Santa Around the World

What comes to mind when think about Santa Claus? For me it is the jolly man in a big red suit, with a large white beard. Most likely every American child will give you that answer.  What is Christmas like all around the world? Do other cultures call Santa Claus a different name? Is the image of Santa different for a child in France then it is for a child in Japan? I have been wondering about these things all through my life and now they are finally being answered.

What do you think Santa would look like if you were in Russia? Well in Russia they do not call Santa Claus, Santa Claus, they actually call him Babushka. Also Christmas is not called Christmas in Russia it is actually called the Festival of Winter. During this time the Russian people fast for 39 days awaiting the evening star to rise. When the star rises on January 6^th the feast begins. The Russians cook a 12 course meal with fish soup and Borsch which is cabbage stuffed with millet. Hay is spread on the floors and tables to encourage horse feed to grow in the coming year and people make clucking noises to encourage their hens to lay eggs. On Christmas Day, hymns and carols are sung. People gather in churches which have been decorated with the usual Christmas trees or Yelka, flowers and colored lights. Christmas dinner includes a variety of different meats - goose and suckling pig are favorites.

Have you ever thought about Christmas in Japan? Only one percent of the Japanese believe in Christ. Although in Japan there is a Buddhist monk called Hotei-osho who acts like Santa bringing gifts to children and so on and so forth. During Christmas time storekeepers decorate their stores with evergreens. Interestingly enough in Japan is not a time for family it is a time for doing nice things for people in need or visiting the sick in hospitals.

Feliz Navidad! This is one of the few ways you can say “Merry Christmas” in Spanish. I have always wondered what a Christmas in Spain would be like. In Spain Christmas is a very festive time of the year. On Christmas Eve in Spain the stars come out and the Spanish light oil lamps in their houses. On Christmas Eve after midnight dancers come out and dance a special Christmas dance called the Jota. On December 8^th the Spanish celebrate the feast of the Immaculate Conception it is celebrate each year in front of the Great Gothic church in Seville. Christmas Eve is known as Nochebuena which means “the Good Night.” Christmas Eve is also the time when the family comes together and feasts and rejoices the Nativity Scene.

I cannot believe how different Christmas is celebrated in different parts of the world. It is interesting looking at other cultures traditions for Christmas. It almost makes me want to do a different tradition of a different culture every Christmas.

What Does Reality TV Say About Our Culture?

Everyone in the world watches television. After a full day of life what do we do when we get home? Take off our shoes, put down our stuff, and turn on the television. Due to the nature of today's programming most people are turning on a reality TV show. Reality TV is a mainstay in our culture. The characters on these shows have become "stars" in their own rite and in return we praise them. But what do we praise them for? Acting foolish, putting themselves on display, nothing? What does this say about our culture?

Television big wigs will pay people enormous amounts of money to do nothing. These characters are paid to get drunk and act like a fool for 15 minutes of fame, a possible sponsorship and with any luck an appearance on a future reality TV show. Our culture seems be fueled by one thing - money. Reality TV is in a way a form of corruption. We put people on shows make them act like idiots and we enjoy it. It seems like we lowered our standards of how money is earned. Why waste your time with a career when you can go to the Jersey Shore, get drunk, and somehow get paid $5 million dollars in sponsorships and an appearance on Dancing with the Stars?!

So will it ever change? It doesn't seem likely. Reality TV has been part of the American culture for 20 years with the inception of "The Real World" in 1990. Since then there have been over 200 reality TV shows created and aired throughout the world. Reality TV is a contagious disease and seems to be growing with the emergence of new shows every month. Our culture pays people to act like morons and makes younger generations think this is appropriate behavior. Soon enough children will go from dreams of becoming an astronaut or doctor to wanting to be the next reality TV villain. Is that what you want your child to be when they grow up?

Failures of the Peace

The Arab-Israeli conflict has made headlines for decades, but few understand the history of the struggle or the reasons why the attempts at peace have failed. Is it any wonder that the very next day, Israel’s Arab neighbors attacked, determined to destroy the new state. In 1987, a Palestinian intifada erupted and Israel responded to the violence with harsh reprisals. Many attempts at peace have also occurred, but the conflict continued because one or the other parties broke its promises. The peaceful settlement of the Arab – Israeli conflict has failed for several key reasons; the intellectual dishonesty during negotiations by all parties, the injustices committed against the civilian populations and the international and regional politics of the area all contribute to the continued cycle of violence in the Middle East.

