0701-The Power of a 'Project Beard' and Other Office Rituals

Rituals are widely used by sports figures to aid performance, and many employers and employees use rituals at work. Sue Shellenbarger and Francesca Gino, Harvard Business School associate professor, discuss. Photo: AP.

Rituals are common among gamblers and sports figures, from wearing a lucky shirt to blowing on dice to counting dribbles before a free throw.

Now researchers are finding that rituals help on the job too. People who engage in ritualistic behavior before a difficult task are less anxious, get more involved and tend to perform better than people who didn't have a ritual, according to research at Harvard Business School, the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management and other universities.

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Tim Gruber for The Wall Street Journal

Before sealing a deal employees at Minneapolis-based staffing firm Salo use office rituals including a 'pinkie five,' seen here between Amy Langer and Gwen Martin.

People tend to believe intuitively in the value of rituals—repetitive, symbolic behaviors that aren't motivated by reason and lack a particular goal or outcome, studies show. Nearly half of 400 people surveyed online recently by Harvard researchers said they engage in ritualistic behavior before performing a task that makes them anxious, says Francesca Gino, an associate professor at Harvard Business School. One participant wrote that, before going to work or stepping into a meeting, he tries "to remove any negative energies" by pounding his feet on the ground several times and shaking his body.

Tim Gruber for The Wall Street Journal

Once a deal is done, employees ring an office gong.

Salo LLC, a financial and human-resources staffing company in Minneapolis, incorporates rituals throughout its work cycle. When customer requests come in, they are posted on a wall-size whiteboard, and can only be recorded, altered or erased by the salesperson who landed the client. "That's their graffiti, their mark. You wouldn't alter someone else's graffiti. It would be bad luck," says Salo Managing Director Gwen Martin.

The whiteboards, visible to entire work teams, serve as "a center hub of activity," says Adam Sprecher, another managing director. When a new name goes up, "there's a little anxiety, of 'OK, here we go! Now it's time to perform.' It's an adrenaline rush," he says. Jobs are listed in black marker, then updated in blue or orange as candidates are added or eliminated. A red check mark means it is time to start thinking about new ideas.

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Tim Gruber for The Wall Street Journal

Some teams, including the one Erik Voge and Adam Sprecher are part of, celebrate with a chest bump.

With teams in an office, rituals learned and performed as a group "make them feel closer and more connected"—and tend to boost team performance—says Michael I. Norton, an associate professor at Harvard Business School and co-author of several studies on the topic. One possible reason: Such rituals tend to increase people's interest and involvement, according to a recent study co-written by Kathleen Vohs, a marketing professor at the University of Minnesota, Dr. Gino and others.

Salo employees prod transactions along with another ritual: "When we are about to lock a deal down, it's bad luck to high-five each other, because you might jinx it," Ms. Martin says. "So you do a 'pinkie-five' instead," tapping pinkie fingers.

Once a deal is done, the salesperson rings a big brass gong on a bank of files in the center of the office. "People get up and cheer and clap," says Kelly Weight, a business development director. Other teams in the company have their own celebration rituals, such as chest bumps or victory dances.

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Leroy Tripette

At its Folsom, Calif., offices, chipmaker Intel hosts a red-carpet ceremony for new hires.

Such effusive office practices might invite eye-rolling from some newcomers. One marketing manager, Maureen Sullivan, says that after being initially surprised when she saw colleagues chest-bumping, she thought, "Alrighty, that's what we do here. We just really get into it."

While some rituals are mere superstitions, with little bearing on performance, researchers say others add value by boosting confidence. Researchers asked participants in a recent study to perform a difficult task—either solving math problems or singing in a Wii game—as if they were being evaluated. Some were asked to first engage in a ritual invented by the researchers: make a drawing showing how they were feeling, sprinkle salt on the drawing, count to 10 five times, then crumple it up, says Dr. Gino. The ritual group performed better than controls and posted smaller increases in heart rate.

"Knowing they are performing a ritual puts them in a mind-set of lowering anxiety and feeling more confident," she says.

