan Exchange and Teaching) programs.

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Thailand Thailand has language middle referred to as American University Alumni (AUA), with over four hundred,000 graduates but English instructors remains scares. AUA is in look for licensed TESOL instructors all the instances. You can practice to AUA, presently the biggest and oldest language college in Thailand with first rate popularity. Italy Some advantages of staying in Italy are cheap gourmand food and less expensive travels. However, the wonderful way to go into Italy as a trainer of English language is through the internet hobby placement offerings furnished via TESOL certification faculties, this is anticipated that each English teaching certification colleges should have. Check Transitions Abroad for additonal smooth entry techniques.2

Saudi Arabia Some maximum paid English coaching jobs offers are determined within the Middle East. If you are inclined to live and artwork in Middle East, you should be organized to encompass verse cultural version to in reality respect the cultural exercise. For to be had task gives check Bayt Recruiting.

Brazil Brazil is one u . S . A . That loves internationalization and this has spread out doorways for remote places English teachers. Many local English instructors, who seeks English education abroad, lands at Brazil and discover themselves teaching in conventional and organization schools, however, to benefit VISA will quite name to your patience. Alumni School and CEL LEP are some schools to apply to for coaching assignment offers.

Taiwan Taiwan is one region in Asia with the very best elegant of living with correct climate. You can find out pinnacle paying English education method without difficulty. To avoid scams and regrets, it is terrific to apply on-line guide to look for large pay jobs.

Vietnam Vietnam hold on commencing up, however dwelling cost remains low. Therefore, it’s a regular vicinity of choice that draws ESL instructors. The majority of jobs placement you can get are in Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi Cities. These are the largest cities located in Vietnam. You can get great English interest gives in Vietnam via on line are searching for.

Hair Trouble? Use These Tips For A Change!

To nurture a great head of hair, avoid potentially dangerous products and habits, among other damaging circumstances. The more you know about your hair, the healthier it can be. Here, cute girls hairstyles you will find tips to help you care for your hair.

In order to prevent hair damage, try not to brush it when it is still wet. Wet hair is far more fragile than dry hair, making it more prone to breakage. So as to make sure little damage occurs, you need to brush your hair while it is dry, so do so before showering or after drying.

Conditioning treatments are not necessary for thin or fine hair. These can make hair appear heavy and less dense. For those with thinner hair, light hair care products leave your hair looking healthy and thick.

If your hair is dry, try this do-it-yourself conditioning treatment. Once you are finished washing your hair and have gotten out a bit of the wetness, use a conditioner then a shower cap. This heat will help the conditioner to deeply penetrate into your hair.

Look for hair products that offer sun protection to protect your hair from the sun. The sun can damage hair and decrease any benefits you will see from your hair care routine. By protecting your hair, it will be healthier and will not lighten.

If you enjoy the look of your hair after a day in the ocean, you can buy products that can give your hair the same effect. Look for sprays that are labeled as "salt spray". If you wish to generate your own solution, try mixing eight ounces of purified water with a teaspoon of salt. Add some lavender oil to make it smell good.

Give your dried out hair a treat with a simple and inexpensive deep-conditioning treatment. Dampen your hair with a spray bottle and massage in a generous portion of your everyday conditioner. Use a damp towel or plastic wrap to wrap your hair turban-style. When a half hour has elapsed, hop in the shower and shampoo your hair to get all of the conditioner out.

Chronic use of blow dryers and curling irons damages hair. You can easily safeguard the hair by using heat-safe serums or sprays. These products will protect your hair against strong heat that you apply to your hair.

Try to avoid exposing your skin, scalp and hair to the drying effects of cold weather. When it's cold outside, your hair can get dried out, which means it doesn't have all the nutrients and natural oils it needs to stay healthy. If you have to stay out in the cold for a while, ensure you are bundled.

To protect your hair sleep on a silk or satin pillow case. Traditional cotton ones may facilitate drying of the hair and leaching of key oils. Satin pillowcases protect your hair making you wake up having the same types of curls when you slept. You can also use a satin bonnet or scarf as well.

Always wait at least two days to wash your hair after coloring it. Chemical treatment of the hair damages the cuticle, which needs time to repair itself so that the dye won't wear off. If you are unsure of the types of products you need to avoid, consult a qualified hair dresser. mens long hairstyles If you can be patient, you will be treated with healthy hair.

Now that you've reached the end of this article, you realize that you must be aware of what can cause damage to your hair. Use what you have learned here and use it in your hair care plan. You will soon learn the best method for your hair.

Best Bodyweight Exercises To Do Anywhere

Bodyweight sports can be considered as one of the finest alternatives for the ones who're very an awful lot interested by fitness, but either do now not want to head or do not have an get admission to to a gym. These exercises are considered because the best, convenient, personal training in miami and the only power training to do each time, anywhere and that too without any gadget. If you are searching out simple bodyweight exercises to do at domestic or whilst touring, I've got a exceptional listing only for you!

Plyometrics

Jumping jack

Set: three Repetitions: 20

Jumping jacks are considered as one of the maximum classic sporting activities of all the time and an appropriate one for a superb heat up. This is the workout that each unmarried person desires to encompass in his or her exercise ordinary. As all, you bought to do is soar and spread your legs to the aspect, simultaneously lifting the arms above the pinnacle. As quickly as you land, spring back into the beginning position without a second put off.

Burpee

Set: 3 Repetitions: 12

Burpee is an exercise that most of the people hate and that's because they work so nicely. So, what group are you on? Love burpee group or hate burpee crew? Decide for your self in case you're now not sure but. Begin with a status role, squat down, place the hands in front of you and relax the legs at the back of you into a push-up role. Then fast bring them forward on the way to land in a squat position, jump up and repeat.

