Traditions and Celebrations

In America, the aspects of traditions and celebrations have drastically changed since when we first founded our nation. The idea of celebrating Christmas in public schools now is frowned upon when 100 years ago, there was nothing else to teach. Teachers hesitate to put any holiday decorations because the fear that a student might be offended. Although schools don't allow  the celebration of holidays, many workplaces, malls, and restaurants make a living off of selling the idea of Christmas. Are the traditions that our country were raised on fading away? Respecting other peoples traditions can still be done while celebrating our own. Christmas vacation doesn't have to be turned into winter recess. Easter vacation doesn't have to turn into spring break. We can respect other celebrations while still having our own. American culture has twisted our holiday traditions to many peoples liking, yet still make other people angry at the idea of Christmas turning into x-mas.

Vietnamese Culture

Do you know, Vietnam has one of the oldest culture in Southeast Asia with the ancient Bronze age Dong Son culturebeing widely considered one of its most important progenitors. Due to 1000 years of Chinese rules, Vietnam was heavily influenced by Chinese culture in terms of politics, government, Confucian social and moral ethics, and art. Vietnam is considered to be part of the East Asian cultural sphere.

Following independence from China in the 10th century, Vietnam began a southward expansion that saw the annexation of territories formerly belonging to the Champa civilization (now Central Vietnam) and parts of the Khmer empire (modern southern Vietnam), which resulted in minor regional variances in Vietnam's culture due to exposure to these different groups.

During the French colonial period, Vietnamese culture absorbed various influences from the Europeans, including the spread of Catholicism and the adoption of the Latin alphabet. Prior to this, Vietnamese had used both Chinese characters and a script called Chữ nôm which was based on Chinese but included newly invented characters meant to represent native Vietnamese words.

In the socialist era, the cultural life of Vietnam has been deeply influenced by government-controlled media and the cultural influences of socialist programs. For many decades, foreign cultural influences were shunned and emphasis placed on appreciating and sharing the culture of communist nations such as the Soviet Union, China,Cuba and others. Since the 1990s, Vietnam has seen a greater re-exposure to Asian, European and American culture and media.

Some elements generally considered to be characteristic of Vietnamese culture include ancestor veneration, respect for community and family values, handicrafts and manual labour, and devotion to study. Important symbols present in Vietnamese culture include dragons, turtles, lotuses and bamboo.

Vietnamese Culture

 Countries in all over the world are unique. Each country has its own culture and learning about the culture around the world is essential. The first thing people talk about when they mention culture of a country is food. Now I will talk about Vietnamese cuisine.
 Vietnamese food in my opinion, they are very delicious. There are many famous dishes of Vietnam that the tourists enjoy such as Bun Cha, Pho and Banh My. Those are the traditional dishes. Both bun cha and pho are rice noodles. There are many types of Pho such as Pho Ga (chicken noodles) and Pho Bo (beef noodles). Some people like to add chilli or lemon to their Pho. Bun Cha is different, people eat it with Nuoc Cham, which is a kind of added soup. Banh My is a kind of bread with many ingredients such as pate, ham, pork.
 In general, Vietnamese only eat those traditional foods on holidays, in others days they often eat rice with vegetables, meat and soup. These photos below are some pictures of Vietnamese cuisine:

Sports and Recreation

Sports and recreation play a major role in American culture. Some popular sports in America include American football, baseball,soccer,volleyball, basketball,hockey/ice hockey, tennis, swimming, softball, golf, running, hunting, fishing, dance, and cheer. Sports and recreation often vary depending on the climate, the state, and age. Sports like football, baseball, softball. basketball, volleyball, swimming, basketball, and hockey are popular among young children, teens, and young adults. While sports like tennis, golf, and running are popular with all ages. Sports are often part of many children's' and teens' daily routines. At younger ages sports often revolve around having fun, and preparing the athlete for the sport when they are older. Once you are a teenager practice typically gets longer, coaches get stricter, and the sport becomes much more intense. Practices often range from 2-3 hours long at the teen level. Also at this level, the athletes are being prepared and pushed for college scholarship opportunities and any opportunity to play professionally. Teens are often missing school and sometimes dropping out of school altogether in order to travel and play their sports. In sports like hockey and baseball athletes are moving all over the country and sometimes out of the country to play on the top teams at an elite level. Athletes are pushed and conditioned to an intense and professional level at a young age. Coaches will often sit their athletes out of a game, event, or competition for one simple mistake or missing a practice. Sports and recreation often get dangerous as the athlete gets older, the athletes are pushed to such an intense level that their bodies and health is being put at risk for injury. Some common injuries among teen athletes include concussions, sprains, breaks, fractures, tendonitis, stress injuries, knee, ACL and meniscus injuries. This was just a little inside on sports and recreation in America, although it may sound scary or bad, these athletes love what they are doing and are doing thier best to stay active and healthy.

American Food

The food in American culture has a very large variety when it comes to walk in restaurants. Since america tends to be a huge mixing pot when it comes to cultures,  we have a wide range of foods.  We have Italian restaurants, Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, and more. Yes, we have many different choices of foods, but America doesn't exactly have a type of food of its own. Some people say that hamburgers, pizza, hot dogs, and macaroni and cheese are american foods, but many are from other places. Pizza and pasta come from Italy, and the hot dog from Germany.   The hamburger (a round patty of beef in between two bread buns, usually with lettuce, tomatoes and cheese. ) is one of the few foods that are truly American.   

Also fast foods ( pre-made food that is cheaply made, so customers can get it quick.) are huge in american culture. More than half of the population eat fast foods daily. Some even eat fast foods for each meal on a daily bases. This is causing big  problems with obesity and health in american people. Over one- third of Americans are overweight or obese because of the greasy unhealthy food that these fast food restaurants are serving.

So, to conclude what Americans culture when it comes to food. We tend to copy off of other counties food and culture and claiming it as our own. Some restaurants are more specific to the origin of the food they are severing, but sometimes we forget.  Also the food we eat tend to be unhealthy and cheaply made, makings over weight and have some pretty big health problems. Most Americans don't think twice about what there eating and accept the culture of "our" food

Food habit in Vietnam

In recent year, Vietnamese food are becoming popular around the world. However, some cities in Vietnam have  diffrent types of food. First of all, we talk about Hanoi - it's a capital of Vietnam. In Hanoi, we have a variety of food and also drinks. Tourism really love noodle and bread in Hanoi. We can call PHO by noodle and BANH MY by bread.

This is Pho. We have 2 types of Pho. We can cook noodle with chicken or with beef. Before eating, we can add a cafe spoon of lemon, some vegetable or some chili.

BANH MI has a wide variety of fillings including ham, cheese, carrot, pork, canned sardines. People in Vietnam usually buy this bread for their breakfast. They often eat with a cup of milk or a cup of juice.

At lunch, people in Ha Noi often eat rice. For example, we can eat with Bo Kho - we cook beef with vegetable like carrot, potato and some kinds of onions. We can also eat rice with fried fish, chicken and grilled pork, etc. We may have a soup, it means like a vegetable soup.

In Sai Gon, we also have some traditional food like BUN MAM. It is also a kind of noodle like PHO. However, we cook it diffrent from Pho. In BUN MAM, we have vegetable, seafood like fish,.. Especially, we have fish sauce. We also eat BUN RIEU - noodle that make with crab and tofu, BUN OC - noodle that make with shell or BUN CHA - we eat it with fish sauce and grilled pork. 

    BUN CHA    

BÚN RIÊU



Talk about the desert, or we can know about the street food. In Viet Nam, we have some popular food are:

 soup, cháo quẩy

tofu, tào phớ

nem chua rán, 

 chè, 

trà sữa, milk tea

VIetnamese culture

From: Huong Giang Tran

Vietnamese culture may be still attractively unfamiliar to many people outside the country. Therefore, I would like to introduce more about Vietnamese culture. As you may not know, Vietnam is a culturally diverse country which possesses a lot of heritage that can be seen through traditional festivals, customs, and celebrations.

Regarding Vietnamese's beauty, we can not overlook Aodai, an indispensable custom for Vietnamese woman in most of the important celebrations such as wedding, schools, offices' events and art performance. Aodai delicately reflects woman's charm and grace. Many people don't know what was the real design of Ao Dai, but the researchers show that the Ao Dai was started to be wore thousand years ago. Now, the male version of Aodai is very popular with many different designs and many colorful patterns and textures.

Vietnamese's cuisine is becoming more and more recognizable around the world. Vietnamese food is prominent around the world not only because of unique flavor but also diverse ingredients and art of cooking. For instance, fish is a popular food and is consumed in a great amount every day around the world. However, Vietnamese people have various methods of cooking a tasty fish dishes. We can fry, can steam or even make fish sauce from fish. Noodle soup, normally called "Pho" in Vietnam, might be the most famous and distinctive Vietnamese cuisine around the world. Unlike the fiery taste of Chinese noodle, Vietnamese noodle soup is a delicate combination of the sourness of the lemonade, the pungent spices of pepper and the sweetness of the bone broth.

New year Eva is celebrated throughout the world and the Lunar New Year is the official and traditional festival for Vietnamese to celebrate the arrival of a new year. Western countries like European countries and America celebrate Christmas by reuniting with family and giving their loved ones meaningful gifts. Vietnamese celebrate Lunar New Year by decorating their houses with gorgeous peach blossom and heavily laden kumquat. Peach blossom and kumquat symbolize prosperity, productivity, and luck. In addition, people visit the temple to make a lot of good wishes for their life, friends, and relatives which reflect a positive influence of culture and religion over the people's mind.

Overall, Vietnamese culture is diverse and unique. I firmly believe that Vietnamese culture is making Vietnam more and more attractive to foreign tourists. The cultural heritage defines the beauty of Vietnam and it is the pride of Vietnamese people all around the world.

Culture Inside Sports

Have you ever watched a game and not see some form of cultural, religious, or even a traditional action made to give the team luck? Whether it be a special chant or dance to rile up the team, or a prayer to god to give you strength. Here these people are doing a war dance that is supposed to make them stronger and a whole ton more courageous and a whole lot stronger. This is an example of one of those traditions. We also have some weird traditions of our own. For example painting yourself colors to cheer for your team or eating special dishes to celebrate your team. This is were and how I see culture inside of sports. This is also a reason to go outside of culture and to get a closer look at how other people live. While we pray for a win they may pray for food and homes. Some of these things I notice as players travel around their home countries and other people's countries. They learn how others live and how others play. From doing this players are also able to see culture inside everything somebody does. Culture also plays a big role in sports because it determines what sport you will play and how you shall play that sport. An example is The Book of Life. In this story the main character is forced to become a bull fighter to keep the tradition of being a Sanchez alive. That is why I think that we should go outside of our own little bubble in our own country and learn a little about what is going on around us. This will help us to help other countries and to help ourselves to all become more and more advanced. This is why we should learn about others. About sports. To learn traditions, dances, special meals and all the culture inside sports.

Vietnamese Food

Vietnamese cuisine is really popular in Viet Nam and in other country. Vietnamese food it's really easy to make and almost dishes in Viet Nam are made by rice and meat such as like: beef, chicken and pork. Every year, when visitor come to Viet Nam, they really love the food in here. 

