What should be first un-official "Country of the Week" here on Mahalo?
What country should we learn about this week?
What websites or internet resources will help us learn about this country, including ways to tackle the language/translation barrier?
Why should we care about this country and it's people (what issues, interesting cultural aspects, etc.)
Any country you choose is fine, but I would prefer it not be a one we all know too much about such as the USA, England, etc.
Thanks!
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M$7 Answers
The following sources will help a lot--
http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cameroo
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/26431.htm
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0107382.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/country.../1042937.stm
http://www.clickafrique.com/Magazine/ST014/CP0000002282.aspx
http://www.africaguide.com/country/cameroon/
http://www.worldtravelguide.net/country/49/.../Cameroon.html
http://www.mapsofworld.com/africa/
All the African countries are rich with the own culture and history and Cameroon is not a difference. It has its own unique culture and resources that is so interesting. The country is full with natural forests that are full of a lot of wild animals. So I think the country is worth to learn.
http://www.east-buc.k12.ia.us/00_01/AF/cam/cam_cul.htm
http://www.everyculture.com/Bo-Co/Cameroon.html
http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global.../cameroon.html
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M$Let's face it: Hong Kong was an English Territory for 99 year. It's a very unique blend of people who look chinese but either don't speak English (usually the older people) or speak it with a British Accent. Most of the streets have English names (It seems as everything is named ___ Road). Since 1997, it's been part of The People's Republic of China, so we're talking about the most populous country in the world--11.6 billion people, and the third largest in total area. (according to wikipedia) The entire country's GDP is about half our poverty level but the country thrives--and it can't all be mooching off Hong Kong,
The reacquisition, I'm told, was a matter of changing a couple of flags and that was it. Hong Kong is a HUGE financial center and my impression as a merchandise buyer for retail stores was that much of the city serves as a showroom for factories in Mainland China.. They don't want to make hamburger out of the cash cow. In fact, Wikipedia says they have a "non-sovreign partial democracy. They run themselves but are a wholly owned subsidiary of PRC.
They can't build out, so they build up. It's not uncommon to come across a building that's 18 floors of offices, three floors of three retail stores each, then another three floors on to of that, each with two large restaurants. We were told that only 8 people have private residences, or free-standing, single family homes. EVERYONE ELSEz lives in gflats, or apartments.
How the country's people--the typical ones--live on a day-to-day-basis would be interesting to study.
There is so much to learn about China, even if you forget the messy political stuff, there's culture, values, business customs (I got a crash course, feet to the fire my first day there) and the language itself..and good God, don't forget the food, which is often a peek into a culture. Most of the language--and food in Hong Kong is Cantonese.
It depends what you want to learn. My son is in first grade. Sites from which I might benefit
http://www.discoverhongkong.com/login.html
http://wikitravel.org/en/Hong_Kong
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/china/hong-kong
who isn't joking when they say "On first acquaintance Hong Kong can overwhelm. Navigate its teeming, tightly packed sidewalks and you’re met at every turn with neon signage, steam-filled canteens, molasses-slow traffic and a Babel of chatter."
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g294217-Activities-Hong_Kong_Hong_Kong_Region.html
I did some of their touristy things in the half-day (of ten there) I took to sight-see: Star Ferry, Victoria's Peak, Happy Valley Racecourse--we sat in the owner's box, Big Buddha, Big Jumbo Floating Restaurant, Night Market, Jade Market and our hotel was in Tsim Sha Tsui (TST), just near Nathan Road.
http://www.thereareplaces.com/Guidebook/pdest/Asia/chhkpts.htm
-Again, The Night Market, and our hotel's dining room overlooked The HK Cultural Center and Repulse Bay.
Language, Customs, Culture & Etiquitte are here:
http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/hongkong-country-profile.html
T/that should get you started. That and because you asked for a typical day, I've included video--it shows streets, food, apartments, all that good stuff.
Xia Xin!
Repulse Bay skyline photo credits: Pwojdacz, Cacahuate
Sources as links above, as well as:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prc
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_kong
I'm also a source, having taken a business trip there and done business with people there for five years.
