Celebrating Spring Around the World

Spring officially arrives on the vernal equinox around March 21st when Earth´s orbital path places the sun directly over the Equator, and day and night are exactly the same length.

Throughout history, this change in the seasons has been celebrated by people around the world. Though every culture has its own distinct traditions, most stem from the same ancient roots that celebrate spring as the renewal of life on the planet.

Here are just a few ways that spring is celebrated across the globe:

In modern times, no other national celebrates the spring equinox as keenly as the Iranians, whose Norouz, or New Year festival, starts at the exact moment of the spring equinox.

On spring equinox, each household creates a ceremonial table, or haftseen, with seven items beginning with the Farsi ”c” sound. These items include the sabzeh grass, vinegar (symbolizing age and patience), garlic (symbolizing medicine), an apple (for beauty and health), a sweet wheat germ pudding (for affluence), the dried fruit of the lotus tree (for love) and sumac berries (for the color of sunrise).

The table also holds candles, painted eggs, mirrors, a goldfish in a bowl (signifying the death of the Pisces astrological sign), hyacinth flowers, coins and sugar cookies. Finally, an orange placed in a bowl of water is said to represent Earth in space. One popular belief the children attempt to test is that at the exact moment the equinox begins, an egg placed on a flat mirror will start turning like the planet itself.

In Japan, spring equinox, or Shunbu-no-hi, is one of the most traditional of all Japanese national holidays. Many Japanese visit family graves on this day to pay their respects to their ancestors. They weed the gravesites, leave flowers and incense, and prepare sweet rice balls called ohagi for the spirits of their predecessors to eat.

On Mexico´s Yucatan Peninsula, the ancient Mayans built a spectacular tribute to the season in the Kulkulcan pyramid at Chichen Itza. During both the spring and autumn equinoxes, sunlight bathes the pyramid´s main stairway creating a series of seven isosceles triangles. The shapes imitate the body of a serpent 37 yards long, which seems to slither downwards until it joins a huge serpent´s head carved in stone at the bottom of the stairway.

Language in the News

New Documentary, The Linguists
(Featured at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival)
There are over 7,000 languages spoken in the world, but nearly half will disappear by the end of this century as a result of colonization, globalization and indifference. In a 70-minute documentary entitled The Linguists, professors K. Davis Harrison and Gregory Anderson have chronicled their journey into sometimes dangerous territories around the world to record these languages on the verge of extinction. Read more about The Linguists

Steps Taken for Multilingual Internet
At a recent workshop held during the second Internet Governance Forum in Rio de Janeiro, three agencies agreed to collaborate on global efforts to forge universal standards towards building a multilingual cyberspace. The three agencies are the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the International Telecommunication Union (ICU) and UNESCO.
Read the full article . . .

Neandertals and Humans Share Key Changes to ”Language Gene”
A recent study published in Current Biology reveals that adaptive changes in a human gene involved in speech and language were shared by our closest extinct relatives, the Neandertals. Not only does the finding disclose that the human form of the gene arose much earlier than scientists had previously estimated, but it also raises the possibility that Neandertals possessed some of the prerequisites for language.
Read the full article . . .

Foreign Language Enrollment in Higher Education Increases
Interest in language study at American colleges and universities has increased broadly and significantly since 2002, according to a comprehensive survey that was recently released by the Modern Language Association of America (MLA) and funded by the U.S. Department of Education. The survey reveals significant increases in enrollments in nearly all the most popular languages studied at American college campuses.
Read the press release and/or full report

Language/Culture Tips &Resources

The World Nomads Group offers a series of free language guides that contain around 30 basic phrases that you can download onto your iPod.

Executive Planet(TM) provides valuable tips on business etiquette, customs and protocol for doing business worldwide.

