North Korea

North Korea:

Today is Kim Jong IL’s birthday. In this country, they call it “The Day of the Shining Star”. On this day the people of Pyongyang lay flowers at the feet of Kim Jong IL’s statue, and thousands attend his wreath laying ceremony.

We know Kim Jong IL as a ruthless dictator, but through isolationism imposed by the Kim Jong, and through untiring government propaganda, the people of North Korea do not quite see him this way.

The myth about his birth is one that is so strange, it is hard t see how anyone in the modern world believes it, of course North Korea isn’t actually part of the modern world.

The myth goes like this: Kim Jong IL was born in a log cabin in winter, while his father was fighting the Japanese.  When he was born, a bright star appeared in the sky and winter immediately became spring. Rainbows appeared in the sky. All this marked him as the being sent from heaven.

There are many more stories like this about Kim Jong IL. How many North Koreans believe the stories, is hard to say. For more on this see: http://listverse.com/2010/05/30/top-10-crazy-facts-about-kim-jong-il/

Experience:

When I was in high school, I went to model UN. I was given North Korea, but had been told tat I was given South Korea. I spent most of my time researching South Korea, before someone correct the error. I then had two days to look up the all I could on North Korea.

At this time, North Korea was termed part of the “Axis of Evil”. This realization doomed my experience at Model UN. Instead of representing an economically stable modern country I was representing an isolationist communist country.

Our school had only prepared for this for two weeks. It was set up by our Government and Economics teacher as a small extra credit assignment. Many of the schools we were competing against had taken an entire class devoted to model UN where there final semester grades hinged on this assignment. We as a school was completely outgunned.

One of my opponents was a student representing the United States. He was a typical popular kid: well dressed, well spoken, and arrogant. The U.S. representative was a complete bully towards North Korea. I only made two friends: the representative of China and the representative of Australia. All and all, I had a lot of fun, even when if I represented a country that was doomed to appose all countries I came up against.

T.V.

My favorite part of looking into this country was getting the chance to watch episodes of my favorite TV show: M*A*S*H. I love this show. I had left all the Seasons with my husband except for Season 9. Today was snowy, and I had very little to do, so I watched 2/3 of the season.

The T.V. takes place in Korea during the Korean war. It follows the doctors and nurses of a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital. It dives into what many of the people who were stationed in Korea went through, including: how bad the food was, dealing with army bureaucracy, and dealing with the constant barrage of wounded.

In this season Margaret (Hot Lips, the head nurse) deals with her best friend’s battle with an alcohol problem, Hawkeye (the head doctor) deals with the realization that the army has stocked up enough tongue depressors to last them through a five year war, and another doctor deals with the fact that for the first time he is away from his wife on their anniversary.

Food:

I had a lot of trouble finding Korean food in the town that I am living in. When I asked an employee of the grocery store if they had Kim Chi she told me she had never heard of it. I finally asked the guy making the sushi if they had any, he was the only one I spoke to who even knew what it was, but they didn’t have any there. For those of you who do not know what Kim Chi is, it is picked cabbage (or radish), normally spicy, and similar to sauerkraut.

Instead, I will be making Korean Barbeque chicken, stir fried bok choi (Asian Cabbage) in sesame oil, sticky rice, and steamed chicken pot stickers.

Work Cited:

Mikes. “Top 10 Crazy Facts About Kim Jong IL”. Listverse. Published : 30 May 2010. http://listverse.com/2010/05/30/top-10-crazy-facts-about-kim-jong-il/ . Retrieved: February 16, 201

“North Korea Marks Birthday of Kim Jong IL”. Voice of America. Published: 16 February 2014. http://www.voanews.com/content/north-korea-marks-birthday-of-kim-jong-il/1852293.html. Retrieved: February 16, 2014.

 Rappaport, John. “M*A*S*H. Season 9”. 1980-1981.

Bolivia

Bolivia:

Today I was focused on Bolivia, a country in South America. This is one of the countries where the tropical rain forest meet the cold ridges of the Andes. 

Movie:
One of my favorite movies that features South America is "The Motorcycle Diaries". In this movie, young Che Guevara  and his friend rides across South America (including Bolivia). There goal is to finish there tour of South America by Che's friend's birthday. Their goal is to eventually reach a leper colony, but the purpose of the trip is to have fun an adventure before they enter the real working world. There trip itself is fraught with set backs, taking them through towns, farms, and snow.