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M$
Thank you for your thoughtful follow up, I think that cleared it up for me. I think it's a complex relationship-almost symbiotic because of what HK provides for China economically, and vice versa, as you allude to in your original post. I know personally I'm going to look into more about the idea of "one country, two systems," and if this will turn out to be an effective partnership in the future. How would one fare without the other? This, I am inspired to think about. Thanks!
I would love a profile on HK, having been there it is really a cool place, but HK is not officially an independent country, it's part of China. I would agree that a profile on the relationship between China and HK is unique and would be an interesting comparison. HK is not a country; it is a "special administrative region of the People's Republic of China":
---quote---
"Occupied by the UK in 1841, Hong Kong was formally ceded by China the following year; various adjacent lands were added later in the 19th century. Pursuant to an agreement signed by China and the UK on 19 December 1984, Hong Kong became the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China on 1 July 1997. In this agreement, China promised that, under its "one country, two systems" formula, China's socialist economic system would not be imposed on Hong Kong and that Hong Kong would enjoy a high degree of autonomy in all matters except foreign and defense affairs for the next 50 years."
source: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/hk.html
I think we're splitting hairs. I acknowledge the re-acquisition In my post:
"Since 1997, it's been part of The People's Republic of China..."
It was a British Territory that was even once occupied by Japan, and it is now a "Special Administrative Region"--the other being Macau. If you've been there, you'd know that all three operate as their own countries, except in the military and as far as foreign policy goes.
Macau SAR and Hong Kong SAR are, for all intents and purposes, Hong Kong and Macau. I never received instructions from our vendors overseas to make a wire transfer to "Hong Kong, China" when I bought merchandise (truckloads); I would make a transfer to a bank in "Tsim Sha Tsui (TST), Hong Kong" or "Kowloon, Hong Kong." The SWIFT code I used for those transactions (a code which tells banks exactly which branch the money needs to go to--example:
Lists of SWIFT codes for Hong Kong and Macau are here:
http://www.theswiftcodes.com/hong-kong/
http://www.theswiftcodes.com/macau/
The fifth and sixth character of each is "HK" and "MO," respectively.
Those two letters aren't "CN," like you'd find here:
http://www.theswiftcodes.com/china/
The financial industry makes a distinction.
Read the definition of "SAR," from wikipedia, some of which you'd provided.
The two special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau (created in 1997 and 1999 respectively) each have a codified constitution called Basic Law.2 The law provides the regions with a high degree of autonomy, a separate political system, and a capitalist economy under the principle of "one country, two systems" proposed by Deng Xiaoping.2
High degree of autonomy
Currently, the two SARs of Hong Kong and Macau are responsible for all issues except diplomatic relations and national defense. Consequently, the National People's Congress authorizes the SAR to exercise a high degree of autonomy and enjoy executive, legislative and independent judicial power.5 HK and Macau are vested with independent judicial power, including final adjudication.6 They have their own Courts of Final Appeal.6 According to the Joint Declaration HK SAR enjoys a high degree of autonomy, except in matters of foreign policy and defence.7
External affairs
Special administrative regions are empowered to contract a wide range of agreements with other countries and territories such as mutual abolition of visa requirement, mutual legal aid, air services, extradition, handling of double taxation and others. In diplomatic talks involving a SAR, the SAR concerned may send officials to be part of the Chinese delegation. In sporting events the SARs are known as "Hong Kong, China" and "Macau, China" and compete as different countries.8
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_administrative_region_%28People%27s_Republic_of_China%29
Like I said, they're a wholly-owned subsidiary of PRC. But they each have their own Constitutions, their own government, their own courts...even their own money and even their own postal systems. a Chinese Flag flying at the local HK Post branch office, (maybe) ios a technicality.
"One Country, two systems" or not, I'll say that China, Macau and Hong Kong are completely separate countries with completely different pasts and people..
The best way to get an insight into a country, short of going there, is to talk with people who are there.
Now it might (or might not) be fun to go and learn about (say) Cameroon from reading about it on the net. But it would be a whole lot more fun and illuminating to actually talk with people from there, or people who are there.
Now as far as I know, we don't have access to anyone from Cameroon on Mahalo.
(Though there are some great sites like http://globalvoicesonline.org/ that let you read what people have to say anyway.)
But personally I'd love to hear about Japan... from you, and other Mahaloians there.
