Japanese Children's Day, Koinobori!!

Koinobori are carp-shaped carp wind socks, decorate from April through early May, in honor of a traditional event which is now designated a National holiday, Children's Day (originally Boys' festival) on May 5. They are made by drawing carp patterns on paper, cloth or other nonwoven fabric whichi are allowed to flutter in the wind. The carp symbolizes courage and strength because of its ability to swim up a waterfall, so Japanese people decorate the Koinobori to hope that sons in one's house will grow up healthy and strong. The decorating order has a meanig that the biggest (black) koinobori for the father, next biggest (red) for the eldest son, and ranging down to the smallest carp for the youngest son.
These carp sets are flown above the roofs of houses.

In Tokyo, they fly small famly of Koinobori from the apartment balconies or the house's yards. In the countryside, whole towns become one big festival of Koinobori. Koinobori come in a variety of sizes, designs and colors, but they are all beautiful, and the figure of flying Koninobori looks as if they are swimming in the sky. I miss Koinobori in Japan.

The Brave Kazakhs Pilots from DOSAAF Club

      Do you know that the distance from Almaty, Kazakhstan to San Diego is 20,000 kilometers?  I was suprised when I heard that Kazakhs pilots from the DOSAAF aviation club traveled this distance in 1992.  I think it was possible to reach this distance thanks to brave pilots who are members of this aviation club.  This club has prepared many excellent pilots and Kazakh astronauts.  First, the pilots began the flight from Almaty on August 28, 19992 and landed in San Diego in October 22, 1992.  I cannot imagine how they traveled so long distance in such a light airplane as an Antonov An-2.  I have seen this airplane many times and once flew in this airplane but for a very shot distance.  It was the first time in history that pilots flew this distance in such a light airplane.  The crew of an Antonov An-2 consisted of a captain, a co-pilot, and a flight engineer.  In addition, it was a very long flight through Siberia, Kamchatka, the Bering Sea, and Alaska to the Western coast of Canada and America and to the Mexican border. Second, the crew met a lot of difficulties during the flight: the autumn fogs, the storm of Primorskij, a Japanese typhon, and cold weather in Alaska.  Furthemore, the crew had 47 landings.  But an even more unusual event in the history of the Almaty aviation club happened later, in October-November 2000.  The crew of a Mi-2 helicopter with the same captain flew from Almaty to Oakland, California.   It was an international crew since the navigator of this flight was a 69-year-old  pilot and a citizen of America, Thierry Nicolas Tis.  In this way the pilots demonstrated that all is possible if a person is brave.  It would be great to have a flight from America to Kazakhstan in the Northeast directon.  I hope that some day I will fly to my home country in this direction  but on a big airplane.

Movie Land

Durango is not only call “La Tierra de los Alacranes” (the scorpions land), but is also know as the “movie land.” Durango has been known as the movie land due to its natural beauty (its architecture, historical buildings, parks and churches.) also for being a popular site for national and international movie directors and productions. In Durango we have a place that is in charge of assisting cinematographic productions. Its job is to get support from the government, also to get work permits, visas, and anything they might need. Durango has a building call Durango Cultural Complex where you can find the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), the Institute of Culture of the State (ICED) and diverse museums. This building has the Museum of Movies, which was built to teach the history and potential of Durango’s cinematography industry. It also has the Rafael Trujillo Museum, where there are numerous objects of the history of movies in Durango. This museum has six exhibition rooms. Here we can find old fashioned movie cameras, an auditorium and movie library with hundreds of films. Some of the movies filmed in Durango are One Man’s hero, the Mask of Zorro, Cisco Kid, revenge and many others. If you are not afraid of SCORPIONS, and if you ever travel to Durango don’t forget to visit Teatro Ricardo Castro

A neoclassical theater which at one time was a boxing arena and cinema.

also Museo Regional de Durango ( Regional museum of Durango) , Which was built in the 19th century. This museum exhibits invaluable archaeological and anthropological treasures along with an important collection of religious objects. this museum has a mural on canvas depicting the life and deeds of Francisco "Pancho" Villa, one of the most famous person of Durango.

