Chinese Food

In the Chinese culture, presentation is very important. Only by combining excellent food with good manners can this art of Chinese cuisine be truly enjoyed to the full. The Chinese have many cooking methods they can use: boiling, stewing, braising, frying, steaming, crisping, baking, and simmering.

The Chinese regard eating as an art, which is by combination of sight, smell, touch, and taste. Chinese food is a dominant branch from the Chinese culture and the purpose is to preserve health. It is a perfect mixture of color, shape, appearance and flavor.

Our Western versions are extremely high in calories and fat, we have many restaurants all over and they are pretty popular to go to. Chinese food is deeply rooted into the Chinese history. Respect is also a huge bit of importance though, guests should not start to eat until the host says, 'Please enjoy yourself' or something like that, otherwise it is a sign showing disrespect.

The way the Chinese eat this special Chinese cuisine would be hard for most Americans to pick up on. China is the hometown of chopsticks. The culture of chopsticks has a long history in China and the tradition of using chopsticks as eating utensils was introduced to many other countries in the world such as Vietnam, North Korea and South Korea.

The invention of chopsticks reflects the wisdom of Chinese ancient people. A pair of chopsticks, though they look simple, can nip, pick, rip and stir food. Nowadays, chopsticks are considered to be lucky gifts for marriage and other important ceremonies.

http://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/culture/

http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/cuisine_drink/cuisine/

http://www.free-fad-diets.com/chinese-food-calories.html

http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/cuisine.htm

Christmas in Peru

Christmas in Peru is pretty much celebrated late at night on the 24th, mostly for parents. Many will go to house parties all night to five or six in the morning! Kids will find gifts under the tree brought by Santa Claus.. It’s funny to them how Santa still dresses the same as he would in cold weather with his big red jacket, but it would be more appropriate to wear in the US because it’s actually winter. In Peru it’s already summer when Christmas time comes around. Their summer actually begins in December. Winter is from June to October.

A lot of families will buy fireworks and fire them by midnight, fireworks are illegal in Peru too. After the kids go to bed parents go to or have big parties at their houses. Salsa music is some of what they’ll play and the living room will most likely turn into a dance floor. Music and a few drinks is how most spend the next few hours of what we call Christmas Eve together. This is how many Americans spend Christmas Eve too, then many will spend Christmas day with immediate family.

In Peru on the 25th not much happens, people usually sleep in and may attend another party, but not until late at night. January 6th is when people traditionally exchange gifts.

As for Christmas dinner, if you go to someone’s house, you shouldn’t show up empty-handed. Much like Christmas in America, people usually bring a dish of something to another’s house. One thing that would be good to bring is a high cake (like a fruitcake), which comes in a box. They have similar food, most families that can afford a whole turkey, will have turkey.

Apple sauce is also a must in the supper.

http://www.perulinks.com/amigos/Xmas.html

http://www.dosmanosperu.com/dosmanos/english/latin-culture/fiestas/christmas.php

Jamaican Eats

The most popular dish in Jamaica is jerk. The main ingredient is pork, chicken or fish, marinated with a unique Jamaican spices, pimento or allspice, nutmeg and thyme. It’s served with even more hot sauce, rice and peas, and bread. Jerk is one of the ultimate Jamaican dishes, dating back to the island’s earliest days. The practice of cooking the meat over the flame was started by the Arawak Indians. Jamaican jerk is pretty much dried meat, kind of like our beef jerky. Jerk chicken is a popular one, but they also make the jerky we have here and other various kinds of meats cooked with their spices over flames. The chicken and beef that they make is much more like when we have barbeques, they just add more spice and hot sauce usually. Doesn't that chicken look delectable?

Another really poplular food Jamaicans eat with everyday meals is sometimes called journey cakes or patties, they are actually fried or baked breads. You can get them baked and unbaked too! Chicken and beef patties are popular too, they are the same, but filled with beef or chicken then fried to perfection! This is pretty different from anything in America, but I have a feeling most people would be more than willing to try it.

http://www.jamaicans.com/tourist/overview/eating-2.shtml
http://www.mapsofworld.com/jamaica/food/jerk.html

Music in Indonesia

Music in Indonesia: Java, Sumatra and Bali. The traditional music of central and East Java and Bali is the gamelan. In 1965, a law was passed that banned Western-style pop or rock music. In that same year, Koes Plus, an Indonesian pop group in the 1960s- 80s, was imprisoned for playing Western-style music. When the law was disbanded, the prison was destroyed and replaced with a big mall. The new mall in is now the center of recording, production and distribution of modern Indonesian pop and rock music.