The famous food in Viet Nam that I usually to eat is Pho. It's a Vietnamese noodle soup consisting of broth, rice noodles ( it's called Banh Pho ), herbs and served with chicken or beef but it almost served with beef. The ingredients it's really easy to make, also the price of 1 bowl it was really cheap and it just have 30.000đ to 40.000đ. If you go every street in Viet Nam you can see that many restaurants that they sale Pho everyday and every restaurants always have a lot of customer. Last year, When I went to America and I saw some Vietnamese restaurant that they sale pho. I ate Pho that Vietnamese people made, it was really delicious and many american people who lived in there they enjoy that food so I really proud that Vietnamese food it really popular in other country.   

Another food that I really like to eat is Banh Cuon. Banh Cuon is made from wide sheet of steamed fermented with mixture of pork. This dishes usually eat with chả lụa ( Vietnamese pork ) cucumber and sauce called nước mắm. The ingredients really cheap so It will be easy for everyone to make it. 

Conclusion, I think Vietnamese food is really delicious, popular and many visitors love our dishes. 

Tet -Thai

There are many special culture in Vietnam, we have our traditional food like bún chả, traditional cloth like long dress for women. But one of the most important culture that we celebrate each years is Tet Nguyen Dan. 

Tet Nguyen Dan or Vietnamese New Year, is the most important celebration in Vietnamese culture. The word is also know as Tet for short , which is Sino-Vietnamese for "Feast of the First Morning of the First Day". Tết celebrates the arrival of spring based on the Vietnamese variation of the Chinese lunisolar calendar, which usually has the date falling in January or February. 

These celebrations can last from a day up to the entire week, and the New Year is filled with people in the streets trying to make as much noise as possible using firecrackers, drums, bells, gongs, and anything they can think of to ward off evil spirits. This parade will also include different masks, and dancers hidden under the guise of what is known as the Mua Lan. The Lan is an animal between a lion and a dragon, and is the symbol of strength in the Vietnamese culture that is used to scare away evil spirits. After the parade, families and friends come together to have a feast of traditional Vietnamese dishes, and share the happiness and joy of the New Year with one another. This is also the time when the elders will hand out red envelopes with money to the children for good luck in exchange for Tết greetings 

People enjoy traditional games during Tết, including: bầu câu cá cọp, cờ tướng, ném còn, chọi trâu, đá gà, and marshmallow toss. They also participate in some competitions presenting their knowledge, strength, and aestheticism, such as the bird competition and ngâm thơ competition. Fireworks displays have also become an important part of a Tết celebration in Vietnam. During the New Year's Eve, fireworks displays at major cities, such as Hà Nội, Hồ Chí Minh City , and Đà Nẵng, are broadcast through multiple national and local TV channels, accompanied by New Year wishes of the current president.

That is some information about Tet Nguyen Dan in Vietnam, those these activities might be simple compare to others  countries, but they are what represent Vietnam and Vietnamese people.

Traditional Food In Vietnam

Traditional food in Vietnam is very various and plentiful. Most of the dishes in Vietnam are made of rice and usually eaten with tasteful sauce. A lot of visitors go to Vietnam to enjoy Vietnam traditional food.
The most famous food is " pho". " Pho" is a Vietnam noodle soup with rice noodle, herbs and meat. It can be eaten with both chicken or beef. Pho is a popular street food in Vietnam, you can eat it at any time of the day but mostly people eat it for breakfast and lunch. Vietnamese created ' Pho" in 20 century when Vietnam do not have enough food for people so they use the ingredients that are always available. Besides, Vietnam also has some similar dishes like " bun bo Hue" or " bun rieu cua" but each dish has its own taste.
Another dish that very famous in Vietnam is Banh Chưng. Banh chưng is a traditional Vietnam food which is made from rice, beans, pork and other ingredients. All these ingredients represent the sky and earth. Vietnamese often eat it on Tet holiday but nowadays it can be eaten whenever you want. Eat Banh chung on Tet holiday is one of the Vietnam's culture.
To sum up, Vietnam traditional food is very good and popular. I think that Vietnam's dishes are very simple and its have many meaning.

Technology

Technology plays a very large role in society today. I never really realized how reliant our culture is on technology, and how much we take for granted. Looking around my classroom I see a cell phone at everyone's desk. My parents didn't have a cell phone until college, even then they were slow, and only calling and texting was available. Now we have thousands of apps we can download right at our fingertips. Weather it be games, planner's, photo editing apps, or social media, the list goes on. We are constantly focusing on how many likes we get on Instagram, or if someone retweeted our tweet, rather than what is going on outside of our little bubble. Especially kids, kids into today's society are always focusing on technology. Instead of going to the park or gathering up some neighborhood kids to play a game of capture the flag, kids hover over their tablets and play mine-craft or angry birds.

         I am 14 years old and yes I love technology, I love having a phone, and a computer right at my fingertips. These resources help me to communicate with friends and family, and organize my plans and school events. Even though I am surrounded with many wonderful technological resources I wasn't always dependent on them. When I was young I didn't have a tablet or phone, My first phone was in 7th grade. Most of my years as a little kid I played outside, built forts, and used my imagination. It wasn't until I was in middle school where technology became a huge part of my life.

         Today's society we go about our day based on technology, we have an alarm to tell us when to wake up, and reminders constantly telling us when our next history test is, or that volleyball practice got changed from 5 to 5:30. So you may ask how has technology affected our society? The answer is never ending. There's so many aspects of technology that many CAN'T live without. I just hope as an American society we don't miss out on the importance of life, when wrapped up in the latest new invention.    

This is a video made by Nature Valley, showing the impact technology has on kids in today's society, Nature Valley 3 Generations

VietNamese Cuisine

In recent years, Vietnamese food has been introduced widely in the world, such as Australia, the United States, Canada, and France. Vietnamese cuisine is also popular in Japan, Korea, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, Poland, and Russia, and in areas with dense Asian populations. Vietnam is also well known for its street food. The cooking way of the northern part of the country, thanks to the influence of neighbouring China, people tend to use more soy sauce than other parts, where fish sauce is more usual.

Unlike the cooking way of southern Vietnam create an ideal condition for growing a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, and livestock. As a result, foods in southern Vietnam are often vibrant and flavorful, with liberal uses of garlic, and fresh herbs. Sugar is added to food more than in the other regions. The preference for sweetness in southern Vietnam can also be seen through the widespread use of coconut milk. Vast shorelines make seafood a natural staple for people in this region.

Other common ingredients in Vietnamese cooking include black pepper (mainly in the north), hot chili, coconut milk, limes, lemon grass, tamarind and cane sugar, supplemented by asparagus and potatoes, courtesy of the French influence.  Many Vietnamese dishes include five fundamental taste senses: spicy , sour , bitter , salty and sweet, corresponding to: five organs: gall bladder, small intestine, large intestine, stomach, and urinary bladder. Vietnamese dishes also include five types of nutrients : powder, water or liquid, mineral elements, protein and fat. 

Viet nam also have exclusive tradiotion food on holidays such as The week-long Tết holiday. The Tet holiday marks the beginning of the Lunar New Year and this is the time for family gathering and fresh optimism for the coming year. And nothing is more synonymous with Tết than Bánh Chưng. Bánh Chưng is a square-shaped rice cake made with glutinous rice, mung beans, and pork. Wrapped in banana leaves, Bánh Chưng is boiled for a day, resulting in a rice cake that is soft, moist, and sticky. Bánh Chưng is often served with pickles including daikon, green papaya, chile peppers, carrots, and leeks.

Here are some famous Vietnamese cuisine featured around the world and vietnam:

( WARNING: DON'T READ THIS WOTH AN EMTY STOMACH)

1: Bún chả

Charcoal grilled meat patties, served with vermicelli rice noodles, spicy garlic fish sauce, and a heaping pile fresh herbs. The smokey meat oozes with flavor. The combination of meat, noodles, fresh herbs, and fish sauce is what makes it so special. 

2: Ca Phe Hanoi (Vietnamese coffee)

It’s no secret the Vietnamese love coffee. After a few days in Hanoi (or Saigon) you could feel the coffee culture at every street corner. Vietnamese typically drink a very strong iced coffee with sweetened condensed milk. The coffee flavor is very strong and yet balanced and sweet due to the milk.

3: Pho Bo (beef noodle soup)

Of course you have to try the signature dish of Vietnam, Pho Bo. There is quite a controversy over who makes the best bowl of beef noodle soup.  Pho is good, but other Vietnamese soups are better. 

4: Bun Rieu Cua (Tomato Crab soup)

A light brothy noodle soup cooked with tomatoes, onions, and herbs. The key flavor is the hint of sweetness coming from the bits of crab floating around. Although not my favorite dish in Hanoi, I’m willing to try another in Saigon after hearing Mark Weins proclaim it’s his favorite soup.

5: Bánh cuốn (Summer rolls)

Famous in Hanoi, these summer rolls are made by starting with a batter resembling pancake batter. After being cooked on a hot grittle, you’re served a very soft sloppy mess on your plate which you dip into a sweet fish sauce( Not easy for chopstick rookies !) Taste and texture is very different than fresh spring rolls, fried egg rolls, etc. My favorite flavor was pork and wood ear mushroom.

 

6: Phở cuốn (Fresh Spring Rolls)

Very simple process and set of ingredients yet they are always delicious. Fresh herbs and a good dipping sauce are the key.

  

7: Bánh Bèo (Water fern cake)

I enjoyed Ban Beo one morning for breakfast. A very simple Vietnamese dish that for some reason all the locals love. Steamed rice cakes topped with a savory tomato sauce.

  

8: Hột vịt lộn / Balut (Fertilized Duck Embryo)

It’s fair to say eating 17-day old fertilized duck eggs is one weirdest things in the world. They’re very popular in both Vietnam and in the Philippines. Typically enjoyed with spicy fish sauce and shaved green papaya. Nevermind the fact that you’re eating beak, feathers, bones, and all. Ironically, Balut tastes somewhere between a chicken and an egg. 

9: Bún Thịt nướng  Hoi An (Grilled Meat noodle)

Found all over Vietnam, Bún Thịt nướng is a crowd pleaser. You buy meat by the skewer and it comes with wet rice noodle, dry rice paper, herbs, cucumber, and a spicy peanuty dipping sauce. It takes some skill to eat them properly – first rolling the meat in a wet rice noodle, then adding greens and cucumber before wrapping everything in a dry rice paper. Finally you dip your hand creation into some awesome sauce and enjoy.

10: Bun Thit Nuong Cha Gao

The holy grail of Vietnamese food. Grilled pork mixed into a vermicelli noodle salad with peanuts, shaved papaya, herbs, fish sauce and topped with lightly fried spring roll. Do not miss this if you’re ever in Saigon.

11: Bun Bo Hue

Rich citrusy broth based noodle soup packed with sliced beef, onion, and of course a heaping pile of herbs. Vietnamese people much prefer Bun Bo Hue over the western favorite, Pho. Originally from Hue in central Vietnam – although now it’s served almost everywhere. Like most dishes in Vietnam, the flavors very slightly by the region.