The injustices committed against the innocent civilian populations of Israel and Palestine can never lead to a peaceful settlement of the conflict in the Holy Land. Those committed by the Palestinians are well known, and have been covered extensively by murder of the athletes of the Israeli 1972 Olympic Team in Munich. Eight Arab terrorists, who called themselves Black September, invaded the Olympic Village in Munich and eleven innocent young men and women were massacred. In 1999, the mastermind of the killings acknowledged that the PLO was behind the massacre in his autobiography,. In response to this, the Israeli Mossad news outlets all over the world. The one incident that stands out most in history is the initiated one of the most ambitious covert counter-terrorist campaigns in history, called the “Wrath of God”. Again the cycle of violence was fueled.

The Palestinians are not the only ones inflicting injustice and harm on innocent civilians. Israel is also doing this. The construction of Israel’s wandering wall in the occupied Palestinian West Bank is another injustice perpetrated on innocent civilians. In the name of national security, and to secure the safety of its people, Israel bulldozes through large tracks of Palestinian communities, destroying homes and businesses. Next, they erect a wall and declare the area on the Palestinian side of the wall a designated military area. The Palestinians are then forced to obtain “permanent resident permits” to remain in the homes that are left in the military area. These Palestinians are then considered to be aliens without rights under the law. The international court of justice found that Israel had not adhered to the international humanitarian law, and the wall should be dismantled and the Palestinians compensated. Inflicting injustice only creates blind rage in the populace, which then leads to increased violence and in many cases, an increase in radicalization.

Peace in the Middle East will never be attained as long as intellectual dishonesty remains a tool of the negotiators to achieve their goals. If opposing factions continue to accuse each other of committing injustices against civilian populations and justify their own injustices as acts that establish security and safety for their people, violence will only increase exponentially. Finally, if international and regional politics continue to advance their goals without any consideration of the needs of the people of the area, the cycle of violence will spin out of control. A peaceful settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict has failed for all these reasons and will continue to fail until all parties involved in the peace process sit down to discuss the issues honestly, keeping the primary goal of peace in sight.

Soccer, Football, Futbol ... The Sport that Spans All Cultures

It’s the sport played round the world. As we have seen recently soccer is a big deal in most cultures. During the FIFA World Cup 2010 the world was rooting for their teams to make their countries proud. During the summer months it was the top thought on everyone's minds, in all conversations and on all news coverage. It seemed like the world, all cultures, were unified for a split second.

Soccer has probably been played for centuries, but the first record of its standardization was at Cambridge University in 1848. Today it is a global sport played on every continent. The Cambridge Rules were drawn up at Trinity College in the mid-nineteenth and then migrated to other schools in England. The first professional soccer match took place in 1872 between Scotland and England in Glasgow.

When I went to Italy soccer was the sport of choice. Children play the game from birth and are experts by their tenth birthday. The first question my cousins had for me was "do you play soccer?" I had played soccer when I was younger but 12 years later my skills were no match for that of my cousins. Soccer is a way of life in Italy, as it is in most countries and cultures around the world. It is how everyone makes friends, it builds a community and eventually your team becomes your family.

Soccer is the sport that reaches all parts of the world. The proof is the recent World Cup was the most watched sporting event in the world. It’s a sport that has a power to bring people together unlike other sports.

A Mosque at Ground Zero?

What do you think about the possibility of a mosque near Ground Zero?? As you probably know there is a great debate on whether or not to build a place of worship near the tragedy of Ground Zero. At first I had no problem with this but when I heard it was four blocks away from where the World Trade Center stood I was not pleased to say the least. Could I visit the Temple Mount? Could I visit the Great Mosque in Mecca? Unfortunately the answer to all these questions is NO.

I have no problem with a new mosque anywhere but why does it have to be so close Ground Zero? Yes, Manhattan is a very large place. I am sure there is another place to build a mosque throughout the city. Unfortunately, no matter how often we try asking the builders to find another place to build a mosque, the First Amendment rights is invoked. This management company feels religious freedom is an excuse for discretion. In this country they do have religious freedom but like those sacred monuments I've mentioned previously, Ground Zero is sacred to Americans.

