New look on the Museum

Museums have changed. They are no longer places for the privileged few or for bored vacationers to visit on rainy days.

At a science museum in Ontario, Canada you can feel your hair stand on end as harmless electricity passes through your body. At the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, you can look at 17 century instruments while listening to their music. At the Modern Museum in Sweden, you can put on costumes provided by the Stockholm Opera. As these examples show, museums are reaching out to new audiences, particularly the young, the poor and the less educated members of the population. As a result, attendance is interesting.

Many museums have changed in appearance. Some old, gray museums have been rebuilt, and the newer ones are open and modern in their architecture. Inside, there is modern lighting, color, and sound. Instead of displaying everything they own, museum directors show fewer objects and leave open spaces where visitor can gather and sit down. They also bring together in one display a group of objects drawn drawn from various parts of the museum to represent the whole lifestyle of region or a historical period. In one room, for instance, you may find materials, clothing, tools, cooking pots, furniture, and art works of a particular place and time.

More and more museum directors are realizing that people learn best when they can somehow become part of what they are seeing. In many science museums, for example, there are no guided tours. The visitor is encouraged to touch, listen, operate, and experiment so as to discover scientific principles for himself. The purpose is not only to provide fun but also to help people feel at home in the world of science. The theory is that people who do not understand science will probably fear it, and those who fear science will not use it to the best advantage.

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4 . These summer festivals in New Orleans are few of the hottest happenings the City has to offer for holiday seekers.

Oyster Festival

There’s an old saying that it’s only safe to eat oysters in months ending in ‘R’, which was good advice in the age before refrigeration became a fashion. And that’s exactly why originally the New Orleans Oyster Festival was held in June, to break up the myth as locals never bothered to preserve the creatures with their habit of directly eating the seafood, fresh from the sea. Today, featuring oysters harvested from the Gulf of Mexico, Oyster Fest is a celebration of the world’s favorite food. If you’ve ever wanted to enjoy the legendary oysters at Drago’s where the recipe originated or take a bite out of an oyster the size of a hamburger. Oyster Fest is for you.

When to Co: June 3-4

Essence Festival

New Orleans holds a special place in African-American life and history so it should be no surprise the city hosts a festival celebrating African-American music and culture in the United States. With free admission, Essence Festival, organized by the African-American women’s magazine of the same name, is a combination of tour days of dynamic speeches and a showcase of African-American artists.

When to Co: June 29-July 2

Cajun-Zydeco Festival

Southern Louisiana is home to a variety of rich, unique cultures, and on a weekend in June in New Orleans, one of them— Cajun— is on lull display. The heart of Cajun country is in south-central Louisiana, a strong showcase of Cajun culture, for which the Cajun-Zydeco Festival emerged. On the particular weekend, you get ready to chew down on traditional food like Cajun gumbo at eateries, buy Cajun crafts, and purchase a Cajun T-shirt.

When to Co: June 24-25

Running of the Bulls

Due to its history, the Spanish influence still shows itself in New Orleans. The architectural style of the French Quarter is actually from Spain, and New Orleans’s annual Running of the Bulls is, in part, a nod to the city’s Spanish heritage. Unlike the Spanish festival in Pamplona, the “bulls” in the Fest are not actual bulls but the women of the Big Roller derby team. However they do chase down white-and=red-clothed festival-goers, if infuriated. Therefore behave yourself or be prepared to run tor life.

When to Co: JuIy7-9

What Sociology Can Teach UsAbout Thanksgiving

Sociologists （社会学家） believe that the celebrations practiced within any given culture serve to restate that culture’s most important values and beliefs. This theory dates back to founding sociologist Émile Durkheim and has been proved true by     1     researchers over more than a century’s time. According to sociologists, by examining a celebration, we can come to understand some     2     things about the culture in which it is practiced. In this spirit, let’s take a look at what Thanksgiving reveals about us.

It may not be much of a（n）     3     that coming together to share a meal with loved ones indicates how important relationships with friends and family are in our culture, which is far from a（n）     4     American thing. When we gather together to share in this holiday, we effectively say, “Your     5     and our relationship is important to me,” and in doing so, that relationship is restated and     6    . But there are some less obvious and more interesting things going on too.

In most households across the U. S. women and girls do the work of preparing, serving, and cleaning up after the Thanksgiving meal.     7    , most men and boys are likely to be watching and/or playing football. Of course, neither of these activities are exclusively gendered, but they are generally so. This means that Thanksgiving serves to     8     the distinct roles we believe men and women should play in society, and even what it means to be a man or a woman in our society today.

One of the most interesting sociological research findings is that overeating     9     with Thanksgiving illustrates American materialism and abundance. Sociologists found that the celebrations and how we talk about these experiences     10     that Thanksgiving is really about celebrating “material abundance” — having a lot of stuff, especially food, available for use.

8 . In American culture, I am noticing a lack of respect, especially among children. This should be treated _________ since disrespectful children will become disrespectful teenagers, and then disrespectful adults. American culture is _________ the ways of teaching respect, while other cultures have methods that Americans could learn from.

