Happy Healthy New Year!
Table of Contents
Year of the Tiger
Year of the Tiger
By Daniel Lo
History of the Chinese Zodiac:
The Chinese zodiac derives from a folktale which explains the story of how it began. The Jade Emperor wanted a way to tell time and in order to do this, he chose many animals to compete in a swimming race. Since then, there are twelve animals in the Chinese zodiac that date all the way back to the 5th century. Many people have used the Chinese zodiac to determine a person’s birth year, and still do so today. The Chinese zodiac runs on a cycle of sixty years. A new animal is chosen to represent the year on an annual basis.
Dates: 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010, 2022
Element: Wood
Compatible Zodiacs: Dragon, Horse, Pig
The tigers will meet their "year of birth" in 2022. The tigers are said to face many challenges as their birth year repeats every 12 years. Wearing red will bring good luck in a year of birth.
Love: 2022 will be a good year for the tigers to get married. The tigers will have luck finding a relationship. The tigers around the age of 24 or 36 must pay attention to their relationships because there will be ups and downs in 2022.
Wealth: Tigers must be cautious when going in business with others in 2022. Spending money with caution will help in the future. Tigers are not advised to invest in companies or businesses for 2022.
Lucky colors: Brown, Orange, Black, Blue
Brown symbolizes prudence. Wearing brown clothes will make you look more reliable to your business partners.
Orange symbolizes wealth.
Black symbolizes abundance and prosperity.
Blue brings good luck and fortune.
Japan Society
Japan Society
by Dina Pizzarello
japan society 2.mp4
The Legend of Chinese New Year: Nian
The Legend of Chinese New Year: Nian
Retelling by Elly Wufeng 653
Thousands of years ago in Ancient China, there was a quiet , happy, and peaceful village. However, every year on the eve of Lunar New Year, a fierce monster named Nian (Year), who had the body of a lion and the head of a unicorn, would come out and attack the innocent villagers. Nian would destroy crops, eat livestock and sometimes even kill people! The villagers were terrified and frightened. They did not have any solutions except escaping away to a nearby town from the mighty beast.
One year, the villagers were busy packing to escape when an old man appeared begging for food. Everyone was too busy to notice him. But a kind old grandmother saw the old man and gave him some food to satisfy his hunger. She told the old man that he’d better escape or else he could be one of Nian’s victims. However, the old man replied saying that if the grandmother is willing to let him stay for the night, Nian will never come back again. The grandmother was not convinced and continued to plead with the man to leave as soon as possible, and the man refused to do so. Shaking her head with disbelief, the grandmother agreed to let him stay but she left worrying for her safety.
At midnight, Nian arrived as he always did for the past years. He walked through every part of the village and was angered by a house with red papers pasted on the windows. That house was the old grandmother’s house. Nian stood, glaring. Just then, sounds of firecrackers came from inside the house. Nian was exasperated more than ever! Then, the old man, wearing red from head to toe came out of the house laughing at the monster fearlessly. Along him was a big drum. He started playing the drum and the loud noises irritated Nian. Nian started growling and covering its ears. Although Nian is known for being fierce and cruel, the color red and loud noises are its biggest weaknesses. Turning pale with fear, Nian ran away…far far away from the house and the village.
The next day, Lunar New Year, all the other villagers that escaped came back to the village, surprised by what they saw. Their houses were the same as before, all of their livestock was unharmed. But the most important thing was that every single person from the village was safe and no one was harmed. The villagers discovered what the old man did and they believed he was meant to come and save them. This started the tradition of putting red papers on homes and setting off fireworks every year during Lunar New Year.
The story of Nian has had a big impact on the ways people celebrate the holiday today! People do dragon and lion dances, in which dancers dress in dragon and lion costumes and dance. In Chinese culture, lions symbolize strength, firmness, and superiority. While dragons represent boldness, power, and excellence. People also have family reunions, eat dinners, give red envelopes stuffed with money inside, and offer sacrifices for ancestors!
10 Little Known Facts About Albania
10 Little Known Facts About Albania
By Kostela Lila 814
The Albanian language is very unique. It has 36 alphabet letters and there is no other language similar to the Albanian language. But it’s still recognized as an Indo-European language, even though it has an independent branch in the language tree.
2. Albania has its own traditional dance which is called “valle”, it's so unique that every city has their own version of the dance. And we have traditional Albanian clothes that we wear in special events like weddings and celebrations.
