Drive along Atlantic Boulevard in Monterey Park and you'll see signs of every shape and color written in Chinese characters. It's a testament to the city's large Asian American population. Most also have wording in English – and officials in the San Gabriel Valley city want to make that a requirement.

In a recent interview with world-renowned Spanish chef José Andrés, we discussed creativity and inspiration, his open and collaborative style of leadership, the many secrets to his success, philanthropic efforts in the U.S. and around the world, and much more.

The speakers and panelists at the event, held June 22 at the National Assembly Building in the South Korean capital, featured former Olympic athletes, noted scholars and other dignitaries, and it was attended by delegations from Istanbul, Madrid and Tokyo — the latter led by convivial Masato Mizuno, the CEO of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Bid Committee. The speakers were asked to cite examples of how sports improves relations between two countries, and so when my turn came I told them the story of pitcher Hideo Nomo — which goes as follows, for those not familiar with the tale.

Art can reflect the soul of a nation. But for the past three decades, Afghanistan has been defined by the art of war that has painted its countryside in broad strokes of red and black. Despite both the conflict and the former Taliban regime, who opposed the depiction of any human or animal forms in photographs, drawings, or paintings, art has not only survived in Afghanistan, but has re-emerged as a creative and provocative force in the capital of Kabul.

Despite soggy conditions, including a brief downpour, more than 100 people still showed up for the St. Petersburg, Russia-based youth ensemble, Golden Gates at Poinciana United Methodist Church last Thursday. By imitating dancers, sampling instruments or copying the rhythmic clapping and foot stomping of Russian dance, the audience got a taste of faraway culture when the youth ensemble performed a 90-minute show providing an entertaining and authentic glimpse into Old Russia.

These types of characters (or caricatures) of Americans abroad behaving badly have been around at least since the days of Mark Twain and Henry James. What's striking is how little, in some ways, the depictions have changed between the late 19th century and the present age of smartphone-wielding mobs stalking the "Mona Lisa," and beery, breast-flashing collegians whom Latin Americans refer to, with eye-rolling exasperation, as los springbreakers.

Colombia doesn’t have a space program, but as of Friday, it does have an elite aerospace engineering team. RoboCol, a group of 15 assorted engineering students and two designers from the Bogota-based Andes University, finished fourth place out of 50 international participants in the Lunabotics Mining Competition held at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for its work on “Intensity”, a robot designed to traverse lunar terrain.

Here's a fact: Nearly everyone in America loves Chinese food. Who among us doesn't have childhood memories of takeout dinners served in the distinctive white boxes, followed by a humorous reading of fortune cookies? And Chinese restaurants, with their lengthy menus and Lazy Susans, have been a ubiquitous part of the American landscape for decades. In order to get into the finer distinctions of Chinese cuisine, researchers at the Beijing Computational Science Ressn't difficult to find Northeastern, Sichuan, Yunnan, and Xinjiang restaurants -- all on the same block.