Red is Red and Blue is Blue Unless It's Not

Is there just one word for blue or are there specifics for light blue and dark blue?  According to the author of the Fast Company article titled: Do we perceive colors differently depending on the language we speak?  The answer varies. 

There are different words for shades of blue in Russian, Greek or Turkish.  In English blue is blue unless you add another word to describe the variations.   The author goes on to tell us that studies show that the world of colors, like many other aspects of perception, can be affected by cultural influences and by our learning experiences.  How many colors do you see, how many ways do you describe them? 

 

Read the article

If your state was a country which one would it be (based on GDP)

 

In 2021 the American Enterprise Institute (aei.org) created a variation of a US map.  Instead of state names as we know them (California, Texas, Florida, etc.) they named them for countries with similar GDPs.   Thus, California became the UK, Florida Indonesia, Texas Italy and Arkansas is Ukraine.    

 

For the numbers and more:  Details behind the choices

Top Global Cities Today and Tomorrow

Each year Kearney (https://www.kearney.com)  creates reports two reports assessing the importance of cities around the world.  The Global Cities Index (GCI) and the Global Cities Outlook (GCO).

 For the 2022 GCI they looked at 156 countries seeing to “quantify the extent to which a city can attract, retain, and generate global flows of capital, people, and ideas.”  To create the ranking, they looked “across five dimensions: business activity, human capital, information exchange, cultural experience, and political engagement.”   The top five for 2022?    New York, London, Paris, Tokyo, Beijing.

Will these still be the cities of the future?  The GCO looks to the future, to “identify the cities likeliest to assume and sustain leadership roles in the years to come.”  Which are the top five?  London, Paris, Luxembourg, Munich & Stockholm.  (NY #1 on GCI in 2022 drops to #6 when looking to the future).

Where will you or your business go next?   What is most important thing you consider when looking at a city for business or pleasure?  
Get the full report at https://www.kearney.com/global-cities/2022

Travel question for 2023: Can I learn the language?

As the end of the year approaches, and we think of Things We’ll Do (or not) in the new year. Travel is often on the list. That place we always wanted to see or want to revisit. Soon we remember that a new destination may mean new words to learn: How will we say Please, Thank You, I’m Lost? 
When selecting that next destination, you may want to consider the degree of difficulty you, if you are a native English speaker, may discover with trying to learn that new language.
 
In a 2019 AFAR magazine article writer Meredith Heil interviewed linguist Hannah McElgunn. She pointed out that languages that are related may be easier to group. How they are they related? Two ways: “One is through genealogical relation, when two languages descend from a common language historically. Another is through contact, or vocabulary borrowing.” Is the language similar to yours?

 Another major point to consider is how does the language sound? “It will be much harder to speak and understand a language with sounds that aren’t used in English because the distinctions between words won’t sound pronounced to learners McElgunn says. Lithuanian, for example, has a 32-letter alphabet and 52 different phonemes (distinguishing sounds)—many of which lie outside of English’s 26-letter span.” 

Check out all the ways that the language at your destination will be similar or different to your own. Take on the challenge of learning to say Please, Thank you, I’m Lost wherever travel takes you.

Is 10:00 am for Me Midnight for You?

Months ago, I wrote a blog post about how to find time for meetings that involve people in different time zones.    Today, I’m writing about that same subject because it presents a challenge for many people.

In the last two weeks I’ve had to schedule zoom meetings with colleagues in London, Berlin, Washington, DC, Tokyo and Los Angeles. As usual the question was what times would be practical for everyone? – making sure no one has to jump on a call at 6 am or midnight their time?    LA – easy, I’m in California too.  Same time zone.  For the other places there’s still the question – how to be sure that asking for a meeting at 10:00 am was a reasonable time for call someplace else. 

 

My answer is still the same:  go to the Meeting Planner page on the site Time and Date.   

 Meeting Planner link

Thanks to their pull-down list of cities around the world I can quickly find the ones where my colleagues are located, fill in the date and in a flash, it tells me that my 10 am is 1 pm in Washington, DC and 3 am in Tokyo.  Need compare the times (and days) 1 city, or many that’s easy too.  Just add more cities to your list.  

 

As we expand our reach beyond our local time zone, this site makes it easy to know what time to suggest for a meeting across the world.   People will appreciate that you pay attention to what works for them too. 

 

 

The Global Connectedness Index

 

DHL, is and American company that is a division of a German logistics company (we could call it a global enterprise)  that specializes in international shipping, courier services and transportation.  They deliver over a billion parcels a year.  As a resident of California when I think of DHL, I think of bright yellow trucks with a red logo zipping through traffic wherever I am.

 

Only recently did I discover the DHL Global Connectedness Index (GCI) is developed with the NYU/Stern School of Business. (GCI)  This report, although new to me, has been in existence for over ten years.  According to its introduction the GCI offers “a thorough examination of the state of globalization based on analysis of trade, capital, information, and people flows at the global, regional, and national levels. Each issue builds on the previous report as well as decades of globalization research.”

Interested in what they have to say in the 2021 update?   Find the information using this  link to their  Key Take Aways:  Ten Take Aways     Dive into the report and discover why they are optimistic about globalization overall even though they see vulnerabilities that need to be addressed.   I’m already looking forward to seeing what the 2022 report tells us.

Sweet or Savory, Round or Long – Food to Bring Luck to Your New Year.

 

 

A friend of mine reminded me that I should eat lucky foods to start the New Year.  Lucky food for a new year?  Really?  Turns out yes, there are many traditional foods thought to bring prosperity, good health, good luck to a new year.  When I saw donuts on the list, I was excited and decided to rethink my shopping plans.  Here’s the list she sent me:

 

 

 

1.  Black eye peas

2.  Cabbage - kimchi

3.  Cake  (something about round foods being especially lucky)

4.  Fish

5.  Grapes  (not just one, eat 12 of them)

6.  Greens: collard greens, kale, spinach, mesclun salad

7.  Lentils

8.  Noodles  (preferable long ones)

9.   Pomegranates (the Greeks smash them rather than eating them)

10. Pork (for prosperity)

11. Ring shaped foods – donuts  (the sweet unbroken circle of life)

 

To learn more about these lucky foods (and to find out about three more) read Katlyn Moncada’s article “14 Foods to eat for a Prosperous New Year”  https://www.bhg.com/holidays/new-years/recipes/new-years-lucky-foods

 

Wishing you a Happy, Prosperous, Lucky New Year.