A forgotten American history

(From a forwarded mail)

A forgotten American history

A long time ago when America was being settled, a group of people headed west in a wagon train from the east coast. The wagon train leader was very inexperienced and soon the people realized they were hopelessly lost. After wandering for weeks and weeks, their food supplies were gone and winter was fast 
approaching.

As the group came over a hill they saw the first person they had seen for days; an old Jewish man sitting beneath a tree. The leader of the wagon train approached the man. "Can you help us? We're heading west but we're lost and all our food is gone. We're starving."

The old man replied, "Vell you know, I can see the future.... Wait... I'm getting a vision now." He held one hand to his brow and closed his eyes in concentration. "It's coming. Oh yes, I see, I see."

"I know what you must do. Go up this hill and down the other side. Go through the forest and across the stream. Then go up the next hill and down to the valley below. There you will find a bacon tree."

"A bacon tree?" asked the wagon tree leader.

"A bacon tree. Trust me..for nuttin I vud lie. I can see the future."


The wagon train leader shrugged and headed off. The group followed the strange old man's directions exactly. They went up the hill, down the other side, through the forest, across the stream, up the next hill and down to the valley below. Nothing... Not a thing and especially not a bacon tree.

All of a sudden, out of nowhere, came Indians from all sides. It was a massacre. All but one man was killed and even he was seriously wounded. He crawled up the hill, crawled across the stream, crawled through the forest, crawled up the hill and crawled down into the valley. There, under the tree was that same old Jewish man, still there where they had left him.

The injured man crawled up to him and started shouting... 
"What were you thinking? You sent us all to our deaths! We followed your instructions to the letter! We went up the hill, down the other side, through the forest, across the 
stream, up the next hill and down the valley below. NO BACON TREE! Just Indians, thousands of them! And the rest of my group! They're all DEAD!


The man held up his hand and said "Oy wait for it... I'm 
getting another vision.... Oy. Ooooh. Oh, I get it.....Oh 
my, I made a big mistake... 'It vuz not a bacon tree... 'It 
vuz a hambush!"

How To Fight Cultural Differences In the Marriage

How To Fight Cultural Differences In the Marriage:
Advise about fighting the Cultural Differences In a 
western -foreign family.

by Marina Smiley http://search4russianbride.com
(Published in Small World Ezine on 14 June 2004 -- with permission)

When people plan to marry, they expect to find in their 
partner not only a lover but a friend also. A person with 
whom they can share their opinions, their emotions, thoughts 
and fears. In marriage we are looking for a partner who will 
be able to understand our values, our likes and dislikes. 

If a man and a woman are born and raised in the same 
country, most likely they are familiar with the same songs, 
movies, jokes, books and life in general. They basically 
have the same roots. In the case of a western man -foreign 
woman family everything is more complicated and requires 
much more patience and understanding from both spouses.

On one hand each of the partners has an opportunity to learn 
a great deal about the other's country, culture, traditions 
and life styles which can be very interesting. On the other 
hand it can be very disappointing, the inability to 
understand your partner's excitements and, or frustrations. 

For example, say you are watching the television and 
suddenly you see a famous actor or singer, or other type of 
an artist whose name you have grown up with. Maybe this 
artist was an idol for your parents and the music of this 
artist was often played in your house when you were a child. 
Now seeing this singer on television reminded you about your
parents and house where you grew up in . You nostalgically 
remembered the tree that you saw from your window. You feel
very light headed about this memory and want to share this 
feeling with your foreign wife. 

Unfortunately you realize that she is unable to understand 
your feelings because she has no idea who this artist is. 
Her eyes are absolutely empty, she has never even heard the
song before. You cannot believe it ! You tell her that this 
artist is so famous! Everyone knows him! How it possible 
that she doesn't know??? Your light feelings of nostalgic 
disappear and instead you feel within your soul at very 
large disappointment ... 

Be patient! Don't become upset so quickly. 
Remember that your wife has the same situation with you. 
You don t know her country's songs, her country's famous 
actors, her books. She has her own memories and in 
actuality, for her, everything is much more difficult 
than it is for you. At least, you live in your own country 
where everybody can understand you. She lives in completely 
strange surroundings, where she has nobody to share her 
feelings with, except you. 