In 1995, I spent a couple of months in Kenya where I lived with a pastor’s family. This pastor was a part of the Maasai tribes that have some unique customs. One of them is the _________ that the children give the adults. When an adult approaches a Maasai child, the child will _________ and tilt their head slightly saying “Suppa”. The adult responses by saying “Ippa” touching the top of their heads. This simple act shows respect for the adult. The children _________ that they are their elder and that the adult deserves respect.

In my early 20’s, I worked at a children’s home in South Carolina where the children from 4 to 19 years old were taught to respect their elders. They _________ me as “Mr. Vince” and every adult worker there with a “Mr, Mrs, or Ms.”. However, as I counsel and talk to teachers and other professionals who work with children now, there seems to be a _________ in such as friendly behavior that children give adults. Fewer students treat teachers with respect: Children frequently talk back to their teachers, parents or seniors, interrupt conversations, and disregard their _________. Children casually speak with other adults like waiters, store clerks, postmen, cashiers, etc. in the way as if they are children’s _________.

Immanuel Kant expressed two __________ attitudes in Europe that are still dominant today. One is that only humans are persons because they have autonomy—they freely choose to act on principles by __________ laws on themselves, and not on desires. It is this mind based on __________ that gives humans special status. Second, to learn to follow principles instead of desires, a human child needs to learn __________ to the laws of adults. They must practice __________ regulation before they are able to practice autonomy. Kant said that “act in the way you want others to act in the situation, taking other people as persons, not __________ you use for your own goals”. Only in this way can you become a real person with intrinsic values.

There's more of a connection between food and culture than you may think.

On an individual level, we grow up eating the food of our cultures. Many associate foods from our childhood with warm feelings and fond memories, tying us to our families.On a large scale, food operates as an expression of cultural identity, Traditional cuisine (烹饪法) is passed down from one generation to the next. Immigrants bring the food of their countries where they go, and cooking traditional food is a symbol of pride for their ethnicity (民族特色) as well as a means of coping with homesickness.

Many immigrants open their own restaurants and serve traditional dishes. However, the food does not remain exactly the same. Some ingredients needed to make traditional dishes may not be readily available, so the taste and flavour can be different from what they would prepare in their home countries. Additionally, immigrants who sell dishes have to alter the original dishes to satisfy a wider range of customers. Alterations to original dishes can create new flavors that still preserve the cultural significance of the dish.

What stays the same is the extent to which each country or community's unique cuisine reflects its unique history, lifestyle, values, and beliefs. For example, in China, harmony is a vital characteristic in almost every aspect of life. This is reflected in Chinese cuisine, where almost every flavour is used in a balanced way. Throughout history, Chinese people are of the belief that food not only needs to be nutritious but also needs to look appealing, so they put a lot of effort into decorating the dishes，with vibrant red as their traditional colour.

As the world becomes more globalized, it is easier to access cuisines from different cultures. We should not only accept our traditions through our culture's food but also become more informed about other cultures by trying their foods. It is important to remember that each dish has a special place in the culture to which it belongs, and is special to those who prepare it. Food is a window to culture, and it should be treated as such.

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Mutton’s Not Just a Winter Delicacy Anymore

Winter is often deemed the best season to eat mutton, but that is not the case in Shanghai.

The annual mutton festival began today in Zhuanghang Town, Fengxian District,     1     highlight of the city’s summer rural tourism market.

Running until August 22, the festival features tasting and cooking events     2     agriculture-related activities.

The history of eating mutton in sanfu,     3     (hot) period of summer, in Zhuanghang dates back to the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368). The Zhuanghang goat is both delicious and nutritious.

Mutton braised in soy sauce and plain boiled mutton are popular in Zhuanghang during the festival. A must-have accompaniment to mutton is shaojiu (a Chinese rice spirit); the tradition of tasting mutton with shaojiu is listed as an intangible cultural heritage of Shanghai.

Mutton has a reputation for its tender taste, marbled texture, rich flavors and thick soup. According to the principles of traditional Chinese medicine, goat meat, like beef and lamb, is considered a “hot” food and thus     4     (avoid) or taken in smaller quantities on hot sweltering days of summer.

But for hundreds of years, the people of Zhuanghang town in Fengxian district     5     (eat) goat meat during the summer. They eat locally produced goat meat     6     they sip homemade shaojiu or huangjiu (yellow rice wine). This hearty mix of alcohol and goat meat promotes sweating,     7     some traditional medicine practitioners believe helps the body expel toxins and prevent illnesses in the forthcoming winter. Goat meat is also believed to be an excellent way of building up “energy” in the body that will last through the winter season. That’s why eateries in Zhuanghang are usually packed with diners during summer.

Li Yingchun, boss of a local goat meat restaurant in Zhuanghang, claims that his restaurant receives 8,000 to 10,000 customers on average every weekday. The number     8     reach as high as 12,000 on weekends, according to a daily report.

The Fengxian District Culture and Tourism Bureau said it is with the help of the traditional festival which caters to the travel, dining, entertaining and leisure demand of tourists     9     rural revitalization will be achieved.

    10     Zhuanghang, Zhangze Town in Songjiang District also has the tradition of eating mutton in sanfu. Its own mutton festival kicks off on Saturday and runs until October.