The three areas I’ve decided to do
are China, Saudi Arabia, and Laos. I chose these three countries because I’ve
seen a lot of students attending St Cloud who are from these countries. These
countries also interest me because of the large physical distance that causes
cultural differences from what I’m used to.
China
should be an interesting place to learn and interview about because of the governmental
differences and how that affects every day citizens. Also there is a religious barrier
in that in the United States, my native country, there is mainly Christian influence
which isn’t the case in China. Although the US is a very large country in size
and in population, it is dwarfed by China which should lead into some
questions.
Saudi
Arabia I didn’t know (and might be wrong about) had a large amount of exchange
students here but in our class there are quite a few. This country brings up a
whole lot of questions based on the US’s foreign policies. Also the large
Islamic influence should make for a decent comparison between Christian and
Muslim cultures.
I chose
Laos because I worked with a Hmong student who I’m pretty sure came from there
in a math class last semester. I didn’t know they had a lot of students here
until I attended a banquet where there must have been at least fifty students.
This topic is more about the Hmong people than Laos so I will have to look into
the Hmong. The Indochinese peninsula has seen it’s fair share of war over the
past fifty years which I could ask about.
I
started at Wikipedia.org on the three sources to find some broad topics to
cover. Not the best site for detailed or accurate information but a good place
to start. For china I found http://www.chinatoday.com/gov/a.htm which is a nice
site covering their government. Also http://www.asia-planet.net/china/religions-social-customs.htm
is a website about Chinese customs and religious information. http://www.chinatoday.com/data/china.population.htm
is a site that will give information related to population and geography. Encyclopedia
of China : the essential reference to China, its history and culture is
a book in the SCSU library I can use to cover my topics.
For
Saudi Arabia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Saudi_Arabia was
the best source of information about foreign policies of Saudi Arabia. http://www.asiarooms.com/en/travel-guide/saudi-arabia/culture-of-saudi-arabia/religion-in-saudi-arabia.html is a nice website covering religion and
cultural values. A brief history of Saudi Arabia is a good reference
book in the SCSU library.
For
Laos http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_946.html is a US government
site covering generals of Laos. Laos Culture, Development, and Heritage
Protection is a book about Laos in the library. http://www.hmongculture.net/home
is a very well put together website about Hmong culture and locations. A
people's history of the Hmong is a book on the Hmong.
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