Ritual videogaming boosts confidence among employees at Bearded, a Pittsburgh Web-design and development firm. When a key employee quit last year to take another job in Silicon Valley, "we were all a little nervous, wondering, 'Could we do it without him?' " says founder Matt Griffin. But employees continued a late-afternoon ritual, playing a tough videogame together for a few minutes. When "we beat this level we'd been striving for, and we did it without" the departed colleague, Mr. Griffin says, they concluded, "we're still a good team."

To speed up work on a stalled music-website project, Tony Kimberly and Matt Bernier, co-founders of a Kansas City, Kan., Web-development company called Spotted Koi, cooked up a ritual—vowing not to shave or cut their hair until they finished. In the next 2½ months, Mr. Bernier, who usually wears his hair cut short, says "I looked like I had lived on the streets for a couple of years."

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He adds, "Friends said, 'Seriously, are you ever going to shave?' "

Mr. Kimberly says his project beard was "tremendously itchy" with a "strange-looking" combination of brown and red hair. A few weeks into the ritual, his girlfriend asked, "So, when is this over?" The social pressure and his dislike for his beard "gave us motivation," he says. They finished the project and later repeated the ritual on another new product.

Group rituals can fall flat, however, if employees see them as phony or paternalistic. "One of the worst things you can do is come up with something that has employees rolling their eyes, thinking it's cheesy," says Michael Kerr, a Calgary, Alberta, workplace trainer and speaker on using humor at work.

Sometimes, they can create unintended problems. Mr. Kerr says the CEO of a manufacturing company he worked with had organized a playful holiday ritual, with one employee dressing in a monkey costume, hiding in a box and jumping out to frighten co-workers—whose reactions were videotaped for a holiday party. The company says an employee with a previous heart condition had to be given advance warning and left out of the ritual.

Intel Corp. INTC +0.19% is trying out a new ritual at some sites, hosting an Oscar-like red-carpet ceremony for new hires, says Connie Sanchez, who oversees new employee orientation. Incoming employees at the chipmaker's Folsom, Calif., offices Monday were told they were going to lunch at an employee cafe, then led to a red carpet lined with in-house paparazzi and co-workers shooting flash photos. "We wanted to infuse some energy and excitement" into new hires' first day, says Ms. Sanchez. "We decided, 'Let's make them feel like rock stars.' "

0628-More Offices Offer Workers Alcohol

By 
• RACHEL EMMA SILVERMAN

Dominick Reuter for The Wall Street Journal

Employees at Arnold Worldwide enjoy company-provided beer after client meetings are done.

The keg is becoming the new water cooler.

Plenty of companies offer workers free food, but as the workday in some firms stretches on past the cocktail hour, they’re stocking full bars and beer fridges to loosen up the office and keep workers on the job longer. Rachel Silverman reports. Photo: Dominick Reuter for The Wall Street Journal.

At least, that's the case at such firms as the Boston advertising agency Arnold Worldwide, where workers cluster around a beer-vending machine—nicknamed Arnie—after the day's client meetings are done. As they sip bottles of home-brewed beer, employees exchange ideas and chitchat, often sticking around the office instead of heading to a nearby bar.

Plenty of offices provide free food to their workers, but as the workday in many tech and media companies stretches past the cocktail hour, more companies are stocking full bars and beer fridges, installing on-site taverns and digitized kegs and even deploying engineering talent to design futuristic drink dispensers.

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Dominick Reuter for The Wall Street Journal

Arnie, the beer-vending machine.

The perk, firms say, helps lure talent, connects employees across different divisions and keeps people from leaving the office as the lines between work and social lives blur.

But employment lawyers worry that encouraging drinking in the workplace can lead to driving while intoxicated, assault, sexual harassment or rape. Plus, it may make some employees uncomfortable while excluding others, such as those who don't drink for health or religious reasons.

Drinking on the job has long been part of work life in the U.S. and abroad, whether it's a beer with colleagues in the United Kingdom or Japanese salarymen entertaining clients at sake bars. But holding happy hour in the office is different, experts say, because it brings after-hours activity into the professional space.

At the New York-based company Thrillist Media Group, teams frequently pop open beers at the end of the day and hold regular liquor tastings, often sponsored by the site's alcohol advertisers. Allowing workers to drink on the job may even keep them at their desks longer, says Thrillist's founder, Ben Lerer.

"This is a group of adults," says Mr. Lerer. "I'm fine if you are having a beer out on your desk, sticking around and doing more work and enjoying yourself doing it." Plus, there are nonalcoholic alternatives. But if an employee is getting drunk, he says, "Go home."

Jay Chinthrajah, a technical lead at Thrillist and a competitive runner in his spare time, usually chooses ginger ale over beer. Co-workers sometimes wonder why, he says, but the gatherings are "more about the experience of stepping out from your desk and interacting with people."

Some firms tout their free booze as a way to signal to in-demand workers that their company isn't stuffy, bland and corporate. The recruiting site for the online-storage firm Dropbox, for instance, touts its "Whiskey Fridays" soon after such perks as health and dental insurance. (A firm spokeswoman declined to comment.)

Desk-side drinking seems to happen most often in urban workplaces where employees tend to be young, male and unattached.

As tech firms, in particular, have come under fire for anemic diversity, researchers say that office drinking may turn off anyone who doesn't fit the demographic, such as parents, people of color or those with strong religious views, not to mention recovering addicts and alcoholics.

"These are well-intentioned practices, but they can make people uncomfortable," says Wharton professor Nancy Rothbard, who studies workplace socializing.

In her research, Dr. Rothbard has found that workplace social events, such as happy hours, increase bonding among like groups of employees—such as young white males—but tend to make those who are dissimilar feel less comfortable.

"People who were racially dissimilar weren't having as positive an experience at these events," says Dr. Rothbard. "They felt it was almost an obligation to attend."

Christina Wallace, the director of the Startup Institute, a New York career bootcamp, says that the fraternity-house cultures at some startups can be off-putting.

"When you are predominantly young men and you have a kegerator right next to the ping pong table, that can be a big turnoff," she says.

Liability issues also abound. If employers serve alcohol and something goes awry as a result, the company may be on the hook, says employment lawyer Craig Annunziata, although some of the risk may be covered by liability insurance. "I'm not seeing a lot of upsides when there is alcohol in the workplace," he adds.

Yet, say proponents, light drinking on the job can help workers connect and make them feel appreciated, especially when they are expected to work long hours to complete a project or build a fledgling company.

"It is a very easy way to keep employees committed," says Paul Roman, a sociology professor at the University of Georgia who studies workplace drinking. "You don't need to go off and spend eight bucks on premium beer; you can enjoy it for free on company grounds."

Some firms are tapping the keg on company time. Employees at San Francisco-based review site Yelp Inc. YELP +16.35% and Seattle real-estate site Zillow Inc.Z +1.11% spent "hackathon" periods developing tablet-controlled kegs. At Zillow, the keg creates individual user accounts and snaps photos of staffers as they tap their beer, says Christopher Roberts, who helped develop the "kegbot."

Companies are also keeping an eye on what employees consume.

Arnold in Boston isn't exactly the hard-drinking ad agency portrayed on television's "Mad Men": Workers get three to five drink credits a month, and managers can allot more to reward their charges.

"It's enough to get you through the month," says Matt Karolian, a social-media strategist who helped develop Arnie.

Write to Rachel Emma Silverman at rachel.silverman@wsj.com

0627-The Perils of Giving Advice

I know what you should do and here's my advice.

How many times have you heard that (and groaned)?

A tension point for many couples: the giving and receiving of advice. Experts say men hear advice from women as scolding while women often hear advice from men as condescending. Elizabeth Bernstein and Dr. Anna Ranieri discuss. Photo: Getty Images.

Advice giving, especially unsolicited, is tricky. Being on the receiving end can be annoying and make us defensive. But giving advice can be frustrating, as well, particularly when the intended beneficiary of our wisdom makes it clear it isn't welcome—or takes the same recommendations we've been giving for months from someone else. The whole advice issue is typically hardest to navigate with the person we know the best: our spouse or partner.

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In a series of six studies that followed 100 couples for the first seven years of marriage, researchers at the University of Iowa found that both husbands and wives feel lower marital satisfaction when they are given too much advice from a spouse, as opposed to too little. And—surprise!—unsolicited advice is the most damaging kind. The most recent study was published in 2009 in the Journal of Family Psychology.

In one study, the researchers videotaped spouses discussing a problem that one of them had—say a struggle to lose weight or quit smoking—while the other partner offered advice. They then examined the positive and negative behaviors that each person engaged in while asking for support, receiving it or providing it.

One result of the study was unexpected: How the person asking for or receiving the support behaves is more important to the health of the relationship than how the person giving the advice behaves. "It's a vulnerable position to need support," says Erika Lawrence, one of the lead researchers on the studies and associate professor at the University of Iowa.

Another finding: When too little advice was offered in a marriage, it was the men who suffered more. Researchers believe this is because husbands often look to their wives as their primary source of encouragement, while wives lean on friends and other loved ones, in addition to their husbands.

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Cathy Jordan

Claude and Kate Colp of Wayland, Mass., found a way to give each other advice without sparking bad feelings.

Men and women tend to experience different emotions when they receive advice from a partner, says Anna Ranieri, a psychologist in Palo Alto, Calif., and co-author of "How Can I Help? What you Can (and Can't) Do to Counsel a Friend, Colleague or Family Member with a Problem." When wives offer guidance, husbands often feel reprimanded or nagged. Yet when the advice comes from the husbands—who are more likely to give tangible, fix-it type suggestions to a problem—it is common for wives to feel that they are being condescended to or seen as incapable.

Just ask Claude and Kate Colp about the "onion incident." The couple, who have been married three years and live in Wayland, Mass., used to enjoy cooking dinner together after work. One day, Ms. Colp was cutting an onion for salsa, happily chatting away, when her husband grabbed the knife and told her she was doing it wrong—making slices instead of dices. He finished the chopping, explaining his technique. "It was very harsh," says Ms. Colp, 31, an account manager for a corporate wellness program. "He took the knife as if I was an idiot." Mr. Colp, 32, who recently finished his M.B.A., explains: "I know a superior way to cut an onion. I was taught by a chef."

Ms. Colp has annoyed her husband with advice, too. At a Mexican restaurant with three other couples Mr. Colp announced that he would never eat chicken tacos (the dish the person next to him had ordered), and then launched into a sermon about genetically modified food. After the dinner, Ms. Colp pointed out that he had bored their friends and told him he needed to remember to ask people questions, not just talk about himself. Mr. Colp fumed—not speaking for the rest of the 45-minute ride home. "I felt like I just got scolded by my mother," he says.

"The things said to you by your wife have history behind them," says Mr. Colp. "I know she knows my faults and weaknesses."

There's the rub: Spouses often assume we are touching on their faults deliberately—so even well-meaning advice strikes them as criticism. And they get sick of us offering up the same advice over and over.

Since spouses know each other so well, they think they know exactly what the other needs to do. "It's a mind-reading problem," says Dr. Ranieri. "We tend to quickstep into giving advice, leaving out the important intermediate step of finding out more about what is going on."

One way to give better advice is to first make sure your spouse actually wants your help. You can do this by asking—a novel idea!—"Would you like some ideas on that?"

Consider what Dr. Lawrence, of the University of Iowa, calls the Platinum Rule: "Do unto others as they would have you do unto them." In other words, stop and listen. Sometimes listening can be even more effective than giving advice. "If you allow someone the time to talk something through, that can help them determine what advice to give themselves," says Dr. Ranieri.

Or try telling them a story. "This might not be appropriate for you, but what I did when I had a similar problem was…" This approach allows an exchange of information. "The person with the problem can say, 'Thank you for the story but here is the difference for me with my situation,' " says Dr. Ranieri. "Then you can target your next remarks to that."

What if you're the recipient of unwanted advice? Respond with a "thank you," to acknowledge the gesture. Then explain that you aren't looking for advice at this time. This allows for the possibility that down the road you may want advice.

Be sure to explain what would be helpful to you. Do you need someone to simply listen? Brainstorm? Bring chicken soup? Someone who loves you will be relieved to know how to be useful.

"We often don't know what we want, just that what they did didn't help," says Dr. Lawrence. "I encourage spouses to really try to think about what kinds of support they need—do they want their spouse to give advice, tangible support, just listen?"

The Colps's hard-won advice on giving advice: Outsource it. Ms. Colp now sometimes discusses what advice to give her husband with her mother, then asks her to deliver it. (This works because her mother and husband are close, she says.) And Mr. Colp recently had a friend teach his wife to wakeboard. The couple also notes that tone and timing are important. (A rule: No giving advice before dinner, when everyone's hungry.)

They try to offer advice only when asked. "I stay out of the kitchen when she is cooking, and now she actually comes to me and asks if she is cutting something right," says Mr. Colp. "Because I am not offering unsolicited advice anymore, she is willing to accept my superior onion-slicing skills."

0625-Park In-bee triumphs on LPGA Tour, ties S. Korean wins record

Park In-bee earned her fifth LPGA Tour victory of the season on Sunday in Arkansas, tying the record for most wins by a South Korean LPGA pro in a season.

Park, the world's No. 1-ranked female golfer, defeated fellow South Korean Ryu So-yeon with a birdie on the first playoff hole at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship at Pinnacle Country Club in Arkansas. The tournament was a three-round affair.

Park's fifth win of 2013 pulled her into a tie with Pak Se-ri for most LPGA wins in a season by a South Korean. Pak, a World Golf Hall of Famer, won five times in 2001 and again in 2002.

Park's five wins this season have come in just 12 starts. She has also won the season's first two majors, the Kraft Nabisco Championship in April and the Wegmans LPGA Championship earlier this month.

This was Park's eighth career LPGA win, and her seventh in her last 23 events, dating back to last July.

Park, who took home US$300,000 for her latest victory, had also won the LPGA Championship two weeks ago in a sudden death playoff.

The 24-year-old leads the LPGA Tour this year in money, victories and the Player of the Year points race.

This was the seventh time a South Korean has won on the LPGA Tour this year in 14 stops. There are 14 tournaments left on the tour in 2013.

On the 6.389-yard, par-71 layout, Park and Ryu ended regulation tied at 12-under. Park shot a 4-under 67, mixing in five birdies with one bogey, while Ryu carded a 2-under 69 after four birdies and one double bogey.

On the first playoff hole, Park split the fairway off the tee and after missing the green short with her fairway wood, chipped to within a couple of feet to set up the clinching birdie.

Ryu landed her tee shot in the thick rough on the left and had to punch it out to the fairway. She missed the green long and right with her third shot, all but handing the trophy to the fellow South Korean.

Ryu began the final round as one of four co-leaders at 10-under, while Park was two strokes behind the pack.

Park poured in three straight birdies starting on the par-3 sixth and closed out her round with her fifth birdie of the day on the 18th to take the club house lead at 12-under.

Park's tee shot on the 18th found the left rough, and her second shot with a fairway wood came up several yards short of the green. Park's approach landed about six feet left of the pin and she drained the putt for the birdie.

Playing in a group behind Park, Ryu forced the playoff with Park thanks to a birdie on the 18th. Ryu hit her tee shot into the right rough, and her second shot traveled well right of the green. She managed to put her third shot to about five feet below the hole and made the putt to go into the playoff, where she succumbed to the world No. 1.

0624-Hey Riders, Runners: Do You Wave?

To wave or not to wave?

This is a column about waving. Specifically: waving hello while riding a bicycle, or going for a run. We are approaching peak season for recreational cycling and running—if you do these things all year, you may be astonished by all the newcomers out there, filling the roadways, adopting the habit, desperate to burn off the lobster rolls and margaritas—and no matter where you live, you are going to encounter someone cycling or running toward you in the opposite direction. It doesn't matter if you live in the city or the most desolate place on earth (a Miami Marlins home game). Eventually you are going to be faced with a decision that is as important as anything in sports, in which your response says more about you and your character than your fancy-pants neon bike or your fancy-pants neon sneakers or your personal best:

Do you wave? Or do you not wave?

Let me get it out of the way: I am pro-wave. I feel I operate at about a 74 to 92% wave rate, probably a little less while running than while cycling, because waving seems to be less of a big deal to runners than it is with cyclists, and because I'm such a turtle as a runner it feels a little awkward/crazy (Hiii! Me also runnnning!!!). But still: I'm a high-ratio waver. (Yes I am proud. Yes I am awful and smug.) Obviously there are times when it's not advisable to wave—screaming down a mountain, navigating traffic, running briskly away from the police—but even then, you can at least do "The Nod," the subtle cousin to the wave, with its momentary eye contact and quick bob of the chin. If you wave, it doesn't have to be a giant, exaggerated wave, like you're Jim Carrey saying goodbye to all the giraffes at a zoo. Just a quick gesture of recognition and done. I don't consider this a rule. I just like to wave.

I know I am not alone. Evelyn Stevens, the Olympic and professional cyclist, puts herself in the "always wave" category. "I think it's nice to be friendly," Stevens said, adding that she has been known to wave even when amid a serious training effort. The U.S. pro rider Ted King describes himself as "ABSOLUTELY pro-wave" (yes, Ted used all caps); fellow pro Taylor Phinney said that he waves "at everybody." Three-time New York City Marathon champion Alberto Salazar is also an advocate. "Yes, I wave for sure," Salazar wrote in an email. "It's a sign of respect for others." Waving also apparently has a long tradition in motorcycling culture, but I'm going to have to take the word of other people on this, as my mother still won't let me get within 300 yards of a motorcycle.

So waving sounds friendly. It also sounds reasonable. But then it gets stressful. Every once in a while, you come across a non-waver. You wave, then get stiffed. Some wavers take offense. I admit I get crabbed out by an unreturned wave; I have considered turning around, chasing down and yelling at a snubber, which I believe cancels the whole vibe of waving. But don't non-wavers realize what they're missing? It's been proven in numerous academic studies that cyclists and runners who fail to return waves have shorter life spans, sadder weekends, and terrible taste in music. On the Internet you can find many message boards devoted to the wave question, an evergreen topic that never really goes away. There are worries that the ritual is eroding; that cycling and running have become polluted with rude wave deniers; that society in general isn't as nice and we're all on a slow road to a hell…in which, presumably, nobody ever waves.

It's probably helpful here to take a step back. The author Eben Weiss, aka Bike Snob NYC, has written hilariously in the past about wave etiquette, and points out that's it's silly to expect people to wave all the time. Weiss describes himself as "pro-waving," but said that normal expectations of social interaction should apply—you know, the same expectations people have off the bike, walking down the street. "If you're walking through a quiet neighborhood, you might wave to the guy futzing around with his car, or walking his dog," Weiss wrote in an email. "You don't wave to everyone you pass on 42nd Street." Peter Flax, editor in chief of Bicycling magazine, is similarly moderate. "I'm always happy to wave," Flax said. "It just doesn't have to be every time. I'm not offended if someone doesn't wave to me." Runner's World editor in chief David Willey identified himself as "pro wave, but low-key about it."

These guys all sound so healthy. Maybe low-key is the correct strategy. Maybe I really need to calm down about this. I will ride and run and I will enjoy my sweat and suffering but I will take my wave enforcement down a notch. I will not lose it. I will continue to wave, but I will not make sweeping declarations about the decline of Western civilization because of a wave denied. I will believe in my heart that waving is a sign of solidarity with your fellow cyclists and runners—at a time when cyclists and runners need solidarity—but I will keep a proper perspective. A wave is just a wave. I will wave at you, but you don't have to wave back. Seriously, I'm OK with this. I think. OK, please wave. Please! Or at least nod.

0620-IT devices pose greater threat to privacy than information collection by US government

While the U.S. government has aroused public ire over the collection of private information of citizens, the same piracy happens to be much more rampant through the means of various IT devices, suggesting needs of urgent counter-measures, U.S. media outlets including San Jose Mercury News reported on 16th in local time.
They explained that citizens are constantly monitored through the sensors built in devices like child monitoring systems, medical equipments, smart cars and stores, which can be seen from Smart TVs with Internet connection.
Cisco Systems presumed that by 2020, approximately 37 billion numbers of electronic devices will be connected altogether via a computer network.
What adds seriousness to this matter is that most of the citizens don’t even realize that their privacy is being infiltrated.
“The real problem is that people are not aware of the seriousness of this issue” said Lee Tien, a lawyer of Electronic Frontier Foundation of the U.S.
“Inasmuch as recent technological devices are extremely complicated thus difficult in tracking their information collecting routes, it suggests an additional pickle in figuring out where those information flow to.”
Experts say that as the numbers of devices that are mutually connected through network and transfer data without needing human intervention are currently skyrocketing, discerning the level of seriousness in private information piracy has become more difficult.
Media outlets also said that Federal Trade Commission (FTC) of the U.S. is at present garnering professional feedbacks as to prepare for the counter-measures.

