Mango Languages

Citizen U.S.A.

Happy Monday Everyone!

The past weekend, as I was flipping through the channels to find something to watch, I came across a really interesting documentary, Citizen U.S.A.: A 50 State Road Trip on HBO.

Emmy-winning filmmaker Alexandra Pelosi attends naturalization ceremonies across all 50 states and meets people from all over the world who have just become American citizens to learn why they chose America as their home. Her documentary includes interviews from newly naturalized citizens about where they came from and what they love about America. Pelosi’s Dutch-born husband’s swearing-in ceremony inspired the filmmaker to go on a nationwide road trip “to experience the moment new citizens take their oath, to find out why so many people are willing to renounce their birth country and swear allegiance to the United States of America.”

After watching the full documentary, I was moved. As a person whose family came to the United States to live the American dream, even I realize how easy it is to take things for granted.

When asked, “What do you like most about America?” the answers varied: freedom, security, clean water, respect, equality, education, being able to practice any religion, American food, customer service, and 911 were some of the answers.

It made me realize how diverse the United States really is, how many unique and incredible people we have here that have their own backgrounds, history, culture, and reasons why they came to this beautiful country. Most of the people in the documentary came to the U.S. with very little money, no knowledge of the English language, and full of hopes and dreams for their future. They came here for an opportunity to reach their full potential.

We should strive to learn as much as possible from people all over the world. In this amazing country, is nice to know that you don’t have to go far to experience diversity.

Click here to watch the documentary trailer.

What are your thoughts? Have you or someone you know immigrated to the United States? Why?

Pattaya International Music Festival

This year, the Pattaya (not “Pad Thai”) Festival will be celebrating its 10th anniversary in Thailand. The festival is regarded as one of the largest international beach festivals in all of Asia and features over 100 artists from both Thailand and abroad.

With an expected turnout of over 400,000 people, this festival is most definitely going to be making a great deal of noise from March 18-20th.

There is literally something for everyone here.  From rock, to jazz, to pop, a little bit of everything will be featured at the festival.

Nordic World Ski Championship

Like to ski? Based in Switzerland, the Federation Interationale de Ski (International Ski Federation for all of you English speakers) is the organization that puts on the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Oslo, Norway. This organization is the main international organization for ski sports, and consists of 111 national ski associations.

The competition is being held from February 23rd to March 6th this year. 50 nations are participating in 21 events, and if you are a ski enthusiast, then this is the place to be!

Do you ski?

International Love

Love, a universal concept, is in the air today. It’s Valentine’s Day, a day to celebrate love and affection between couples.

It may sound different but in every nation, every culture, and in every language, but the notion of “being loved” means the same thing.

Over the weekend I got to know the story behind the red “I am loved” buttons that you maybe have seen around. I found out that the creator of the buttons, Barnett Helzberg Jr., had a personal and romantic story behind the three words that have now become an icon.

Helzberg came up with the “I am Loved” button in 1967 when his fiance accepted his marriage proposal.  He was was so ecstatic that she said “yes,” that he wanted the whole world to know that “he was loved.” The buttons were also immediately popular with religious groups delivering messages of love. Schools used the buttons to encourage students and build self-esteem. Everyone connected to the message on the button in their own unique way. It wasn’t long before “I am Loved” spread around the world and Helzberg responded by producing buttons in French, Spanish, Russian, Polish, Japanese, Italian, German, Hebrew, Chinese, and Portuguese. Over 50 million buttons have been given away.

Spread the message of love. Here are a couple of ways,

I am loved.

Soy Amado

Io sono amato

Kto’s Mnie Kocha

Je Suis Aimée

меня любят

אוהבים אותי

What language do you spread the message of love in?

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Asheville International Children’s Film Festival

Here’s something for all of you movie enthusiasts out there. The Asheville International Children’s Film Festival is held in North Carolina and features over 100 films from over 30 countries.

