ISALC: ESL 382: Computer Applications

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Culture Capsules: People, Places, and Processes Yu Goto and Hamad Al-darmaki Please listen to our message.

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How to Enjoy Kyoto?
Yu Goto

I would like to introduce Kyoto. Kyoto is one of the most famous cities, which is known as traditional and historical city in Japan. Kyoto is the third largest city and also one of the oldest in Japan. It was originally founded as “Heian” in 794, and from 794 to 1185, Kyoto was the capital of Japan. From that time, Kyoto has perceived lots of artistic resources as cultural heritage and attracted people even from other countries. We have traditional dialect only for Kyoto and our own way to act to people keeping our culture. Every season, there are lots of visitors from other cities of Japan or even from foreign countries. I chose three big topics to talk about: a temple called Kinkaku-ji(1), festival called Gion-matsuri and women entertainers called Geisha.

First of all, there are lots of temples and shrines in Kyoto, and also to visit these places is one of their main purposes. There is a famous temple near my house called Kinkaku-ji. Kinkaku-ji is a popular name of this temple and the real name of this temple is Rokupn-ji (“ji” means temple in Japanese). The popular name comes from the appearance of this temple, which is decorated with gold. Kinkaku-ji was built by the shogunate of Yoshimitsu Ashikaga in1397. The beautiful thing is that the temple seems to be built in the middle of a lake. And also this temple was rebuilt several times and the walls were recovered with gold leaf. There are three floors and each floor was built with different purpose and style. The first floor is in the shinden-zukuri style developed in the Heian period. This early style of buildings includes a large room and a veranda. This floor was used as an entertainment hall for welcoming guests. The style of samurai houses, bukezukuri style can be found on the second floor. This is known as Cho-on-do (Hall of Roaring Waves). Yoshimitsu,the shognate, met with important guests here. The final floor was built in the Kukyocho (Firmament Top) style, is about 23 square feet and was for close meetings with friends to have some tea.

In the summer, there is a festival(2) held in the middle of Kyoto for a month in July called Gion-matsuri. Gion-matsuri is included as one of the three biggest festivals in Japan. There are many street vendors for Japanese festival food and games also. It is said that the summer of Kyoto begins with Gion-matsuri. You can see people wearing Japanese traditional cloths called “yukata” during this festival. Of the many events during this festival, the main are Yoi-yama on the 16th and Yamahoko-junko on the 17th. There is a parade with lots of floats through downtown Kyoto. The floats are pulled by men with traditional costumes. Each of the large floats carries musicians and we can hear lively sounds from them.

Kyoto has traditional female hostesses and also Geisha(3). There are traditional women entertainers, who are Japanese hostesses, trained to entertain men with conversation, dance, singing and sometimes drinking alcohol. They usually work in Kyoto’s traditional inns called “Ryokan” or a Japanese-style restaurant. They wear traditional cloths known as “Kimono"(4) and speak Kyoto dialect. That is a point that is different between hostess and Geisha. Geisha are trained in their dance which is slow dance using fan and a instrument called “Shamisen” and they learn entertainment skills from when they are very young, such as 14 to 15 years old by their senior or specialist teacher. Geisha are one symbol of Kyoto and they are protecting and keeping our history. In the past just local rich people went to see the Geisha. However today, even the visitors from foreign countries like to go see them.

Through researching about my city, I had a lot of new discoveries even though I thought I knew everything about my city. It was really good chance to have this research and look again at Kyoto. There are lots more to introduce to you about Kyoto, but I would be glad if people who read this will be interested in Kyoto, Japan and want to visit there sometime.

Images sources:

1.http://data.pg2k.hd.org

2.http://www.nauticom.net/users/ata/59large.jpg

3.http://home.att.ne.jp/green/K-starten/Geisha.html

4.http://www.kyohaku.go.jp/meihin/senshoku/mh9503j.htm

Sharjah is the third largest city of the United Arab Emirates. The population of people living in Sharjah is 350,000. There are many beautiful places and things to visit in Sharjah. It is surrounded with water and lakes(1). And also it has a nice beach with sunny days. I like Sharjah City, because it has hotels, restaurants, and clubs. The most interesting things are shopping in the markets, such as the central market (Blue Soak)(2), Al-Majarrah souk, and the “Old Souk” and Al-Arsah souk. There are three things you should know about Sharjah which are its traditions, universities, and tourist attractions.

First, the traditional religion is Islam and the language is Arabic, but they speak English as the commercial language in Sharjah. You will hear the call to prayer five times a day. Men wear traditional clothing called “kandora”. Also, women wear traditional clothing called “abbaya” or black cloak. Sharjah is a place that has all traditions of the past that are interesting for visitors. The sports are camel racing, hunters with falcon and soccer. Sharjah has a lot of tours of old houses, so that it has become famous for traditional buildings. The houses(3) are made from sand, water, and wood.

Second, there are many universities in Sharjah. The most popular universities are the University of Sharjah for men and women and the American University of Sharjah(4), which is the same as the American University in Washington D.C. People call Sharjah University City. Most of the student comes to Sharjah just to study in these universities. However, Sharjah has three universities and two colleges. Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qassimi’s who is the mayor of Sharjah. He loyal culture and education come together. He hopes his city will become known for having the best education in U.A.E.

Finally, there are many tourists who come to visit Sharjah because it has many tourist attractions. For example, there are many museums such as the Archeology Museum, and the Art Museum. The weather is beautiful from November to April with warm sunny days and cool evenings. The tourists like to learn a lot o f culture in the U.A.E. There is a lot of architectural historical and artifacts that are interesting to use for learning some things in Sharjah’s past. Tourists also go on trips to the desert for skiing on the sand and riding camels or cars across the sand. In addition, Sharjah is the nearest cities to Dubai. It takes ten minutes arriving for that. Dubai is the best-developed city in the Arabian Gulf. While entering Sharjah, you will read, “Enjoy, you are in Sharjah”, and “Smile you are in Sharjah”. I’m sure you will both if you come to visit.

Images sources:

1.http://www.Sharjah-welcome.com/Tourism/index.htm

2.http://www.Sharjah-welcome.com/Tourism/index.htm

3..http://www.Sharjah-welcome.com/phototour/art-museum/index.htm

4.http://www.aus.ac.ae/

Kyoto and Sharjah are very interesting cities in Japan and the U.A.E. We have written about the most interesting things found in the two cities. There are several similarities and difference between Kyoto and Sharjah.

Both Kyoto and Sharjah are important cities in our own countries. We also share traditions, such as both countries are found in Asia, they are third largest cities in our own countries. Moreover, Kyoto and Sharjah have been keeping their own culture from hundreds of years ago. Kyoto and Sharjah have many visitors come to visit these cities.

However, there are some difference between Kyoto and Sharjah. Kyoto has four seasons and you can enjoy seeing a view a sit changes from season to season. On the other hand, in Sharjah, you can enjoy the warm weather all year around. Both have traditional different culture and language. In Kyoto, there are many temples, which are made up with gold, but Sharjah has houses, which are made from sand and water.

In conclusion, Kyoto and Sharjah are famous cities in our countries. There are a lot of tourists who come to these cities to have fun and enjoy their vacation and to learn tradition there. Hopefully, in the future, these cities will become the most famous cities in the world. We hope to visit Kyoto and Sharjah and have enjoyable with traditions and tourism.

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