After pop/rock music was disbanded, it became more popular especially with teens. Adolescence in Indonesia also watch MTV and like to go to concerts, similar to the teens here in America. Teens in Indonesia listen to music called bollywood music, like the music they hear in movies.

I would apply this is kind of like the iceberg deal in chapter two, part of the surface-level culture (popular culture) I would say because it’s only the music that is popular and what teens there enjoy. You don’t need to know the person for two years before being able to comfortably ask them what kind of music they enjoy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Indonesia
http://www.youthnoise.com/page.php?page_id=1934

Life Expectancy

Swaziland has the lowest life expectancy in the world, only 39.6 overall. Then for men 39.8 years and 39.4 years for women. Im sure your wondering why it's so ridiculously low?

Life expectancy in the U.S. is much higher, not the highest in the world, but it’s in the top quarter. The overall expectancy is 78.2 years, then 75.6 for men and 80.8 for women.

Swaziland is a small, landlocked country a bit smaller than New Jersey. There is a lack of water and it is also one country suffering from very high rate of HIV/AIDS infections, actually the highest rate in the world. Seventy percent of these people only live on less than one US dollar per day! That can give you a pretty good idea of why the expectance is so low..

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

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/wz.html

Here is a link to let you do your own investigating to see how the life expectancy calculator works and what it looks at. http://calculator.livingto100.com/calculator

This is one more link to a different calculator if you would like to compare between the two calculators as I did.

http://www.peterrussell.com/Odds/VirtualAge.php

It does take a few minutes to do, but it’s so interesting!! It may not be all that easy for younger people to take it though, it looks at a few things that would be in the future for some, but you can still try and see.

Personal Space

There are many different preferences for distance between two people in any given culture. There are intimate, personal, social, and public distances to be aware of. Many can be similar, but the ones that are different have the likelihood to cause discomfort or confusion for one or both of the people in the situation.
In America, our cultural norm for social distance is four to twelve feet! Then, for the Saudi Arabians, their ideal distance for conversation is only nine to ten inches.
This difference in distance could cause a problem, such short distance has a great chance of making any person uncomfortable. Say someone starts talking, just friendly conversation, but even a stranger that wasn't known and they came that close to me I would back up quite a bit. It's just an awkward situation most people would not like being in. Each person has a comfort zone, it is important that space needed is given. Invasion of this comfort zone probably has people freaking out a bit inside when it happens, but to be polite most will just try to step back and continue conversation. Well, untill they can leave, then say they're glad that's over.
It all depends on who you are talking to, if it's a close friend or a person your in a relationship with, your bubble won't be very large because you are both comfortable with eachother.

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

http://www.worsleyschool.net/socialarts/personal/space.html

Eye Contact

Eye contact is considered a sign or honesty and strength in many cultures, but in some cultures it is instead, taken as a rude gesture as well as a way of showing disrespect. Eye contact occurs when two people catch each other’s eyes. One culture that views direct eye contact as a form of disrespect is the Asian culture. Direct eye contact can also be considered aggressive in many cultures.

http://danddsmommie.spaces.live.com/blog/cns8B586E30788FB99!233.entry

In the U.S we normally start a conversation with eye contact, but after a short period of time we let our eyes glance to the side, then re-connect with the other‘s. It is a bit uncomfortable if your talking to someone that doesn’t break eye contact. It’s almost as if they want to stare you down to win a game. For the Asian culture, too much eye contact can be looked at as disobedience as well.
One example to further show our different view on eye contact would be if a child gives direct eye contact to his or her parents, in the Asian culture, it is sometimes looked as that the child is challenging the parent or parents’ authority. Here, in the U.S. a parent may get upset if their child isn’t looking at them at all. They may think that he or she isn’t listening or that they aren’t being taken seriously (disrespected).

http://go-getglobal.com/g3blog/2007/11/09/eye-contact-asian-style/

In the North American culture, we value eye contact for the most part. It shows a sign of honesty and respect, however, it can be a bad thing if it turns into a ‘stare down’. A stare down would be a way to show anger or become a bit of a challenge for the other person. So if your from another part of the world, I wouldn’t suggest staring at a big guy with muscles, even if it’s okay in your culture!

In the U.S. it is also said by some that one that cannot make eye contact with another, he or she is untrustworthy. Luckily, not everyone goes by that saying.