We'll post links to travel sites and to places where people are immersing cross-culturally; some links will also be to blogs that seem very special to us.

Jon Radojkovic - The new site of our close friend Jon, who is very engaged with barns and their social history, as well as with post and beam structures of all kinds. He is also very knowledgeable about and committed to sustainable agriculture. There are gorgeous barn photos and links to many of Jon's articles on agricultural issues. 

wandel.person.dk/thai.html - An amazing site, with a Thai typewriter; Jeffrey came across it as he was figuring out how to become literate in Thai. Then, when you look at other parts of the site, you'll find typewriters in other scripts as well. 

Iraqistan - This extraordinary blog is by a woman named Elana who writes with such presentness about her experiences in the US military, her wounds, her husband's damaged body, the system, how she and others are responding, that it's humbling.

Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree - This is the bulletin board that has become a lifeline for travellers.  Just go to the index and find the region and country you are interested in, then immerse in all the threads.

Recce - An online travel writing magazine, a monthly.  Don George, a wonderful travel writer and thoughtful appreciative guy whom we met this summer at the Book Passage Travel Writing and Photography conference, is the constant, but there are also contributions from others.  There's a photo show each month, in the "Fresh from the Field" section.  Our photos are featured in the November 2008 issue.

Om Laila - Roula Said's Om Laila system, which grew out of her years teaching bellydance and performing as a singer, qanoon player, and dancer, is anchored in Arab traditions but speaks to us all.  Naomi has been taking Roula's classes for some years, and always comes home nearly giddy with pleasure, as well as stronger and more supple. 

We'll post your comments that come in to the email at immersethrough@gmail.com. Let us know if you'd like your email address or website posted so that others can reach you; we'll assume you do NOT unless you tell us otherwise.

In Ottawa recently showing slides and talking about Beyond the Great Wall, Naomi mentioned that we have not figured out Uighur flung noodles. (There's a whole essay about them in the book.) A guy named David, who was there, later emailed us after searching for more info on the noodles.  He dug hard and found a guy named Luke who seems to be fantastically persistent.  He's recently figured out how to make the Uighur flung noodles. Major immersion!!!!  Even better, he's made videos to explain the technique.  It's all at http://ratingpending.blogspot.com/2008/06/how-to-make-hand-pulled-noodles_23.html

comments: Our friend Kaz wrote us a note after she visited the site soon after it went up.  It was lovely to see her get it, grab the idea of immersion and run with it:  i like the idea of your website being an idea about immersion, the whole act, in its many incarnations, of being taken in, brought through, soaked up by. drenched. how literally this happens in places and with food, which we take into our bodies and are then altered by, augmented by. kept alive, too.