Asia

Some of the interesting things that I learned about China is that the main philosophy is Confucianism and that the five main religions practiced in china are Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Catholicism, and Protestantism.

Confucianism was the official philosophy throughout most of Imperial China and china's traditional values were derived from differents interpritations of Confucianism. With the rise of Western power non-chinese ideas about life began to take hold. China has from then on has become a country of experimentation with the new and old beliefs and different comprimises between the two

In 1949 all religious beliefs where banned in china because it was viewed as forien invasion. In the late 1970's China's government relaxed its view on religion and helped rebuild temples. Recently China's government has expressed its support for Buddhism and Taoism. The government sees these religions as important parts of Chinese culture.

China is a very interesting country that draws its roots from confusianism and is in a transition stage between the old and the new. China is a very interesting country that has a rich history and is interesting to learn about.

I found my picture on www.google.com/images

I found my information on http://www.wikipedia.com/

INDIA

I found this picture at http://www.blogger.com/www.whereivebeen.com/community/travel-news/311/Holidaying_in_India__Here_are_the_best_places_to_visit_in_India__

Some of the interesting things I learned about India is that their constitution is the longest constitution of any independent nation, since it's independence India has only been in two brief military conflicts, and the majority of the country is Hindu.

In 1950 when India became a independent nation the constitution and system of government was set up. India has both a President and a Prime Minister that is appointed by the President. The president is elected for a 5 year term by a electoral college.

India has only had 2 brief military conflicts in Sri Lanka and Maldives. India has participated in the war in the middle east but the only military conflicts but the only conflicts that involved India and another country directly is Sri Lanka and Maldives, both of which the Indian government said were peace keeping military conflicts.

Hindu is 80.5% of all religions in India. Hinduism is a religion that believes in reincarnation and they believe that the highest honor is to be reincarnated as a cow. Therefore the cow is considered a holy animal and cows are protected, not eaten, and are allowed to roam free. really strict Hinduism doesn't even allow a person to drink cow's milk.

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

India Free write

When I think about India I think about a comedy central show when there is a guy that is doing stand up comedy and he ask's if anyone is from India and he talks about a girl in the crowd that says she is from India and he makes fun of her. Also when i think about India i think about a dot on the forehead of all married woman. I also think about belly dancers and long beads hanging off of a beautiful girl's dark skinned body and her dancing and all of the beads rattling together. I am guessing that most of what i think about when i think about India is wrong and that they are misconceptions about the Culture of India

Misconceptions about Islam

The two misconceptions that surprised me the most, and I found the most interesting are that Islam is "the religion of peace" because Islam is derived from a Islam word that means peace, and that Islam is well suited only to the Arabs because most Muslims are Arabs.

I always believed that the word Islam was roughly translated to mean peace but it is actually derived from the Arabic word "al-sim" which means submission or surrender. The submission is believed to mean submission to Allah which is the Arabic word for God. This was surprising to me because for as long as I can remember I thought that the word Islam meant peace. I always wondered about the Muslim extremists and how they could use Islam to make what they do reasonable in their on minds when Islam meant peace, but now that I know it means submission to Allah I understand how a terrorist could make Islam work for them and believe that what they are doing is accepted in their religion. I am glad that I know now that Islam is derived from a work that means submission because I can better understand the Islam religion.
The misconception is that Islam is well suited only to the Arabs because most Muslims are Arab. I always thought that most Muslims were Arabic and that there where not many other nationalities that had a very large population of Muslims. The actual numbers are that only 18% of all Muslims are Arabic, the two countries with the highest concentration of Muslims are Indonesia and Bangladesh. Islam is growing religion that is spreading throughout the world. The misconception that most Muslims are mostly Arabic is a very popular misconception, because that is what I have always heard and believed.

I think that there are many misconceptions concerning Muslims and the Arabic race in general and I am very glad that people are letting these misconceptions be know for the misconceptions that they are.

Middle East Background

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One of the interesting things I learned about the Middle East is about just how vuage the term Middle East is. The Middle East has a lot of different Ethnic groups, languages and religions.

Some of the different Ethnic groups that are in the middle east are the Arabs, Turks, Persians, and Kurds to name a few. The Middle East is a very vague definition of an area that includes a lot of different countries so it makes sense that there are a lot of different Ethnic groups.

Because of the many different Ethnic groups there is also a wide diversity of spoken languages in the Middle East. The most popular language of the Middle East is Arabic and the many small variations of Arabic spoken in different areas.

In the Middle East there is a very wide spectrum of religion spanning from Judaism to Christianity, but the most prominent religion in the Middle East is Islam. Islam preaches that there is only one supreme Allah (god) and that he alone is the creator of the universe. Islamic teaches that there is also a judgment day where everyone's soul will be tested and if you have been good you go to heaven and if you have sinned you will not be allowed access into heaven.

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

"Middle East Freewrite"

When I think about the Middle East the first thing that comes to mind is terrorism and different cultures. The Middle East has a completely different set of traditions and outlook on life that we Americans do. Ian Watts talked to our government class about the middle east and about his experiences in Iran and Iraq and then he showed us pictures of where he had been and what he had done. He talked about the different little traditions of the people. Things like how if you show the people the bottom of your feet they take that as a sign of dissrespect. Some of the names that i think about when i think about the Middle East is Sudam Hussain and Assama Bin Laddin but that isn't really a good thing that when i think abou the Middle East all i think about is bad people. There are good people from the Middle East as Well. I saw a movie where a undercover agent in a terrorist cell from the middle east cant stop a suicide bombing so when he tells all the suicide bombers where to go he tells them to all get on the same bus. The terrorist cell was going to blow up a lot of different busses at the same time to scare the U.S. and the only thing that they agent could think of doing was to put all the bombs on the same bus so that is what he did. Thinking about the music of the Middle East i think about a more twangy sound of music and a more traditional style. The technology of the Middle East i think is about the same as ours but when we think about their technology we dont think that they have cellphones or computers but in actuality they almost all have cell phones and they have just about as much technology as we do. it is snowing outside and i am really excited to go SKIING!!!!! i cant think of anything else


The thing I think I might be surprised to learn about the Middle East is how their traditions from the past impact their lives today.

Drumming

When I was in grade school before I had even considered what I wanted to play in band I went to the Pops concert to watch my sister play. Two of the drummers had really cool drum set parts and it really impressed me on how crazy you could be on a drum set and yet still have a rhythm and beat. Then during the intermission of the show the two drummers went up onto the stage and all of the lights went out. Then I heard four clicks, the black lights came onto the stage and the two drummers had black light paint on their arms, sticks, and also two five gallon buckets that they had upside down. They started to play and their hands were a blur of fluorescent light. Their sticks were a blur as the sound of an amazing drum beat washed over me. The two drummers played the same beat and then one would do a solo and then the other would do a solo. They were both swaying back and forth to the beat of the drumming as they were playing. Then they started to do just the original beat again and then they started to go faster and faster. They got so fast that I wondered how they could move their hands that fast. Then they both stopped at the same time, they did one more repetition of the beat and then they clicked their sticks on each others. Then the black lights went out and the stage went dark. I sat and watched, amazed as those two drummers changed my life forever. I will never forget the amazing show that they put on for us. That performance influenced me to start drumming in fifth grade and also to aspire to one day be as good as they where. Every time I try something new with drums and can't think of anything cool, I think of that night for inspiration. Drumming will always be part of my life even if it is just me being a spazz and beating on things with my fingers. I dedicate my spastic moments of drumming to those two drummers who changed my life from that moment on.