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M$
Any internet sight that let's you get the real "feel" of living in another particular country is going to be in their language. Good portions of comprehending what is meant by the language used will require knowledge of the country's history, hottest fads, etc. To get a feel for another country learn their idioms, then visit their popular websites.
But to return to the original point... if we have Mahoians from the chosen country that will make a big difference to how fun and illuminating this projects is.
So there is a case for selecting countries where people are... if not Japan... there are also people here from Romania, Indonesia etc.
In that case perhaps reframe the question....
Instead of... "What country should we learn about this week?"
Perhaps... well, I don't really know.... :)
I'm tempted to make up new words like "evisit". :)
But depending on your focus maybe something like... "Which nation should we connect with and listen to this week?"
I am a big believer that questions are more powerful than answers, and how things are framed matters a lot. :)
Another challenge to be aware of... but it also applies when you visit in person.... the net-connected and English-speaking are not necessarily typical of the people. Though they at least provide something of a bridge to the unconnected and the non-English-speaking people.
The less developed and Westernized the country, the bigger these issues get.
However I greatly like your project. :D
What I'm really hoping for are internet resources that allow you to get the real "feel" of living in that particular area of the world. Not so much wikipedia type information, but blogs, local news, etc. that a person from that country would visit.
We'll save my experiences in Japan for another day!
With 1,600 bird species (15% of the world's known bird species) in the continental area, and 38 more endemic in the Galápagos. In addition to over 16, 000 species of plants, the country has 106 endemic reptiles, 138 endemic amphibians, and 6,000 species of butterfly. The Galápagos Islands are well known as a region of distinct fauna.
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M$
I would start with Dominica, one of my favorite islands. It's very small and has beautiful natural wonders. It is the "Nature Isle of the Caribbean"
Here's some websites where you can learn more about the island:
Discover Dominica: http://www.dominica.dm/site/index.cfm
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominica
Dive Dominica: http://www.divedominica.com/
Official Government Website: http://www.dominica.gov.dm/cms/
News from Dominica: http://www.newsdominica.com/
Why should we learn more about this island? Because it is gorgeous! One of the Caribbean's best kept secrets. Geologically Dominica is the youngest of all Caribbean islands. It has lush rainforests, gorgeous waterfalls, and amazing wildlife. It also has one of the coolest places in the world, the Titou Gorge, water and rock formation that was used in the filming of one of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. It also has the second-largest boiling river in the world. It has a beach, known as Champagne Beach where bubbles come out of the sand underwater. This is due to volcanic activity underground. Oh and did I mention there's sulfur hot springs?
It's also interesting that Dominica's culture was influenced by both the French and the English. It was first a French colony (due to its proximity to Martinique and Guadeloupe) and was lost to England in the Seven Years war in the late 18th century. They speak English but also have many French traditions like eating frog legs (or mountain chicken) Dominica is also one of the few islands in the Caribbean to still have a population of Carib indians.
Champagne Beach
Titou Gorge
Sulfur Hot Springs
Diving
Carib Indians
Websites listed and my own experience traveling there.
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M$
Thank you for your answer. So far, all three countries listed are very interesting to me.
The best way to learn about these and other countries here is definitely a "work in progress" for me, but I'm hoping to expand on each of these answers (and any more to come) in coming weeks. Any ideas are welcome! Thanks again to everybody who participated so far.
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M$
The invention on the mini cooper
CADBURY's!!!!! (damn Kraft...)
First place to use proper X-Ray equiptment
Home to the person who discovered oxygen
Fish and chips
Queen Elizabeth 2nd
Many, many other wonderful things
Duh!
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M$
Yu forgot "Pres a Manger," which I at at in London a few times over a visit of five days. They need to open in The US. In my kitchen. Sorry if this is a double post but it didn't appear after I clicked "Submit your comment."
Yu forgot "Pres a Manger," which I ate at in London three or four times in five days. They need to open here in The US. In my kitchen..
An awesome answer!
Thank you very much for your answer. Countries like Cameroon are exactly what I am looking to learn more about. The links you provided are a good place to start, but what I would also like to learn about is what websites (if they exist) would a person living in Cameroon visit on a regular basis?
Learning the basics of a country I know nothing about is useful, but being able to "virtually experience" living in a country like Cameroon is the goal.
Thanks again!
It is an interesting and exciting idea.
Thanks a lot @ brian san