12: Pho Bo (Beef noodle soup…. again)

Pho in the south (HCMC) is a little sweeter compared to Pho in the North (Hanoi)

13: Bánh Tráng Trộn (Mixed Rice paper salad)

Probably the cheapest and most readily available street food in Saigon. Made of sliced rice paper and various veggies, sauces, beef jerky, bird eggs, octopus, and herbs. I saw locals eating this dish constantly however I didn’t love it.

         

THE END

using language in vietnam

As a Vietnamese, it never ceases to astound me to think that the rasping, whistling and vibrating sounds emanating from our mouths and noses when you talk can be effortlessly decoded by our interlocutors as meaningful language, allowing us to communicate with one another in astonishing levels of complexity. Language is a defining feature of each country.

Vietnamses Education

Nowadays, the world is becoming more modern, so the globalization is now more popular in developing countries in south east Asia such as Philippines, Thailand and my country, Vietnam. And this problem affect to many things in Vietnam but I am going to talk about education in Vietnam.

First of all, Vietnam education system have 4 levels : Primary ( grade 1-6), Middle (grade 6-9 ), Secondary ( grade 10-12 ), Tertiary ( University ). More specific, about primary school, children as young as 18 months of age are admitted to public kindergartens so the parents will not have to worry about their children all the time. After that students have to spend about 4 years to learn academic subjects and manners, some schools advanced courese in Natural and Social sciences. According to universities in developed countries, vietnamese students always have a higher score in math and reading than another students do. So how vietnamese students do that? There are 3 key factors that lead them to their impressive results: committed leadership, concentration, and investment in teachers.

Not just rote learning, vietnamese students are expected to leave the education not just able to recite what they learned. They also have to administrate it into their life. Consequently, according to the BBC News, Vietnam was coming 17th in maths, 8th in science. 19th in reading, higher than US which was ranked 36th at maths, 28th at science and 23rd in reading. Until now, Vietnam is ranked at 15th based on maths and science. Maybe there are many advantages in Vietnam education, but we still have many problems in Vietnam education. Vietnamese students do not have a good survival skills, weak career orentation, wrong social assumption. Specially is weakness in education management.

In conclusion, Vietnamese students are really good at studying and if they can solve their problems, they will have a successful career

ENTERTAINMENT

Globalization is the international interaction and integration among various countries. Nowadays, everything has generally been integrated, in other words, it means that people need to access to the world. Therefore, it is a must to raise global awareness and gain more knowledge of different cultures, especially for students. There are many aspects of culture related to people and their countries, such as economy, religion or polity. From my own perspective, i think entertainment is the most crucial aspect in order to help foreign people achieve an understanding about my country also as my culture.

Vietnam's entertainment industry is at the growing stage. Particularly, more and more kinds of music, gameshows ,films. As a fact, most of them are influenced and affected by American or Korean style.

For instance, Son Tung MTP is a phenomenon in the music industry that has recently been received much attention, from the youth to the elderly. He is best known for fancy and high fashion. His music style is Pop, so he mainly composes Pop songs. Son Tung MTP has created so many hits that attract many views from native to foreign people. Though, he is not liked and supported by many people, but his composing ability is undeniable.

In contrast, Phuong My Chi who came in second place in the The Voice Kid 2013, has completely different type of music comparing to Son Tung MTP. Unlike Son Tung, Phuong My Chi is famous for singing fork songs – the traditional music type of Viet Nam. Although she is just a 14-year-old girl, but her voice is incredibly good and many artists have to admit that she has a powerful voice.

In Vietnam, there are also many gameshows which are pretty similar to USA shows, such as The Voice, The Amazing Race, Thank God you are here, SASUKE and many more. We get so excited when the shows are coming up, because the shows are diverse and fun. And when we see gameshows, that is one of many ways learning about each other’s culture.

Entertainment plays an essential role because it does not only to entertain, it also makes us to improve the knowledge of the outdoor world and enhance the understanding about other countries and cultures, leading people to a modern world.   

The Effect of Technology Devices

Technology plays a large part in American culture, almost everything we do involves it. The rate at which technology is evolving is unbelieveable. For example, just when my mom was in college, computers were the latest invention and they were bulky and slow. Now, we have high tech, thin computers that work more efficiently than we ever could've imagined. Technology has changed so much in the past few years, and because of this, select people believe we are becoming too dependent on it. Maybe we are, with a cell phone and internet at our fingertips with tons of information, why would you take the time to read a textbook or do the math in your head? The big debate is whether or not this impacts people in a positive or negative way. I personally believe that technology is great, but it has it's limits. I think it's important that people are still able to think and learn on their own. Children are being exposed to technology at such a young level now that they have a greater potential to become addicted. I see young kids walking around with their head in their phone, not paying any attention to their surroundings. Just like I mentioned earlier, technology can be a good thing, but it has its limits.

Technology has changed American culture in that before, papers were handwritten and now they are typed. Also, where math would've been written out on paper, we now use a calculator. Lastly, when before people would have communicated through letters or verbal combination, they now would email or text. These little things mentioned have made a large impact on American education, and there are other types of technology that have affected different parts of our culture also.

