Halloween

Halloween,or Hallowe'en,is a holiday celebrated on night of October 31.Traditional activities include trick-or-treating, bonfires, costume parties, visiting "haunted houses" and carving jack-o-lanterns. The term Halloween (and its alternative rendering Hallowe'en) is shortened from All-hallow-even, as it is the eve of "All Hallows' Day",[1] which is now also known as All Saints' Day. Some modern Halloween traditions developed out of older pagan traditions, especially surrounding the Irish holiday Samhain, a day associated both with the harvest and otherworldly spirits. Irish and Scottish immigrants carried versions of the tradition to North America in the nineteenth century. Other western countries embraced the holiday in the late twentieth century. Halloween is now celebrated in several parts of the Western world, most commonly in Ireland, the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and the United Kingdom and occasionally in parts of Australia and New Zealand.
Many European cultural traditions, in particular Celtic cultures, hold that Halloween is one of the liminal times of the year when spirits can make contact with the physical world, and when magic is most potent (according to, for example, Catalan mythology about witches and Scottish and Irish tales of the Sídhe).

From:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween

costume n.服裝
haunt v.經常去(某地);纏住(某人)
jack n.插座
alternative adj.若干中擇一的;供選擇的
render v.翻譯;使成為;給予
pagan n.非基督教徒
spirit n. 心靈
otherworldly adj.空想的;來世的
immigrant n.移民
version+(of) n.說法

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When the Halloween is coming, my neighbors who come from America will decorate their house with some things like: punkin, death’s-head, bat…and so on. But they had not come to us house, and say: Trick or treating! It’s interesting to us because we do not have the festival. And it seem important to every westerner. The date of the Halloween is soon coming. So I want to realize it much by this time.

From the article, I know the rise of the Halloween Day which was from pagan traditions. It’s amazing to me because it is now celebrated by western world. Why I am interest in Halloween because the punkins are really cute. And the supermarket would sell that in Taiwan. One year my brother had some program about the festival in his school. Culture is learned around the world. It’s interesting and meaningful to everyone.

New Seven Worlders of the World

New Seven Wonders of the World is a contemporary attempt to create an alternative to the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World list. The worldwide popularity poll was organized by the private, non-profit New Open World Corporation (NOWC), with winners announced on July 7, 2007 in Lisbon, Portugal.[1]
The Swiss-based NOWC claims more than 100 million votes were cast through the Internet or by telephone. Since nothing prevented fans, government or tourism agencies from casting multiple votes, the poll is considered "decidedly unscientific".[2]
NOWC relied on private donations, the sale of merchandise such as shirts and cups, and revenue from selling broadcasting rights.
The program drew a wide range of official reaction. Some countries touted their finalist and tried to get more votes cast for it, while others downplayed or criticized the contest.[2][1] UNESCO has distanced itself from the undertaking.[3]

Winner

From:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Seven_Wonders_of_the_World
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The report is a few before the months.But until I was just real to understand the content of this report today.

This is the first thing I learning from the journal (blog) postings is that read report not examine hurriedly.Why I choose the repot as my journal is that I never travel any world besides Taiwan.Oh! That is mean I'm never taking plane to somewhere ,either. At all event, I'd better know some famous spots of the world.

New Seven Worlders of the world is a little part of the famous scenic spots. I also looking else spots that not be voted into the New Seven worlders because those spots of my mind should in the list but they are not. Amazing of the result is that The Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt was not voted in The New Seven.The only one was observed ancestry's inheritance in the old seven greatest miracles in the world of my knowledge .So,how great spot it is! But it was ranked the eighth. Some spot also are the greatest inheritances in my mind wasn't included the New Seven like Easter Island Moais in Easter island, Angkor Wat in Angkor,Stonehenge in Amesbury...etc.

The first time when I saw about the argument of the report on the TV is that the New Seven was considered unscientific because it was open online to poll by people all over the world. And it is easy causing some nationlist attempting breaking down the equity of the poll.

Althought it aroused many arguments,the most improtant thing I learning from the report is that we should respect the opinions from other people.Especially in the period of the global village.We will alway meet someone who come from different country.And the culture differ from country to country.If we can't revere different opinions arround ourselves in the small group now.How dealing some things with someone who come from different country after we graduate from college.Respect different viewpoints and opinoins is that I learning from it.

->Stonehenge in Amesbury

->Easter Island Moais in Easter island

->Angkor Wat in Angkor