The Chinese Culture?

You can learn a lot about an area's culture by observing its people.  One way this can easily be done, today, is on the internet. Youtube is an easy way to find videos of...pretty much anything! I utilized this site to look into the Chinese culture.  Of course, I knew a little bit about the Chinese people from TV, school, and the Disney classic Mulan, but I thought viewing videos directly from the chinese people would be a good start to understand how geography affects their culture. 

The first video I watched, after typing "China" into the search bar, was from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLImQtyjI10 .  I wasn't really sure what to expect from a video entitled "Free Hugs in China!" but the title intrigued me.  The video shows a young man walking around a public square of a city with a "Free Hugs" sign.  At first, it is in black and white and the music is softer, while no one approaches him to get hugs. He is ignored. Finally, people start slowly going over to him and recieving free hugs. As this happens the music picks up tempo and the shot turns to color.  The symbolism of the color is really cool! As the video progresses, the sign is passed on to different people and color spreads through these individuals.  It shows what a little big of love can do to a community.

The second video I looked at was "Chinese Backstreet Boys- That Way."  This video was of two college age Chinese boys who lip synced to a 90s boy band song.  This video is pretty much hilarious!  It was really interesting to watch this, because I could tell that the boys probably didn't even know what the lyrics they were mouthing meant.  There were some Chinese words  written at the end as credits, but no English appeared in the clip.  A lot of the time the boy's mouths didn't even match the lyrics perfectly.  This video is shown on the site http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2rZxCrb7iU. Just like any video a couple of teenagers in the United States would create, this was meant to make you laugh.

I had an enjoyable time viewing how the chinese makers of these videos portrayed themselves.  It was interesting because these two videos showed how closely related we are all as human beings.  The first video showed the importance of the expression of love, regardless of where you live.  I think that this kind of "Free Hugs" signs are probably more popular in countries with more freedom of expression, like the United States of America, but people did approach the hugger by the end of the clip.  I wonder if the idea for the video came from contact with western culture.  The second video with the American band's, the Backstreet Boys, song "That Way" was definitely a result of the communication between region and globalization. These two videos show the West's influence on China, since they have become more open to foreign cultures.  

These two videos were produced by youth and because of this I wonder if the younger generation of China is becoming even more open to this kind of influence from the West.  It will be exciting if the leaders of tomorrow's China can be positively impacted by the youth of Western countries.  These videos are just two examples of how the Chinese culture has fallen subject to the melting of foreign ideas via globalization.  

How wonderful that God has given us these resources to positively impact others who are tens of thousands of miles away from us!  It is exciting that the possibilities are endless in reaching China.  The Chinese people can be influenced to broaden their horizons politically and also spiritually! How exciting! The people of the United States must remember that they are in a position that may influence the people around the world.  As a result, we should remember to present ourselves in such a way that will make this influence positive.  

Banquets in the Alaskan Bush

I really haven't ventured out of the typical realm of American cuisine.  I've never gotten to visit far away, foreign place where they eat bugs and drink cow's blood.  However I have had a lot of secondhand experience with traditional Alaskan foods of the Inuit, Aleut, and Yupik native tribes. I myself have not sampled any of these dishes, besides wild salmon, but through friends I have heard a lot about the typical dishes of these native people.

Now these Bush people don't eat "bush meat," but they have their own anomalous dishes as well.  Geography has definitely influenced their diets as well.  Animals that thrive in the cold seas and rivers surrounding the villages are the main staple meats because of they are abundant supplies.

My cousin, Erin, taught high school in a bush village called Manokotak for a year. While she was there I got to hear all about the crazy foods she was given by her very hospitable neighbors and co-workers.  

Some of the strangest food she had was walrus.  The villagers did about one walrus hunt a year and from that hunt got most of the meat they needed to for that year's meals.  The day of the hunt was a big deal.  They ended up getting three. They hunted and cleaned them together as a village. She said that they ate the walrus fried and sometimes in stews.  She also said that it had a very fishy taste.  Needless to say, it wasn't her favorite, but the Natives loved it!