Celebration of "El Dia del Niño"

In Mexico and here in America we celebrate El Dia del Niño every single year on the 30th of April. Eventhough its not an official holiday Mexicans honor the children thought the country. Sometimes they celebrate them by praparing big parties for all the children in the community or neighborhood. In each party they have piñatas, clowns and candy for the children and other times they give them presents like toys or materials for school and things like that. El Dia del Niño its a special day for all the children to promote their rights as children and to let others know how important each child is to the world, they are our future. El Dia del Niño is celebrated for children from babies to the age of 16 because its belived that at the age of 16 they start to grow up and not see themselves as children anymore.

Mariachi

Mariachi is a type of traditonal musical group from Jalisco, Mexico. Mariachi represents one of the most popular icons from the Mexican music and it is also well known abroad the world. Mariachi is usually interpret in special occasions such as mother´s day, birthday´s, family meetings, apologizes, weddindgs, quinceañeras (fifteen year old celebration).. In a Mariachi group there it can be from 6 until 12 musicians, but there it is not really a limit. Usually, a Mariachi consists of at least 3 violins, two trumpets, one Mexican guitar, a vihuela (high-pitched, five-string guitar) one guitarron (a small-scaled acoustic bass) and occasionally a harp. They dressup with a charro suit, a sombrero. Commonly, the color of their charro suit is black or white depending on the occassion.

When I was a little boy, I used to go with my grand pa to this place. Here is a big park, I wanted to go where this horse is.
With my frines we used to to to a place called los filtros a beutiful place. a big cascade was there. the water coming dow from a big lake. The first time when my father brought me to the United States I didnt want to come to this country. Mexico is a beutiful place to live.

This is the cathedral of Morelia Michoaca. In morelia Michoacan there are

many beutiful places where to go. Therew are many parks where people can enjoy their days off.

Morelia Michoacan has many lakes too. American people think that Tijuana is Mexico the truth is that they don't know many beutiful states. There in Mexico are so many beutiful places. I used to go to so many parks and lakes. I enjoyed the beuty of parks. Morelia Michoacan is a historic place in Mexico.

If you are planning a vacation to Mexico consider that is so beutiful Mexico. Don't take my words find out for yourself.

Thai food

Today, I will talk about Thai food because I just went to eat Thai food at Thai restaurant ^o^. Thai food is spicy and hot, and consisted of five flavors which are hot, sour, spicy, sweet, salty, and sometime bitter. Thai food is different in each region of Thailand; Northern, North Eastern, Southern, and central. Coconut milk, lime juice, fish sauce, different kinds of soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, palm sugar, fresh peppers, Thai herbs, tamarind, garlic, onions, Jasmine rice, and meat are the main ingredients in Thai food. There are different types of Thai food such as noodles (Pad Thai), curries (Green Curry), rices with side dishes (Stir-fry Basil), and so on. We usually use pork, seafood, and chicken in Thai food.
Thai desserts mainly contain coconut milk, palm sugar, rice flour, Pandan leafs, taro etc. The popular Thai desserts are sticky rice with ripe mango (Kao Niao Ma Muang), Pandan flavored rice flour noodles in coconut milk (Lod Chong Nam Ka Ti), taro rooted mixed with flour into balls in coconut milk (Bua Loy), Chestnuts covered in flour, jackfruit, tapioca, and Lod Chong in coconut milk (Ruam Mit). There are both hot and cold desserts; hot desserts usually cook by boiling all ingredients, and we use ice cube for cold desserts.

PS. We use a lot of coconut milk in Thai food and desserts because Thailand is full of coconut trees. Also, seafood in Thailand is quite cheap because Thailand is surrounded by the ocean.

If you guys want to try Thai food, I would recommend you to go to Happy Chang which is closed to Palomar college. This restaurant provides you with traditional and delicious Thai food. Here is the address :1450 W Mission Rd San Marcos, CA 92069

my identity...

