Quarter Three Blog #8 - Culture

I am 25% Swedish, so I decided that I would write about Swedish culture for this blog. A typical Swedish meal consists of boiled potatoes, meat or fish, a sauce, and some kind of vegetable. Swedes are very heavy coffee drinkers, second to Finland who takes first. Cider is also a staple at mealtime, the cider is sweet and fruity and is drunken almost as much as beer is. Most Swedish art is found in churches, and relates to religion. Focused on the devil, Jesus Christ, and the Virgin Mary. As far as fashion is concerned, the famous store Hennes & Maurtiz (H&M) is headquartered their. Singing is very popular in Sweden, as of its 9,000,000 people 600,000 are members of a choir. Swedes enjoy many genres of music, and famous musicians such as Britney Spears, the Backstreet Boys, and Bon Jovi have produced music in Sweden.

Citation:
"Culture of Sweden." Wikipedia. 2009. Wikipedia Incorporated. 25 Feb 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Sweden>.

Quarter Three Blog #7 - Change

The article I read was about job layoffs, and the changes and effects of that. With the economy only getting worse, there have been many job layoffs throughout the U.S. Many of which include big corporations such as Coca-Cola, General Electric, Yahoo, and many more. I myself have felt the effects of the economy as well. I am a nanny, and work Monday-Friday part-time, as well as full-time in the summer. But in September the mom of the family I word for lost her job, so I intern lost my job because of it. Now I know that I'm just a kid, so it really didn't have the same effect on me as it would have if I were an adult. But a few days ago I learned that she landed a new job, which means that I got my job back as well. It took her almost 6 months to find a job, and I can't imagine what it would be like. Most economists are saying that the economy will get worse before it gets better. I'm not sure if there is much we can do other than stay positive and look at the bright side. But clearly the economy is effecting everyone.

Uchitelle, Louis. "Spending Stalls and Businesses Slash U.S. Jobs." New York Times Company. 25 Oct 2008. 22 Feb 2009 <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/26/business/26layoffs.html>.

Quarter Three Blog #6 - Hope

For this blog since it had to be about hope, I decided to look up a poem about hope rather than an article. There are a few lines in the poem that I think describe my feelings about hope. "Hope is to remain positive when going gets tough" I think this describes hope really well because you have to be hopeful when things get tough in your life, and without it I think life would be very difficult. "Hope is dreaming of tomorrow" I think everyone has though about what they would like to achieve in their life, and hope is what makes you believe and try to achieve those goals. "Hope keeps all of us together" This line really strikes a cord with me because I think that so much of hope is relying on others, whether it be family, friends, or members of your church, and without those people in your life, it is very easy to become hopeless. "Hope is the last thing ever lost" I do think that even in the toughest of times, people who always have a positive attitude will always remain hopeful and look at the positive in any situation.

Citation:
Bansal, Vineet. "What is Hope...." Poem Hunter. 18 Feb 2009<http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/what-is-hope-2/>.

Quarter Three Blog #5 - Religion

Since this blog had to be about religion, I decided to blog about the Pope. I myself am Catholic and learned a lot when reading about him. The pope is the leader of the Roman Catholic Church - he is the top dog, you can't achieve a higher status in the Catholic church than him. He is also the head of state of Vatican City. A pope is elected by a vote of the Sacred College of Cardinals by ballot. Our current pope, Pope Benedict XVI was elected on April 19, 2005. The pope's primary job is to spread Christianity. In particular, Pope Benedict XVI has emphasized the need for Europe to return to fundamental Christian values. He has also teaches the importance of the Catholic church and their beliefs. Pope Benedict XVI has also created a foundation that makes money from the sales of books written by popes, which directly goes to scholarships for students.

Citation:
"Pope Benedict XVI." Wikipedia. Wikipedia Incorporated. 9 Feb 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Benedict_XVI>.

