Vietnam - I find it to be a great place but it depends very much on what sort of 'traveller' you are. Food is very good and cheap, as is accomodation etc., but the best planned holiday can go wrong very easily. As with other Asian countries, 'yes' doesn't always mean 'yes' , and you can be left with a product/service that is far from what you thought you may be getting. Air travel between cities is fine but bus/train can be daunting if you don't like rough roads or you worry about cleanliness. Some people also find the constant requests from street vendors a bit off-putting at times. Tourism found its way to VN in a bit of a hurry and everyone connected with it is not necessarily all that professional. I think tourism is (to a degree) looked at more as an opportunity to make money than as an industry. Laos is like VN was some time ago - little less rushed - if you like out of the way places. Australian beaches are better. It's an interesting place with an interesting history and well worth a visit - if it's your type of thing. Good shopping.
Posts by Roski
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45If you could travel anywhere in the world.
by reneeisorym inmy husband and i decided to go somewhere next year -- anywhere in the world.
consider we live in america and have never been ouside of america.
(well -- jamaca/caimen islands but that doesn't really count!
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55
Australian Government Porn Filter To Slow Down the Internet
by What-A-Coincidence inhttp://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22989008-661,00.html.
australians will be forced to contact their internet service provider to avoid having their access to the web restricted.. .
the restrictions are planned by the federal government to give greater protection to children from online pornography and violent websites.. .
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Roski
I don't know about all countries, but where I live porn is sent via the cell phone. This now includes visual content along with text and voice-mail. This goes out to all/any users, including children.
There are an increasing number of reports of teenage girls being abducted and kept in hotel rooms for days/weeks on end and sold for sex. In terms of underage prostitution (the other kind has always been freely available although illegal), I see a definite correlation between technology, inadequate laws to protect the users and an illegal and predatory sex industry that continues to gain strength. This country is rapidly becoming a pedophile's paradise.
While government restrictions may not be palatable to many people, I wonder if they have seen the consequences of having no restrictions, allowing the 'sex sellers' to go about business unrestricted. The wide and rapid expansion of the internet here, originally allowed easy and virtually unrestricted acces to any online content. Security was not a major issue in the rush to be 'wired'. Being home-grown technology it was considered 'all good' and taken on board hook, line and sinker. One sees young children accessing porn sites - accidentally or not, in schools and home.
The worrying issue in all of this activity is that a sense of repsonsibility by adults seems to have not developed at the same pace. An attitude of "Well it's there (it's progress) and everyone sees/uses it so it must be OK" definitely prevails. Unless I have totally lost touch with the way Western kids think, I find these children to be very well informed on sexual matters and even dismissive of 'adult' behaviour (not all underage prostitution is involuntary). I do wonder how/if they will form healthy relationships in adulthood.
I realize the above touches on a number of issues that require deeper analysis, but having been in the position of seeing such rapid change in technology/attitude/behaviour, I'm not at all sure reliance on adult/parent responisbility is enough to protect children.
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30
Aust= Missionary Quits!! Watchtower wants his "English Teacher" wages???
by Witness 007 ina brother from the 1st ministerial training school in australia, quit his missionary assignment in asia.
the society had to send him in as an english teacher otherwise missionaries are not given visa's.
so on assignment he had to teach english part-time for a small wage.
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Roski
Yeah - I understand about g-jobbing (and the people that did it) - but this was a little different in that they were sent in (ie got their visas) as being English teachers. It wasn't the money issue (I never knew about that) it was the fact that they went in by dishonest means. However, guess that is probably par for the course. No different to the Koreans that got caught in Afganistan then said they were medical volunteers - and many others. The org is no different.
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30
Aust= Missionary Quits!! Watchtower wants his "English Teacher" wages???
by Witness 007 ina brother from the 1st ministerial training school in australia, quit his missionary assignment in asia.
the society had to send him in as an english teacher otherwise missionaries are not given visa's.
so on assignment he had to teach english part-time for a small wage.
