Thursday, April 24, 2014

What would you do to get to school?


If there was a flood where you live, would you call it a day and stay home and try to help? During the flood here in Boulder Colorado all of the schools were closed for safety. People would try to fix their houses and try to stay safe. It was very dangerous to go to the stores but if you had to you would drive there and that was still risky. But that was here, In Vietnam there was a flood that washed away roads and all of the paths that would lead to the schools. But the students would still go to school. It didn't matter that it was not safe at all. These kids got in to plastic bags and were taken across the river just so there school uniforms wouldn't get too wet. This flood was so bad that if a car were to cross it would get stuck under the water and people would have to retrieve it at another time. The river was also way too big for anyone to make a bridge over it. If you were to have a flood this big would you even think about going to school. Because I know that I wouldn't think about school at all. Would you go out of your way to get to school? Because I know that most of the students here would take any chance they could get to skip school. I find that people don't care about school enough. We think of it as something we have to go to and we don't really have a choice if we want to or not. But people in other countries will do whatever it takes to get a good education. Like crossing a river in a plastic bad. If someone told me to do that to get to school I would think that there crazy.



So I ask you, What would you do to get to work or school?

Thursday, April 17, 2014

TOP 10 FUN FACTS ABOUT VIETNAM!

In case you didn't know...
Here are some interesting facts about Vietnam!
1.The length of Vietnam from North to south is about the same as the length of New York to Miami.
2.Vietnam's highest mountain is Fan Si Pan. It is 10,300 feet high!
3.Vietnam has 30 national parks!
4.The country is divided into 58 provinces and 5 centrally governed cities.
5.The population of Vietnam is 87 million making it the third most populated country in southeast Asia.
6.The Vietnamese language uses and alphabet of 29 characters, most of which are almost identical to those used in English!
7. Also, the Vietnamese language is not related to any other languages and is entirely unique.
8. About 40% of people living in Vietnam share the same family name, Nguyen! 
9. Ho Chi Minh City, also known as Saigon, is the largest city in Vietnam.
10. Halong Bay is the most visited natural attraction in Vietnam and has been said to be carved by a magical sea dragon that to this day people claim to have seen. A southeast Asian Nessi!!


To learn more facts about Vietnam, visit: http://vietnamgoodtravelguide.com/vietnam-interesting-facts.html 

Vietnamese Food


Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Following Andrew

Reading through "Catfish and Mandala" I can't help but think, where would I go? Andrew is searching for identity, self, life meaning. He wants to find his roots where he belongs and what he is destin to do. So if it were you what four places would you find your fate? Where would you look for your self the way Andrew seeks to? 

Gay Marriage Legalized in Vietnam?!?

Vietnam has recently taken a big step towards legalizing gay marriage. Although it is not the step needed to actually pass the bill, Vietnam has made same-sex weddings legal (not to be confused with same-sex marriage), and is now allowing Same-sex couples to live together. Last March People all throughout Vietnam (LGBT or Ally) came together and biked through the streets to show their support of the LGBT community of Vietnam. Although the support wasn't enough to legalize gay marriage, the laws that have been past have set up a precedent for the legalization of gay marriage.
"The best day 
will be when we no
longer talk about being
gay or straight.
Its not a 
'Gay Wedding'
-Its just a 'Wedding.'
Its not a 'Gay
Marriage'-Its just 
a 'Marriage.'"
-PINK




Photos and Videos from Viet Pride 2013







Thursday, April 10, 2014

♪♬The Evolution of Vietnamese Music♬♪

^Contrasting pop and classical music in Vietnam^


     Music, something internationally enjoyed in countless variations, by undoubtedly different cultures, but how dose music change from generation to generation? What makes some music popular and another masterful piece underground? Last of all why is each generation’s music so shockingly different?

 For 20 years Vietnamese pop music, also known as Vpop, was suppressed by the government to raise patriotism by limiting music to classical and folk songs centered on the war movement. By 1995 Vpop made a difficult come back, with virtually no industry backing, and little fallowing.
    Early in the 21st century with new found artists, producers and more Vpop had formed an industry and gained strong, and currently growing, support from the youth of Nam. However with popularity comes opposition and disdain from another party. Speculations consist of "They can’t dance", "No Style", or "They just copied Kpop or Jpop!" Others argue "Tradition is good yet it still needs to be modernized and keep up with the time!" What do you think? Is this just another copy of pop in other country, just a fad, or perhaps quickly going downhill?


Tuesday, April 8, 2014

The One and Only Film Review


In the documentary, Ultimate Journeys Vietnam, produced by the Discovery Channel, displays a strong sense of culture that is found throughout Vietnam. Being cut off and isolated from western influence, has allowed the Vietnamese people to develop a strong independent culture, with Great influences from Thailand and France. Isolation from other countries has also resulted in Vietnam being one of the poorest countries in the world.
Vietnamese woman drinking snake blood
Snake Wine
The Vietnamese people subscribe to a number of superstitions. Among them, many foods are believed to be good luck. In North Vietnam it is common to eat dog, whereas in the United States, that would be considered a crime. This highlights the differences between western and Vietnamese civilizations. Snakes blood is considered a delicacy and another good luck ritual throughout this proud country. Vietnam not only uses the snake for its blood, they also ferment the snakes for the use of snake wine(pinyin), which women will sell at the market. Seafood and rice is also very common at these markets.
The market is where the women have an opportunity to be a part of the community and interact, it is their responsibility to sell merchandise. The men of the family will harvest and hunt for goods and are in charge of money. After the market women hand all the profit over to the man of the house. However it is not unheard of for a women to run a business, and handle her own finances. This is an example of the spread of capitalism currently enriching Vietnam.
70% of the population in ‘Nam contributes in the harvesting and growing of rice. When kids are not in school many of them do not get breaks like we do, they will be helping their families with the rice harvest instead. This causes families to grow very close, another admirable value of the culture. Vietnamese children shown to be raised with good work ethic, strong family bonds and the utmost respect for their elders.
Partially because of it's poverty, but mostly because of massive population most people get around the seemingly chaotic streets on various types of mopeds. Many Adults and kids wear masks because the pollution in the major cities is so bad people have trouble breathing. This is because of the massive amount of mopeds there. Only the rich are able to afford motorcycles but there are people who can get cars. And when you  drive a car you are much safer when on the roads.
So we thought that the movie was good. Although there were some parts that we thought didn't have to be in the movie but those parts still added to the movie and showed some of the culture in Vietnam and if they took those parts out then we wouldn't know about them and we wouldn't know the effects that they have on Vietnam. The movie was very interesting and we liked how the movie showed different events in different order, At the start they showed the outside of the major cities and how there is just rice farms but when they go in to the cities they talk about the culture in the cities and how people are in them.


So the movie had a good overview on everything that Vietnam is like then they go in depth on those things so I would recommend watching this if you would like to learn about Vietnam and how the culture is there.