Quarter Three Blog #4 - Gender Roles

The article I read was about the restaurant business, and how they consider gender when planning. They said that if they are planning a business party restaurants often want to know how many men and women their will be, if their are more women they said that most restaurants will turn up the temperature ,create more mood lighting, and plan more healthy options for the menu. As for men they will have more hearty options on their menu such as steak and potatoes, and more beer than wine. The article also said that more and more restaurants are not following the unwritten law that you should always seat a woman first in a restaurant, not only that but take their order first and seat them facing a window or a nice view. More and more both males and females are being treated as equals and it doesn't matter anymore who is served first or second. The environment of the restaurant will also depict whether more men or women will go to the restaurant. At pubs and bars their is often more men because of the cheap and filling food and the atmosphere, while at fancy sit-down high priced restaurants their is more often women.

Citation:
Bruni, Frank. "Old Gender Roles With Your Dinner?." New York Times Company. 7 Oct 2008. 9 Feb 2009 <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/08/dining/08gend.html>.

Quarter Three Blog #3 - Culture

For this blog I have chosen to write about French culture, specifically their food and lifestyle. The French usually have a small breakfast that consists of tea or coffee, croissants (breakfast pastries), and yogurt. Crêpes are another famous french food that are similar to a thin pancake and filled with fruit, chocolate, or even meat. Lunch and dinner are their main meals of the day and usually consist of a four course meal. One thing that is very different in France is their are really no supermarkets like in the US, there are just specialty foods shops. So if you want a loaf of bread you go to the bread store, or if you want some cheese you go to the cheese shop. Another thing I found very interesting was that the legal drinking and smoking age in France is only 16! Smoking is a part of the French culture though, as 40% of young adults smoke along with 39% of males and 27% of females. But recently a smoking ban was put in place that prohibits smoking in public places, in an effort to cut smoking. The national sport in France is football (soccer) and is also one of the most watched sports in the country. France is well known for hosting the Tour de France every year, which is a bike race. Paris, France is also very famous for being one of the top fashion capitals of the world. Both Vogue and Elle magazine were founded there. Paris is also home to many world famous high fashion designers.

Citation:
"Culture of France." Wikipedia. 2009. Wikipedia Incorporated. 8 Feb 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_France#Role_of_the_State>.

Quarter Three Blog #2 - Overcoming Struggle

The article I read this week was about family businesses in our receding economy. The article said that many family businesses have a great advantage over big business corporations in our struggling economy. The reason they have an advantage is because they have family members who can work at the business, so they don't need to hire as many workers and get themselves into debt when times are tough. Although I agree that it is a smart decision to have family members work at a family business rather than hire employees, I don't necessarily agree with the fact that the article was more or less saying that they weren't having tough times like rest of the businesses. I think that whether they admit it or not all of the businesses - small family businesses, or big corporations - are all going through a rough time right now, and are having to make sacrifices and cut corners in any way possible.

Citation:
Birnbaum, Jane. "Resilient in Hard Times: The Family Business." New York Times Company. 4 Feb 2009. 4 Feb 2009 <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/05/business/smallbusiness/05sbiz.html?_r=1&8dpc>.

Quarter Three Blog #1 - Natural Disasters

Mount Asama is one of Japan's most active volcanoes, and is said to be erupting within 48 hours. The volcano last erupted in September of 2004. 45,000 of it's nearby residents have been warned about the volcano and told to be prepared to leave their homes within 2 hours notice. Many roads near the bottom of the volcano have also been closed. In 1783 Mount Asama had it's most famous eruption, in which the explosion was heard over 200 miles away, and lava blocks 35 meters in diameter were thrown into the air from the mouth of the volcano. The eruption also swept out most of the city due to lava flooding. Japan is home to more than 100 active volcanoes, and have experienced four minor earthquakes within the last two weeks - which also leads experts to think that the volcano may be erupting very soon.

Citation:
Ryall, Julian. "Japan warns of volcano eruption within 48 hours." telegraph.co.uk. 1 Feb 2009. 1 Feb 2009 <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/4423912/Japan-warns-of-volcano-eruption-within-48-hours.html>.