So as you all may have guessed, i am a Mexican born in America. The whole topic for this blog is about culture, yet i find it difficult to identify myself. In any type of paper work I am latina, hispanic, mexican, or other, yet people look at me and jump the gun and say i'm Mexican, that i dont speak any english, that i am illegal. During these past few years we have had many walk outs, many protests for an amnisty for imagrents. I was not able to decide what side i wanted to support, and going to school seeing all these white americans carrying the flag as if they thought that they owned the country. walking around the school i heard so many racist comments being said to me and my hispanic peers. the comment that made me reflect the most was, "Go back to your country!" and to this day i still think about it, i look at my brown skin, and my long black hair, i see a mexican, i go out and live my life and talk to my friends, i am american. I was born here in the United States, this is my country, this is my native land, this should be my colture. I too celebrate the 4th of july, as my family celebrates 16 of september. I too celebrate christmas with the Santa clause, as well as celebrating noche buena. I am divided between two different worlds, i am a mexican and i am american. I get the best of both worlds, so you could say, and i enjoy having both coltures.

Tết Vietnam

New Year or Tết in the Vietnamese word, is a national holiday among all Vietnamese people. The Vietnamese usually return to their families during Tết to celebrate. In the days leading up to Tết, people are full on the streets and in the markets. They bustle buying food, flowers and things to decorate their house before New Year comes because during New Year, all of the shops will be closed. Each family cooks traditional food such as Thịt kho nước dừa(pork meat stewed with eggs in young coconut juice and fish sauce.), Dưa Hành(pickled onion and pickle cabbage), Củ Kiệu( pickled small leeks). Also, Hạt Dưa(or roasted watermelon seeds)and Mứt( dried candied fruits) are eaten during Tết. In addition, two sticky rices or bánh chưng (rectangular) and bánh giầy (circular) are essential in any Tết celabration. Vietnamese celebrates New Year during three days. The first day of Tết is reserved for family. Children wear new clothes and give the elders such as grandparents, parents, or uncles and aunts, the traditional greetings before receiving a red envelope which contains money. This tradition is called lì xì in the south Vietnam or mừng tuổi(happy new age) in the north. Friends have a friend reunion, in the second day of Tết, after a year they have not seen each other. They also wish each other luck and prosperity in the New Year. The third day of Tết is reserved for teachers, who are respected in Vietnam. In this day, students meet their teachers whom they love, and give their best wishes to their teachers. Common wishes for Tết are Sống lâu trăm tuổi means live up to 100 years (this is used by children for elders), An khang thịnh vượng means security and prosperity, Vạn sự như ý means may a myriad things go according to your will, Sức khoẻ dồi dào means plenty of health, Cung hỉ phát tài means congratulations and be prosperous, and Tiền vô như nước means may money flow in like water (this is used informally). Vietnamese people very cheer these wishes and believe that these wishes will come true in new year. There are still many traditional ceremonies and fun activities during Vietnamese’s Tết. Vietnamese people relax and have fun during Tết. They are proud of having a great national holiday as Tết, which gives family members, relatives, friends or students and teachers an occasion to gather together and wish each other the best wishes. Wherever they go, Vietnamese people always remember about their national holiday and wish to gather together with their families.

Japanese transportation

In my country Japan, there are many kinds of transport.

There are many taxis on the every roads, subways and trains, also there are Shinkansen.

Shinkansen can run 300km/h it means about 187mph. It is the fastest transportation all over the world. As you see, there are so many lines of the trains and subways.

One line (black-and -white)is circle. So we can take the trains anywhere anytime. I miss Japanese convenience transportation.

Afghan Food (from Ahmad)

Afghans just like any other of its neighboring countries shares very close food culture. In many of the Asian countries, their famous food is rice. Afghan people have many types of rice, and one of it that I will explain is Qabili. Qabili is a delicious type of food, which is made from rice. Rice is cooked separately and is prepared many hours before its cooking time. The rice is left in water for many hours so it becomes ready. Then it is cooked. At the same time, carrots are chopped and mixed with raisins. Then both are deep fried and the carrots take the sweetness of the raisins. When the rice is served with meat in between, the carrots and the raised in sprinkled on top of it, giving the rice a sweet taste.

