2012-09-02

Virtual Asian City

你好!
Yesterday I got a last minute invitation for a class in Mandarin. As you might know, Mandarin this the main Chinese language. The class was in voice and we had fun to learn the the first words in Chinese which are tricky to pronounce In case you are interested, the classes are for free and will be held each Saturday at 6 AM SLT.


That was our learning of yesterday, don't worry, just speaking (-:

你好! ( nǐ hǎo )   hello
你 ( nǐ )  you
好 ( hǎo )  good/well
你叫什么名字? ( nǐ jiào shén me mínɡ zi )  What is your name?
名字 ( mínɡ zi )  name
我叫……  ( wǒ jiào )   My name is ...
我 ( wǒ )  I/me
见到你很高兴! ( jiàn dào nǐ hěn ɡāo xìnɡ )   Very pleased/nice to meet you!


Of course I was interested where I landed and talked to the owner, who is Indonesian living in Europe. Virtual Asia Second Life is a new and well done rebuilt of a typical Asian City with nice shops and event locations, chosen after Asian taste. The whole setting in combination with the sounds is quite realistic.


 As I pointed out in my post about Phantasy China, the small money that could be made in SL usually, can be a lot changed to Asian currency. The owners decided to hire Asian staff in order to give them the chance to make  a bit money here. From the Virtual Asia blog: "The vision for the City goes beyond great shopping and fun events though.  Our mission for Virtual Asia is to both expose the SL community to the Asian culture/environment as well as to study to see how a virtual society might provide opportunities for economic growth for Asians in real life. Javabox has been joined by Crazy Ibor and Maria Bekkers to make this vision a reality. The shared vision of SL being a force of effective change in real world environments is both exciting and challenging. An existing foundation committed to aid those less fortunate in the world economy will be procuring computers and space for people in these lands to work in a virtual world. (In some countries daily wages for 13 hours of hard labor is the equivalent of 250 Lindens). Giving people the opportunity work in SL as greeters, hosts etc. would be a welcome break from current employment. The exciting part is the sky is the limit in this scenario. Learning photoshop skills, blender skills, scripting skills etc. will not only allow for great income in a virtual world but can translate into needed and marketable skills in real world applications. Some have asked why not give all the money you make on clothes and tiers to a charity helping the same people? A valid question with a powerful answer. If we can show that a concept is self-sustaining through tiers and vendor sales then we create opportunities for replication and sustainability. We know too well people change charities every so often, move on from different projects when they have to be maintained by altruistic means. However, when something pays for itself and becomes bigger than just one person or foundation and can be replicated over and over then it will endure."

The dress is a gift
Virtual Asia provides apartments for free and several events. Currently is running an opening hunt with nice gifts. It will end next weekend. The dress I am wearing is a freebie for all who like the facebook page. You find all information at the Virtual Asia blog.

Check it out and tip generously! Great concept!
Taxi:  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/MaxStudio/226/71/4000



No comments: