Chinese Zodiac

The Chinese year is changing. There are many myths and stories about the Chinese zodiac, and I want to tell one of them.

Photo by nopkin from Flicker CC

One of the stories goes like this: God organized a party and invited all the animals there. Rat and cat had a fight, so the rat told the cat that the party was actually on the next day, but that was a lie. So, all the animals went to the party, except the cat, who thought that the party was the following day. Actually this party, that God had organized, was really a competition to select the animals for the horoscope. The competition was about running, everybody simply had to reach the other side of the line before the other animals did. But the rat cheated this time too. It knew that it wasn't a very good runner, so the rat secretly rode on ox's back. Just before the ox got to the goal, the rat jumped off the ox's back to the other side of the line, so it was the first to finish. That's why the rat is the first animal in the zodiac. The ox was the second one, so God made it the second animal to the zodiac, then it was tiger, rabbit, dragon...just like in the zodiac. And this is why cat isn't in the zodiac - rat cheated it.

Photo by chooyutshing from Flicker CC

This story has many versions, I've heard one where rat pushes cat to the water in a swimming competition.

Bailando por el mundo = Dancing for the world

This post is about my hobbies, and in the beginning I must say that I absolutely love dancing. Here is a link for the headline.

Photo by anujraj from Flickr CC

Three years ago I went to my first zumba class. In the beginning I wasn't going to go there, but my friend dragged me with her, so there I was. The hall was full of people; there were at least one hundred of us. First I thought that this was crazy. Everybody was dancing and doing weird movements but at the end of the class I was really happy. The class was so much fun, it even didn’t feel like exercising. But it certainly was that. So that’s how I got interested in zumba. And big “thank you” for my friend who dragged me there!;D

Now I have a huge interest in reggaeton and salsa. They both are Latin dances and really popular in South- and Central-America (= Latin-America). Especially in Cuba, people dance a lot, usually salsa. One of my friends from the dance classes was in Cuba for one month, and she said that basically everybody dance in there, but there are only a few people who actually know how to dance. And they are very good. But still, the “dance spirit” is really good in Cuba, so everybody does that.

Photo by Jan Zalud (योहन) from Flickr CC  

Shoulders, hips and stomach are used a lot in reggaeton, it’s quite a masculine dance, similar to hip hop. I started it in the fall, and I completely fell in love with it. Spanish music in the background and like all the dances, you have to think what you are doing, otherwise you will mess up the choreography and the steps. I think it’s relaxing because you have to think “in the dance way”, all the stress and worries disappear from your mind, at least for a moment.

Salsa is also really popular; I think it is known all over the world. The basic step in salsa is quite easy, but when you have to add the spins and other more difficult movements to the choreography, you need to concentrate. But I think it’s still not difficult, you just need to practice. And when you have danced more you don’t need to count anymore, you can hear everything from the music. It’s wonderful when you can see that you have developed. Salsa is usually categorized in three levels in dance schools. I’m really proud of myself, I jumped straight to the second course in salsa, I skipped the first one, I was already familiar with the basic steps, because of zumba.

I have never tried salsa with a couple but maybe some day I'll...
Photo by dekay from Flickr CC

I think I’m going to keep on dancing at least couple years, right now I can’t even think of quitting. I feel like it’s a kind of a “lifestyle” for me.

Anna V.               

To Be Young

“To be young it’s attractive, explosion of hormones, sexy and healthy”. We went through a video in the class http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ_0EhqIPko. It’s about teenagers and teen generations from the 60s to the time now. I found the video very inspiring so I decided to write about it and I picked some phrases that I think are interesting.

Teenagers have been classified in three different groups. First are the “Baby Boomers”, who were born in the 40s and 50s. They were the first ones when people started to see that you don’t jump straight from being a kid to an adult - that there actually is adolescence between childhood and adulthood. People started to notice that there were certain things that kind of “belonged” to teenagers, like for example rock’n’roll music. It’s been said that Baby Boomers went through a lot of different changes and they invented the famous “Youth Life Style”. That’s why they were called the “Liberated Youth”.

After Baby Boomers was “Generation X”. Born in the 60s and 70s, they enjoyed the rights of Baby Boomers. They took control of their own individualities – they were the bosses of their bedrooms. Generation X has been called also the “Competitive Youth”. In part of the video there was a guy who said: “If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” I think this phrase is really good too. Sometimes you just have to stop and simply think what you are doing. Otherwise you can see yourself wishing your time away. And later, you will regret it.

Today’s teenagers are called “Millenials”. So, it basically means us. It’s been said that Millenials have taken control of the world through the internet, that’s why they are also called “Global Youth”, “Generation Y/G/WE” or “Digital Youth”. Because the internet connects people all round the world, it’s one big thing in everybody’s life. Nowadays you just can’t run away from the world. It’s just not possible. Information spreads in a few seconds from one side of the world to the other. If something happens it’s usually in the news in the same day that it came up. In the video they said that it’s typical for Millenials to use “hyperbolic languages to express themselves” and then they showed a clip of a really crazy teen in his bedroom jumping around, and I think it is a little bit exaggeration. Anyone who I know really doesn’t do that. But I don’t know maybe in America…:D Nowadays young people are much more realistic and tolerant. And it’s natural for them to start up with something and end up doing something else.

My friends and I

We had some Singaporean students visiting our school for one week. It’s great to meet other people of our age from another side of the world. And they are not so different than us. They go to school as well, do sports, have hobbies, listen to music, see friends and just do this “teenage stuff” that I guess all youth does. Well of course life on the other side of the world is different too, the climate and the culture for example. In Singapore, they aren’t allowed to have jewelry (only small earrings and a watch) or make up. Unlike in Finland, they have school uniforms, long hair has to be tied and they have to pay for school food. And it’s a little more expensive in Finland than in Singapore. Singapore is one big city itself and the population is the same as in whole Finland but it’s only the same size as Helsinki.  I think the language seems funny because the official language in Singapore is English, but some people put Chinese words in the end of the sentences like “How are you cha?” (or something like that). That is called Singlish. But everybody doesn’t talk like that. In Singapore many people are from the neighboring countries and keep up their own traditions. That’s why there are so many languages spoken in Singapore and people have roots from many other countries. The most spoken languages in Singapore are Chinese, Malay and Indian, but there are people from Europe too (Asian people call Europeans Caucasian).

Hema and I

I think it’s awesome to be a teen. You’re so free to do anything. It feels like everything is possible and the world is open to new ideas. “If you want to understand the world, you have to understand the teenagers.” Well, it’s been said that we teenagers make the world; we’re the upcoming adults who are going to decide about the future. And “Young people represent new languages and behaviors.” I think this is true too, the world is globalizing all the time.

I will finish with an apt line from the video: “If you already think that you know enough and your place in the world, well congratulations, you are officially dead.”

Anna V.