Welcome! 환영합니다! :)

Welcome to Yeosu International Youth Festival 2010!

Hands up in the air! Team 4 화이팅!! =)

We are Group 4 and very pleased to meet you! Group 4's color is pink, so please say hello if you see us in Yeosu! 

We are an awesome group with participants from 13 different countries: Algeria, Australia, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Korea, Mexico, Montenegro, Netherlands, Russia, South Africa & USA. (Click name of the country for general information about each country! ^^) 

With this blog we, Group 4, would like to share our international experience and knowledge with you! Therefore, on this main page we will share about a few different topics such as culture, sports, music, and language (labeled: "international exchange"). 

There are two other pages.  The first is some personal greetings from our group members and the second is about our group's experience in Yeosu. Please make sure to visit these pages!

Welcome once again and we hope you enjoy our blog!! =)

잘 부탁드립니다!  ^^

Culture

Please allow us to share our cultures with you! :)

Germany

   

The 9th of November 1989 is one of the most important days in the German history. It is the day of the reunion of the German Democratic Republic and Federal Germany. This picture was taken in that night in front of the Brandenburger Tor, an emblem of Germany.


France

This picture is from Bordeaux, France which is a city very famous for wine.
You can see a typical vineyard in this picture.

Sweden

In Sweden, pizza is very thin and you eat it with "pizza salad".  This pizza salad is pickled cabbage and reminds me very much of Korean kimchi!  It was so comforting to travel abroad and get to experience this great cross-cultural similarity! =) 

This newspaper from Gothenburg, Sweden reads," Politicians suggest: spitting chewing gum (on the ground) can cost 1500 Swedish Crowns in Gothenburg." (~$205 USD/ 246,790 Korean Won).  Clearly, Swedish politicians have the environment in mind

In Sweden, one of the largest holidays celebrates an Italian "Saint Lucia" (the martyr and patron saint of the blind) who is said to have brought light to the darkest time in Sweden.  One legend claims that she came to Sweden by boat and shared food with the poor and hungry people on December 13th, the darkest night of the year (by Julian Calendar).  Another legend says that she brought food to persecuted Christians that were hiding in tombs in the catacombs under the city of Rome during the Deocletian persecution.  In the center you see Lucia who wears a red sash to represent the blood spilled from being martyred and she wears a crown of candles, which she was said to wear when bringing food to the poor/persecuted since she need lighting while holding trays of food.  This picture shows the University of Washington Lucia Choir from Seattle, WA on December 13, 2008.

This picture shows the Dalahäst, which is a traditional horse figurine and a national symbol of Sweden.  it is only painted in the city of Dalarna in Sweden.  This particular one is very large and located in Liseberg, the largest amusement park in Scandinavia.  Its main color is red because there are many copper mines in Sweden from which the paint is made.  [Follow this link for videos and fun thing about Swedish culture: http://svenska.weebly.com/fun-things.html]

Sports

Some information about sports from around the world.

Germany

Germans love futbol.  Although they usually are not very emotional, when it comes to futbol, they go crazy!

Sweden

Here is the Swedish Club from the University of Washington playing a viking lawn game called "Kubb."  It is a game with two opposing teams who throw sticks to try to knock over the other teams pins.  It's like a mix between bowling and chess.

United States

American football:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJ6vzfDEzbA

Music

Scandinavian Music as compared to Korea and Native American

Adjágas is a group of Sami "yoikers" from Norway. The Sami are a Northern European nomadic people. I stumbled across this CD in the city library in Gothenburg, Sweden and it was very inspiring music. The tonality and voice quality of this group is a little different than the music familiar to western ears. This type of music uses the pentatonic scale which is different from the more popular heptatonic scale of popular Western music. It has a mournful quality to it, and even in songs of rejoice it sounds rather--- sad. Maybe this represents the repression of the Sami culture, similar to that of the Native American tribes.

The back cover reads: "...Adjágas is a state between sleeping and waking. It is where you get in touch with issues and messages that are important to you. It is also said that the sami learned yoiking from the alda people that live in another world parallel to our own, in the Adjágas state of mind. Adjágas is a celebration of the ancient art of yoiking and a search for what the future will bring..."

This really is beautiful music that gave me a new respect for the Sami cultures here in Scandinavia. It also reminds me of traditional Korean 'pansori' music, which I also like to listen to from time to time. Here's another example of pansori.

For those of you that are familiar with Korean traditional song: "Arirang."
Here's a couple versions from different regions in Korea:
Jindo
Bongwha
Kangwon
Kangwon (modern version)
Milyang

and the more familiar:
Joe Hiashi style version

Swedsh traditional style songs

'Gläns över sjö och strand '

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IANbyuFpjgw

'Goder afton & Julpolska'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQIgW5YmmiM

'Getingen'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJeaRxeCdzY

Montenegrin hip-hop music example

http://www.myspace.com/ramboamadeus

Mexican Mariachi Music

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5yTmVxRN2g

Language

Finnish 
The Finnish language is a Finno-Ugric language.  It is related to Hungarian.  It also has many vowels.  For example, kärsivällisyyttä, which means 'patience'

French
French Tongue-twister
I'd like to share one really funny French tongue twister.
Below you'll find three different transcriptions for each line of the tongue twister.

[1] The top line is a pseudo rhythmical transcription (for you musically minded people):
( / = barline, Q = quarter note, O = eighth note, o = sixteenth note).
[2] The second line is the French language original.
[3] The third line is the English translation.
 
O / O O O O  o o O Q /
Combien sont ces six saucissons ci?
How much are these six sausages here?

O / O o o O O O O Q /
Ces six saucissons ci sont six sous.
These six sausages are six 'sous'

o o / O o o O O O O Q /
Si ces six saucissons ci sont six sous.
If these six sausages here are six 'sous'

O / O o o O O O O Q /
Ces six saucissons ci sont très chers.These six sausages here are very expensive.

Korean
Konglish jokes (Korean/English)

Q)    Why did the smoker go to the horse ranch?
A)    말보로 (Mal-bo-ro)

Q)    How much does a blanket cost?
A)    이불 (two dollars)

Q)    What did the bus driver say to the egg?
A)     계란 (Get on.)

Q) What do you call a big napkin?
A)     휴지(huge)

Q) What do you call a smelly bird?
A)     냄새{nem seh)

Q) what is the vampire's fav drink?
A)     코피(koh-pee)
Q) What do you call a 5 year old onion?
A)     오년(Oh-nyun)

Q) How did the ice cream get into a car accident?
A)     차가와서(Cha Gah Wah Suh)

Q) What did the fish say when it lost its bones?
A)     오마이가시(Oh my ga shee)

Montenegrin

This is how you write the word for "to protect" in cursive cyrillic. ;)


Swedish
The longest Swedish Word: Nordöstersjökustartilleriflygspaningssimulatoranläggningsmaterielunderhållsuppföljningssystemdiskussionsinläggsförberedelsearbeten.

Morphemic Breakdown:
Nord-östersjö-kust-artilleri-flyg-spaning-s-simulator-anläggning-s-materiel-underhåll-s-uppföjlning-s-system-diskussion-s-inlägg-s-förberedelse-arbeten.

English Definition:
"preparatory work on the contribution to the discussion on the maintaining system of support of the material of the aviation survey simulator device within the north-east part of the coast artillery of the Baltic."