3. A lot of people from Albania live out of Albania; there are only 3 million people living there. The majority of Albanian migrants have settled in Greece (approximately 600,000) and Italy (500,000). In the United States there are about 113,661 people. Other places where Albanians live are Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia as well as in Croatia, and Turkey. There are a lot of international artists who are Albanian, for example Dua Lipa, Rita Ora, Bebe Rexha, Ava Max, and others. In fact Dua LIpa is the first Albanian to win a grammy award.
4. Albania has a lot of beautiful places to visit, especially beaches. There are also two seas, the Adriatic Sea and the Ionian Sea. Albania has a really long coast. It is 380 km long, approximately 300 km of it belonging to the warmer Adriatic Sea and the rest of it to the Ionian Sea. Albania borders Greece which has clear blue waters as well.
5. Albania is one of the countries with the most coffee shops. There are about 518 cafes per 100,000 inhabitants. Albanians drink two types of coffees, Italian espresso and Turkish coffee. Coffee is a huge part of the culture and everyday life in Albania. You’ll see people sitting in cafes a lot.
6. Albania has a mountainous geography. About three-fourths of its territory consists of mountains and hills. Albania has a Mediterranean climate, with mild and humid winters followed by hot and dry summers.
7. Albania is considered a Balkan country, but it is independent, and it has been since 1912 when the Ottomans fell. Balkan also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographic area in Southeast Europe .
8. Albania was once under Ottoman rule, after WWI it got independence in 1912 ,after that it got invaded by Italian rule, and Germany later. Getting rid of the foreign invasion, the end of WWII found Albania a socialist republic, and stayed under dictatorship for 5 decades.
9. Albanians don’t call the country Albania but they call the country Shqiperi. This double naming has its own reasons. We say Shqiperi for our country, Shqip for the language, and Shqiptar for the people. These names are believed to have derived from the word “shqiponje”, which means eagle in Albanian. The flag of Albania features an eagle. The Tale of the Eagle is an Albanian folk tale that explains how Albania and Albanians received their name.
10. Albania has a crossed hands gesture which is a nationalist symbol representing the double headed eagle on Albania's national flag. The crossed hands gesture is a hand signal that symbolizes Albania in International Sign. Known as the flag sign in Albanian, it is sometimes referred to as the "eagle gesture" and is a symbol used by Albanians in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, and other regions of the world where Albanians live.
The Cultural Impact of China & the Cultural Revolution
The Cultural Impact of China & the Cultural Revolution
by Shirly Pan and Sharon Shao
China is a multi-religious country. For example, Islam, Buddhism and etc, have went into culture-shaping hoods in Chinese history. The Cultural impact of China is important because it influenced a lot of economies. Chinese Culture is older than 5,000 years. China’s culture and political value has spread around the world but Western Political circle. China’s business is attracting worldwide attention. Some countries are getting more concerned that China will keep over powering them. The culture of China is pretty, the food, art, and science. China has the best landscape. Chinese ancient writing is one of the most unique writing by it’s own way. China is also full of history and full of delicious food.
What is The Great Wall Of China and its History ?
What is The Great Wall Of China and its History ?
The Great Wall Of China is a very long wall over 3,700 miles, but the total length is still unknown. It’s construction was started during the Qin dynasty as a defense border to protect China's northern territory against the Huns and as a pattern of defense for future generations. It took about 2000 years to build because many imperial dynasties worked to build on the wall. The Ming dynasty was the last construction on the wall. The wall cost about 400,000 lives and some of the dead workers were buried in the walls. Today the wall still stands and it’s open for many tourists.
Informational video for the great wall of china
Informational video for the great wall of china
CELEBRATING BLACK HISTORY MONTH!
CELEBRATING BLACK HISTORY MONTH!
Things You Probably Didn’t Know Were Invented By Black Inventors
Things You Probably Didn’t Know Were Invented By Black Inventors
By Elly Wu Feng and Emily Eng
February is the shortest month of the year. But even so, it is packed with amazing history we have to acknowledge. February is Black History month. It was started by Carter G. Woodson, a Harvard educator who spent his life studying and teaching African-American history. He wanted everyone to learn about the important contributions African-Americans made, and he promoted better education for Black communities. Considering all the work he has done, his efforts made an impact. Today we are learning about fascinating stories and people throughout American history. People like Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglas, Mary Jackson, Douglas Wilder, Martin Luther King Jr, Rudolph Fisher, and many many more. African-American culture has impacted society in many ways from music, language, technology, and even the food we eat. While it’s important to recognize the amazing accomplishments from people of color, but also to recognize the struggles and racism they’ve faced. History is filled with racist/religious attacks, and that has to change. Furthermore, as technology becomes more available and reliable, we all have the ability to educate ourselves. So let’s start Black History Month off by learning about some sublime African-American inventors.