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Roski
....just to add - have been ripped off in a similar fashion myself, so am not surprised.
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30
Aust= Missionary Quits!! Watchtower wants his "English Teacher" wages???
by Witness 007 ina brother from the 1st ministerial training school in australia, quit his missionary assignment in asia.
the society had to send him in as an english teacher otherwise missionaries are not given visa's.
so on assignment he had to teach english part-time for a small wage.
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Roski
Just wondering if the country was Laos? If so, it didn't sit well with me at the time that this happended - but in my ignorance put it down to "theocratic strategy". Perhaps it has been an ongoing strategy though....
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JW's + military service in Sth Korea
by Roski inthey have been trying for this for a while.
(scroll down).
http://rokdrop.com.
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Roski
They have been trying for this for a while. (scroll down)
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37
anyone writing about Dave Madzay obviously never new him!!!!!!!!!!!!
by donna4174 ini am writing because i am tired of people talking about rumours that they heard about dave madzay,he was the kindest , most intelligent man i ever new, yes he was df but only jehovah can judge him for things he did, no one else.he was an elder very high up in bethel who gave the most wonderful talks, helped many people,brought a lot of people into the truth and yet when he died not one jw attended his funeral.
how sad that a man who was so high up in bethel could be treated like this...........i was brought up in the truth until i was 15 , and turned away because of how dave was treated, even though dave had jehovah in his heart right up until his last breath and did everything he could do to be reinstated but sadly never was.........................i know i knew him
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Roski
....slacko Aussies
Donna -
I only knew him during the early days and always liked him and his wife. Some of my family were more closely connected during the time he 'fell from grace', and if any of the stories are to be believed, I guess one has to understand that in his position his behaviour must attract negative attention and judgement. After all - that is what the organization encourages. As a 15 year old you probably had a different perspective than those others that acted in a judgemental manner. He was an adult and he knew the organization well. He also would have known the consequence of his actions. No one should judge him - so perhaps just let him RIP.
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67
Japan closes 638 Congregations!!!!! Why???
by Witness 007 injapan since the 1970''s has had amazing publisher increases!
every year the number of witnesses shot up by many thousands.
this peaked in 1998, since then the number of witnesses and congregations has continued to drop!.
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Roski
Even though Japan and Sth Korea are all wired up, the English language internet is barely a blimp on their screen. They have more than enough sites/information of their own to bother trying to fathom the English sites - so any impact from the internet will depend on what is available in their own language. Other issues that run counter to JW's are: the economy, a competative education system ( and a need for formal education to get a well paying job), a huge entertainment industry (and a fine line between entertainment and 'real' life) - linked to that are significant changes in sexual behaviour, a younger generation that are quite indulged and often tend to lack self discipline/direction (but will still have an education because it is very difficult to fail - usually), lack of parental supervision for kids from a relatively young age (always at some school or other and in the company of friends - can't avoid worldy association), consumer behaviour, acting as a group - be it joining or leaving. Fads are big in Asia - they come and go quite quickly.
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50
LIFE IS GOOD!
by Dansk inwhat the heck.
i'm sitting here with idle time.
ok, so what's so great about that?
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Roski
Your garden sounds wonderful - have you ever psoted any photo's? I constantly plan what my next garden will be after leaving this job/country/apartment. I really like the idea of having a frog pond. It all sounds very healing.
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17
How long do you greive?
by helncon inas i was driving home from work tonight i was feeling uneasy which was unusual for me and then it occured to me that it was a close friends death anniversary(13-06-93), reflecting on my way home i thought of the good times that we had(i had known this person since i was 7 till he died at 16) and for the first time in many years this year i have felt at ease with this as the previous years i have always been a mess.. i still think of others who have died over the years but think of the positive and no longer feel the sad pain anymore.
have i moved on?.
so i ask how long does it take to actually get over the pain and hurt from loved ones dieing?.
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Roski
It may get different but I am not sure that it gets better.