Do some research and learn about your wife's country, 
culture and lifestyles. Talk with her, ask her questions, 
get to know what songs she likes, what movies and books 
are of interest to her. The Internet will give you a great 
opportunity to find anything! Tell her about your country's 
culture, let her listen to the music that you like, rent a 
movie for her that left you with great impression. Let her 
understand you better through the things that you like. 
Patience and time will help you to fight cultural 
differences . 


----------------------

Copyright 2004 International Soulmate

Marina Smiley is the author of some of the most popular 
eBooks about Russian-Western marriages.
These eBooks are available through 
http://search4russianbride.com
Get Your Free Newsletter The Naked Truth About Russian Women 
mailto:russianbrides@getresponse.com

 

Books by Marina

---------------------------------------------------------------

More:


Thank you, Marina! I know perfectly well how it feels. And 
my husband is not even a Westerner!

I am Thai, married to a Filipino. The cable TV company in 
the Philippines we subscribed used to have one Thai TV 
channel until they adjusted the programs recently.

I wrote and called them almost everyday, begging to have my 
Thai TV back... LOL... They didn't put it, though. They had
German, Japanese, Indian, French, Italian, Spanish, Korean,
Chinese,... But no Thai. Any reader from the Philippines 
who can help me on this? Please?

Back from the vacation in Thailand this time I brought a lot 
of VCD and books... Though the hubby does not know or care 
about my favorite singer of 18 years, My little girl is 
starting to sing his songs.

Earlier this year, Anita Mui, the Asian's favorite star
(Hong Kong) passed away of cancer. I almost cried to
see her funeral in CNN. All the fun 20-year-old memories 
flashed back in my head. But the husband did not share the 
moment. He had never heard of her. He does not know either
Thongchai McIntyre or Leslie Chueng. He does not know the 
"Legend of the Condor Hero" or "Ramayana". Myths and 
Folklores or proverbs are rarely mentioned in our home as 
either of us understands those of the other's. 

However, we can share what we have learned during our latest 
7 years... We talked about the last Philippine Presidential
Election. We watch Deutche Welle's news together. We are 
looking forward to seeing the next "Harry Potter". And 
we've discussed the "Da Vinci Code".

I think we both just have to live the present and see the 
best future for the family... Seeing conflicts as funny... 
and not trying to be too literate... ha ha...

Favourites:
Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands: How to do business in 60 
countries and all in the "culture shock" series at Amazon

Munich Oktoberfest

(First published in Small World Ezine on 1 October 2002)

 

I am not a beer drinker. I have this so-called "broccoli-
tongue", which means I am too sensitive to bitterness. It
makes bitter foods and beverages torturing for me. However,
during my 2 years in Germany, I have tried almost all 
kinds of beer they had (and that's a LOT).

And this is the last week of the World's Famous 
"Oktoberfest", the largest beer festival. Not too late if
you live in Europe. But you'll have to stay the night out 
of town (or at the train station ;-).  To a non-European,
I am afraid it'll be difficult to find a ticket unless 
you'll go somewhere far away (such as Vienna or Prague) 
and take a train to the Fest.

 

It's been 192 years since the first "Oktoberfest", which 
was actually a horse race in the royal wedding of Bavaria's
Crown Prince Ludwig (later King Ludwig I) to princess 
Therese from Saxony-Hildburghausen. And that's why the 
place is called "Theresienwiese" or "Therese's field".

From then, it has become a tradition of Munich to have a 
festival in the same Theresienwiese at this time every 
year. The term "Wiesn" has become the local synonym for 
"Oktoberfest". And this field is reserved for only this
event.

 

This year's Oktoberfest (21 September to 6 October) is 
going to be the 169th. (The festival was postponed many 
times due to war, cholera and inflation). Each year it is 
said to accommodate 7 million visitors, who drink 5 million
litre of beer and eat 700,000 chicken, 400,000 sausages,
200,000 fish, 60 deer, and 80 cows. 

