Fenghuang, P.R.C. (April 2009)

Photo by Peter Rimar.

Hatred only breeds more hatred.

North Carolina pastor calls for death of gays, lesbians by trapping them inside electric fence? Read More...



First they came for the communists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.

~ Pastor Martin Niemöller

“When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Sinclair Lewis

That was then, this is now?

When my wife and I first moved to Beijing, I made the mistake of renting an apartment too close to Tiananmen Square. One evening after dinner, we sat down and to watch the nightly news on CCTV 9. A story came on asking various "random" people, "what are the 10 things you LOVE about China?"

My wife then said, "I can tell you 10 things I hate about China." About 3 or 4 seconds later, the electricty to our apartment was completely cut off. Looking out the window, EVERY other apartment in the 200 unit complex still had power.

Sitting together in the dark, I looked at my wife and said,
"Welcome to China!"

Thankfully, our spying hosts turned the power back on after about five minutes. From that moment on, every time something strange or unusual happened in our lives, this blogger just repeated the phrase,
"Welcome to China!"

Click on image to open in a new window.

The above photograph shows the last paragraphs of a five page business report written by Thomas A. Worrall (Peter's Step-Great Grandfather) from the MacAndrews & Forbes Company office in Shanghai, China on October 23rd, 1926. This original report was mailed from Shanghai to the company's treasurer (Mr. F.J. Maginniss) in New York City.
"Gate of Heavenly Peace"
Original photograph taken by Thomas A. Worrall
(Peter's Step- Great Grandfather)
Circa October 1926
Tiananmen, Beijing (Peking), China

Blind Chinese activist makes Hollywood escape?
Read More...

Lessons Learned from 9-11?

Traveling strangers, locked together inside a pressurized cabin at 33,000ft, will collectively take action to stop any and all acts of lunacy or terrorism on an airplane. The days of folks passively sitting back and doing nothing are officially over. Read More...

Street Scene in Fenghuang, China (April 2009)

...wanderlust...

"The mother art is architecture. Without an architecture of our own we have no soul of our own civilization." ~ Frank Lloyd Wright

Kings Cross Train Station, London, England (March 2012).
Photo by Peter Rimar.

Does anybody know the phone numbers to Rush Limbaugh's pharmacists?

I had a sudden urge to wear a polyester, wild print disco shirt with bell bottom pants. Thankfully, it passed rather quickly...

Mr. Lee singing "Man in the Mirror"

July 2009

Seoul, R.O.K.

"People who don't travel cannot have a global view, all they see is what's in front of them. Those people cannot accept new things because all they know is where they live." ~ Martin Yan

Stonehenge, England (March 2012)

Our Digital Age?

It's hard to imagine a world without the internet, Facebook, Twitter, international air travel, talk radio, 24/7 television news channels, digital cameras, voice activated software, cell phones and GPS...

The Library of Congress recently published a digital collection of images from one of the early pioneers of photography. Between 1905 and 1915, Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii traveled the far reaches of the Russian Empire on behalf of Tsar Nicholas II. His task was to visually document a country undergoing a rapid transformation. Read More...

After the Bolshevik Revolution, the photographer left Russia and eventually settled in Paris. In 1948, the Library of Congress purchased his work from his heirs. Because of the unique techniques he developed and used to photograph and then process glass plate negatives (digichromatography), up until now, these images could only be viewed within the confines of the Library itself. With advances in digital photography, it's now possible to take a glimpse of a world soon to be swept away by war, revolution and industrialization. View Collection Here...

Rights and Restrictions Information

"Travel teaches toleration." ~ Benjamin Disraeli

Buddhist Temple, Seoul, R.O.K. (July 2009)

Operation Restore Hope

American Soldier, Mogadishu, Somalia (January 1994)
Photo by Peter Rimar

Dancing with Turks?

...wanderlust...

"Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends."
~ Maya Angelou

Photos by Peter Rimar.

"Taking time to sit back and watch and think about what you've seen is important. Traveling did a great deal to me. I found that when I travel and just sit in the corner and watch, a million ideas come to me."
~ Lionel Richie

"If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?"
~ John Wooden

Big Ben at Sunset, London, England

"Travel teaches toleration."
~ Benjamin Disraeli

Homeless in China?

It happened.

For six hours, my wife and I were homeless in China .

In September 2008), I accepted a teaching positive at a university in the city of Changsha. So, after giving our landlord the keys to our apartment in Shenzhen, we boarded a train and headed northwest to the capital of Hunan Province.

The moment we arrived, I knew we were in deep, deep, deep trouble...



First, our sponsor told us their may be a slight problem getting our work visa paperwork processed (i.e. green card). However, I could teach until they figured out what to do (i.e. against Chinese Law).

I said,
"O.K"
"No problem."
"Tomorrow's a new day."
"Let's go see the campus and the apartment."

To make a long story short, when our sponsor showed us the apartment, my wife nearly died. It was bad. Let's put it this way, compared to this University apartment, my tents in Mogadishu and Baghdad were the Hilton.

Basically, this alcoholic BRIT had lived in this apartment for over a year and had never cleaned it. Heck, according to my sponsor, he barely made it to class. Anyhow, after dragging my wife around China, there wasn't a prays chance in hell we'd live in that apartment.

So, we said our goodbyes and walked away from the school...

At that moment, as we were trying to wave down a taxi, we were indeed homeless.

Plan B

Before leaving Shenzhen, I had received an offer from another school in another city. After more than a dozen phone calls, we decided to board another train and head north.

Anybody that knows anything about traveling in China, it's nearly impossible to get train tickets on the same day you want to travel.

Fast Forward
So, after standing in line for 3 hours with five thousand other people wanting to leave Changsha, I finally made it to the ticket window:

"Mayo." (the Chinese word for NO)
 Blah. Blah. Blah.
 "Mayo."
 OMFG!
 "Mayo!"

At that moment, ALL the train tickets out of Changsha were sold out for the next ten days. Getting back on the phone with a different head hunter in Shanghai, she says to me, "there's a high school in Changsha that has an opening."

"You're telling me there's a school in this city? The city I'm standing in right now? Making twice the money for half the hours?" "In Changsha?" "This city?"

"Yes."
 "Have the school pick us up right now!"

I know it sounds crazy, but by allowing ourselves to become homeless, I ended up teaching at one of the top ten high schools in China.

By allowing ourselves to become homeless,
we received our Green Cards and a nice apartment.
And yes, making twice the money working half the hours.

True Story.

...perspective...

Short video of Electric Powered Double-Decker Buses, Hong Kong, S.A.R. (July 2009).
Photo of student produced motivational blackboard in Peter's classroom (February 2009).

"Never go on trips with anyone you do not love."
~ Ernest Hemingway

Blogger's view from a sleeper car window on a Chinese Train

between Beijing and Shenzhen (June 2008).