1. Potato Chips: George Crum
It was the summer of 1853, a wealthy steamship owner named Cornelius Vanderbilt was waiting for his dinner in the dining room of Moon’s Lake House in Saratoga Springs, New York. The chef that was preparing his dinner is George Crum, Crum presented Vanderbilt partridge served with french fries. However, Vanderbilt was not satisfied with the french fries. He said the french fries were too thick. Crum was not pleased with the criticism. In his anger, Crum shaved the thinnest possible pieces of potato into hot oil and fried them to a crisp. Vanderbilt was surprisingly happy and he enjoyed the chips. And that’s how potato chips were invented! Crum’s chips were originally called Saratoga Chips and potato crunches. In today’s world, Americans eat about 1.85 billion pounds of potato chips annually!
2. Innovations to Telecommunication:
Shirley Ann Jackson
Shirley Ann Jackson, born in 1946 in Washington D.C, was the first African-American woman to earn a doctorate in nuclear physics from MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). She paved the way for instant communication with her research and understanding of physics. Some of the inventions her research contributed to were; the portable fax machine, fiber optic cables, touch tone telephones, solar cells, and an abundance more. Without her work, we wouldn’t have lighting, automobiles, television, telephones, spacecraft, modern medicine and surgery, or even the simple “caller Id ###” at the end of a phone call. Now serving as the 18th, and first African-American president of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, her work and research still continues to revolutionize our modern day world.
3. Laser Eye tool: Patricia Bath
Dr. Patricia E. Bath, a first generation Trinidadian daughter, and a descendent of slaves and the Cherokee Native Americans, was an extraordinary scientist who revolutionized the medical world of eye surgery. She invented the Laserphaco Probe, also known as Laser Eye surgery. Laser eye surgery is a medical procedure where a laser is used to treat cataracts, an eye condition that blocks a person’s vision, it's almost like a cloud shading one’s eyes. As a person ages, their cataracts can lead to complete blindness, so Bath wanted to make a procedure that could save blindness and be as painless as possible. She received her patent in 1988 for the Laserphaco Probe, and with this invention she was able to restore someone’s sight after being blind for 30 years. Her humanitarian work for the underprivileged and her work in the ophthalmology field never stopped until her death in 2019.
4. Hair Straightening
(The Walker Hair Care System) :
Madam C. J. Walker/ Sarah Breedlove
Sarah Breedlove suffered extreme hair loss, which was common for Black women at her time. Due to bad diet, scalp disease, damaging hair products, and infrequent wash. Breedlove said that a man appeared in her dream and told her the recipe for a pomade that would regrow and “save” her hair. Breedlove tried the recipe on herself and it worked like magic! Other women who used it also had positive results. Soon, she began marketing her products and it was a huge success. She used direct sales and she hired women to serve as door to door salespeople. Due to the huge success of Sarah Breedlove’s products, she became the first known self made female millionaire.
5. Protective Mailbox: Philip B. Downing
Before Philip B. Downing invented the protective mailbox, people who wish to send mails usually need to travel to the post office to do so. Downing’s invention allowed people to easily drop off their mail near one’s home and pick-up by a letter carrier. Thanks to Philip B. Downing for inventing the protective mailbox, people today don’t have to worry about their letters being stolen or damaged by rain or snow!
6. Primitive Gas Mask: Garrett Morgan
Garrett Morgan only received a sixth grade education, but that didn’t stop him from being a fast learner. Morgan was irritated by how many firefighters were killed by smoke on the job. That inspired him to develop what he called the “safety hood”. The hood is designed to feature tubes connected to wet sponges that filtered out smoke and provided fresh oxygen. Morgan’s invention saved countless lives of firefighters and soldiers during World War I. The invention earned him the first prize at the Second International Exposition of Safety and Sanitation in New York City.
7. Three Position Traffic Signals: Garrett Morgan
You probably never heard of or even think about who invented the traffic signal. Which is something very commonplace and vital in our everyday lives. Traffic signals were already invented, but Morgan improved it. Morgan's success with his other inventions allowed him to own an automobile. He was reported to be the first African American in Cleveland to have a car! Morgan witnessed a fatal accident at a Cleveland intersection. And with a click- he came up with an idea to improve the two light signals to three lights. He added the yellow light, which means caution. Thanks to Morgan’s invention, people today are able to drive more safely.
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