0619-A brief tale of two cities

Just a short drive from O.R. Tambo International Airport, South Africa’s administrative capital of Pretoria is bound to feature early on the itinerary of many Korean visitors. Packed with history, it is a city that encapsulates much of the striking clash of native African and European cultures that defines South Africa. We checked in at the cozy but upscale 131 Herbert Baker, situated on the street of the same name christened after the famous English architect, before enjoying a hearty steak lunch at nearby Blue Cane Restaurant, named after the national bird that resides in the Austin Roberts Bird Sanctuary on the same grounds.

Appetites stated, we headed to Union Buildings, the seat of government and the site of Nelson Mandela’s historic swearing in as South Africa’s first democratically elected president. The buildings, designed by English architect Sir Herbert Barker using Edwardian and Dutch influences, were completed in 1913. The complex itself was unfortunately closed to visitors, as is routine, but the surrounding tiered gardens made for a pleasant walk. From here, too, we could take in a wonderful view of the Pretoria skyline, an uneven cluster of pinks, tans, blue-grays and silvers against a backdrop of sloping hills.

Just outside the city, we learned about a revered episode of Afrikaans history at the Voortrekker Monument. A distinctive piece of architecture unlike anything in Korea, the building is dedicated to the Battle of Blood River of 1838 in which 400 Afrikaners fought off 2,000 Zulus without a single death to their side.

Then we traveled to Church Square, the historic center and heart of the city, where we soaked in the fast and slowed-paced lives of everyday South Africans. At one moment, one could observe lawyers in full English-style gowns hurried to lunch during recess, at the next, dozens of locals sprawled on the grass enjoying the midday sun. The square has a wealth of colonial buildings of historical interest, including the old parliament building and the court that found Nelson Mandela guilty on the charges of treason that would see him spend the next 27 years of his life in prison. At the center of square stands a statue the top-hated figure of Paul Kruger, the last president of the Boer-ruled South African Republic. Just off the square, you’ll find Café Riche, Pretoria’s oldest pub and a good place for a slap up meal.

Cape Town, South Africa’s legislative capital and its center of tourism, is a city of altogether more European sensibilities, reflecting waves of Dutch, English, French, German and Portuguese immigration. We stayed at the colorfully modern African Pride 15 on Orange Hotel, suited in the imposing shadow of the immense Table Mountain. Just a few minute’s walk way is Company’s Garden, a park founded by the early Europeans settlers and home to a national library, gallery and museum. Strolling through the park, squirrels scurried at our feet without a trace fear.

Cape Town is renowned for its natural beauty, and a trip out of the city was a must. On a gloriously sunny afternoon, we took the Southern Line commuter train to picture perfect Kalk Bay, a palm tree-lined seaside village crammed with craft and antique shops. The red-brick Kalk Bay Trading Post was especially charming, selling all manner of antiques and knick knacks from bygone eras, including old comics, coins, maps, soft drink fridges and more.

From there we took the train to Simon’s Town, home to the South African Navy and last urban area before the Cape of Good Hope, the most south-westerly point of Africa, and the headland of Cape Point. The view of the vast expanse of Atlantic Ocean from the lighthouse at Cape Point was an awe-inspiring sight.

By John Power

0618-Violence Spreads in Turkey as Rifts Widen

By JOE PARKINSON and EMRE PEKER

ISTANBUL—Violence between protesters and police erupted and spread for a second consecutive day in Istanbul on Sunday, as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan sought to regain the political agenda by staging a massive rally, after ejecting protesters from their park encampment the previous day.

Photos: Istanbul Protests Rage

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Associated Press

Some protesters were undeterred Sunday after police moved in a day earlier.

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•  Photos: The Fight for Taksim Square

Meanwhile, there was renewed fighting in Ankara and five unions called a general strike for Monday. There was also some violence between supporters and opponents of the government.