Full body workout

Inchworm

Set: 3 Repetitions: 20

In order to try this complete body workout, stand tall with the legs straight. Drop your fingers to the floor, retaining the legs instantly. Now, slowly begin to lower the frame towards the ground and then stroll forward with the help of the arms until one gets right into a push-up role. Hold the location for a second or two and then begin taking tiny steps again the usage of the fingers to get again to initial position.

Mountain climber

Set: three Repetitions: 20

Start by using getting into a push-up function. Bring the left knee forward without delay under the chest, retaining the right leg immediately. Keep your middle tight and hands firmly at the ground. Take your left leg returned and increase it at the back of the body. Now, repeat the identical step with the right leg as nicely.

Bodyweight exercise

Push up

Set: 3 Repetitions: 12

Push-united states of americaare tough; No doubt approximately it, but the reality is that no body weight workout recurring is complete without it. To get right into a traditional push-up role, vicinity your palms in front of your shoulder width aside and the legs in the back of you completely extended. Bend your elbows close to the body till your chest touches the floor after which quickly keep off up so, you can go back to the starting function.

Pull up

Set: 3 Repetitions: 12

Most humans discover pull-u.S.A.To be manner too more tough than the chin-u.S.A.Due to the reduced involvement of the biceps. Therefore, head out to a playground to do your pull-ups. Just take hold of the bar, raise your ft off the ground by way of bending the knees and pull your self all the manner up until the chin passes the bar. Lower your self back to the preliminary position and repeat.

Reverse crunch

Set: three Repetitions: 15

Lie flat at the ground with your hips flexed at 90 degrees and the knees bent. The proper manner to do it is to pull your knees closer to your head, lifting your buttocks off the ground. If performed efficaciously, this transformation of the exercise recruits extra of the lower abs and obliques than the regular crunches.

Plank

Set: three Time: 30 seconds+

A plank is not just simplest a middle exercising. It's the only, that makes every unmarried muscle in the frame work. To gain the blessings of this exercise lie down with your forearms on the floor, retaining the fingers clasped and legs extended behind you. Rise up assisting your weight at the forearms and the ft. Make positive to maintain your body in a directly line from head to toe. Hold this position for 30-60 seconds or as long as you may.

Glute bridge

Set: 3 Repetitions: 15

Lie on lower back together with your knees bent at a ninety-diploma and arms by means of your side. Use your glutes to lift your hips as excessive as viable, pushing thru your heels. Pause at the pinnacle for as long as feasible, then slowly go back to the starting role and repeat.

Static lunge

Set: three Repetitions: 15

Stand along with your fingers at the hips. Take a long stride ahead and lower the frame until the knee of the alternative leg is near the floor, but now not touching it. Hold the location for just a 2nd and then push your self returned up into the starting function. Now, repeat all the steps with the opposite leg too.

Calf increase feet

Set: three Repetitions: 15

Begin with a status position and slowly rise up onto the toes. Keep your heels off the ground at the same time as preserving the legs and the knees immediately. Hold in short, after which come back down to the standing position. To increase the problem level a piece, try standing on a step for a extra range of movement or fast bounce up and down for more repetitions.

Great Advice That You Never Knew About Fashion

You might find it difficult to manage your wardrobe sometimes. If you've ever tried to mix and match with your wardrobe, tribal tattoos you've probably seen how difficult it can be to create new and original combinations. You can get some tips that will enhance your style in this article.

Don't buy something simply because of a great price. If you don't look good in it, you'll never wear it again. If it's not something that's flattering and something you love, it's going to collect dust in your closet.

If you wear mascara, do not pump the brush in and out of the container. You will just trap air right inside of the bottle. Bacteria loves an environment like this. So, instead of pumping up and down, tilt the brush slightly, spinning it to make sure it's coated properly.

If you want to have a slimmer appearance, select dark colored clothing. The slimming effects of the dark colors will avoid accenting any major body problems. For extra comfort, your skirt's waistband should be elastic.

Bring lots of neutral colors when you go on a trip. You'll have many options available to you, while never being at risk of clashing. Pack some colored accessories to make your outfits pop.

Use up your makeup before throwing out the container. If you want to get the last little bit out of products that come in tubes, use toothpaste squeezers. Bottles can be turned upside down, or on their side, to help you extract the last bits of products. Try removing the tops as well in order to get the last bits and pieces of product. You can save some money by doing this.

Simplify the contents of your closet. Sometimes you may think that you will have more outfits to choose from if you have more clothes. When your closet is packed with choices, your fashion sense can become confused. It is time to toss or give away anything that you have not worn in the last year, as well as items that no longer fit well. You want to keep anything that you might consider wearing at some point though.

After Labor Day, it is perfectly fine to wear white! Wear what ever colors you prefer, so long as they are flattering. If white is your best color, then wear it throughout the year. No one in this day and age is going to fault you for it.

Be careful with sizing. Avoid purchasing any clothing without trying them on first. Most sizes are not based on actual measurements. They can vary a lot between brands. If you are purchasing items online, carefully scrutinize their sizing chart. Always check the return policy before you buy to see if you can send clothes back if they don't fit.

Just because a fashion trend is popular doesn't mean you have to follow it. Fashions that look perfect on models and celebrities, can be a disaster on others. Do what makes you comfortable. You are going to want to go with your gut on this. They will keep you on the right path.

