I added a picture of the Pacific Ring of Fire because this summer I will be flying over the Pacific Ocean. I'm going back to Hong Kong for the summer! I am so excited to be going home! I will be working at Hong Kong International School, where I graduated from high school. I am going to be a teacher aide for a high school Physical Science class which will be a great experience for me as I continue to study and get my degree in Secondary Education. I am going to show Dr. Helmer around Hong Kong and I am very excited to do that. There are so many places to take him and his family! I'm going to post some pictures of places in Hong Kong that I love.



This is the Murray House in Stanley. It is a great historical building. There is a maritime museum inside and some really great restaurants! They used to have the BEST Thai restaurant there, with the BEST mango and sticky rice, which is my favorite dessert. Stanley is becoming a very popular place and it has changed a lot throughout the years that I have lived by it. There are a lot more stores for tourists to visit now, the boardwalk has been redone (it's really nice), and many bands and dance groups come to perform at Stanley Plaza, located right next to the Murray House.



The Peak, and the Peak Tram, are very popular tourist attractions. The Peak offers a great view of Hong Kong Island and the Peak Tram is a great way to climb to the top of the peak. The Peak has developed a lot recently. There are many restaurants and a two story video game center inside the main building at the top of the peak. I have performed in dance recitals at the Peak, as there are many places to perform outside. There are always tourists here exploring the different views of the island.



The Star Ferry is a very important historic aspect of Hong Kong. For years, the Star Ferry has transported people from Hong Kong island to Kowloon and back again. It makes trips every ten-fifteen minutes, depending on the waves in the harbor between the two islands. Hong Kong side is more global and looks like a modern city, as the British controlled the Hong Kong Island. Kowloon, in contrast, has many more Asian aspects. Britain gave Kowloon back to China earlier than Hong Kong, and Kowloon retained a lot of its Chinese culture. There are a lot of markets in Kowloon, like the Bird, Jade, and Flower markets. These are famous markets to go to in order to buy these specific goods. The names of streets are also labeled in Kowloon based on what is sold on each street - there is one street for thread, for needles, for velcro, etc.

I absolutely love Hong Kong and the culture there. There are so many different aspects of the culture, as it incorporates traditions from China and England. People from all over the world live there and it is very common to hear French and Hindi around the city. As a result, the city and its culture are a melting pot of many different traditions and values.

I used the World Names Profiler to find where a few different names are commonly found. I started with my last name, Sawyer, and found that it is most common in the United States, Australia, United Kingdom, and Ireland. The name Sawyer is found in very high amounts in the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom. I thought this was very interesting. The name Sawyer is found in high amounts all over America, especially on the East Coast in Vermont, Rhode Island, and Maine, all over Australia, and all over United Kingdom. I love that my name is in Australia! I love Australia. :) My name is found in a moderate amount in Ireland. I was not surprised to see my name in the United Kingdom and in Ireland because my dad's family came from those two areas.
I searched my best friend's last name, Govada, to see what I would find. He is Indian so I was not surprised to see that his name was predominately found in India. His last name was also found in the United Kingdom, in a small amount, probably because of the steady migration of Indians to Britain.
I searched my roommate's last name, Rogers, to see where her name is most commonly found. Her name is found in very high amounts in Australia, then the United Kingdom, and the United States. She was very surprised and excited by this.
This website is really cool! I like searching different names and seeing where my friend's names can be commonly found. It's fun to see where our names are found together and where they are not. Now my friends are bragging about where their names are found. For example, one friend is bragging that her name is found in high amounts in Ireland, while the other brags that her name is found in high amounts in Australia. Now, they have claimed those countries to be their own and frequently defend them in conversations. It's really funny!

During my time in Hong Kong, many of my friends introduced me to the legacy of Japanese reality shows. There are some really funny videos out there! I have seen at least a hundred Japanese videos, of pranks, stunts, and challenges on reality tv shows. I thought I would post two of these videos so people can see what Japanese humor is like. It's interesting how one of the videos, about a Japanese man learning English, is so funny to the Japanese men in the video. I think this says a lot about the culture, as Japanese believe that they are learning English well and are very prideful about their accomplishments. They can laugh at the man learning English, though they probably were the same way when they were learning the language. The second video is a reality tv show in Japan. I think it is interesting to see the kinds of challenges that Japanese participate in. The audience loves the challenges and I do, too! I also included a video of a man cooking Japanese food in front of the customers, as this happens very often in Asian cultures. The video presents the type of food Japanese eat and how they cook these foods. I think it's interesting to see what they eat, especially since food is such a major component of culture.

Japanese man learning english
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNCsVts-G_4&feature=related

The men in the classroom are not supposed to laugh at the man speaking English, or they lose the game.