Aimed for anyone ages 3 and up, the festival aims to provide culturally diverse cinema to promote intelligent discourse and critical thinking later in life. Festival events include an opening night gala, a pancake breakfast, workshops, and school field trip film experiences.

If you’d like to check out what films are being shown, click here.

Do you think that film is a good medium for promoting the importance of culture?

Bring Your Appetite. We're Going to Greece!

The Greek Flag made out of Olives and Feta Cheese

All over Greece you will see and smell fruit-bearing trees: olive trees, dating from ancient times, sweet-smelling orange and lemon trees, juicy peaches, apricot, apple, pear and fig trees, and vines loaded with bunches of grapes. The fields are full of all sorts of vegetables: red, sweet tomatoes; fresh beans and peas; cucumbers; artichokes; aubergines; onions; and fruits like melon and red, delicious watermelon, both a real treat in the heat of the summer.

In the sea hundreds of fish send out silver reflections. Swarms of bees in beehives produce the famous Greek honey. There are forests of walnuts, chestnuts, almonds, oaks, and pines. The pines give us a special ingredient for Greek wine, called retsina, and the pine kernels are also used in several dishes.

Most of the Greek foods are prepared with olive oil. It is the so-called Mediterranean ingredient, famous for being so good for the health. In Greece a main dish can consist of vegetables only cooked so as to offer a wholesome meal. But generally we are fond of meat, and this comes to its apogee during Easter, the great outdoor feast, where whole lambs are specially prepared on the spit, and all the neighbors celebrate together dancing, eating and drinking – a feast strictly not for vegetarians. Even the entrails of the animals are cooked, making the famous kokoretsi. Lambs, goats, and mainly cows give us milk from which we make the famous Greek cheese called feta, a white kind of cheese. Also yogurt, which mixed with crushed garlic, makes a famous dip called tzatziki. Feta cheese, tzatziki dip, aubergine dip, and a dip from fish roe, called taramas, olives and small cheese pies are the dishes served with ouzo, a transparent aperitif, which one could drink as is–but that is not recommended, remember what happened in the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

In the northwest part of Greece they make delicious, crunchy pies with filo pastry or dough, with every imaginable ingredient, savory or sweet: pies with spinach, or other herbs, or a mixture of them, with cheese, tomatoes, aubergines, leak, meat, chicken, and also sweet pies, with rice and currants, or pumpkins and custard-filled pies. The list goes on and on…

Greek sweets are very… sweet.  Honey and walnuts are mostly used to make the traditional Greek sweets. These together with filo pastry make baklava, and with dough they make the traditional Christmas sweets, melomakarona.  Another kind of Greek confectionery is the preserves with fruits such as figs, grapes, apricots, sour cherries, plums, quinces, and even roses (the flower!), tomato, the skin of watermelon, the skin of orange and citrus, and whole walnut with its skin, which are cooked in water and sugar and then preserved in jars for the winter. The mild winter cold is fought against with soups made from beans and lentils. Several spices are added to improve the taste of dishes, all used moderately so as not to cover the taste of the meat or any other main ingredient: oregano, mint, garlic, dill, parsley, bay leaves, basil, thyme, cinnamon, clove, rosemary, saffron.  All the dishes are accompanied with wines, sometimes home-made, as well as with retsina.  At the end of the meal you can have coffee, Greek coffee, or frappe. Greek coffee is prepared on low heat until it froths – be careful, you do not have to drink the dregs. Frappe is instant coffee, served especially in the summer, for which you put coffee, sugar, and cold water in a shaker and then add milk and ice cubes. Enjoy it with a straw while watching people passing by.

There are many kinds of eating places in Greece, like restaurants; taverns – for a more informal meal – grill houses; fish taverns; small places where you can have ouzo and starters only; small, usually underground taverns where you can hear live music; but also kebab places, and cafes. There are also places where you can have light meals, usually to go, like pies or sandwiches (two pieces of bread filled with whatever you like), and also fast-food.  The popular Greek fast food chain is called Goodies.