Dress properly for your figure. Find the part of your body that you think is the best and dress to accentuate that. Select a skirt that shows them off and pair it with some fantastic heels. To keep it simple, use what works for you!

One great way to help your fashion wardrobe is to donate anything from your closet that you no longer wear. This is a smart idea, as you are helping less fortunate people, but you also cut the time it is going to take to select an outfit.

To help you get a better idea of fashion, you may want to consider getting a fashion consultant. This is especially true if you are busy with work and family. To make sure you look great in spite of your schedule, get someone to assist you in your fashion choices.

The importance of a good hairstyle should not be underestimated. Your hair should be an extension of you and your personality. If you are in a formal company, go for a classic look with your hair. If you're a busy mom, a style that looks great with minimal effort will be your best bet.

Wear solid colors to draw less attention to certain areas of your body. Also, these colors help to draw attention to your accessories. If you wear lighter tops with darker pants, it will cause others to look more at your face than other parts of your body.

Avoid fitted clothes if you put on a little more weight this season. Clingy, too-tight fabrics will only highlight the areas you wish to minimize. Instead, wear clothes that are a little looser.

Sometimes getting the most out of your wardrobe can seem stressful. There are many combinations, but making fresh combinations isn't always very easy. Use the advice here to make future fashion choices.

The Ins And Outs Of Arts And Crafts

Everyone can enjoy crafts. All you need is a little bit of knowledge. You are going to have the knowledge you desire after reading through these tips. You just have to decide your next craft project.

There is a variety of supplies you can use for your projects. Paper items that are usually disposable work great. Best Pallet Projects Toilet paper rolls come to mind. Magazines and wrapping paper can be reused, too. Be creative, and find new ways to use things that you'd otherwise toss in the garbage.

Don't be extra hard on kids when they are creating their works of art. You want to encourage them to be creative. Don't continually point out the wrongs that they are doing.

Consider shopping at thrift stores. Thrift shops have different types of supplies for crafts. You need to check quite frequently, because the merchandise changes so much that some days will definitely be better than others.

Look to Beadaholique to find lots of cool bead accessories for your jewelry projects. There is a large selection of beads and chains to make jewelry. Many fashions today incorporate costume jewelry into them. When you create your own, you are able to match your jewelry to your wardrobe and save some money.

If your kids are engaging in arts and crafts, remember that they do not have to follow a concrete example of what the project should look like. It's sometimes best to tell them what to make, but now how to do it. That way they can use their own creative ideas to come up with something unique. For instance, who is to say they cannot glue an eye where a nose should be? The whole point is for them to be creative.

Organize all your art and craft supplies. There are a number of ways to store supplies; find the one that is best for you. When you have organizational skills, you will find needed items more readily. Also, being organized will help you see everything you have.

Children love arts and crafts, regardless of their age. If you know a big group of kids, find a project they are sure to find enjoyable. If you can't think of anything, ask around. Someone will have a good idea.

With oil painting you can paint over mistakes or regrets. Extra coatings actually will not hurt the surface. On the contrary, it can give your painting some interesting design and depth.

Coming up with arts and crafts projects is a fun way to involve many adults and children. You can enjoy projects with a large group, no matter their age. Search online for projects just right for the ages of the group who will be doing them.

Get everything together ahead of your project. It's annoying when you must abandon your project to go buy more supplies. Create a checklist and get it all ahead of time.

You can use your arts and crafts skills to make presents instead of buying them. Personalize each to make it more special. You can save money by giving handmade items at holidays.

If you craft, use Etsy. Etsy is a website that specializes in selling your arts and crafts online. You can also view other artists work to gain inspiration for your next project. You can also sell your creations on Etsy, if you like.

If you use supplies that are costly, buy them in bulk. You will pay much more when you get them at specialty shops and big retailers. However, if you order wholesale, you can buy in larger quantities and at fantastic savings! Share your supplies with friends or relatives or sell the supplies you do not plan on using.

Give yourself enough time for any project that you take on. You should not rush your projects. You will get high quality only if you spend time and pay attention to it. You will not be satisfied with your projects if you do not spend enough time on them. Therefore, take your time and the results will show that.

Help your child make a personalized food or water dish for your pet. Start with a ceramic or plastic bowl and use paint pens or permanent markers to apply any designs that wander into your kids' heads. The dish will be unique for your pet.

Check for online deals. Many craft supplies can be found online. There are many websites to choose from. Plus, the prices online will normally be a fraction of what you'll discover in brick and mortar stores.

If you want to assemble a car model with the kids, buy a model that is right for their age range. Snap-together models are the best for younger kids; gluing and painting tiny pieces is better for middle school and high school students.

Check your community hobby shops for free literature featuring possible craft ideas. When you are in the store, keep an eye out for them. These pamphlets can be found on a hook in the crafting department. You can typically find everything you need close to these pamphlets.

If you have paint-filled brushes that appear hard to wash, soak them in some baby oil for just a couple of minutes before washing. This makes the paint come off much easier.

Now that you've come to the end of this article, think about what to make. Anything that appeals to you can be commenced. Then, get the whole family involved. You and your family will cherish both what you make and the time you spend together.

Tricks To Help You Avoid Losing Hair

Hair loss might not be one of the world's most critical problems, but it can be a supremely vexing one if you are dealing with it yourself. Hair loss can be a natural part of the aging process for many men and women, but it is not an inevitable one. Read on to find out what you can do to combat hair loss.

When it comes to hair loss it is important to know the impact that genetics has on it. Hair loss can be hereditary. As such if someone in your family true suffered from hair loss, it is more likely you will too. Be informed and you'll have a better chance against whatever happens.

