An award-winning writer reveals a changing China-one conversation and adventure at a time. When Stephan Orth lands in China, he knows it's his last visit, having lied about his job as a journalist to get into the country. So, he makes the most of it, couch-surfing with locals instead of hitting the nearest hotel. Starting in Macau-a former Portuguese colony and now gambler's paradise-Orth takes on the world's biggest casino. Next, he visits Shenzen, where more than 200 million sidewalk cameras monitor citizens who win and lose points on Sesame Credit, an app that sends data to Alibaba-and to the government. As his adventure continues, Orth encounters a bewildering mix of new tech and old traditions. Over a steaming bowl of hot pot, he learns ancient chopstick etiquette from a policewoman who later demos the facial recognition app she could use to detain him. He eats dog meat as a guest of honor one day-and finds himself censored on live TV the next. He even seriously considers joining an outlawed sect. Self-deprecatingly funny, compassionate, and observant, High Tech and Hot Pot is a formidable addition to a well-loved series, and offers a timely travelogue of an enigmatic country poised to become the world's next superpower.

"Journalist Orth delivers a jaunty description of his travels...[that] armchair travelers will enjoy." -Publishers Weekly "Funny, insightful, and mind-bendingly entertaining. Stephan Orth is a fearless and fabulous tour guide to the real Russia and its people." -Lisa Dickey, author of Bears in the Streets: Three Journeys across a Changing Russia

A modern-day glimpse into the surprising reality of life in Iran.

Iran: A destination that is seldom seen by westerners yet often misunderstood. A country that simultaneously “enchants and enrages” those who visit it. A place where leading a double life has become the norm.

In Couchsurfing in Iran, award-winning author Stephan Orth spends sixty-two days on the road in this mysterious Islamic republic to provide a revealing, behind-the-scenes look at life in one of the world’s most closed societies. Through the unsurpassed hospitality of twenty-two hosts, he skips the guidebooks and tourist attractions and travels from Persian carpet to bed to cot, covering more than 8,400 kilometers to recount “this world’s hidden doings.” Experiencing daily what he calls the “two Irans” that coexist side by side―the “theocracy, where people mourn their martyrs” in mausoleums, and the “hide-and-seek-ocracy, where people hold secret parties and seek worldly thrills instead of spiritual bliss”―he learns that Iranians have become experts in navigating around their country’s strict laws.

Though couchsurfing is officially prohibited in Iran―the state fears spies would be able to travel undetected through the country―more than a hundred thousand Iranians are registered with online couchsurfing portals. And thanks to these hospitable, English-speaking strangers, Orth gets up close and personal with locals, peering behind closed doors and blank windows to uncover the inner workings of a country where public show and private reality are strikingly opposed.

Magisterarbeit aus dem Jahr 2004 im Fachbereich Amerikanistik - Literatur, Note: -, Bergische Universitat Wuppertal, Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: Granted that disorder spoils pattern; it also provides the materials of pattern. Order implies restriction; from all possible materials, a limited selection has been made and from all possible relations a limited set has been used. So disorder by implication is unlimited, no pattern has been realized in it, but its potential for patterning is indefinite. This is why, though we seek to create order, we do not simply condemn disorder. We recognize that it is destructive to existing patterns; also that it has potentiality. It symbolizes both danger and power. Mary Douglas Im Marz des Jahres 1987 verliess ein riesiges Frachtschiff namens Mobro 4000" den New Yorker Hafen. An Bord: 3200 Tonnen Industrie- und Haushaltsabfalle, die auf eine Mullhalde in North Carolina verschifft werden sollten. Auf Grund ungenauer Absprachen jedoch wurde im Hafen von Morehead City, NC, die Entladung der unpopularen Fracht verweigert. Das Schiff fuhr weiter Richtung Suden, wurde dabei in sechs Staaten und drei Landern abgelehnt und wendete schliesslich bei Belize in Mittelamerika, um nach uber acht Wochen auf See wieder New York anzusteuern. Weltweit brachte die Presse inzwischen taglich Berichte mit Horrorvisionen von Millionen von Insekten, gefahrlichen medizinischen Abfallen, unertragli-chem Gestank und angeblich austretenden hochgiftigen Gasen und Flussigkeiten, und die mit dem Problem beschaftigten Politiker, die zu keiner Kompromisslosung bereit waren, verstarkten mit burokratischer Blockadetaktik die abstruse Komik der Geschichte. Als Ende Juli schliesslich der Mull auf New Yorks Fresh Kills landfill gebracht wurde, fand man weder Insekten noch gefahrliche Stoffe in der Ladung der barge heard around the world" (vgl. Miller 3ff.), der einzige fur die Medien interessante Fund war bezeichnenderweise ein Yo-Yo-Kinderspielzeug. Wahrend Okologen