Beauty behind names
Date: 09 Aug 2005 - Subscribe
Hello everyone! As you know my name is Mislav. It is an old Croatian male name. I was named after Croatian ruler from the 9th century. Personal names have different origin...religious, natural, they are reflection of person's character etc. I recently read an article about Japanese female names. They are really nice...Here are just few examples.
Au - meeting
Chinami - thousands waves
Egao - smiling face
Etsu - delight
Hoshi - star
Ine - rice
Jin - tenderness
Kagami - mirror
Kai - forgivness
Kame - tortoise, symbol of long life
Kawa - river
Kinu - silk
Koneko - kitten
Kuma - bear
Matsu - pine tree
Miu - beautiful feather
Nagisa - seashore
One more detail...There are very few names starting with b, d, g, j and z. For Japanese these consonants sound rough and uncivilized.
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Even more of birthday customs
Date: 08 Aug 2005 - Subscribe
It is a wonderful monday morning. It is nice and sunny. What a difference from yesterday. Today I'll describe few more of birthday customs in different countries.
In Nigeria the 1st, 5th, 10th and 15th birthdays are considered special events. On these birthdays they have huge parties which have up to 100 guests or more.
On their birthdays they have a feast consisting or an entire roasted cow or goat. They also serve a dish called jollof rice, this is made with rice, tomatoes, red peppers, and onions plus also cassava which is similar to sweet potato.
At their birthday parties, children play a game known as Pass the Parcel. Guests pass around the package to music and when the music stops the person holding the package unwraps the parcel then passes it on until the last bit of paper is taken off the prize.
At an Israeli child's birthday party, he or she sits in a special chair decorated with fresh flowers and greens. To celebrate the child's age, family and friends gather around the chair, lifting and raising it once for each year of life - plus one more for good luck!
“Birthday bumps” are given to Irish children in honor of their birthday. While held upside down, the birthday celebrant is gently bumped on the floor one time for every year of age - plus one extra "bump" for good luck.
Danish people fly the country's flag outside their home to signify that someone in the family is having a birthday. And while the birthday child is asleep, gifts are placed around the bed, so presents will be the first thing in view when the child awakes.
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Birthdays in Asia
Date: 07 Aug 2005 - Subscribe
Birthday is something that brings happiness to most people...I know people who do not like it. Still, here are few lines about birthday celebration in some Asian countries. When Japanese children turn 7, 5, or 3, it is thought to be especially lucky. They are allowed to participate in the upcoming Shichi-go-san (meaning "Seven-Five-Three") Festival, celebrated annually on November 15. During this festival, children and their families visit a shrine or other place of worship, give thanks for good health, and ask to be blessed with continued well-being in the future. Afterwards, a family will often throw a party and bestow gifts upon the child. For this occasion, girls and boys always dress in their finest clothes, which may be traditional kimonos or western-style clothing.
In China, people believe that tigers protect children. Family members bring newborns special food and present them with gifts of clothing or toys decorated with tigers. When a Chinese girl or boy turns one year old, a variety of objects and toys are placed on the floor around the child. According to ancient beliefs, the object that the child chooses is a symbol foreshadowing the profession he or she will pursue in life.
In Hong Kong and some other Chinese communities, special noodles are served for lunch in honor of the birthday child. The noodles are extra-long to symbolize a long life.
Filipino families display blinking colored lights to show that someone is having a birthday at their home. The whole family usually goes to church together to thank God, and a celebration with close family and friends may follow.
In Korea, "Paegil" (the 100th day after a child's birth) is a day of feasting for the child's family. Similarly, on a Korean child's first birthday, a party called a "Tol" or "Dol" is held. Family and friends gather to enjoy food together and offer the one-year-old gifts of money.
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Let\'s go to China
Date: 05 Aug 2005 - Subscribe
Red is central to the wedding theme of China. It signifies love, joy and prosperity and is used in a variety of ways in Chinese wedding traditions. The bride's wedding down is often red, as are the wedding invitations, and wedding gift boxes or envelopes for cash gifts. Even the bride and groom's homes are decorated in red on the wedding day.
