Summary of the World

If we could shrink the Earth’s population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all existing human ratios remaining the same, it would look like this:
81 would be from less developed countries with a gross income per capita and year of US$ 3,580, 19 would be from developed countries with a gross income per capita and year of US$ 22,060.

There would be 61 Asians, 12 Europeans, 13 Africans, 9 would be from South America and the Caribbean, and 5 from North America including Canada.

75 would be non-white, while 25 would be white.

60 would mistrust their own government.

(No wonder, that the governments mistrust their people.)

60 would live within 62 miles of a coastline.

50 would be female, and 50 would be male.

50 would rely in some manner on coastal and marine habitats for food, building sites, transportation, recreation, and waste disposal.

48 would live on less than US $2 a day.

48 would lack access to basic sanitation.

47 would be urban dwellers.

(The world’s urban areas are expected to surpass rural areas in population around the year 2005)

29 would believe in witchcraft.

25 would live in substandard housing or have no home at all.

20 would live on less than US $1 a day.

17 would be under 18 years old.

16 would lack access to safe drinking water.

16 would be unable to read and write.

14 would suffer from malnutrition.

10 would live in least developed countries.

8 would have Internet access from home.

4.5 would be citizens of the United States

1 would be infected with HIV/AIDS.

1 would be near death, and 1 would be near birth.

Only 1 would have a college education.

Half of the entire village’s wealth would be in the hands of only 6 people, and most of them would be citizens of the United States.

When one considers our world from such an incredibly compressed perspective, the need for cooperation, tolerance and understanding becomes glaringly apparent.

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After reading that, I was … speechless?? … I mean, 48% of the world living on less than $2 a day… is that even possible?  When I found the article, I told me host mom about it, and she was like, “These people are lucky!  They can pay for house and electricity with only 200 yen!”  I told her that I don’t think that is really the case (I mean, come on now, 25 people don’t even have a good home, and 14 are suffering from malnutrition!!).  Still, wow, only one person receiving a college education?  I see college students everywhere… just wow… I think the website mentioned that this is old.  But just thinking about it.. wow….

Here is another version of the “Summary of the World” (the page is animated ^_~) http://users.gazinter.net/melan/Warn/Warnenu.htm

Youtube version:

(After watching that video… I don’t even know why I’m taking Japanese…)

Well, as I was walking, no less than four buses (that are still in service) passed by me, and they were all in a row.  I remembered when I had to wait for the bus (with service) at Kansai Gaidai.  Remember my earlier post about three nonservice buses passing by me when I was waiting for the bus?  Well, I think that the drivers are avoiding the students on purpose.  In order for me to get to Hirakatashi by 5:30, I had to leave around 5:10.  The time when most students get out is either around 5:20 or 5:40 (so maybe between 5:20-6??), and what we see are nonservice buses passing us by.   Now, at 5:10 there are four with-service buses???  Oh gee!!!  Well, the good thing about this is that since I’m walking, I won’t be affected by the bus system.  Poor people having to walk…

Now, the choir that my mom took me to was pretty good.  I didn’t really know that I was going to go to a gospel choir because my mom told me it was going to be an orchestra (O_o… big difference I think..).  Most of the songs sang were in English (the only Japanese-language song was Silent Night).  These people have great vocals (so awesome that I think I could hear them fine without a mike.. but since the majority of the audience are senior citizens, I guess it’s understandable…).  The problem was that some of the members did not (or cannot) pronounce the words correctly, so it was a bit hard to understand.  The singers had lots of energythough, and like I said earlier, their voices were awesome!  So I ended up half trying to place myself in the shoes of these senior citizens and try to hear what they hear.  Amongst the songs that were sang were Ain’t No Mountain High Enough, Seasons of Love, and I Believe I Can Fly.  I don’t know, but are these songs considered Christian Gospel songs?  Who knows, huh?

Last night I saw a picture of my host mom and host sister at their recital.  My host mom plays the harp while my host sister plays the violin.  Both of them were dressed up and looking good.  What shocked me was that both of them were wearing slippers!  At a recital?!  (like “what”???!!!) So I asked my mom if the picture was taken while they were practicing.  She told me that that was their actual recital.  I found out that their recital was held at the place where they normally go for lessons, so I guess their teachers are now like their family.

Before I came to Japan, I had a music major roommate.  I remember that whenever she had a recital to go to, she would dress up and not change into slippers when it was her turn to perform.  I had been to several of her recitals, so I know this from experience.  However, I’m not sure if she had practiced on stage before.  I know that she was worried about how her teachers would be grading her, and that her appearance is important. 

I guess that because of my roommate, I was kind of surprised that my host mom and sister were wearing slippers for their recital.  I know that did wore dress shoes when they left to go to the recital.   I saw my mom when she came back from the recital, and my host sister only brought one pair of shoes over when she stayed with us the night before the recital…

Anyways, so, the class started out this morning  with what each of us are doing over winter break.   Then one of my classmates said she is going home.  She said that she really misses home.  She told us that there was this one time where she just wanted to go home and that she really didn’t like Japan.  She said she feels better now, and that she really likes Japan, but she’s still excited to go home. If this doesn’t scream “culture shock,”  I don’t know what does.  ^_~

Today there was a presentation that one of the groups  did about Walmart.  Apparently Walmart also sells fresh meat the way the Chinese prefer.  They have meat that were uncovered, and one of the comments that the presenter made was that Walmart used to chopped the chicken right there until the SARS incident.   They also said that there is a fish tank where customers can select and buy the fish they want.  I think that packaged items are not fresh enough for the Chinese to enjoy.

It was kind of a funny situation to observe.  Both of them were slouching, and talking in a ‘hush hush’ way.  (We can still hear their conversation even if we don’t understand, and the alcohol on their breath is so strong…) The guy sitting directly in front of me then stretched out his legs and it looked like he was falling.  His feet were all in my space!!  I was quite uncomfortable, but didn’t want to disturb him.  Our stop was also coming up, so I didn’t want to say anything.  My friend suggested that I should “accidentally” drop my bag so that the guy would move his feet, but I felt guilty.  Poor little old guys, you know.  Still, it was funny when the other guy was doing all the talk as this guy was falling asleep.  I guess it was interesting because it was the first time either of us encountered old drunken Japanese businessmen.  Gee, since both of us are business majors, I wonder if we would be in the same situation in the future… O_o

So, the problem was that what should Testco do in this case?  On one hand, if they continue to sell whale meat to the Japanese consumer, they’ll face negative publicity in the UK.  However, if they stop selling whale meat, it would seems like they are forcing UK’s opinions onto the Japanese market.  Luckily though, whale meat was not all that popular (therefore not profitable) in the Japanese market, so Testco was able to take the product out without offending both sides.

On a side note, Japan actually supports “whale research” where these “researchers” go around the world, killing whales for “research,” and … I guess… eat them.  Not a lot of people are a big fan of these “researches”…

For those who don’t know, nomikai is basically a drinking party where a group of coworkers goes out together to build a closer relationship with each other.  It is unique to the Japanese, I think.

My granny would serve these fruits every once in awhile. I have to admit that the fruit smells… and not in a good way. I *love* the fruit, but there have been times when I cannot stand the smell, so I couldn’t eat the fruit. My uncle really despises the scent. When she serves the fruit, my uncle refused to go anywhere near my granny’s apartment.

Here’s a picture of the fruit

And here is a video of the fruit: How Smelly is it I wonder???

I think this experience was interesting. I mean, rather than saying that she have some sort of faith or belief, she insisted that she does not believe in anything. She actually chanted more than once after that. Rather than religious, maybe my host mom is superstitious? saa… who knows… =P