Stress has also been shown to have a link to hair loss. If you want to keep that full healthy head of hair try to stay as stress free as possible. It has been shown that stress causes constriction and restriction of blood flow to the scalp, which causes hair follicles to die.

Consider having a hair transplant to correct your hair loss. This procedure is performed by a specialist, usually on men who are older than 35. Hair follicles from the back of the head are surgically removed and implanted in the bald areas. Although it is costly, hair transplants provide a permanent natural looking solution to this vexing problem.

Wash with the proper shampoo for your hair type. Determine if you have oily, dry or normal hair, or you may need shampoo that targets dandruff. Wash hair two to three times a week; more if you are in sea water or pools where chlorine is present since chlorine and salt can damage the follicle. Always rinse thoroughly to remove any shampoo residues that can clog follicles.

Consult your doctor to rule out a thyroid problem or anemia. Sometimes excessive hair loss can be due to certain conditions, such as issues with your thyroid, lack of iron, or an excessive level of male hormones. Estrogen levels can rapidly drop after menopause causing elevated male hormones in a woman's body. If your doctor determines that these issues aren't the cause, then it is time to visit the dermatologist for a detailed scalp examination.

If you use sticky hair styling products, wash them out before going to bed. Leaving waxes, clays, hair gels and any other sticky substances in your hair while you sleep, will result in clogging of the pores in your scalp. These products can contain chemicals that can interfere with new hair growth, thus slowing down new hair growth.

If you are concerned about hair loss, keep the sun from burning your scalp. Prolonged exposure to the sun is bad; this is a given. However, many people do not think about their scalp when outdoors. Even though hair is a mild buffer, it really does not do much to prevent burning due to exposure. Cover your head in the sun to prevent damage to your follicles.

Learn to deal with stress effectively. Stress alters hormone levels in your body, so the more you stress yourself, the more likely it is that you will experience hair loss. Deal with stress in a better way and you might be saving your hair. Take up meditation or other stress-reducing techniques.

If you are going to use hair styling products on your hair, make sure to take it all out of your hair at nighttime to prevent hair loss. Keeping these products in all night allow the chemicals to sink further into your scalp, which can make your hair fall out.

Consider getting your thyroid checked, if you suffer from hair loss! One of the many negative side effects of a thyroid condition is hair loss. In order to get your hair back on the right track, you have to have the thyroid problem taken care of first!

You may want to increase your Biotin intake if you want to both treat and prevent hair loss. This vitamin helps to promote more Keratin, the natural vitamin found in your hair. This vitamin helps to keep hair healthy and prevent it from falling out. Biotin is found in rice, milk, liver, and barley.

Hairstyles

If you are struggling with hair loss, it is a good idea to steer clear of tight hairstyles. The tight hairstyles include buns, ponytails, and braids. If you keep your hair in a tight style, you will experience more hair loss. Try to keep your hair as loose as possible if it must be pulled up.

By making use of advice like that presented above, you may be able to slow down, halt, or even reverse hair loss. This is a very old problem, but today it is certainly not an unsolvable one. The solution to your hair issues might be waiting right around the next corner.

Tricks To Help You With Hair Loss

There are a lot of people that have lost hair that want to learn how they can go about getting it back. Short hairstyles There are ways to go about getting some hair back but you need to educate yourself, as much as possible, in order to hope for success. This article is geared towards helping you learn what you can to help you better your life.

In order to help regrow hair that has been lost, you may want to consider purchasing an organic shampoo. Many times, hair loss is caused by the use of shampoos and other hair treatments, so it is important that you reverse this damage. Organic shampoos do that by cleansing your scalp and unclogging follicles so that hair can grow back.

You may wish to add more Vitamin C to your diet if you notice hair loss. Vitamin C will stimulate blood flow to your scalp, and help your capillaries to carry your blood to your hair follicles. The greater the blood flow is to your scalp, the faster your hair can regrow.

It is vital to instill quality nutrients into your diet on a daily basis. With each of your meals during the day, make sure that you get a healthy dose of vegetables. Vegetables such as carrots will give your hair the minerals it needs to function properly and maintain strength.

Are you losing more and more hair each day? Are you fearing this hair loss will evolve into bald spots in the near future? One thing you can do to cut back on hair loss is the be more gentle with your hair when it is wet. Refrain from brushing or combing your hair roughly while it is wet. When wet hair roots are very weak and are prone to breakage.

If you have long hair that you like to pull back in a ponytail, avoid the use of rubber bands or elastics that drag on the hair and pull it out. Instead, use soft fabric "scrunchies" where the elastic is covered, kept safely away from the hair shaft and won't tug on the hair.

Try to avoid the sun as much as possible if you want to prevent hair loss. Too much exposure to the sun causes hair to dry out, which in turn, makes it fall out. If you are going to be in the sun for a long period of time, wear a loose fitting hat.

Volume-boosting shampoo can be your best friend if you're trying to give your head of hair a healthy boost. Some hair loss is fixed via cosmetic solutions, and working with a volume-boosting shampoo can be a fantastic way to make your head of hair look full, rich and illustrious even if it isn't.

Stress is disputed depending on who you talk to, but many people agree that excess stress levels can lead to hair loss. At the very least, having increased levels of stress will work to counteract any products you're taking to assist in hair growth. Make sure you work on your stress if you want to grow your hair back.

Everybody sheds a few hairs every day. But if you are noticing a few extra hairs in your brush these days, you may be damaging your hair during your normal daily routine. Excessive hair-drying, straightening, and brushing can cause more hair to fall out than is normal. Try using the cooler settings on dryers and other appliances and use a gentle brush and don't brush too hard.