Mothers Day spice

Mothers day is coming don't forget to congradulate your mothers on May the tenth. My culture tends to celebrate onece a year a special day for the moms. Mothers should be thank for taking care of their children every day.They are also fortunate that they have a day for thenselves. It's like a birthday party al the family comes together to celebrate. We bring varies traditional food such as, carne asada and rice and beens. It all depends on what the family wants to make to celebrate, but always around our food we need salsa to spice any plate of food up.

Dia de la Virgen

Dia de la Virgen is celebrated on December 12 because on this day she apeard to an indian named Juan Diego. She appeard in "el cerro del Tepeyac" which is located in Mexico city. In my town we celebrate this day by making long walks and dancing all over the streets.12 days before December 12 is when this walks start. Groups of people get together in the church to start the walk. Many are dreesed with white and red, some are dressed normal those are people who are just waliking while the others are dancing some type of ritual. People put a picture or a statue something representing "La Virgen"out of their houses on the street so when the dancers pass by they dance to "la Virgen". They do this walks for 12 days and the last day they walk on their knees a hole block until they get to the church. this is a very nice time of the year lots of people do this every year from kids to old people.

MARIACHI!!!

Marichi is the most popular and old music from Mexico. It is original from Jalisco during the 19th century. Marichi is differeent from other bands, because people, who is in a marichi, dress with the popular clothing from Jalisco. Songs are about love, politics, revolutionary heroes, and betrayal. In Jalisco, we can see Marichis on the streets or restaurants. Also, we have Marichi festivals like International Marichi Festival in Guadalajara, Jalisco. Thare are many songs, but there are two most popular songs: "La Cucaracha" and "El Marichi Loco." Also, some men pay Marichi to go in the night to his girlfrind or wife house to sing a love song. We called "Serenata."

Serbian Easter

First of all, Serbian Easter is one week after Catholic Easter simply because Serbian Orthodox Church uses Julian calendar whereas Catholic Church uses Gregorian calendar. Today is the first day of Easter.
Actually, Serbian Easter starts six weeks before actual Easter. For those six weeks people fast. First and last week of the fast people can eat only food made on the water. The purpose of fasting is that believer can receive sacrament.
First big day of those six weeks is Great Tuesday where believers go on service which is dedicated to The Last Supper. Food and wine on the table represents Christ’s body and blood, respectively. That night it was established Holy Secret of Sacrament.
Next day, Great Friday, day when Christ is crucified on Golgotha for Serbs is the saddest day. That was the sacrifice for the salvation of the world. When he saw what solders and people doing to Him, He said” Father, forgive them they don’t know what they are doing.” On Great Friday believers don’t cheer, sing, and churches’ bells don’t ring, because the bells represent cheer. Priests say prayer for the piece of the holy tapestry “Plaštanica” which represents Christ’s grave. Also, on Great Friday believers paint the eggs. First egg has to be colored in red and kept as a guardian of the home. This even comes from the time of roman empire where Maria Magdalena, follower of Christ, gave to Roman Emperor the red egg and said ”Hristos vaskrese (He is risen.)” Red color symbolizes Christ’s innocent blood. Some believers eat only food prepared on the water; however some believers don’t eat at all.
Great Saturday is the day when believers gather in front of the church before midnight and they go around the church three times, welcoming beginning of the Easter.
Easter day is Sunday, when Christ was risen from death, and it is the greatest day for believers. That is the day when believers go on the early service to get sacrament. After arriving home from church, believers prepare Easter celebration meal, which is full of meat, because the fast is over. Also, eggs’ purpose on the Easter is to either gave them as a gift, or crash them in competition for the strongest egg. This a most joyful holiday because brings family and people together.