Japanese reality tv show
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JPTYwDYphQ

The men have to get through the shapes.

Japanese food at a restaurant
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zC02oB9Ep0c&feature=related

The chief prepares food for his customers.

Throughout my time in Asia, I have seen people eat many different weird, very bizarre foods. I have seen a lot of foods that incorporate seafood. For example, at one restaurant, your waiter will bring you a bowl of shrimp swimming in beer. You watch as the shrimp become drunk, bump into the glass in the bowl, and eventually die. Then, the shrimp are slightly cooked and added to your main dish. Many other dishes are created with squid and are considered delicacies. Some of the weirdest dishes I have seen are chicken feet, bird nests, shark fin soup, and snake soup. On the streets in Cambodia, I ate grilled cockroaches. The man was also selling grilled frogs and flies. Culture plays a big part on diet as different cultures have different traditional dishes and drinks. For example, drinking fermented milk is a delicacy in Mongolia, while it is considered disgusting in America. Also, there are different types of food in different areas of the world, so people in Asia will eat different food than people in America. For example, when I am in Asia I can eat a lot of rice and mangoes, while in America I can eat a lot of corn and soy beans. The availability of different foods in different areas will affect what the people of the different areas will eat.
Globalization will affect what people around the world eat because food from different regions will be available to a lot of other regions. Food can be quickly transported from country to country, depending on the demand for it. No longer will people in Australia only get to eat fruit and vegetables from Australia, but can get food from any other continent as a result of quick trading techniques. This easy availability to any type of food can begin to cut down on the differences between cultures. For example, McDonald's has spread all over the world, creating a desire for fast food in most countries. Twenty years ago, this was not the case but now many areas depend on McDonald's and Starbucks. Their local foods have lost importance, as famous food chain restaurants dominate the market. Globalization has begun to merge cultures all together, so that there are not distinctions between cultures but more of a mesh of one worldly culture. As globalization continues, cultures will continue to lose their distinctions - one of these distinctions will be their special foods and drinks

The G-20 is the group of twenty finance ministers and central bank ministers. It was established in 1999 to bring together important industrialized and developing economies, in order to discuss important issues about the global economy. The inaugural meeting took place in Berlin which was hosted by German and Canadian finance ministers. These discussions encourage open and constructive discussion between different market countries, as they discuss issues related to the stability of the global economy. G-20 helps support growth and development across the globe by strengthening the international financial architecture and creating opportunities to discuss national policies, international co-operation, and international financial institutions.
The twenty members of the G-20 are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, and the European Union, which represents the Council presidency.

This is an image of the Middle East at a different angle. The Mediterranean Sea is at the top right of the image, with Europe at the right of it, the Middle East in the center of the image, and Africa to the left. It is interesting to see how close all of these countries are to each other and how the Mediterranean Sea is the only thing truly separating them.

Slumdog Millionaire is an amazing movie that realistically depicts the life of the poor in India. I have been to India and seen the poor and devastated parts of the country. The movie illustrates these areas well, especially since the movie was actually filmed in the slums of India. The orphan children in the movie are perfect replicas of the orphan children of India. Their lifestyles - begging every day on the streets, depending on money from strangers, and hoping for food, is a very common occurrence. There are many children on the street every day, either because they have no where to go (not even an orphanage to stay in) or they are working for a group, like the children in the movie were. When I'm in India, people always tell me not to give money to the orphans on the street for the very reason that they might be working for rich men. However, it is so hard to not want to give them something because they are so cute! At all of the historical sites, especially the Taj Mahal, there are hundreds of orphans running around. They are always asking tourists for money or to buy the products they are selling.
The images of India are exactly as they should be presented - I was happy to see the Taj Mahal shown as it actually is. The Taj Mahal is a great site, but it is not how it is seen in postcards. The real thing is crowded and not shimmering white. I loved that the movie depicted India as it is, down to the very smallest detail. Things were not cleaned up, but shown raw and real. It was great to see a movie so full of the truth of the situation of people in India.
After seeing this movie, my dad and I wanted to go back to India. We both love the country and the people there. The movie portrayed people as they are - they are very interesting to be around. They are hard working and motivated. They want to succeed, an idea very prominent in the movie. This movie was a great way to understand the personality of a the Indian people.
This movie is a great way to help people understand India. It is a good tool for geography because it accurately portrays India. Viewers can see what India is like, even if they aren't there. They can see the streets, the land, the people, the sites - they are presented with a view of India so that they can understand the image. This movie is like a documentary with a plot line. It's interesting and realistic! This is a great way to get people to see other parts of the world. More movies like this should be produced so that more areas, that are not commonly displayed, can be presented to the viewers of the world. In this way, all areas of the world will be better understood.