12/29/2007 10:48 PM

Symbolic Foods Eaten Around the World for New Years

In many parts of the world, the foods eaten on New Years Eve and New Years Day have important symbolic meanings. These symbols seem to fall into several major categories. The first class symbolizes financial prosperity. This type of food is round like coins. Often, the dish will be round beans, like lentils, [...]

05/04/2007 10:57 AM

Can Anyone Help with a Canadian Song “Yoki and the Kaiser” - Possibly with Korean Origins

Patricia wrote: Wondering if you have heard the words to a 50’s skipping game we played using elastics? I believe it was originally a Korean children’s game and the children of missionaries brought it back to Canada in 1939. Original words: Rioyun, Kaiyo, Yaku navide etc. This song was taught to commemorate the victory of Russian-Japanese war of 1905 [...]

01/06/2007 08:35 PM

How to Find Sheet Music, Tunes and MP3’s on Mama Lisa’s World

In addition to this blog, I also host Mama Lisa’s World. Mama Lisa’s World is a large collection of children’s songs and rhymes from countries all around the globe. Matt, a music teacher from Rhode Island, wrote a question to me, the other day, about Mama Lisa’s World: Hey Mama, I love the concept of your site. [...]

05/01/2006 11:59 AM

May Day - Labor Day Marches and Rallies Around the World

In an earlier entry, I wrote about the history of Labor Day. In case you were wondering, here are some of the countries where demonstrations were held or where Labor Day was in some way honored around the world today (in some cases against the wishes of the government)… Russia Belarus Japan Germany Italy Philippines Cambodia Indonesia Malaysia South Korea Malta Mexico France Nepal Portugal Sri Lanka Nigeria Turkey Iran Great Britain Feel free to comment below [...]

03/26/2006 01:33 PM

Cherry Blossom Festivals Around the World

In previous entries I talked about the importance of Cherry Blossoms in Japan. In 1912 the mayor of Tokyo gave a gift of 3000 cherry trees to the city of Washington D.C., thus spreading the love of cherry blossom viewing to North America. Nowadays, Washington D.C. hosts the National Cherry Blossom Festival. I’ve been there and [...]

01/22/2006 06:09 PM

Greetings and Hand Gestures for the Chinese New Year

The Chinese New Year is on January 29th, 2006. It’s the Year of the Dog. The Chinese New Year is called Sun Lean in Cantonese. To wish each other a Happy New Year, the Chinese characters are æ�­å–œç™¼è²¡. The New Year’s greeting in Cantonese is Kung Hey Fat Choy, which means Congratulations and Be Prosperous. [...]