Try a product containing minoxidil if you are suffering from hair loss. Shampoos or hair treatments with this drug may be effective against hair loss in certain people. You will have to keep using it to see if it helps your condition in the long-term. The level of effectiveness can vary among different people, so monitor how you respond to it.

Hairstyles

Hopefully, with the information you learned about hair loss and how to go about getting it back you should start to feel more positive. When it comes to hair loss, remember that new information is always coming out so make sure that you continuously seek new sources of knowledge that can benefit you. If you keep on educating yourself and applying all that you learn, then you should see results before you know it.

Suggestions For Choosing A Date To Go To A Wedding

Congratulations on your engagement! As excited as you are for the upcoming nuptuals, you may also be very intimidated by the planning process. There is so much to decide and do. Mehandi Designs This article will give you tips on how you can get through the planning process and the big day itself and still have a great time.

Consider making your own bouquet for your wedding. You can pick up flowers at grocery stores for a song and then you can customize your own floral arrangement to match your dress and decor. Look online for instructions on putting a ribbon on the bottom for you to hold onto.

When having an outdoor wedding, be sure to plan for bugs. Bugs are everywhere outside and could ruin a wedding ceremony. If you are in an area that has a high number of bugs, have citronella candles or bug zappers to prevent the bugs from bothering your guests and ruining your wedding.

When you are choosing a makeup artist for your ceremony, always look at samples of their previous work. Are you comfortable with the makeup they've done before? Make sure that the style matches your vision. You don't want to wait till the last minute only to find out that you are not pleased with the makeup job they will be doing.

If you're going to photograph a wedding, change up your style a few times. Look for angles you might not have shot from before to give the wedding album something unique and different to set it apart from the rest. Go up high or down load, shoot wide angles and tight.

If you are planning a wedding, it may benefit you to plan it in an off month. Two of the cheapest months to get married in are October and November. Marriages like anything else are a business. The demand for weddings in these months is very low, so to try to generate higher demand prices are lower.

Consider creating a gift registry at your favorite store when you are getting married. Many time, guests will buy the couple gifts that they never or rarely use. By creating a gift registry, your guests can get you and your spouse gifts that you personally want and will actually get use out of.

Here's a fun tip - practice your wedding kiss! You want to make it sincere and not sexy, not too short but not too long. NO TONGUE! Practice how you'll hold your partner's face, if you choose to, or where your hands will be otherwise. You only get one shot, so you'll need LOTS of practice beforehand!

As you are planning your wedding and stressing about the cost and details, take some time to talk to some of your recently-married friends, both female and male, to help put things in perspective. Ask what the best and worst aspect of the day was for them, what they wished they had invested more time and money in and what, in retrospect, was a waste of effort. If you can get some feedback from those who have been through it before you, you can save a lot of heartache freaking out about the color of the tissue insert in your invitations and deal with what really matters.

To avoid the pitfalls of currency exchange for your guests, find out where they have to go to get local funds before they arrive. Take everyone as a group to the location where you can exchange your money and call ahead to ask if they can accommodate everyone at the same time, maybe in a room outside the main area, so they don't have to wait in line.

Make sure you book a professional wedding photographer. Your wedding day is probably a day you will want to remember for the rest of your life. By hiring a professional photographer for the day, you can make sure that you get some tangible evidence of the day that you can keep for the rest of your life.

If you are including a wedding speech, make sure you write it out and practice before the wedding. If you are unprepared for the speech, this can become very obvious very quickly, and leave you feeling humiliated in front of the other guests.

Be mindful of what guest may want to do if you've having a destination wedding. You do not want to give your guests extra anxiety. Send out invitation cards well ahead of time to accommodate them.

Having the perfect wedding doesn't have to be a dream. Even on a limited budget, there are a lot of things you can do to get the most for your money. Use the ideas that were given to you in this article to have a beautiful wedding and to enjoy the big day.

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sobi-tif · 7 years

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A new story in Bangkok - Aug & Sep 2017

[AUG]

About a month starting working in Rhenus. Feeling good and happy at least with my job and colleagues.. Also, close to a month moving to Bangkok. Few days ago, Facebook reminded me of my first abroad trip to Bangkok 2013. It has been four years from that day, and coincidentally, the city I temporarirly live now is also Bangkok :).

For me, this city is much more lively, cheaper and more worth to live than Singapore. Perhaps being born and grew up in a messy country as Vietnam nurtures me an invisible love to ‘less well-organized’ country as Thailand. Another reason is my nature instinct – always want and be ready to be with the nature for upcoming short or long trips across the nation.

----

/the best Thai food/

And Graham came!! At the beginning of August for 10 days!

The second time being together in Bangkok, but staying in a different condition. This time we can be lazy as long as we want in our little nest, I can take Chocopie around as ‘a local’ (somehow). We tried Thai food, Ramen, W district, Vietnamese, Indian food, and other restaurants in neighbours. Weekend is a simple happiness being together in the cinema, supermarket (someone needs to buy his cheese and crackets haha), Jenny massage and long late sleeps.

/Kanchanaburi trip/

We also decided to escape the city by a short trip to Kanchanaburi to see the famous bridge. Without any meticulous details, we just took public transportation, crossed the river by a local boat, reached the train station and jumped into the slow-speed train for 3 hours. It was raining heavily outside during the ride. Luckily, the night we stayed in a lovely bungalow there, the weather was nice for our amazing dinner in Blue Rice restaurant at the other side of the river.