Another unwonted dish that she actually sampled at a wedding was seal.  It was cooked in a stew and is another typical part of their diets.  Seafood is the most prominent part of the Alaskan diet.  Salmon and halibut are two of my favorite types of Alaskan cuisine. 

It is interesting to look at how geography affects what people eat around the world.  Although these are the traditional Alaskan foods, the culture's orthodoxy is being transformed with the breaking of geographical barriers.  Manokotak people eat frozen pizzas as well as muktuk (frozen whale blubber, usually eaten with salt).  Globalization is bringing McDonalds and other western foods to places that had not even heard of a hamburger twenty years ago.  Although MickyD's hasn't made it's way out to the Alaskan Bush, fast food is becoming a global source of food.  

As a result of this, people will become fatter and fatter. But I say: Eat, drink, and be merry that God has provided us with this variety of foods! It is also important for us as rich Americans to realize that our abundance of food is a blessing and that we should help those who go hungry.  World Vision and Compassion International are organizations that specifically deal with the hungry around the world.  Hopefully as communication and travel are expanding world-wide, aid to those in need can as well! What wonderful foods God has given us!

A Summit of Sorts

Representatives from 19 of the world's most powerful countries gathered together this week, ten years after the G-20 was founded, to discuss matters of the world-wide economy.  The Group Twenty includes the following countries:

Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and also including the European Union, represented by the rotating council presidency. 

This kind of gathering should not only aid in the palliation of the "recession" but also foster peace and unification between countries.  Ironically a protest of anarchists and anti-capitalists broke out in the streets of London.  Demonstrators through things into the windows of different governmental and royal banks and clashing with police. 

So far the only plan these big-wig countries have been able to conjure up is to implement new processes to basically "spend" our way our of debt.  Daniel Hannan, a member of Britain's parliament, wrote, with a sarcastic air, in his telegraph.co.uk blog that it's "just what we need to stimulate growth...more dirigisme, more red tape, more state control, and more centralization."  Along with this British politician, I too am a bit skeptical of the plans of President Obama and the other Leader of the G20 summit. 

Let's hope this "summit" doesn't trigger any kind of further decline. 

New Prospectives of an Old World

Google Earth has given me so much more understanding of the geography of our earth throughout this semester!  One thing I can tell you for sure is that through the manipulation of the browser's angle, you can experience God's wonderful earth in a way you have never before! 

I chose a couple different images to exhibit a new prospective on our wonderful world.

The first image I selected is primarily of my home state, Alaska.  

I used Google Earth to adjust the view to display the close proximity in which Russia is in relation to Alaska.  It is interesting because after growing up looking at maps which are usually cut off between Russia and Alaska, we forget how small the Bearing Strait really is.  This map's topography also displays the high elevation of both Alaska and Russia, especially in the area around the Aleutian Chain (an island chain off the South West coast of Alaska). I had never known that this area of Alaska was so mountainous.  I now realize that there must be tectonic plates here to influence the topography of the region.  

This map also displays North East Russia's size in comparison with Alaska.  I did not realize that this portion of Russia is quite a bit smaller than The Great Frontier, until I witnessed this nice juxtaposition.  It is so interesting to view this familiar part of the world from this unique, new view point!

It is so interesting to see the prospective of Alaska from Russia as well.  It is strange to think that I have never looked at Alaska from this point of view, and neither have I looked at North East Russia in comparison to Alaska.   I never knew that the Aleutians stretched that close to Russia either.  There are so many new and wonderful things I learn about our world everyday, especially since I am in this Geography class!

Sentiments about Slumdog

The movie Slumdog Millionaire portrays a poor, orphaned boy from the slums of India somehow winning on a game show that Doctors, Lawyers, and other professionals cannot succeed at! The authorities believe that he is a cheat and attempt to torture him into confessing, in the movie's beginning. As the movie progresses, Jamal gives account of where he learned of each answer to the questions he was asked. The movie then begins to transforms into a journey of Jamal and his brother. This journey includes their trials with both each other and the world, their adventures as the "Three Musketeers" with Jamal's friend Latika, and how Jamal comes to win around 10 billion dollars, becoming a national hero. This narrative, set in India, includes romance, angst, suspense, and a captivating coming-of-age story.