Me? I spent only one full day and night in the Wiesn. I had
2 litre of beer, rode 3 rounds of different roller coaters,
ate one fish, two sausages and some cake/icecream, and 
ended the day with 19 rounds of Tequila! (Oh it was raining
and I was caught in a Tequila booth with 18 people in it...
so each of us bought one round of Tequila for everyone...). 
Strange that the Tequila helped me recovered from the beer. 
I even managed to get back to the hotel (in another town) 
and spend 5 more hours in its bar, flirting with the 
bartender (actually trying to get free drinks -- and 
succeeded)!

Ah... there's a few times a nice lady like me went wild ;-)


Okay, back to the fest. 

On the first day, the fest begins at 12pm, when the Mayor of 
Munich taps of the first keg in the Shottenhammel tent each 
year. From then, people will start drinking. There will also 
be parades from several parties of Munich. Every year, the 
first to march would be the parade of the tent proprietors
(those beer producers). They'll arrive with friends/families
and workers/servers on horsebacks, or in wagons.

There'll be parades or events almost everyday until the
Shooting Match on the last day. 

It's a loud and fun party. Everybody eats and drinks. 
People sing and dance with totally strangers. In the every
tents, there will be bands and concerts. Servers in 
traditional Bavarian outfits carry a dozen of a-litre beer
mugs in both hands. Must be heavy. They are so PROs!

Kids are not allowed in most tents, but they can wander the
field, enjoy the foods, the games, the rides, and scary 
roller coasters.

You have to pay for the beer and all the games you play.
Kind of expensive, but worth it... 


Do not wear your best shoes because the main street (where
the most interesting stuffs are) will be full of poops from
the parades' horses.

 

More:


Travelling in Europe, train is the best means.

Try not to drive to Oktoberfest because there will be heavy 
traffic on all the roads coming to the Wiesn. But if you are 
driving, plan ahead. You can leave the car at your hotel and 
take a bus, or park it at one of the Park-and-Ride areas. 
Check here for more details http://www.mvv-muenchen.de .  

There are always public transportations such as S-Bahn, 
U-Bahn, or Bus to the Weisn. Actually you won't get lost... 

Just follow the crowd!

 

 

For those who miss it this year, Oktoberfest next year is 
going to take place from 20 September to 5 October 2003. 
Reserve your hotel and transportations today :-)


Spare at least three days for Munich, and another day for
outer sites such as Neuschwanstein castle. You won't regret 
it. One interesting place of Munich that travel books 
always forget to mention is the BMW museum. Give it a visit
if you are already bored of the art galleries, historical 
museums and castles. And If you have your children with you,
spend a day at Deutsche Museum. One of the best learning 
centre I've been.

I'll write about my Munich trip some time later. I went 
there again during Christmas, and it's beautiful.

Our earlier Germany trips:
Heidelberg

Neuschwanstein


Oktoberfest's Official site >> http://www.oktoberfest.de/

 

Oktoberfest: With Original Bavarian Music

MUSIC OF OKTOBERFEST

The Great Wall of China

(First published in Small World Ezine on 11 February 2003)

 

People think Emperor Chin Si (Qin Shi Huangdi) was the one
who first built the wall. Actually before his time, there 
was no China. The land was full of different countries and 
tribe groups. These countries/groups fought for territories
all the time. The battles were endless. So some larger
countries built their walls to protect them from invaders.

  

  

When Chin Si (the leader of Chin -- or Qin -- group) beat 
all enemies, he unified China in 221 B.C. and became the 
first emperor of China ("China" is from "Chin"). Then, the 
walls were combined into one Great Wall. It stretched from 
east to west for about 3100 mile (5000 km). From then 
extensions were made by the following dynasties in over 1000 
years until, when it's completed in Ming Dynasty, the Great 
Wall stretches 4,500 miles (7200 km), from the mountains of 
Korea to the Gobi Desert, being the only man-made structure 
to be seen from space.

According to the documentary in Discovery channel, the Chin
Wall was originally made of compacted earth. Workers filled 
the a wooden frame with loose earth, which was then tamped 
into a compact layer 4 inches thick. The process was 
repeated layer upon layer, and the wall slowly rose 4 inches 
at a time. With forced labour (prisoners), they made 1 mile 
a day.