By learning how you most easily process information, noting how other factors affect your ability to learn, and then by testing various techniques, you can tap into a unique learning style that works best for you. Identify and utilize your personal learning style at IncreaseBrainPower.com. 
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Upcoming International Events

Learn more about the international events being held in the Triangle (and beyond) this spring:

Exhibits

Five Friends from Japan Exhibit - Feb. 16 - Jun. 29, 2008
Marbles Kids Museum, Horizon Gallery, Raleigh, NC

Performances

Nrityagram Dance Ensemble of India - March 2, 2008
Carolina Performing Arts
Memorial Hall, Chapel Hill, NC

2nd Annual Celtic Concert Series - Mar. 11 - 28, 2008
The ArtsCenter, Carrboro, NC

Musical Performance by Haale - March 19, 2008
Carolina Performing Arts
Memorial Hall, Chapel Hill, NC

African Children´s Choir - March 19, 2008
Carolina Theatre, Durham, NC

Modern Music of Latin America - March 27, 2008
Presented by UNC´s Festival on the Hill
Memorial Hall, Chapel Hill, NC

La Fontegara, Arca de Musica: Baroque Music from Mexican Archives - March 28, 2008
Presented by UNC´s Festival on the Hill
Hill Hall Auditorium, Chapel Hill, NC

Latin American Strings Concert - March 29, 2008
Presented by UNC´s Festival on the Hill
Person Recital Hall, Chapel Hill, NC

Gonzalo Rubalcaba - March 29, 2008
Presented by UNC´s Festival on the Hill
Memorial Hall, Chapel Hill, NC

Sabado Sonidero - March 29, 2008
Presented by UNC´s Festival on the Hill
The ArtsCenter, Carrboro, NC

Musica Latina in Carolina featuring Rey Norteno - March 30, 2008
Finale to UNC´s Festival on the Hill
The ArtsCenter, Carrboro, NC

Waltzes of Old Vienna - April 10 - 13, 2008
Carolina Ballet
Raleigh Memorial Auditorium, Raleigh, NC

Spirit of Uganda - April 23, 2008
Memorial Hall, Chapel Hill, NC

Festivals and Celebrations

India Fest 2008 - March 8 and 9, 2008
Dorton Arena, N.C. State Fairgrounds, Raleigh, NC

26th Annual Raleigh St. Patrick's Day Parade & Festival -
March 15, 2008
Moore Square, Downtown Raleigh, NC

Norooz 1387 Party for Kids - March 16, 2008
Iranian Cultural Society of North Carolina
Forest Hills Baptist Church, Raleigh, NC

Charshanbeh Soori - March 18, 2008
Iranian Cultural Society of North Carolina
L.R. Harrill Center, N.C. State Fairgrounds, Raleigh, NC

Norooz 1387 Party - March 22, 2008
Iranian Cultural Society of North Carolina
Crabtree Marriott, Raleigh, NC

2nd Annual Spring Festival - March 29, 2008
Diamante, Inc.
Town Commons, Greenville Amphitheatre, Greenville, NC

The North Carolina Renaissance Faire - March 29 & 30, April 5 & 6, and April 12 & 13, 2008
Heritage Village, N.C. State Fairgrounds, Raleigh, NC

Full Frame Documentary Film Festival - April 3 - 6, 2008
Carolina Theatre, Durham, NC

The Global Taster's Aficionado - April 10, 2008
International Festival of Raleigh
Artspace, Downtown Raleigh, NC

10th Annual Lebanese Festival - April 20, 2008
Kerr Scott Building, N.C. State Fairgrounds, Raleigh, NC

10th Annual RiverRun International Film Festival - April 23 - 28, 2008
Winston-Salem, NC

Conferences and Workshops

Transcending Borders: Latin American and Latino Music in North Carolina and the United States - March 26 - 30, 2008
Presented by UNC's Festival on the Hill
Chapel Hill, NC

Latino Arts & Culture Summit - Spring 2008 (Date TBD)
Diamante, Inc.
Cary, NC

About The World Company

The World Company provides language learners with the highest quality language training at affordable rates.  We offer individualized instruction, group instruction and tutoring for businesses, institutions and private students in English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, Russian, and other languages.

Our proficiency-based approach utilizes a variety of learning styles and instructional techniques to achieve the most expedient acquisition for each individual student.

The World Company's qualified and experienced instructors bring to class not only in-depth knowledge of their language, but also a keen understanding of the culture within which it is spoken.

Call (919) 796-2876 or write us and see how we can improve your international communication skills!