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NORWAY: THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE
I have had a keen interest with Norway for quite some time now. I think it started when I worked at Concordia Language Villages and was introduced to the Norwegian camp called Skogfjorden. I worked at...
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NORWAY: ART AND LITERATURE
Norwegian artists generally followed many of the trends of European art. And generally speaking, Norwegian art is considered part of the larger Scandinavian art category. Viking art was one of the...
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NORWAY: MUSIC AND DANCE
Most likely, the earliest musical traditions stemmed from the Vikings. There have been a few artifacts that led anthropologists to piece together their musical traditions. However, the music of Norway...
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NORWAY: THE FOOD
Well, Earth Day was yesterday, and I missed the March for Science. It was cold and blustery here in Indianapolis, and I subconsciously (or consciously?) turned my alarm off instead of hitting snooze...
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NORTH KOREA: THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE
The Hermit Kingdom. It’s a country that leaves many people wondering how exactly it came to be the way it is. For many people, it represents the stereotypical dictatorship. For others, it represents a...
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NORTH KOREA: ART AND LITERATURE
While early art mainly consisted of stone carvings and rock drawings, the Goryeo Dynasty saw quite the change in Korean art. There were many advancements during this time (918–1382) in not only the...
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NORTH KOREA: MUSIC AND DANCE
Many of the musical traditions in North Korea today has stemmed from its own folk traditions but has changed drastically since the two Koreas split apart in 1945. For the most part, the types of music...
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NORTH KOREA: THE FOOD
After what seems like a week of rain with a few periods where we weren’t getting soaked, the sun finally returned yesterday. But it’s May now. And that means one thing in Indianapolis: the Indy 500....
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OMAN: THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE
When I was a kid, I pronounced this country as “Oh, man!” I also used to get Muscat and Muskrat mixed up (I’m not sure why; they are vastly different.) However, in real life, Oman planted its stakes at...
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OMAN: ART AND LITERATURE
Early rock art shows women, men, children, and animals in their daily life. The early settlers to these areas also brought with them an array of other domestic arts, such as jewelry making, weaving,...
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OMAN: MUSIC AND DANCE
Traditionally, music from Oman borrowed traditions from many of its broader neighbors, including Egypt, Tanzania, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Portugal. Omani sailors would pick up...
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OMAN: THE FOOD
It’s finally starting to feel like May. The weather is warming up. The city is turning black and white for the upcoming Indy 500 race. I’m looking forward to a three-day Memorial Day weekend next week...
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PAKISTAN: THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE
A few years ago now, I started following the blog Humans of New York. What started out as a photo project taking pictures of people from New York and captioning it with a quote or short story from...
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PAKISTAN: ART AND LITERATURE
The early art of Pakistan has many of the same roots as much of the Indian subcontinent. From sculptures, textiles and woven arts, to paintings, Indian arts traditions spread across much of what is now...
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PAKISTAN: MUSIC AND DANCE
Pakistan’s music has pretty much borrowed the musical traditions from everyone around it: from India and South Asia to Central Asia to the Middle East as well as various Western styles. And because...
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PAKISTAN: THE FOOD
Wow, did the weather finally turn into summer! I took off to go to the zoo with my son’s 2ndgrade class, and this coming week, I’m going to the symphony to hear Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, and my...
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PALAU: THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE
In 1997, television changed. At least from my perspective. When Survivor came onto the scene, that was the beginning of the “reality show” craze that lasted way longer than I thought it would. I can’t...
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PALAU: ART AND LITERATURE
Palau’s culture is a very important part of their society. Although many of its cities and areas have modernized itself, they never forgot what it means to be Palauan. And like much of the island and...
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PALAU: MUSIC AND DANCE
Much of the traditional music of Palau resembles many of the styles of the broader Micronesian musical traditions. Now, a lot of those traditions have been mixed with popular music from the US, Europe,...
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PALAU: THE FOOD
My, what a busy couple of weeks this has been! My husband had his first car show of the season last weekend, the kids are finally out of school for the summer, and I got them both signed up for their...
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