After Chin, there is the Han dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D. 220).
This is one of the best time of China (with the invention of
paper, porcelain, compass, wheelbarrow and seismograph).
Han emperor, Han Wu-Di, extended the Wall westward into the 
Gobi dessert, to Central Asia.

This is another challenge. In the dessert, there was not
much material to use in the construction. The soil was sandy
and loose. They had to compact the red willow reeds instead. 
There were already beacon towers in the Wall, sending 
messages regarding attacks using smoke signals.

 

The Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 A.D.), regained the power of the
Han race (read about the Hans in our article on Far Easterns and
about how the Hans freed themselves from foreign conqueror 

(Mongols -- Yuan Dynasty) in our Moon Festival article), added 

the grand structure to the Wall with bricks and granites. And 
it has become the Wall we see today.


Information from 
Discovery.com
http://www.travelchinaguide.com

History Timeline
http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/time_line.html

 

 

More:


After the Mongols ruled China (1279-1368 A.D.), there was 
another foreigner dynasty (Manchurians - Qing Dynasty). 

The Mongols and the Manchurians managed to beat through 

the Great Wall because of similar tactics and factors... 

Chinese's weak inside politics, Chinese's corrupted 

officers, and bribery.

They did not destroy any part of the Wall. Someone opened it
from the inside for them... No martial arts were involved.

And this is true for all countries... With weak (stupid)
leader and corrupted government, even the Great Wall cannot 
protect such country.

Belly Dancing

 

(First published in Small World Ezine on 1 July 2002)

Nobody was sure what the original purpose of belly dancing was. Probably sexual, probably faithful, or probably pure artistic. I just feel the ability to move one's body like that is amazing. And it should be worth talking about. 

When, where and why are problems. 

Egyptians claimed there were paintings on ancient tombs as old as 14 centuries BC of ladies dancing with costumes and movement similar to today's belly dancing, but the Turks said the dance was introduced to Egypt by Turkish merchants. 

There were many more theories, but all accepted it should be originated within the area of Mediterranean's, Balkans, Middle-East, and North Africa. Today, it went as north as Scandinavia, as west as America, and as east as Japan.

To Greeks, belly dance is the cifte telli; to Turks, rakkase;  to Egyptians, raks sharki. Despite such variety, the belly dance traditions of different cultures share some generally recognized features. 

Good dancers had incredible muscle control - every gesture and posture included the whole body, each movement being a significant expression of love towards the gods.

Throughout the ancient cultures of Greece, Persia, Palestine, and North Africa, sacred dancing was an important part of the fertility. It then became rituals that blended the erotic with the religious. The incredible belly movement is said to be the imposture of child birth. It had probably become erotic when, later, the movement of conception was included.

In Africa and Polynesia dancers of both sexes would gyrate their hips and breasts in an endless variety of postures, to an ecstatic rhythmic beat which developed into a complete erotic dance. The dancing girls of Egypt from the Ghawazee tribe performed unveiled in the public streets to amuse the rabble. In India the symbolic movement of the dancers was not only an art but an act of worship. In Turkey, it was first perform in temples but became so erotic that several of the temple dancers had turned prostitutes for greater pay. In Persia, belly dance was performed only privately, among women. 

It was not intended for male viewing pleasure. 

The common practice among traditional belly dancers of dancing barefoot also connects the dance to ancient practice. 

Barefoot dancers remain in physical touch with the earth, while defying modern stereotypes of eroticism. And emphasizing the flow and ripple of belly muscles and the 
sway of the hips, belly dance is not based on patterns of steps, as in Western dance, but on continuous movement. 

Today, belly dance takes many forms. Some belly dance remains highly traditional, some employ Westernized music. 

In whatever form it expresses itself today, it is not arguable that belly dance is one of the world’s strongest and most vital links to an ancient heritage. 