The second day, we rented a scooter to visit the museum, death railway and drove around the city.

Left the city early but took the bus back BK was such a bad idea. We were stuck to the traffic with hungry monsters. Right after nearly 5 hours bus, we had the best dinner in hunger with pork belly rice!!! That night, after a Thai massage, we slept like babes side by side.

/pic captured at Kanchanaburi river/

---

I was back to work, Graham became my sugar mama, cooked me a delicious spagetti dinner. We watched ‘Baby driver’ together and slept early like an old couple.

We did celebrate our 14th month anniversary together this time. Hony secrectly bought me a necklace with a small lovely mountain. This is one of the best gift I have ever had <3.

For Graham’s early birthday, we cooked salmon dishes for us and spend a whole day off with my darlin. Before his flight, we went out for a movie ‘The dark tower’, ate Bad burgers and ice cream – cake batter – Graham’s favourite!

Took my darlin t the airport. The first time, I did not cry :). See you soon my darlin!

----

My life continues day by day with work at the weekdays and some relaxing activites at the weekend. Went out to shop gifts for my babes at home, carried few essential stuff for home decoration.. Running to the lake, reading book before going to sleep and making my own breakfast. A simple, healthy and fullfied life.

My friends crossing Bangkok also gave me some greetings. I met up Gem for a dinner, talking about Singapore and work. My other sister from Vietnam – cNa stayed with me few days at the weekend when she had a business trip here. We were such a good shipping partners. I took her around Terminal 21, we also went to Chocolate bar, Chaktuchak market, big C, Thai massage. On Sunday, we had a simple breakfast wih instant noodles and saw her left :).

[SEP]

Such a busy and peaceful month.

I booked a tour to Floating market for a half day trip by myself, not too bad to get a chance talking to new people. Having a dinner with Tram tit – little sister from university in Vietnam when she had business trip here and meeting for a quick breakfast with Ms Diem – my ex boss and Miss Vietnam – one of the pretty successful ladies I admire a lot. Then, almost a normal month with office and personal life, no more visitors until the end of month when Sandra and Lisa from Singapore arrived BK.

At the same time, I run my schedule for 2 day workshops in the company with AOT team. We went out in W district in the first night, then Vietnamese restaurant the last night. The rainy season in BK was turning to be annoying while going out with my colleagues or my friends.

With Sandra and Lisa, we had funny days together – out for breakfast, masage, day trip to riverside and temples. A rooftop bar ended our day before Onsen and supper with Pad thai. On Sunday, we had a brunch together in Terminal 21 before I saw them off on the taxi. Then, a half day date with Suri for a drink and a movie in Siam. Unfortunetaly, I was heavily sick by a cough for about a week and it became worse, feeling my body so exhausted as well.

I came back home on that Sunday evening with a strong headache and tireness. However, when me friends left, somehow a silent house made me blue a bit :)..

[SICKNESS]

I think it has been such a long long time for me to get sick again, I meant seriously sick and feel empty inside my mind and my body (the fact that I had to cook porridge by myself – so weird for a girl does not like rice-relating food). From the day I went abroad in 2014, I had a-week sickness as a result of wisdom tooth removes in 2015, in Germany. 2016 was also an unforgottable year in Taiwan with 10 days staying at home for a swelling legs – a medium sprain!! And 2017, a medium cough with disappear voice in Singapore and a heavy cough in Bangkok. Well, not too bad at all but still, no ideas why people need to be sick once in a while haha.

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sowhatisthisfor · 5 years

Text

Movies 2019

List of films I watched in 2019 from best to worst.

Updated soon after I’ve seen them.

A Ghost Story [David Lowery, 2017, United States] No film has made me feel this melancholic ever. This is a film so profound, it examines existence in the simplest yet most esoteric way possible. It surely goes straight to the top of my all-time favourite list. 10/10

Portrait of a Lady on Fire [Celine Sciamma, 2019, France] a film of magnificent visuals, intoxicating sound design, and a screenplay of jawdropping surprises -- definitely on top of my 2019 movie list. 10/10

The Heiresses [Marcelo Martinessi, 2019, Paraguay] compellingly melancholic in its silence and uncertainty. It's a blossoming, a self-discovery, a thorny journey towards maturity. 10/10

Parasite [Bong Joon-ho, 2019, South Korea] You can watch it in many different ways, perspective, and angle, and everything is just as clever. 10/10

Kanarie [Christiaan Olwagen, 2018, South Africa] Has one of the most poignant and critically-observed approach to self-awareness and acceptance. 10/10

Shéhérazade [Jean-Bernard Marlin, 2018, France] a gritty narrative of an unusual young love with such depressing yet charming emotional pull. 10/10

Capernaum [Nadine Labaki, 2018, Lebanon] it’s not just about a boy in an unjust world, it is more about an implausibly unjust world where everyone is a victim and no one is an actual villain. 10/10

John Denver Trending [Arden Rod Condez, 2019, Philippines] Aside from its central theme of mental health awareness, it also has an excellent juxtaposition of the culture of bullying and cyberbullying and its correlation with how the nature of superstitions and religions shapes a country’s humanity. 10/10

The Third Wife [Ash Mayfair, 2019, Vietnam] possibly has one of the best visual stories this year with a contrast of hauntingly sensual tension and dreamlike composition, it’s strangely beautiful. 10/10

Atlantique [Mati Diop, 2019, Senegal] Such a bewitching tale of love, lost, and longing. A film told with such raw elegance, it’s enchanting. 10/10

Metamorphosis [JE Tiglao, 2019, Philippines] Not your ordinary coming-of-age movie. This one comes with such importance and inclusivity, everyone needs to see. 10/10