In conclusion, when dealing with Greece and the Greek culture, one should savor the flavor.

Here at Mango, We Love our Coffee!

While working here at Mango Languages I have learned over time that many of the Mangoes are big coffee lovers. I was elated to find this out, since I myself am very fond of this warm, caffeinated, and delicious beverage. It all started with the gathering of Mangoes by the industrial coffee maker to pour themselves a cup o’joe throughout the day.  Then once we moved to our new office I was greeted by a 12-cup Mr. Coffee every morning along with a collection of sweeteners and creamers. Later I started seeing the variety of ground coffee brands along with a french press here and there.  I have decided to dedicate this Monday’s blog to coffee, after all more than 1400 millions cups of coffee are drunk every day worldwide.

Really Fun Facts About Coffee:

-Hawaii is the only state in the US that grows coffee

-70% of the world consumes Arabica coffee, which is mild and aromatic. The remaining 30% drinks Robusta, which is more bitter-tasting but has 50% more caffeine than Arabica.

-Coffee grows on trees

-The bean is actually a seed inside of a bright red berry

-Coffee is the second most traded commodity on earth, after oil.

-The term “Americano” comes from America GIs during WWII. They would order espresso with water to dilute the strong flavor.

-The term “cup of joe” comes from American servicemen (GI Joes) in WWII being seen as big coffee drinkers.

-Brazil produces around 40% of the world’s coffee supply.

-October 1^st is official “Coffee Day” in Japan

-65 countries in the world grow coffee. They are all along the equator, within the tropics.

-It takes 40 coffee beans to make an espresso

-A coffee tree lives for between 60 and 70 years.

Who knew!

Ready to become a coffee expert? Follow this chart and you’ll be ordering grande, extra hot, non-fat, triple lattes with extra foam in no time.

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/coffee

What do YOU love about coffee?

Two Marathons, and then Some!

Hey!  This is a great get away for all of you fitness enthusiasts out there.

Every year, there is an event in Mongolia called the “Mongolia Sunrise to Sunset.”  It is a whopping 100km (about 62 miles) run!  This event is focused around both the run and the beauty of the terrain.

The event usually attracts about 50 runners per year, who arrive either directly in the capital of Ulaanbaatar, or make the stop in Beijing before traveling there.  They are then flown to Camp Toilogt, a 2,700 sq. ft. lake surrounded by forests and mountains. There, they have a few days to relax before the run and do things like horseback riding, fishing, hiking, or visit with the locals.  On the day of the race, they begin at sunrise and have until sunset to run around the whole course and make it back to camp, with a few rest stops in between.  And you thought high school track was tough!

The race was held this year the 19th-24th of July, and is held every year with all proceeds going to help preserve the wildlife and nature preserve where the run takes place.

If you’re interested in doing something like this, you can register on the Mongolia Sunrise to Sunset website here: http://www.ultramongolia.com/

Have you ever done any international runs? Would you? Tell us!

It’s football time! Well, sort of

Countries around the world are gearing up for this year’s World Cup, which is set to be held from June 11^th to July 11^th in South Africa.

A little background: the first World Cup was held in 1930 by the Fédération Internationale de Football (that’s soccer in the U.S.) Association (FIFA), and was won by Uruguay.  Since then, it has been held consistently every four years except for 1942 and 1946, when it was not contested due to international involvement in World War Two.  Currently, Brazil leads all other countries in number of titles won (5 cups), followed by Italy with 4, and Germany with 3.

The last cup, in 2006, was held in Germany and saw Italy as its champion. The final match between Italy and France drew an estimated 715.1 million viewers. Compare that to the 106 million viewers who tuned in for the Superbowl, or even the entire population of the U.S., for that matter, which comes in at around 310 million people, and you can see just how popular this event really is.

What country are you rooting for in this year’s World Cup?