So I would love to hear my blog followers opinions - is it moral to build a house of worship to a religion that was a factor in the events that took place at Ground Zero? I don’t think it is. As a non-believer if I’m not allowed to vist the Temple Mount or the Great Mosque why should a certain religion be able to build their place of worship so close to a place where religious extremists attack our nation??

The Natives of Australia

Australia has always interested me. When I was young I always dreamed of going there to travel around the continent. Last year my dream came true when I went to Australia with The People to People Student Ambassador Program. In addition to learning much about the culture of the people in Australia I also learned that there are native people not only to North America but also to Australia. Did you know that? The Native people of Australia are called the Aborigines.

According to Wikipedia the term Aboriginal has been applied to indigenous inhabitants of mainland Australia, Tasmania, and the adjacent island. As much like the Native Americans there are about 14 different groups of Aborigines in all of Australia. The groups have a number of traditions, some familiar to us in America but some that were very unique to the location, time and customs of these Aborigines. The traditions include Bora, when a boy - known as a Kippas - becomes a man; Corrobore, a special meeting for the Australian Aborigine people; Fire-stick Farming, a process of burning foliage to facilitate hunting; and The Walkabout, a rite of passage journey when young aborigines in adolescence goes to live in the forest for a specific amount of time.

The Aboriginals have a very diverse life style that is quite different then the lives of young Americans. The traditions are nothing like the traditions we have in the US, but make it quite interesting to see how people grow up in different parts of the world.

What other cultures do you know of that have Natives? What are some of the traditions they practice within their culture?

From Italian to Irish to German

I've always been interested in genealogy and where my family came from. When I was in 5th grade I visited Ellis and was hooked on learning how my family arrived here in America. As the grandson of Italian, German and Irish immigrants I thought it would be interesting to explore where my family came from and how it pertains to my culture.

Patrick Fitzgerald, my maternal grandfather was born in Limerick City, Ireland on Cassidy Lane to John Fitzgerald and Ellen Barry on February 6, 1898. He was orphaned by the time he was five and raised on an aunt’s farm. As an adult my grandfather became a member of the IRA that freed the South of Ireland from their British oppressors. His ship the Adriatic arrived at Ellis Island New York City on December 3, 1915. He was picked up by his brother, Jack Fitzgerald, who brought him to his new home in Hartford, Connecticut.

After his arrival he began to experience discrimination first hand while searching for a job. Many of the factories in Connecticut had signs posted outside “Irish need not apply.” How does an Irish man react to this discrimination? My grandfather and his friend opted for the sarcastic - they wrote on the sign “This is written on the gates of Hell” above “Irish need not apply.”

Finally Patrick, my grandfather, had some luck finding a job as apprentice to train as a Millwright. After the Stock Market Crash of 1929 many of the factories closed and he was once again out of work. As a result he moved to New York City and luckily found many blue collar jobs throughout the city.

Wilhelm Josef Schmitt my maternal great-great grandfather born in Prussia in 1844 to Ernst Schmitt and Philomena Dryer. He arrived in New York City in 1861. Wilhelm married Kathleen McQuillan from County Cavan Ireland. In order to avoid the discrimination many immigrants faced, they moved to New York City and changed their names to William and Kathleen Smith.

Francesco Pecoraro my paternal grandfather was born in Carini, Italy on February 16, 1918 to Croce Pecoraro and Maria Schilli. Maria and her children arrived on Ellis Island in 1922. They were met by Croce and taken to live in their new home in south Philadelphia. At the age of 12, Francesco's mother died in an accident and with no other options Croce moved the family to Brooklyn to live with relatives.

My grandfather was drafted into the army when World War II erupted. He landed on the beaches of Normandy three days after D-Day. During his first days in France he was captured by the Germans and remained a prisoner of war until the war ended in 1945.

After the war my Grandfather met and married Annuciata Migliorino from Silla in Calabria. When my father was eighteen, his biological mother passed away due to cancer. Six years later my grandfather met and married my nona Franca Sciarrino in Carini.

So that sums up how the Pecoraro family came to the US. Share your story with me here on my blog. How did your family come to be Americans?