Quarter 3 - Blog #8

Culture

http://www.everyculture.com/Ge-It/Greenland.html

The Culture of Greenland

Because I have yet to hear much about the culture of Greenland, I thought it would be an interesting one to look up for my blog. Greenland is the very northern piece of land near Canada and Antarctica located in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Being that this is true, it makes scence that there main food palate would include fish, and sometimes seal and polar bear meat in Inuit communities. Other staples include potatoes, vegtables and canned foods. Greenland is very dependent on there fishing and agriculture industries for means of there economy. Suprisingly, I found that arranged marriges are not unheard of, but also that Monogamous relationships also do occur where a man my have more than one wife. Christianity is practiced here, as many of the people are Lutheran. Storytelling has always been popular in there communities, as many myths come from the Inuit people for means of explaining moral behavior and standards. The fine and performing arts are based on the Inuit culture, and clothing is often decorated with handmade designs and traditional materials. Overall, I really had no idea this country had such a different culture or aspect than America's or Canada's - they seem very tradition based, but also very separate from the rest of the countries around it.

Quarter 3 - Blog #7

Change

In reference to the book "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya

Like all other good novels, Nectar focused on the difficult changes always present in Rukmani's life. Marrying at a young age due to Indian traditions, Rukmani had to adjust from being a young girl to a lower class wife. Throughout her entire life, Rukmani had to deal with hardships rooting from poverty. Change was usually negitive in her case, as she delt with loosing four of her children to hard times. Rukmani was never given enough time to settle into something new, for new change always seemed to strike imediatly after. Although change always seemed to come to Rukmani in very unfortunate situations, I do believe that change can also be a very good thing, and is neccessary to living a balanced life.

Quarter 3 - Blog #6

H O P E

http://www.wow4u.com/hope-thought/index.html

The Poem of Hope shares the essence of the word, explaining that without hope, there is nothing to look forward to, and nothing to bring you up when you are down. Being the optomistic person that I am, I do not look to the future without hope. When one loses all hope entirely, all is lost. To me, hope can be one's goals, dreams or just positive outlook on life.

As long as we have hope,
we have direction,
the energy to move,
and the map to move by.
We have a hundred alternatives,
a thousand paths and infinity of dreams.
Hopeful, we are halfway to where we want to go;
Hopeless, we are lost forever.

-Hong Kong Proverb

Quarter 3 - Blog #5

Non Belief

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

With those who strongly belive in our lord, there will always be a few who choose to disagree that he exists. In the unbelievers arguement, they try to show that if God truly did exist, there would be no one who doubted him. They state that if God actually wanted people to have faith in him, he would have brought on a situation where everyone would have believed in him. Being of Christian faith, however, I do believe that God has already "brought on" this situation. Dying on the cross for our sins is the only proof I need as a believer that our Lord has unconditional love for us. However, being that every person has free will, I do respect those who chose not to have any specific beliefs.

Quarter 3 - Blog #4

Gender Roles

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/gender/gender22a.htm

Although a much more relaxed perception in today's society, Gender roles had always been considered a far bigger deal - laying out a set of unwritten rules to men and women. It was the tradition that told women they must tend to the home and take care of the children while men left for a days work. Today, however, the old "norm" has been shifted, making it okay for both men and women to do what suits them - whether it being a man staying home with his kids, or a woman running her own business. Gender roles no longer decide a person's life path. Though some people still believe that we should go back to our nations old ways in order to raise children the "right way", I believe that it is important for people to do things their own way. I personally do not think it is right to make people feel they should conform to any certain role, and we live in a more fair and accepting country without these rigid requirements.

Quarter 3 - Blog #3

Aspects of Different Culture

http://www.indiancultureonline.com/

Through our recent reading and research in class, It is clear that Indian culture is very diverse from our American culture. Classical dance is still very popular there, and traditions from indias earliest times have been kept in tact. Whereas in our country, aspects of different culures have blended to form one great one. Here we dress very casually, but there they still stick to wearing "bindis" - the red dots worn apon a married woman's forhead, and beautiful robes called saris. One thing still very hard for me to grasp though, is arranged marrige. I cannot imagine marrying someone I do not love, let alone barely know. Still, I think India has a very unique and intreguing culture.

Quarter 3 - Blog #2

Overcoming Struggle

http://www.bethanyhamilton.com/

The story of Bethany Hamilton captured my attention when looking for people who have faced difficulty in there life, due to her life changing surfing incident. Bethany, a local Hawaiian, was 13 and had been surfing for years at the time a 14 foot tiger shark attacked and left her without her left arm. Surfing off Kauai's shore, she had been lucky to be there with friends and family who are given credit for saving her in time. Bethany lost sixty percent of her blood through this accident but incredibly recovered from sergery without any infections. About a month after this horrific event, Bethany got back in the water to try surfing one-armed. Amazingly, Bethany stayed optomistic and headed back into the spotlight of her surfing competitions soon after, which she had been so well known for before the attack. She prefers to be given the same treatments in the conferences as the other two armed competitors, and does not complain. Bethany continued to win more competitions and has herocially overcome her struggle. She is a supportive and inspirational public figure and is always doing some sort of charity work these days. Bethany has such an amazing story, because unlike others, she maintained who she was even through the hardship, and would not let loosing an arm defeat her passion of surfing.

Quarter 3 - Blog #1

Natural Disasters

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

Natural disasters are a powerful force that in the end, can distroy peoples lives physically and emotionaly. As seen in the news, entire cities can be wiped out due to natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornados or earthquakes. People have been left homeless, and have lost family and friends because of these unstoppable and unpredictable forces of nature. Mind blowing amounts of money have been lost in these disasters and also in the rebuilding of homes and entire towns. I imagine that in worst cases, it would be almost impossible to recover from such a tragety. Our vulnerability is what makes natural disasters so difficult, because there is not always time to prepare or flee before the issue arises. Natural disasters would be much weaker without the shock of the blow, and people would use prior knowledge for a variety of different disaster plans given the chance.