AES 130 Communications Skills

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Culture Capsules: People, Places, and Processes Natsuko Yamashita and Abdulrahman Alenezi Please listen to our welcome message!

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Welcome to Kobe!!
Natsuko Yamashita

Have you heard of the Hyogo prefecture? I think most people will answer "No," unless I ask this question to another Japanese. Hyogo is located in the western part of the main Japanese island. Hyogo is next to Osaka and Kyoto, which are very famous prefectures. Osaka is the second largest urban city in Japan, following Tokyo. Also Kyoto has a lot of famous historical buildings like temples, shrines and castles, so a lot of foreigners come to Osaka and Kyoto for sightseeing. However, sadly, most of them don't stop by Hyogo, though Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo is in the same general area. You might not know much about Hyogo, but it has a lot of attractive sites. Actually Hyogo's nickname is "Japan in Miniature" because Hyogo has traditional culture and natural beauty while it also has contemporary culture and highly modernized society. I want to introduce all of Hyogo to you, but there is too much information to explain in detail,   so I'll focus only on Kobe, the capital city of Hyogo, on this webpage. I hope it makes you want to stop by Kobe or Hyogo even if it's only a stop on your way of sightseeing in the neighboring prefectures.

Kobe is known as one of the most beautiful cities in Japan. Especially an exotic district with western style houses is very famous and beautiful. They were built in the late 19th century by Europeans who came to Kobe for trade in Kobe Port, which is a big and lively port, so a lot of foreigners have come to Kobe for trading since ancient time. You can see some old western style houses there, and also you can enter the houses if you want. It's wonderful to be able to feel the atmosphere of Europe in Japan, I think. The reason why Kobe has a large China town is also because of Kobe Port. Many Chinese who were living there came through Kobe Port. Kobe Port flourished as a trading center of Japan.

However, on January 17, 1995, at 5:46a.m. there was a horrible disaster. It was the Great Hanshin Earthquake. It killed a total of 6,433 people, and destroyed a lot of buildings and roads, mainly in Kobe, which caused over US$100 billion in damage. Horrible scenes were broadcast on TV shortly after the earthquake happened. A highway was falling down, a big fire broke out, many buildings lost their structural integrity, and many people were screaming. I can remember these scenes very easily, even now, though I was a child in the lower grades of elementary school when the earthquake happened. In 1995, "Kobe Luminarie" started. This is a Kobe's annual illumination festival held on every December after the earthquake as a memorial to the loss suffered in the Great Hanshin Earthquake.

By the way, there is a very famous brand of beef in Kobe, which is called Kobe beef. It is one of the top grades of beef in Japan. Well marbled and very tender beef!! You should try it when you come here. Of course, you can eat delicious Chinese food in China town as I mentioned earlier. Anyway, Kobe has a lot of attractive points from food to buildings. Though I told you here only about Kobe, the other areas besides Kobe are also worthy of a visit. You will like it!!!

My City Al-Madinah

Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah is the second most holy city to all Muslims after Makah Al-Mukkaramah. It is located in western Saudi Arabia. Al-Madinah used to be call Yathrib before the prophet changed the name to Al Madinah. It has a long history about the people who lived there. Yathrib is the name of the person who established this city around 1000 B.C. The first group who lived in Yathrib was called Al Amaliq. When the Prophet came to Al-Madinah in 622 A.D, this date became the first day of the Islamic calendar. At this time, Madinah changed totally from a normal city to an international city. It became the capital of the Islamic state until the end of the era of the Raashidi Caliphate, in the year 661 A.D. It now has more than 90 names which shows that the famous and respected. In Madinah there are many important places of Islamically legal, historic and cultural significance to visit, Such as Qubaa' Mosque, Baqi'a Al-Gharqad, and the Graves of the Martyrs of the Battle of Uhud, which is near Mountain Uhud.

            Nowadays Al-Madinah is still very important for Muslims as a place of spirituality. Many people want to live in Al-Madinah because it is a quiet place and has a low cost of living compared to other cities. In addition, they want to live close to the Prophet Mosque.   However, the weather in Al- Madinah is very hot and dry in the summer and cold in the winter. The population in Al-Madinah is more than one million people. The people in Al-Madinah are friendly with visitors, and helpful. It has also many cultures from all over the world that came to live in Madinah a long time ago.

            Madinah has became modern city in Saudi Arabia after the government rebuilt the center of it in a new design and built a huge building with the some of the most famous hotels in the world. It has many facilities for people, such as universities, hospitals, and others.

Both Kobe and AL Madinah are very famous in each country, but not so much outside of the country. Kobe is known as a city with one of the biggest ports in Japan. The port is called Kobe port, which is famous for container transportation. However, it is not known around the world. Also AL Madinah is famous as a city with a big mosque located in the center of the city, which is known among Muslims. So our cities are famous but not on a worldwide scale. This is the similar point we found between our cities. On the other hand, there are a lot of different points between our cities as we mentioned before. We think it is natural to have many different points, because Kobe and AL Madinah are located far away from each other, and they had totally different cultures.

Kobe has a big port, which enabled foreigners to come into Kobe easily. European and Chinese lived in Kobe. That's why western style houses and a big China town exists in Kobe even now. Kobe is a very open city to foreigners. But the price of the land in Kobe is a little expensive because Kobe is very beautiful, and it is an attractive place to live. Regarding climate, Kobe has a rainy season in June, and it is very humid in summer. Also Kobe sometimes has earthquakes, which are very weak, and once had a very terrible earthquake in 1995.  

On the other hand, AL Madinah is a religious city with its own long history. Many Muslims come there to visit the big mosque, but it also means that AL Madinah is a kind of closed city to non-Muslims, who are prohibited to come into the city. Only Muslims can live and enter there. But the price of the land is not so expensive, comparing with Kobe. Regarding climate, AL Madinah rarely has rain; it is very dry through out the whole year, and it is too hot to live without air conditioners there. The average highest temperature here is 50 degree C/ 122 degree F!! Also, AL Mdinah hasn't had an earthquake for a long time. It's geologically stable so it's a safe place.

As you can see, there are a lot of different points between our cities. Each city has an original culture and atmosphere, such as religion, geography, and climate. Also, each city has each good point and each bad point. We can never decide which city is better than another. Kobe and AL Madinah are our home towns and very precious places for us.

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