Clothing in America

Clothing in America varies greatly, not only as a result of climate and style throughout the country, but also because of gender, trends, and one's personal opinion. Because the people of America have come from many different backgrounds and ethnicities, we do not have traditional clothing as you might find in countries such as Spain or China. America is a diverse nation when it comes to clothing, because any clothing people choose to wear are accepted. It is very common to see women and girls wear pants such as blue jeans and leggings, made out of comfortable stretchy material. Dresses are usually worn for formal and important events, though it is not uncommon to see them on a regular day. The clothing worn by men and boys is heavily influenced by sports and specific brands. Nike brand tennis shoes and socks are very common amongst young men, all throughout the country. Basketball shorts, khaki's, and cargo pants are also majorly popular. Shirts around the country are different according to climate. In more northern states, it is extremely cold in the winter, so sweaters and long sleeve shirts are more common than sleeveless shirts you would find in warmers states. Clothing is also heavily influenced by the media in magazines, television and celebrities. Trends stem from celebrities and people think that they should dress like them to be considered popular and well-liked. But the most important aspect of clothing in America is that people feel comfortable the way they dress, and everywhere you go you see a person's personality reflected through their clothing, which is why the way you dress is a major part of American culture in a whole.

Food cuisine

Each continent has its own type of interesting cuisine one of which is the South East Asia more specific is Vietnamese cuisine. We have been known for "eat everything" where we would eat almost every part of our food products. Based on our geometry and weather factors it have created many ethics in each different region, each ethics created their own cuisine with different speciality, many different types of ingredients, seasoning but this are the contribution which made Vietnamese cuisine even more plentiful. Overall our meal often consists of rice, a vegetable and a meat dish, and some type of soup to eat with the rice. This is a cultural diet which uses lots of vegetables; it could be pickled, boiled, stir fried or even raw, meanwhile the amount of dishes containing nutrients from animals is eaten less. The most common meat we eat is beef, chicken, fish, and any type of shell fish, shrimp and dog meat, goat meat, snake meat are more uncommon type however people still enjoy eating them. These uncommon dishes are often known from a certain region’s traditional dishes and people eat these with wine in special occasion such as having guest, holidays etc. Other than that, Vietnamese are mostly Buddhist resulting many are vegetarian but they only eat vegetable on some certain day of the month. Another speciality of Vietnamese cuisine is that we aim for delicious dishes and ignoring the nutrition value which can cause us minor health diseases. As for seasoning and tasting, we always aim for balance seasoning, not too sweat, spicy or sour, and we merely mix different dishes together to keep the unique flavour of each dish. Last but not least we always have a small bow of fish sauce or soy sauce mix with some lemon juice, chilli pepper to enhance the flavour.

Aspects of Culture: Food in Vietnam

Hello, today i'm gonna talk to you about our Culture. So the first thing you'll want to know about our culture would probably be our food. So i'm gonna introduce to you guys the best foods in my opinion in our country.
The first dish you'll want to try will probably be "Pho", this is one of our best dish, you could just simply walk into any street to find this delicious food. The next one on my list would be "Bun bo Hue", this noodle brings to you meaty broth and piles of beef and pork. This thick slippery rice noodles is one of the best through all North and South. Then we have "Xoi" a sticky rice with lots of mix-ins like slithers of chicken, pork and fried or preserved eggs, which is so famous in Vietnam you can see this food roaming through everywhere in you go. "Banh cuon", we can't miss this dish on the list, this is one of the best food in Vietnam to me. These rolled up rice flour pancakes are the best when they just came out from the oven with hot temp which they're still soft and delicate, they're filled of minced pork and mushrooms then combine with the special bowl of sauce made just to dip those hot and delicious rolled up rice, what you get will be one of the best food you've ever tried. The last and the best dish in my opinion will be "Bun cha", this is the most chosen food when it comes to lunchtime. Just wait after 11 am and walk down any street and you will start to smell the smoke from the street-side restaurants grilling up meatballs and slices of marinated pork belly over a charcoal fire. And when they are crispy and mixed with a hot bowl of fish sauce-heavy broth, a basket of vegetables and a dish of rice noodles,

that's when you will be able to taste one of the most delicious food and popular food in Vietnam.

So that was my top list, give me your list when you come to Vietnam and taste the food in our country, i can tell you that, you will not be disappointed. 

Video Games in American Culture

Video games have become a part of our American way of life from the Atari, the computer and to the  next gen consoles the Playstation 4 and Xbox One.  About 155 million Americans play video games ranging from the ages of 18 and under to 50 and older.  These gamers either play games for enjoyment, as a lifestyle or as a mean of earning money in national gaming competitions such as the Nintendo World Championships.  Many people see video games as a waste of time and that time should be spent inventing or creating things to help society, but video games provide a break from the stress of reality and immerse us in a world where we make the rules, and what's a better stress reliever than smiting your foes in Role Playing Games or playing with friends on online multiplayer.

Video games have greatly impacted our culture in the best possible way, providing us the means of relaxation, technological advancements and somewhat a means of education.  We might not realize that video games have increased the advancement of technology here in the US, providing us with more advanced A.I. and creating realistic simulators used by many educators, scientists, engineers and doctors designed to aid them in their research or create a game which will teach the children of the modern world.  Consoles such as the Wii help patients suffering from injuries by helping the patient move around and take away the pain by making the patient think about something else.  Video games also improve our brain processing, eyesight and makes our brains healthier, creating a smarter, more mentally healthier generation in the future, leading to great scientific advancements.

Fashion: A key factor in America's Culture

Fashion plays a large role in America's culture. As a whole, America is a very trendy nation who puts a lot of time and money into the industry. As of 2015, New York City was named the most fashionable city in the world, indicating that fashion is a big part of many American's lives.

        Even though I don't live in New York City, fashion still plays a big role in my life as a teenager and high school student at Clarkston Junior High School. Everyday I am constantly exposed to and surrounded by "fashion", whether it is through my piers, magazines, t.v., or even the variety of stores and shopping malls near me. In Clarkston and other cities around the U.S, many people are willing to pay significant amounts of money for certain name brand products that become popular and trendy. It has been found that together Americans tend to spend more than $250 billion every year on the fashion industry.

