Matt Schiavenza From the Dragon to the Apple- A Sinophile in New York

Geography Fun!

Since I was a small child I've always had a knack for geography. Something about maps fascinate me, and having a good memory for names means I've been able to cram tons of geography trivia into my head over the years. Add that to a passion for travel, and you have the recipe for being a geography maven.

Facebook, the ultra-addicting social networking site that everyone I know seems to belong to, has an application in which one can test his geography knowledge. The game is simple: you have ten seconds to find the location of a particular place on a map, and your score is calculated based on how close you get to your intended point and how much time has elapsed.

There are several different challenges, of course, and by far the most popular one is the World Challenge, in which the whole globe is in play. I've spent far too much time recently playing the Asian challenge, as a friend of mine here in Kunming and I have engaged in a friendly competition to see who can get the top score. We've taken this to ridiculous proportions, and he recently admitted to me that he spent an hour studying a map of Russia and looking up the names of UNESCO heritage sites in Asia.

Most computer games are pointless time-wasters, but I've actually learned quite a lot about geography from playing this game. For instance, I can tell you precisely where in Turkmenistan one can find the Parthian Forests of Nisa, or that a nickname for the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar is "Red Hero". Another unintended consequence of my recent addiction is that I've discovered new places I'd like to travel, adding to an already lengthy list.

So there's nothing absolutely wrong with the geography challenge- it's wonderful, try it. Though for someone who has an exam in Chinese in three days and hundreds of characters to learn, I could perhaps think of better ways to use my time.