I found myself engrossed completely in this film. The story was entertaining, sometimes humorous and sometimes suspenseful. I thought that the actors did a wonderful job, especially the lead Dev Patel. I also absolutely loved that the movie was drenched in the Indian culture. I think it is important for people from Western countries, like the United States, to learn about foreign places. It is an enriching experience to aid us in understanding our brothers and sisters of other regions. Sometimes it reminds us how well off we are to be living in such a wonderful country. Either way, cultural experiences broaden horizons and help us understand the wonderful world God has given us.

Another interesting aspect of this film was that the extreme poverty of the country was was captured by this film's cinematography. India has some of the largest slums in this world and has the most people, besides China. I believe that the Chinese government was probably delighted at the fact that they had an opportunity to display the slums of India to their citizens. I think this movie could aid in reinforcing the message of Communist China's superiority over other nations of this world.

Through this movie's portrayal of Indian slums, God reminded me that I need to help and be there for others, both here and abroad. Although I would love to go to India to do mission work, It isn't guaranteed that I will. What is guaranteed is that God has prepared God works in advanced for me to do even here, in Seward, Nebraska to show the love of Jesus to others around me. And that's where I'll start.

A Not-So-Springy Break

Spring break should be a time for fun in the sun and flip-flops. Mine did not include either. However, I did have a lot of fun indoors.  My travels brought me to the chilly, wintry land of Minnesota, where there were negative degree windchill temperatures for many of the days I was there.  

Although my break was not the glorious vacation many spring breakers got on the beaches of Florida, it was a blast! I got to spend some time with my grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins.  Even though I didn't get to see my immediate family, I did enjoy some down time from classes.  I went to coffee shops, baby sat my cousins, shadowed a teacher for my Ed 101 class, went to the Minneapolis Institute of Art (which is closed on Mondays, just so you know), and spent time at my Cousin's house in St. Paul.  

Overall it was a great break to spend more time with my wonderful family I am so blessed to have!

As Africa Ails

Africa brings to my mind a variety of mental pictures.  Some are of lions and giraffes and safaris, but most are of poor people in small villages.  Although my thoughts are probably a bit skewed from the truth by suppositional stereotypes, there is a lot of validity in this as well.  Almost all news headlines about Africa in recent years have accounted the extreme poverty of the people and their inauspicious governments. 

America has continued to grow to become the greatest nation in the world, since its more recent birth in 1776, while the ancient civilizations of Africa have struggled just to maintain existence in the past several decades.  According to an article published by the Cato Institute on foreign aid to Africa, both the United States and Great Britain have pumped billions of dollars into the UN and Africa to try to ameliorate the problems which plague the continent.  Instead this money has barely even palliated the struggles of the African nations. 

It is hardly surprising that countries like Ghana and Uganda have escaped development and continue to endure the same arduous, economic problems when their budgets are more than 50% aid dependent.  What kind of motivation do these people have for developing their countries when rich nations seek pity on them year after year?  What the United States is doing in Africa can be compared to merely covering up a festering wound with a band-aid.  There is not progress. 

My heart breaks for the African people who just can't seem to catch a break.  I pray that their countries will grow and develop local infrastructure, industry, and trade.  However, there is no way that this will happen while they can easily use the USA as a crutch to escape the inevitability that they must overcome their struggles.  

I love the fact that there are organizations, both humanitarian and religious, which are working in Africa to help the poor, the refugees, and the sick.  I think that this aid is not only a boon for the people, but also a necessary part in the development of their social programs.  Governmental involvement in this kind of aid is where we should draw the line.  There is not much incentive to develop when richer countries are just sending ample amounts of funds into the countries.  Local industry is hurt and therefore economy suffers.  Instead governments, if they want to help, should offer aid to the industry of these countries and foster trade as well. 

A HUGE problem remains which I have not addressed thus yet.  Many of the governments in Africa currently are very corrupt and erroneous in nature.  My true feelings are that nothing good can  truly happen in this continent until these kinds of villainous charlatans are taken out of office and leaders for free trade markets, individual liberties and justice are instated. 

That is when Africa will truly be a wonderful place again, God willing.