      In the U.S., trends are constantly changing. Some are leaving, some are entering, and others are reoccurring from the past. I notice everyday classmates and friends of mine are constantly keeping up with the latest fashion trends. Whether this be a new pair of Lululemon leggings, a new fall cardigan, or even a new color pair of Uggs. This makes me think about how greedy America can be. There are some countries that aren't able to wear what they want because of economic issues, and others that aren't even able to wear anything because their families are so poverty stricken, and here we are spending ridiculous amounts of money buying new things when our old ones are in perfect conditions. Something that amazes the most about American trends is the fact that old trends come back eventually. I have especially noticed this lately, when different styles and clothing from my moms teenage years are becoming popular for teenagers now. Almost 20 years later, high top Converse, Sperry's, crop tops, flannel shirts, duck boots, Birkenstocks, and many more clothing brands and styles are becoming extremely popular again.

Why do Americans continue to spend billions of dollars on the fashion industry when the money could be used to help research and solve a global issue threatening our nation instead? I believe that this is because of culture. Because the fashion industry has made such a impact on America, I feel that Americans have integrated fashion into our culture and our everyday lives, therefore we can never escape it and spend less.

       

Entertainment

Entertainment is a huge part of the American Culture, it is something that all Americans take part in, but do it many different ways. Entertainment can range from watching sports on TV, to playing a board game with friends or family. But, at the moment I will talk about something that most Americans take part in. Playing and watching sports. There are many different sports that we play and watch in the society today. Tennis, soccer, football, baseball, lacrosse, hockey, and softball are just a few of the major sports in America. But in addition to playing the sports on our own teams, we also watch the major leagues play on TV. We get so excited to see the team that we support play. We have turned it into a way of classifying ourselves. We judge other people based on what team they support, but it can also bring people together. People who support the same team always have something to talk about, and in the end it can result in a close friendship. So, why do sports have a large part of the American culture? Well, sports have uncovered a major character trait in most Americans. Something that keeps us playing and being active. What I am talking about is the longing to win. Competitiveness. This is such a huge part of the American culture because it is what drives us to do most of what we do. It drives us to be on top. To be the best in everything we do, a sports team or even a career. So that is why this way of entertaining ourselves is important, because it brings out something that lives inside of us. A trait that makes America different from other countries. A trait that brings us together. That is why our entertainment is a huge part of the American culture.

Gaming in America

In America most of us play video games. Whether it be on consoles, our mobile devices, or PC. Over 4/5 American homes have some form of game entertainment. People of all ages play games; from toddler to grandparents over 155 million people play games. about 1.2 billion people world wide. For most of us it is just a form of entertainment. But for some it's a way of life. Some teens devote all their time to playing games while others compete for money. Gaming is a major part of our life. It allows us to escape reality. Daily activities produce stress. And whats a better stress reliever than blasting someones head off in COD or stealing some loot from bases in COC.

I think that gaming has impacted our culture in a good way by adding a new way to help us that is actually fun. We might not think it but games teach us life lessons, they improve our brain processing, our eye-sight, relieve stress, make our brain younger, and much much more. But most important gaming shows that we are free, creative thinkers who can do it in a fun way.

Broadway in America

    Here in America, we have created a musical theater called Broadway. Broadway is a live production of a movie with music in it. It is usually performed in big theaters around the country in America. Broadway was invented in New York City in 1750 but really took off in the 1900's. The area it was born in New York is now name the Theater District, for obvious reasons. Back then, the theater was about the actor on stage and not about all the glitz, glamour, and lighting. The theater has transformed into a way of entertainment than a way of hanging out and showing their level of society.

    Broadway is not for everyone to get engaged in. Sporty people like more sport related things. I talked to some of my friends and 2 out of 5 have seen one musical in their life. I, on the other hand, have seen many musicals. Some of them on Broadway, some of them school productions. I think I have seen more than 10 in my life time. Probably close to 20 productions. Broadway is a big deal. There are award ceremonies, called The Tony's, for the best Broadway productions in America. Different categories judge different productions and actors. I find that this award show is fascinating because I get to see the productions I would like to to see in the near future.      

  

      

Religion in the United States

Religion in the United States is very diverse; Christian, Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, and many other denominations of the Christian faith. Also,  Judaism and Muslim.  According to this website http://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/, 70 percent of America is Christian, 1.9 of America are Jewish,  0.9 of America is Muslim.

In America, we celebrate a lot of holidays regarding religion. For example, Christmas is the celebration of a savior in the Christian teaching, for this holiday, people place trees in their home and decorate the tree with ornament and on the morning of  December 25th, family members exchange gifts to one another. Christmas if the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.

Another example,  A holiday in Judaism faith is called Yom Kippur, this is the holiest day of the year for Judaism. The name "Yom Kippur" means "Day of Atonement," and that pretty much explains what the holiday is. It is a day for people who believe in the Jewish Faith to reflect upon their last year.  To ponder whether they were a good person or not. my last example, represents the Muslim faith. Muslims have a holiday called Ramadan. Each year, Muslims spend a month in daytime fasting, during the 9th month of the Islamic calendar called Ramadan.

Recreation in America

Recreation plays a major role in the American culture yet many don't realize how much it has affected their lives. Almost every kid in the U.S. plays some sort of sport and it isn't always because they enjoy the activity. Peer pressure is a huge deciding factor and the norms of society encourage every child to get physical activity outside of school. The positives of this are that recreation causes a more physically fit group of people and the children are not cooped up all day on social media. However the stress of being pressured to play a sport can end up making the participant have their grades slip and issues at home occur. Not to mention, coaches of teams have gotten more and more strict about how the team operates. To them, they have to win every game and execute every play perfectly. A non motivated kid with that kind of person coaching them will not want to set a foot on the field or court. I have personally experienced through reffing that coaches will not filter what they say to their team. I have reffed an 8 year old team and their coach started yelling at them brutally for a pointless topic. Later on, he started verbally attacking me for a call I made. This shows that they are so focused on the game that they have no regard for the emotional level of the kids. However, sports in America are not all bad. A large amount of kids join for the passion they have for the sport and physical activity. It is evident that sports and recreation are a huge part in American culture.