The Favourite [Yorgos Lanthimos, 2019, Greece, Ireland, United Kingdom, United States] a dark period comedy oddly fused with sophisticated costume and production design for a strange yet striking visual treat. 10/10

Edward [Thop Nazareno, 2019, Philippines] I am so amazed at how this film shows struggles after struggles after struggles without spoonfeeding emotions. It’s a movie so simple yet so despairing. Everything of it is in the right place, it’s sublime. 10/10

I Lost My Body [Jeremy Clapin, 2019, France] gives an absolute strange reason to cry, it's extraordinarily cathartic. 10/10

Marriage Story [Noah Baumbach, 2019, United States] My favourite performance of the year belong to these two leads whose portrayal of lovers going through divorce is rock solid heartbreaking. 10/10

Ulan [Irene Villamor, 2019, Philippines] Is a fuck you to societal norms, so profound, it is a love story that involves only one. 10/10

Avengers: Endgame [Russo brothers, 2019, United States] Raises the bar so high, is probably the most entertaining superhero movie to date. 10/10

The Wife [Bjorn Runge, 2018, Belgium] Glenn Close is mesmerizing. There is no need to say more. 10/10

Heneral Luna [Jerrold Tarog, 2015, Philippines] Jerrold Tarog is as brave as General Luna. He clearly is the Luna of film making. 9.5/10

Infinity War

Incendies [Dennis Villanueve, 2011, Canada] With such expert direction, it's elementally strong in more aspect than one. 9.5/10

Us [Jordan Peele, 2019, United States] It is as if every element in this film is smartly placed there to serve a deeper purpose, it's a movie in search of greater meaning. 9.5/10

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

BuyBust [Erik Matti, 2018, Philippines] a spectacular display of astounding filmmaking where every element is designed and choreographed fittingly well. Entertaining yet harrowing from start to finish, it’s the kind of film that stays. It gets better on second watch. 9.5/10

The White Helmets [Orlando Von Eisiedel, 2016, United Kingdom, Syria] A heartrending glimpse at the life of true heroes in violence-stricken Syria. 9/10

PK [Rajkumar Hirani, 2014, India] a courageous film that wittingly pokes fun of religious beliefs. 9/10

Mamu and a Mother Too [Rod Singh, 2018, Philippines] Why it scared me, I don’t know. It could be because it’s unpredictable, it’s non-cliche, and it’s gentle in ways you don’t expect. I love it. 9/10

Liway [Kip Oebanda, 2018, Philippines] Is at most powerful when it exposes the correlation of facts and fiction. Doesn’t hit you right away but when it does, it hits hard. It hits still. 9/10

Paris is Burning [Jennie Livingston, 1991, United States] is a little documentary that stays. 9/10

Paglisan [Carl Papa, 2018, Philippines] Heartbreaking. It is a test of sympathy. 9/10

Widows [Steve McQueen, 2018, United States] How can something so traditionally formal feel so modern at the same time? Steve McQueen knows. 9/10

Eerie [Mikhail Red, 2018, Philippines] More than its excellent scare tactics, what I love about it most is its clever storytelling and use of metaphors. 9/10

La Luciernaga (The Firefly) [Ana Maria Hermida, 2015, Colombia] is about finding love in grief, beauty in ugly. And though there are some directorial decisions I don’t necessarily agree with, the chemistry its leads bring onscreen is too tangible for me to care about its flaws. 9/10

First Reformed [Paul Schrader, 2019, United States] an astounding character study that questions the politics of religion. 9/10

Bad Bananas sa Puting Tabing

Fuccbois [Eduardo Roy Jr, 2019, Philippines] Amazing storytelling and editing of a narrative so strange yet so eclectic. 8.5/10

Margarita with a Straw [Nilesh Maniyar, Shonali Bose, India, 2016] An unusual take on sexual exploration and self discovery. It somehow lost its focus towards the end but still a delightful watch overall. 8.5/10

Berlin Calling [Hannes Stohr, 2008, Germany] a movie that lives in the present paced in such rhythmic beat, it is dazzling from start to end. 8.5/10

Kuwaresma [Erik Matti, 2019, Philippines] Is a multilayer of social commentaries which were good before they too contradict themselves. 8.5/10

Brother of the Year [Witthaya Thongyooyong, 2018, Thailand] For all its simplicity and bleak storyline, it still offers an abundance of emotion and a sense of realism. 8/10

Ek Ladki Ko Dekha To Aisa Laga [Shelly Dhar, 2019, India] Not a first in world cinema, but is still a groundbreaking moviemaking in the context of India. 8/10

If Beale Street Could Talk [Barry Jenkins, 2019, United States] The kind that even though you are hopeful, you know from the start that it's going to be tough. 8/10

Sovdargari (The Trader) [Tamta Gabrichidze, 2018, Georgia] Emotionally intense depiction of rural poverty. 7.5/10

The Two Popes [Fernando Mereilles, 2019, UK, US, Italy, Argentina] Features two outstanding performances that redeemed it from all its dragging moments. 7.5/10

Black Panther [Ryan Coogler, 2018, United States] Oozing with unusual but likable characters. 7.5/10

A Land Imagined [Chris Yeo, 2018, Singapore, France, Netherlands] An unsettling noir mystery that questions people's notion of truth.