Food:

For breakfast, I had quinoa with milk and stevia which I made much the way one would make rice pudding. The idea o this came from a Peruvian friend of mine- Peru being one of Bolivia's neighbors. (Quinoa and Stevia are both native to this region).

For dinner I made a black bean soup and Salteñas, a savory pastry filled with meat and sometimes vegetables. I winged this recipe: I mixed potatoes, boca "meat" and Spanish spices (including salt). I boiled this, as the filling. For the crust I used Pillsbury pizza crust. I cut the crust dough into 6 squares and filled it with the spiced cooked filling. I then cooked it at 375 for a 15 minutes.  

Work Cited:
"Bolivia". Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolivia#Cuisine . Retrieved: February 15, 2014.

Salles, Walter. "Motor Cycle Diaries". Released: 2004.

"Salteñas". Wikipedia.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salte%C3%B1as. Retrieved: February 15, 2014.

Jamaica

Jamaica

On February 5^th I looked into Jamaica. I didn’t look into it the way I usually do, by looking up a ton of things on Wikipedia. I woke up to Bob Marley, and then like Usian Bolt (in extreme slow motion), I got in a run. At then end  of the day I actually went and saw my friend Tevita who is from Jamaica.

Conversation:

I hadn’t seen this friend in a few years, so I was really excited about seeing her.

While I was at her place we discussed Jamaican home life, and how the elderly live with the family. Tevita told me that prior to moving to the U.S, she thought it was awful that American’s put there elderly family into homes. She had thought that the homes would be cramped and lonely. While many of them are, she has decided that enough of them are much better then what she had expected.

Keeping the elderly at the house is really based on the fact that in Jamaica someone is always home to look after people. In the U.S. this is not the case. Once a person here is no longer able to take care of themselves, there is no one home. Many cases, everyone is working or going to school at the same time of day.

Many people of different cultures do look unfavorably at nursing homes and assisted living. What a lot of people o not realize is that assisted living is often a either a chose by the person staying there or a last resort after the family discovers that they cannot handle the individual on there own.

I have to admit, very few of my family has been in assisted living. I have 90 year old grandmother still living on her own, a step great grand mother in her 90’s living on her own who often helps her “elderly” neighbors (who are younger then her). My maternal grandmother, who couldn’t take care of herself even had been living in her own home up until her death. My mom had reverse mortgaged her house to pay for a live in maid. The one exception to this lack of assisted living is my Grampa (Paternal Grandmother’s second husband). This had been a tough decision. My grandmother and grandfather had been living with each other, but my grandmother decided she just couldn’t take care of him by herself, even with family just up the road from her.

Food:

Tevita made a fantastic dinner: which included boiled corn, boiled sweet potato, boiled plantains, jerk chicken, and mackerel. She also made these dumplings. I had told her that I really like the dumplings. Her reply was that a Jamaican would never admit to liking those, because it is just filler. It would be like telling someone how much you like plain rice. The entire meal was impressive. She must have spent a long time making it.

She had also made fresh fruit juice. She explained to me that most people make there own juice. This was also incredible. When I got home I opened a bottle of Red Stripe, “Jamaican for Beer”, which unlike Tevita’s drink, was awful.

Movie:

Jamaica is known for its runners, like Usian Bolt. It rarely makes an appearance in the winter Olympics. One of my favorite movies about Jamaica is “Cool Runnings”. This movie is about the Jamiacan bobsled team, and is loosely based on the team that went to the Olympics in 1988. The movie is a comedy staring John Candy as the teams coach. The team must overcome discrimination and overturn disqualifications in order to compete, and though they do not medal they feel accomplished just by the fact that they were able to compete.

Olympics:

This year, the Jamaican bobsled team is back at the winter Olympics for the first time since 2002. This year they found themselves short the funding that they needed to make it to the game, so the team went web pandering, and were able to raise times the minimum amount they would need to go.

They are not favorites to win, but they are there, and they hope to stun the world by winning a medal.

Work Cited:

“Bobsled Team Winning Would Make Great Story, But They Face Uphill Battle In Sochi”.  NESN. Published: February 14, 2014. http://nesn.com/2014/02/jamaican-bobsled-team-winning-would-make-great-story-but-they-face-uphill-battle-in-sochi/ Retrieved: February 15, 2014.

Turteltaub, Jon. “Cool Runnings”. Disney. Released: 1 October 1993

New Zealand

As many of you know, I am very behind on my post. I am still doing what the activities that I write about, but I have not actually been able to type out the words.