Entertainment - Music

Music is an important aspect of many cultures, America being one of them. I think that music is something that everyone knows, no matter where you live. American music is different: everyone has their own unique way of singing, rapping, playing their instrument, or just talking within music. Music is the basis of many parts on our society, like entertainment. You can listen to music almost anywhere in America. Most people have access to YouTube or online music. From there, they can access almost any song or rap throughout the world. Even without technology, music is still everywhere: people can sing in church, or by themselves, just a song that they heard or made up. Even though music involves a lot of technology, American use other things such as playing instruments. In our community, we have a school band, orchestra, and choir organization. Many students are involved in these programs. Personally, I love music. It helps me keep myself on task, while doing homework, or cleaning my room. I listen to music on the bus in the morning to keep myself awake, and to get ready for school. I listen to music on the way home too, when there is no one else to talk to. I listen to music with my friends when we just want to dance and forget about everything. I also play 2 instruments. I play music because I enjoy it-the rush it gives me when the perfect melody is played. I listen to music because it "pumps me up" for something. I love music, and I am sure many people in America do too.

Do you know how when a commercial comes on, or a sports team is going to be announced, there are certain so called theme songs that play? Most people know exactly whats's coming next or can recognize something just by the song. A popular example of this in our community today is the "John Cena" theme song. (Many students would recognize just the first four notes.) I recognize the first few notes of pieces such as Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, or the 1812 Overture. Everyone has their own "theme-song" but the point is that music is everywhere in American Culture.

I wonder what effect music has on other communities. I know that many types of music are popular in America. but I don't know very much about other counties. I want to know about their music.

American food

Food is very significant in American culture. Fast food is very popular in this country with people ordering from restaurants like Subway, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, etc... Fast food is one of the reasons why obesity is a problem in America. Junk food is probably more common because it is less expensive than healthy food, but still that is not good for society even if buying only junk food saves us money. A solution to the obesity problem is that people should be more active, and cut down on the junk food. Obesity is bad because it leads to the number one cause of death in America- heart disease. Fast food just gets more popular by decade, and now more people order fast food then buying from the grocery store and cooking at home. Obesity increases as fast food is bought more and some areas in the U.S. have more obese adult and
 children than others. 

Protecting the Enviornment

The environment in the United States changes from region to region. In the north, the climate is cooler in the winter and receives more snow. In the south, the climate is more humid and/or dry with very high temperatures in the summer. There is at least one large city in every one of the 50 states. These cities are very populous and close together. These cities started forming around the early 1900s with the Industrial Revolution. During this time, many people crowded into cities working factory jobs in mass production factories. The factories used fossil fuels and they are currently being used so much that they are running out today. The United States is trying to reduce their fossil fuel use by using other methods of harnessing energy. Some of the main ones are solar, wind, hydroelectric, and biomass. Many skyscrapers and individual households use solar panels to collect energy from the sun. There are also windmill in windy places that generate energy from the wind. Hydroelectric power uses the Earth´s gravity with water. The water falls and turns large wheels that generate electricity. Lastly, biomass is harnessing energy from plants. Some scientists are working on different ways of doing this without burning trees.

Many people in the United States are trying to protect the environment. Many people recycle paper and plastics. They also try to conserve power and reduce their carbon footprint which is how much of an impact you leave on the environment. There are also local, state, and national parks that are preserved and are used for recreation. In general, people are trying to protect the environment. The United States has taken many steps to preserve nature. In my perspective, this is a global issue that needs to be a key factor in all areas of life. I think the United States has done some things that keep the environment clean, but I also think there is still much more America could do to become clean and energy efficient.

Below: Windmills and Solar Panels

Food in American Culture

Food in American Culture

Food is a huge part in the american culture, with that being said there are positive and negative effects that come along with that. First of all, A negative effect of food in american culture is unhealthy foods, this problem is growing and leading to obesity. Obesity is a growing issue that affects many adult and child lives; in fact, a whopping 35% of adult americans are obese, and 18% of children are as well. This says alot about the food in our culture, the unhealthy foods out number the healthy ones and are causing huge problems. Also, believe it or not, most healthy foods are more expensive than unhealthy foods. For example, a bag of apples is more expensive than a bag of cheap chips or candy. According to Huffpost healthy living, "To eat more healthy foods it would cost you an average of $550 more a year which narrows down to $1.50 more a day just to eat healthy foods." With this being true, low income families struggle to put healthy foods on the table and the unhealthy foods they are forced to purchase are leading to adult or child obesity. On the other hand, food in America also has a positive vibes and effects on families, such as a meal bringing a family together. An example of this is a holiday called Thanksgiving, on this holiday a huge meal is prepared in honor of what we are grateful for. When eating the meal, most families gather around the table and share past memories and catch up with one another over this meal. Finally, a huge part of american food culture is the convenience and variety. What I mean by this is, there is a huge grocery store every few miles down the street in some cities and a fast food place every few blocks where you can order food or buy food whenever you'd like. The variety in grocery stores is huge, I could walk in and buy many various fruits or vegetables for example, even when they are not in season which shows how much of a selection there actually is. These are just some  main reasons why American culture has always focused on food, and will continue focusing as time goes on.