Fushu Daiko - Japanese Tailo Drumming

                                              Fushu Daiko -  Japanese Taiko Drumming

Yesterday, Wednesday, June 27, after our speech class we had the opportunity to see a performance of the Fushu Daiko Group. The group was composed of five young men and women who were from different countries. They honored the Japanese culture by performing a type of musical show, using mainly different sizes of drums and also a flute and harp. The Taiko Drumming was really fantastic. It was very impressive to see the way they hit the drums making unique and strongly loud sounds that filled the whole room which was full of spectators. They performed with a lot of enthusiasm along with some type of body movement and choreography. The grand finale was amazing and they received lots of applauses from the audience. After the performance we were invited to have lunch and we tasted delicious meals prepared by the Vietnamese culture. We had fried rice, chicken in a type of sauce and a kind of vegetable salad chopped in small pieces. The food tasted really good. It wasn’t sour or spicy It had a taste of its own. We enjoyed eating while talking to our friends and Professor Ileana Porges who was the host of the celebration.

Three Seasons Extra Credit Movie Questions

Three Seasons Movie

What are the values that are admired?  The values are respect, obedience, compassion, kindness, love, patience, forgiveness, courage, friendship, determination and reconciliation.

How to people interact with one another?  There are three stories of three different people:  In the first story there is obedience, respect and compassion from Kien to her employer a former poet that is isolated from the world because he is an invalid dying of leprosy and he doesn’t have fingers. The second story has kindness, love, patience and forgiveness from Huy (a cyclo driver) to Lan, a prostitute who finally marries him. The last story is about Woody an innocent street boy who sells small things out of a box which he loses and he is determined to find it. An also there is a story of an American guy James Hager who is searching for his daughter, and we see forgiveness and reconciliation..

How is the culture similar or different from mine?  This is a Vietnamese film that shows a city with many buildings, luxury hotels, and also shows some parts of highly poor suburbs and a lotus field. The weather is tropical hot and humid with lots of rain.

What did you learn about the culture from watching the movie?  There is lots of poor people struggling trying to survive.  They transport themselves on bicycles, tricycles and motorcycles.  There are many informal vendors on the streets.

Would you like to visit the country or meet people from the country?  Explain your answer Yes of course, I would love to visit their country, meet their people, eat their food and learn about their culture.  I also would love to pick up lotus blossoms paddling a canoe on the pond.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATE

THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATE

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           Also called the Emirates or the UAE, is a country situated in Southwest Asia, bordering the Golf of Oman and the Persian Gulf. The UAE is a federation of seven emirates which are Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah, and Umm al-Quwain. The capital is Abu Dhabi.  Each federation is governed by a hereditary emir, with a single national president.  The president is chosen by the seven emirs, one of them gets to be the president.  UAE is considered as the world’s sixth-largest oil reserves and has one of the most developed economies in West Asia.  Their official language is Arabic and their religion is Islam.  Human rights are legally protected by their constitution.  There is equality, liberty and freedom of speech and religion.  The UAE has a multicultural society.  There are same ethnic groups like the Iranians, Indians and Pakistanis.  Muslims are called to prayer five times a day. Their weekend is Friday-Saturday, as a compromise to Friday’s holiness to Muslims. Most men prefer to wear a white tunic (kandura) and most women wear a black garment covering most parts of the body (abaya).  The UAE people have adopted most of their foods from the countries around them.  Like in most of the cultures around the world, rice is one of their main side dishes and for centuries seafood has been the mainstay of their diet.  They also eat meat.  Lamb and mutton (is the meat of an adult sheep) are the more favored meats, then goat and beef.  They don’t eat pork but it’s offered at some hotels and also they may sell it at specific supermarkets.  Their popular beverages are coffee and tea which can be drunk with cardamom, saffron or mint for a different flavor.  Alcohol is only served in hotel restaurants and bars (but not in Sharjah).  Alcohol is also sold only on specific stores.  One of the UAE dishes include:  Machboos, is a popular dish mainly made from a mixture of spices, rice and meat (could be chicken, goat, lamb, camel, beef, fish and shrimp.  The spices for this dish are generally black pepper, cloves, cardamom, saffron, cinnamon, black lime, bay leaves and nutmeg.  They can also add almonds, pine nuts, onions and raisins. It can be garnished with home made tomato sauce.  There are many ways to cook the meat for this dish.  One of the ancient techniques is barbecued in a deep hole in the ground which is covered while the meat is being cooked.  Another way is to grill the meat on flat stones that are placed on top of burning embers and the other way is to cook the meat in a pressure cooker. Machboos is also kwon as kabsa in other Arabian countries.  Harees, is also a popular dish made out of wheat meat or chicken.  Al Jabab or Raqaq is a type of unleavened flatbread usually made from whole-wheat flour and baked on a hot iron griddle called a tava. Another type is a thin flatbread that is fried and puffs up while cooked.  Football is the most popular sport in the UAE. Other popular sports include Cricket and Camel Racing.

United Arab Emirates. (2012, june 25). Retrieved from wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UnitedArabEmirates