My Days of Mercy [Tali Shalom Ezer, 2019, United States] There is a bewitching chemistry between the two leads despite the coldness of it all. 7.5/10

Contratiempo (The Invisible Guest) [Oriol Paulo, 2017, Spain] offers an outstanding and enjoyable thrilling ride. 7.5/10

Giant Little Ones [Keith Berhman, 2019, United States] An honest road to knowing your own self in the eyes of a boy transitioning to adolescence. 7.5/10

Never Not Love You [Antoinette Jadaone, 2018, Philippines] Beautifully and realistically written. It’s just really hard for me to like Reid’s character. 7.5/10

Kaptn Oskar [Tom Lass, 2013, Germany] Only basic virtue - it is a beautiful film. Not only for its comfort. But for the old poetry of dust emotions. 7.5/10

Furie [Le Van Kiet, 2019, Vietnam] With great performance and thrilling choreography, Furie is one of the best action films of 2019. 7.5/10

The Awakening of Motti Wolkenbrunch [Michael Steiner, 2019, Switzerland, Germany] A funny glimpse at a life of an Orthodox Jewish man with a chemistry that gives you a hopeful ending. 7.5/10

Gerald's Game [Mike Flanagan, 2017, United States] Meticulously-directed, it is an outstanding adaptation of Stephen King's novel. 7.5/10

UnTrue [Sigrid Andrea Bernardo, 2019, Philippines] to put it simply, UnTrue is a thrilling rollercoaster ride. 7/10

Pailalim [Daniel Palacio, 2017, Philippines]

Dear Ex [Chih-Yen Hsu, 2018, Taiwan] Features odd but genuine kind of love. It is funny, heartfelt, and charming all at the same time. 7/10

First They Killed my Father [Angelina Jolie, 2017, United States, Cambodia] sincerely and sensitively paints a portrait of a country's tragic history. 7/10

4 Latas [Gerardo Olivares, 2019, Spain] For all its nonsense, I enjoyed it. 7/10

Green Book [Peter Farrelly, 2018, United States] Flawed yet entertaining -- not sure if it's good or bad though. 6.5/10

Pihu [Kapri Vinod, 2018, India] Heartbreaking torture. Although I feel like it could have ended better. 6.5/10

Lionheart [Genevieve Nnaji, 2018, Nigeria] Although everything here felt familiar, there's charm that makes this film an enjoyable one. 6.5/10

Unbreakable

Triple Frontier [JC Chandor, 2019, United States] I have a problem with its exploitation of violence. I have a bigger problem for liking it. 6.5/10

28 Weeks Later

Iska [Theodore Boborol, 2019, Philippines] I find a lot of things problematic and some choices uncharacteristic but it is worth a watch. 7/10

Searching

Period. End of Sentence

Battle

Oversized Cops

Floating [Julia Kaiser, 2015, Germany]

The Bar

Ang Babae sa Septic Tank 3

Mga Mister ni Rosario [Alpha Habon, 2018, Philippines]

Misteryo dela Noche

Of Love and Other Demons

Tanabata’s Wife

26 Years [Geun Hyeon-Jo, 2012, South Korea] Yet another thrilling revenge story from the country who does it best. 7/10

Mga Batang Poz

Aurora

Becks

Mowgli: Legends of the Jungle

Cargo

Neomanila

47 Metres Down

The Feels

Dead Kids [Mikhail Red, 2019, Philippines] Is probably my least favourite Mikhail Red movie. Overrated in every sense. 7/10

Fyre: The Greatest Party that Never Happened

Svaha: The Sixth Finger

Flavors of Youth

Miss Granny

Unicorn Store

Captain Marvel

Polar

Black Mirror: Bandersnatch [David Slade, 2018, Untied States] Liking a film is always about the experience and while Bandersnatch offers another take on the medium, it is somewhat a less impactful experience as expected. 7/10

Open [Andoy Ranay, 2019, Philippines]

Psychokinesis [Yeon Sang-ho, 2018, South Korea] Nothing much to offer but a good Sunday watch with the family. 6.5/10

Elise [John Ferrer, 2019, Philippines] I’m sorry, I don’t understand the hype. 6/10 fpihu

Novitiate

A Tiger in Winter

Suddenly 20

Eli [Ciaran Foy, 2019, United States]

Remastered: Devil at the Crossroads’

Alipato: Ka Luis Taruc Story

The Tenants Downstairs

Hotel Mumbai

Muerte en Buenos Aires

How to Get Over a Break Up

Buried

Never Tear Us Apart

A Simple Favor

To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before

Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral

Rainbow’s Sunset

Malamaya

Boy Erased

Still Human

Coach Carter

The Perfect Date

In the Tall Grass [Vincenzo Natali, 2019, United States] Fun at first until it gets dragging. Really dragging. 5/10

Bohemian Rhapsody

Metro Manila [Sean Ellis, 2014, United Kingdom] I know it's not right to say I've seen better, but yes, I've seen better. 6.5/10

Mr and Mrs Cruz

Pet Semetary

When Angels Sleep

Belle Douleur

Children of the River

Maria

The First Purge

Liberated: New Sexual Revolution

Toc Toc

Four Minutes

Mama

7 [Nizar Shafi, 2019, India]

Vine Country

Isn't it Romantic?

The Nun

Pandanggo sa Hukay

The Silence

KL Zombi [MJ Woo, 2013, Malaysia] A "horror" for a good laugh.

An1 (The Harvest)

Girls With Balls [Olivier Afonso, 2019, France] I don't have the balls to sit through this movie. 2/10

The Roommate [Christian Christeansen, 2011, United States] BLAH 1/10

Tabon [Xian Lim, 2019, Philippines] is one of the worst movies of the year. Nuf said. 0/10

#movies #cinema #film #films

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