The second straight day of clashes flared through pockets of Istanbul as the government widened a crackdown it launched against protesters late Saturday, when it cleared a protester encampment from Gezi Park, the symbolic heart of demonstrations entering their 18th day.

A short distance away, Mr. Erdogan on Sunday took the stage to address a rally estimated at under 300,000 supporters of the governing Justice and Development Party, or AKP, and declared victory over the protests in the biggest show of political force since the protests began. The premier chided the protesters for rejecting an offer he had made to mollify them.

Five people have been left dead from 18 days of protests and more than 5,000 injured.

While the park initially was just the venue of an environmental sit-in to save it from development, authorities' efforts to disperse protesters with tear-gas and water cannons unleashed a broad-based coalition pouring out to protest what they see as Mr. Erdogan's increasingly encroachment into their lives.

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Supporters of Mr. Erdogan rallied Sunday, as violence spread in Istanbul and Ankara. Meantime, five unions called for a general strike on Monday.

On Sunday, protesters built barricades and faced off against police, who the day before were for the first time joined at key intersections by military police. Police fired tear gas and water cannon at protesters seeking to march toward the park.

More than 200 protesters were detained, according to Amnesty International. The Turkish Medical Association said a number of medical staff volunteering to treat injured protesters had been arrested, but Istanbul Governor Huseyin Avni Mutlu, insisted no doctors were detained.

Mounting a verbal assault on the demonstrations, which he said were organized by fringe groups and the main opposition Republican People's Party leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, Mr. Erdogan told his rally that by occupying the park, protesters attacked the broader society's freedoms.

But Mr. Erdogan's decision to strike a more definitive blow against protesters this weekend appeared to have partially backfired on Sunday as demonstrations continued and five of Turkey's largest trade unions and associations—with a combined membership of 860,000 workers, doctors, dentists, engineers and architects—called a general strike for Monday, in solidarity with the protesters.

Turkish police used tear gas and water cannons to force protesters out of Gezi Park on Saturday, ahead of planned demonstrations against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday. Photo: Associated Press.

Clashes continued in Ankara, where police fired tear gas and water cannons to stop a march on central Kizilay Square that was to commemorate the death of a demonstrator who died from a bullet to his head during clashes with police last week.

And in another development, there were reports of street clashes between supporters and detractors of the government, an ominous sign that the unrest is pulling in factions of the civilian population, adding stress to Turkey's tense societal fault lines.

WorldStream Video from Istanbul

• Protesters Regroup Near Taksim Square

"The crack Erdogan has created in Turkey is very interesting because this educated middle class is clashing with the government for the first time. If these tensions continue, the uncertainty will negatively impact the political system and the economy," said Hakan Yilmaz, a political scientist at Bogazici University in Istanbul.

In the city of Konya, where Mr. Erdogan's party enjoys overwhelming support, a small group of demonstrators was attacked by a group of people.

In Istanbul, a small group of people attacked a local chapter of the main opposition party, CHP, trapping lawmakers inside, eyewitnesses said. Television footage also showed dozens of men wielding sticks and chanting "Recep Tayyip Erdogan" on the city's main pedestrian thoroughfare.

And antigovernment demonstrators crossing the Bosporus from the Asian side to the European shore of Istanbul to march to Taksim Square engaged in shouting matches and cross-faction chants with other boats ferrying Mr. Erdogan's supporters to the prime minister's rally, eyewitnesses said.

The fresh violence came after almost a week of relative calm in Istanbul. A nonviolent solution briefly appeared possible Friday when Mr. Erdogan offered to put his plan to develop the park up to a public vote in Istanbul if the government prevails against legal challenges to halt the project.

But Taksim Solidarity, an umbrella group of protest organizers, rejected the deal on Saturday because, it said, Mr. Erdogan refused to recognize broader democratic grievances and demands including the release of everyone detained in connection with the demonstrations.

And as anger raged among protesters on Sunday night, there was little sign the demonstrations would end. "This isn't just about the Gezi Park. We've opened our eyes," said Tugce Demir, a 24-year-old who works in advertising and has been at the antigovernment protests since they started May 31. "This is our reaction to a decade of this government's policies."