New Zealand

Last month I wrote about the tiny nation of Niue, a country whose citizens enjoy duel citizenship with that of New Zealand. So last week I decided that I needed to know more about the country of New Zealand itself.

When I think of New Zealand, I normally think: “Hey, that’s close to Australia”, more like 900 miles from Australia. There is a whole sea, the Tasman Sea, between the two countries. Still there are a few similarities between the two countries, aside from relative proximity. They are both former British colonies, islands, whose major inhabitants are English Speaking Caucasians.

There are a few minorities here, like the native Maori Culture (a Polynesian subgroup), Asians, and other Pacific Islanders.

The Maori traditionally dress in very neutral colors with clothing decorated with feathers. Many of the Maori have traditional tattoos, including tattoos on the face.

T.V.

I was pretty young when I was first exposed to New Zealand, though it was unknown to me at the time. When I was a child, one of my favorite shows was “Chip ‘n’ Dale’s Rescue Rangers”. The 11^th episode of the first season takes place in New Zealand, though this is never specifically stated.

In the show the team of rodents has to steal back their flying contraption after Kiwi’s start worshiping it as a “flying god”.  Kiwis themselves are flightless birds endemic to New Zealand (People of New Zealand also call themselves Kiwis). In the show, the camp of Kiwis have a witch doctor (common in Maori tribes).

Food:

Since a majority of people here are of European decent, much of the food here is similar to that of Britain’s. For lunch on this day I chose to eat fish and chips. For dinner I had sausage sizzle: Pan fried sausage with caramelized onions, and mustard with white bread (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sausage_sizzle).

The Maori people had grown taro (what Hawaiians make poy) and sweet potatoes, so I also enjoyed chips made from the roots.

New Zealand is also famous for their wine. I was able to find a New Zealand wine at the local grocery store, Starborough. This is a delightful Sauvignon Blanc with tart citrus flavors.

Work Cited:

“Chip and Dale’s Rescue Rangers”. Season 1, Episode 11. “Kiwi’s Big Adventure. Aired: September 29, 1989.

Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiwi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_cuisine

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sausage_sizzle . Retrieved: February 6, 2013.

San Marino

San Marino

Last week I looked into San Marino, a small country surrounded entirely by Italy.  It was one of the smallest countries in world.

 Experience:

My dad had briefly visited San Marino when he was in Italy years ago. He didn’t tell me much about the country except that it didn’t seem to stand out too much from Italy. He had veal while he was there, because he ate veal almost every day that he was in Italy and the countries within.

At the time veal was very expensive in the U.S. My dad thought it was fancy, and it was less expensive there. By the time he left, he was tired of veal.

 Food:

I stopped at my dad’s house on this day to visit with him. My step mom made a wonderful baked pasta dish, and my dad made salad with Italian dressing.

Germany

Germany:
I have never officially been to Germany, but last winter I had a connection flight through
Frankfurt last December. The experience itself was interesting. My mother-in-law often
comes to the U.S. from India, and she likes to use Lufthansa Airlines, but every time she
comes she complains about how bad security is. I never paid much attention; she often
comes on September 11, so I often contributed her complaints to heightened security
due to the significant of the day she flies.

However, this my view changed after going through there myself. There were no long
lines in Frankfurt’s security. I was able to get through quickly, but it was a different story
for my husband, who is Indian. We got through the first check point with no problems.
They had to check a few extra things on Arvind’s visa since he was not from the EU
or U.S. We got through the checkpoint and began to hurry through the airport. Ten
other men were near us hurrying at the same speed. They were dressed similarly to my
husband with similar builds. The only difference was they were white and my husband is
a dark Indian man.

Out of nowhere we hear: “You”, a security guard says point to Arvind go over there and
get checked. I laughed, but my Husband was pissed. He went and got a good pat down.
Where the security guard signed off his ticket.
At the gate one of the airline attendance tried pulling Arvind aside for further
questioning. They assumed he didn’t speak English so they were going to get someone
who spoke his language. By the end of our time at this airport Arvind had two signatures
on his ticket compared to my zero signatures.
I do not mean to suggest that all people from Germany are xenophobic. Arvind and I
have plenty of friends living the U.S. from Germany, none of them have ever treated
Arvind poorly. I have friends from other races that have done foreign exchange
programs in Germany, and I have never heard them complain about there treatment.