Before her wedding celebration, a Chinese bride traditionally goes into seclusion with her closest friends. This Chinese custom gives the bride-to-be some time to symbolically mourn the loss of her friends and family.
Some time before the couple are married, the groom's family carries wedding gifts in red baskets and boxes to the bride's house. One of the baskets will contain "uang susu" or 'milk money'. Others will contain personal things for the bride, so that on her wedding day all of her personal belongings will be in the groom's house. The bride takes the gifts to another room where they are sorted through. Three days before the wedding day, women from the bride's family reciprocate, bearing gifts -- including some 'returns'-- in red wrappings to the groom's family.
Wedding anniversaries in China, are carefully chosen according to astrological signs. It is also customary for couples to be married on the half-hour or their wedding day rather than at the top of the hour. In this way, the couple begins their new lives together on an 'upswing', while the hands of the clock are moving up, rather than down.
On the morning of his wedding day, the groom is symbolically dressed by his parents. The groom arrives at the house of his bride on the way to the wedding chapel. He brings gifts of cash, wrapped in red tissue, to give to his bride's friends, in exchange for 'letting her go'. In some families, the wedding couple serves tea to both sets of parents while kneeling in front of them. a symbolic gesture of asking for permission. The bride and groom then leave for the wedding site together. The wedding ceremony is usually attended only by the couples' immediate families. Just after the ceremony and before the wedding reception, the bride who honors tradition will serve tea to her in-laws in a formal ceremony. The couple will usually go to a professional studio for wedding pictures before they proceed to their reception.
The wedding reception, an elaborate standing only affair. A welcoming speech is usually performed by an MC who is hired for the occasion. The speech is followed by a cake cutting ceremony. The traditional wedding cake is immense, with many layers. The layers symbolize a ladder that they couple will 'climb to success', so couples will cut the cake from the bottom and work their way up. The cutting of the cake is the only event of the reception. The bride and groom feed each other a piece of cake with arms entwined, trying not to destroy the bride's elaborate makeup. A piece is then cut for each of the parents and for the grandparents, who are fed by the bride and groom holding the cake together. Sometimes a wedding toast is given and guests are invited to greet the newlyweds and their parents. Musical entertainment, which ranges from a simple keyboard player to a symphony or orchestra, accompanies the receiving line It is customary for guests to shake hands again before leaving the reception. At more elaborate Chinese weddings, a sit-down reception may feature a 9 or 10 course meal as well as musical entertainment. Chinese brides often change outfits at least three times during the reception.
source: www.worldweddingtraditions.com
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Going north
Date: 04 Aug 2005 - Subscribe
Hello!!! It is dark and rainy day here in Croatia...The fact that in few weeks my brother is going to start his master degree of fine arts in Helsinki, Finland...encouraged me to search for info about that country...Among outher things I found the following few lines about wedding customs in that European country...
In Finland, a traditional bride-to-be walks door-to-door with a pillowcase, to receive her wedding presents. An older, married man walks with her, holding an umbrella or parasol to cover her. This pre-wedding tradition a symbol of protection and shelter for the new bride.
On her wedding day, a Finnish bride might wear a traditional golden crown with her wedding gown. After wedding vows have been exchanged, and the celebration has begun at the wedding reception, all of the women blindfold the new bride and dance around her. She places her crown on the head of the girl next to marry in much the way beauty queens pass their crowns following their year of reign.
It is a Finnish wedding custom for the newlyweds to sit together in designated seats of honor.at the wedding reception. The bride holds a seive, covered by a shawl, into which guests deposit gifts of cash. At some weddings, the bride's mother-in-law or god mother puts a china plate on top of the her head when the newlyweds begin their wedding dance, usually a waltz. After the plate falls, the pieces of broken china foretell the number of children the couple can expect to have.
The last dance at a Finish wedding reception is called the weaning-waltz. The women start the waltz with the bride and the men with the groom, children included. Each person dances only for a moment with the bride and with the groom. The dance's origin was a test to see how quickly the bride and groom will 'forget' each other.
I have to go now. Lot of mail to write this evening...
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