Our International House of People: Day 2 China

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Day 2 China

Today was a very quiet first day. I stayed in the area and just looked around and shopped a little. There is a ton of shopping here some I will wouldn't be able to afford in a million years (the Louis Vuitton store is in the shopping mall connected to my hotel). But I just did the local shops and I was able to pick up a few gifts today for friends and family. I also ate McDonalds for lunch. Yep I am in China and ate McDonalds. My guide was only with me for a brief time today so I was solo and had no idea where the good local restaurants were. There do not seem to be many people around who speak english so it would be really hard to go into a restaurant and have no idea what you are ordering. There is also a KFC and pizza hut in the area. KFC will only be eaten if I get desperate. I did eat dinner at the hotel tonight and that was good but it definitely was not as cheap as McDonalds. I will say a Big Mac combo cost me a whopping 19 yuan, actually is was $3.19 in US money much cheaper than in Dallas GA. I was excited about my shopping. I found a kitchen apron with Keith's name in it. It seems that there is some popular dog something or other and they go by Oscar, Keith, and Bobby so it has a picture of 3 dogs with each name on it. Keith's dad is Bobby so it was kind of a hoot to find an item in China that had both their names on it. I also picked up these lotions for 3 of my students. I happened to do this project with my kids in school where they had to open a business in Africa and create a product from a resource. Anyway they choose petroleum and were making lotions (yes there is a small amount of petroleum in some lotions). They had used a picture of there product from some hand lotion that came in a bee that they found on the internet. So I was in this shop and low and behold there was the lotion. I had to get it for the girls and can't wait to give it to those student when I get back. That was really it for today. In a little more than 12 hours I will finally meet baby girl. Hopefully I will be able to sleep tonight.

My hotel

Street vendors

Yep it's universal

I thought it was funny that they sold TV's on the street

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History of Ethiopia

Ethiopia is one of the oldest known cradles of civilization known to man. Christianity was brought to the Kingdom of Axum around the 4th century AD and later in the 7th century Islam was introduced. Foreign missionaries were introduced to the region around the 1630's. Because of these unwelcomed guest Ethiopia did not welcome foreign Christians and Europeans into their lands. Its isolationism may have saved the country from 19th century colonialism. In 1936 Italian facists entered the region and forced its emperor into isolation but was later returned when the British and the French defeated the Italians. Civil unrest would lead to the demise of the aging emperor and in 1974 a socialist sort of government was named. The country went through a period of red terror that was funded by the Soviets and Cuba. This lead to the implementation of a communist government being installed in the late 1970's, early 1980's. In 1989 the country went through a period of famine that also lead to a change in governments. Finally, in 1994 the country would declare its independence and later hold free elections.

History of Vietnam

For about two thousand years Vietnam was ruled by China, following this period it would become independent for the next almost thousand years. In the 1800's it would be colonized by the French. The early 20th century would bring about visions of an independent republic. In 1945 Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam independent and renamed it the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. By 1947 a full-scale war would break out between the French and the Viet Minh (Ho CHi Minh's followers). China also began to aid the Viet Minh at this time due to its own communist revolution. July, 1954 the Geneva Accords would be sign paving the road to France leaving Vietnam; however, it would partition Vietnam into 2 independent states seperated by the 17th parallel. The South was helped by the United States, while the North would be dominated by the Viet Minh. By 1963 the South's government was very unstable. 1965 President Lyndon Johnson would send troops into Vietnam. The North would lead a massive attack in 1968 destroying much of the South. In 1969, Ho Chi Minh died but his forces remained in tact. By the early 1970's many Americans viewed the war as unwinnable and would prove unsuccessful at containing communism. January 1973 the Paris Peace Accords were signed ending the United States role in the war. In 1975 Saigon would fall to the North Vietnamese and in July of 1976 the two parts were reunified into the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The war was disastrous for the Vietnamese people leaving an estimated 1 million to become boat people, 1 million imprisioned, and more than 100,000 killed. Today, Vietnam still has a communist form of government and although they are a developing nation many people remain extremely poor.

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Day 2 China

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