Movies:
German’s generally do not like to be referred to as xenophobic, the holocaust has left
many people ashamed of there own past and there treatment of others. One place
where this can be seen is in the documentary, “Hitler’s Children”. The movie tells the
stories of the children and grandchildren of some of the highest ranking officers in he
Nazi regime. All that were interviewed are highly troubled with what their own family
had done. Though they personally are innocent of any crimes perpetrated against
holocaust victims, they lead lives riddled with guilt.

Books:
There is no shortage of literature about Germany. I did not want to only focus on the
Holocaust. So I chose to read up on the Berlin Wall. The end of World War II lead right
into the Cold War. One of the countries that were highly effected by this was Germany.

The book, Year that Changed the World: The Untold Story Behind the Fall of the Berlin
Wall, shows what lead to the end of the Cold War and how it effected many of the
countries around the world. The book not only talks about the end of the cold war, but
also discusses the difference between East and West Germany prior to the time that
Berlin wall was taken down.

Work Cited:
MYear that Changed the World: The Untold Story Behind the Fall of the Berlin
Wall

"Hitler's Children".

Japan

Japan:
My last post on Japan focused on the relationship Japan had with China. This time, I
would like to focus just on the Japanese culture itself. When we think of Japan, one
of two images comes to mind: modern Japan and classical Japan. Both of these are
often portrayed in TV and movies. In M*A*S*H the soldiers often go to Tokyo, where
they are occasionally seen at bath houses. In the TV show “Heroes”, we see Hero come
from a very modern Japan and go back in time to historic Japan. In the movie, “Fast
and Furious: Tokyo Drift” we only see modern Japan, with its heavy traffic, wonderful
fashions, and ultra modern buildings. Indeed, media does a good job of conveying the
Japanese culture.

Movie:
One of my favorite movies about Japan is “Memoirs of a Geisha”. The movie starts
before the onset of World War II and ends after the war. The story line itself follows
Chiyo, who is taken from her fishing village as a girl and finds herself in the world of
the Geisha. It follows her rise to becoming a well respected Geisha, and the roadblocks
along the way.

Throughout the movie we see what Japan must have been like in the early 20th
We see typical forms of Japanese entertainment: Sports, theater, and dining. We also
see the difference between a Geisha and a prostitute, and how vastly different the
lifestyles of people in these two professions are. Finally we see the hardships of life in
Japan just after World War II, and how the war changed the lives of people like those in
Chiyo’s life.

Book:
With the help of the U.S. Japan was able to overcome adversary and become a modern
nation. In the 1980’s Japan already had a modern infrastructure including a modern
highway system. One of my favorite Japanese books that shows this is IQ84. The heroine
of this book is Aomame (not to be confused with Edamame, an assassin focused on
ridding Japan of the abuse of women. She finds herself in a parallel universe that is
similar to her own, but that has some significant differences. The year is 1984, but she
acknowledges the differences between her world and the new world she finds herself in
by calling the year, IQ84. She spends the entirety of the book trying to get back to 1984.

She can tell the difference in the two worlds by IQ84’s double moons. She not only has
to get out herself, she also is tasks with helping other people, including a man that she
knew back in school, Tengo. Because there are differences between the two worlds, she
finds that she cannot trust her own knowledge of Japanese events.
IQ84 is entertaining and imaginative. The book itself was written in three volumes, and
was written in Japanese and later translated into English. The characters are rich, and
you cannot help wanting to know what comes next in the book.

Sports:
With the winter Olympics fast approaching, this is an exciting time to follow the
happenings of other countries. When we think of Japan, we normally do not think
“figure skating”, yet Japan has some of the top female figure skaters lined up to
participate in the 2014 Winter Olympics. Top Japanese contenders include: Mao Asada,
Akiko Suzuki, and Kanako Murakami, and Narumi Takahashi.

I got to sit down and watch Takahashi perform. She was elegant with no points taken off
for technicalities. She is the shortest member of the Japanese team, so she needs more
power to perform some of her moves.

Food:
I decided to go easy on making my life easier when it came to food. Instead of making
dishes from scratch, like I normally do, I went and bought pre-made food. I steamed
edamame, California roll made with brown rice, and miso soup. I also had warm sake, a
traditional Japanese rice wine.

Work Cited:
Lin, Justin. “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift”. Released: 2006.

Martel, Rob. “Memoirs of a Geisha”. Released: 2005.

Murkami, Haruki. IQ84. Published: 2009.

 Yee, Lawrence. “Olympic figure skating preview: 10 ladies to watch”. 27 January 2014.
sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved: February 2, 2014.