More:

I used to see the belly dancing many times in my life. Most of which in Turkish restaurants here and there. We know those were not real. However, the memorable one was in Egypt. I took a night dinner cruise in the Nile. And the dance was arranged for tourists. The cruise's dancer was just an amateur. But there happened to be a retired dancer on board and she could not help showing tourists how the REAL thing looked like! I could not believe my luck that night. I was told that the real belly dance was performed in places not appropriate for girls to go. Now the real dancer was showing her magnificent moves in front of my eyes! 

For me it's not erotic at all. The lady worked hard practicing all these. If ballet, with that many touching between male and female dancers is defined as an art, belly 
dancing, without any touch at all, should be too. And how about the Hula dance of Hawaii? With lots of similar tummy moves, is it an art? Oh who am I to say? I am a woman  anyway. If there was anything sexual in the dance I saw, I have already missed it. 

Rotoroa -- The Sulphur City

(First published in Small World Ezine some time in February 2002)

Oh everywhere I went in New Zealand was so lovely. I guess 
I'll write about the strange one first... The city is called
"Rotoroa", nicknamed -- the Sulphur city.

 

I and 2 friends drove from Auckland in a rented car. When we
were approaching, we saw the whole city covered with heavy
fog (not knowing it was actually the thermal smoke from under
the ground). And since it was late afternoon, we thought it 
was some kind of early evening fog (we knew it's a hot-spring 
city, but had not expected it to be steamy everywhere).

Then we started to blame each other for passing gas in the 
car. Yes, it was the smell of the Sulphur. When we found out 
it was actually the smell of the town, we were kind of 
wondering if we could stand it for another 24 hours. 
Moreover, the Youth Hostel we stayed was located right in the 
middle of where seemed to be the origin of all those smoke!

We got used to the smell within an hour and unbelievably, 
then, enjoyed the smoke and the unusual scenery.

From our Youth Hostel, we could walk to the lake. The lake 
shore was muddy with bubbling sulphuric geysers. Yet, 
seagulls and swans wandered around for food from tourists. 
They were rather aggressive, but seemed to match well with 
the hot smoky bubbling mud. There was also hot spa in the 
Youth Hostel!  This is quite a Youth Hostel of all.

We found on the next morning that the smoke we saw when we 
arrived was actually scarily arise from everywhere under the 
town. It blew from under streets, manholes, drainages, 
people's back and front yards, anything with openings to 
underground. And when we went to the Maori's (native New 
Zealander) Cultural Center, we saw Maori's cemetery with 
thermal coming out from under the tombs too. That's like a 
scary movie to us.


Amazingly, the place was not that hot. And only the Maori 
cultural center was worth a visit. Not speaking the 
sky-diving, sheep ranch, trout fishing, trekking, 
bungy-jumping, rafting, and much more other activities 
you can join there yet. Oh and the Hot Spa... 

 

More:


How to get there... 

Arriving at new Zealand at any International airport on the 
North Island (Auckland or Wellington), you can easily rent a 
car (or a camping van / RV) and drive it all over New Zealand.
To Rotoroa, it takes like 5-6 hours and the scenery on the 
way is precious. You'd better not miss it. There is an 
airport in Rotoroa too, but it accommodates only smaller 
planes. 

Rotoroa is a must for all visitors of New Zealand. And 
remember, if you are driving, they drive to the left side of 
the road (no problem with me ;-)

I am not sure if calling the native "Maori" is offensive, but 
it's the term being used in all books and web sites I went 
to. If it is considered offensive, I am sorry. Actually my 
cousin-in-law is a half-Maori. His mom also lives in Rotoroa 
(which houses the largest Maori community). I just could not 
find the cousins to check the information because they work 
for the Foreign Department and moved around often. I could 
not locate them.

If you are in New Zealand, you have to visit the zoos and 
all the National Parks / Botanic gardens. The wild animals 
and native plants are amazing. Buy the Whale-Watching tour
at Kaikoura (South Island) too. This is also a 'must'. We 
are going to write about New Zealand's South Island soon. 
Hope we can finish it before the South's Summer starts.

For winter lovers... There is a nice place to ski in New 
Zealand as well. Mt. Cook is like the Matterhorn of the 
South. It's covered with snow all year. And the beautiful 
lakes around it plus the cute little towns and the friendly 
and kind people of New Zealand make me feel like going back 
there every year.