Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Field Trip to Cultural Event!

Where did you go? Was it fun? Please share your experience here! Thank you! G.




9 comments:

  1. For the cultural event, I attended a concert at the UBC Chan Theatre. As one of the few audience members under the age of 60, I thoroughly enjoyed the performance, and was surprised that my fellow students were unaware of, or choose not to take advantage of such a breathtaking presentation. Particularly, for students, tickets cost a mere $10, whereas $60 is the base price for all other attendees. The specific performance which I had the opportunity to attend, showcased the classical Romantic music of Brahms and Chopin, as performed by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. The performance was conducted by Joshua Weilerstein, who I perceived as exceedingly talented for his seemingly young age. He exuded such a high level of energy that one could not help but feel increasingly elevated and connected to the music’s flow and pulse. Another highlight of the event was the piano solo, as performed by musical prodigy, Adam Golka. Golka’s rendition was truly a treat, as it was executed with such emotional depth, allowing the onlooker to feel genuinely connected to the sentiments evoked by this brilliant talent. At one point in the performance, I felt greatly transformed by the harmonious sounds emitted by the orchestra. With biweekly performances held at the Chan Theatre, I highly recommend all student take advantage of such an unparalleled melodic experience.

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    1. I am glad you chose to go to such a wonderful concert! Thanks for sharing your experience and observations! I know that hardly any young people attend concerts. Please check out Ben Zander's TED talk about this topic. I think you will love it: http://www.ted.com/talks/benjamin_zander_on_music_and_passion?language=en

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  2. Vancouver is home to an extremely diverse population including people from all over the globe. This includes people from India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Trinidad, Malaysia, Singamore, Fiji, Pakistan and more whom celebrate the Diwali holiday. In extension, Jains celebrate a similar festival of lights and Sikhs celebrate Bandi Chhor Divas around the same time. I am lucky to say I had the opportunity to explore this culture by the community’s all-including celebration downtown.
    People from all over Vancouver and all different backgrounds attended the festival. I believe that speaks very highly of Vancouverites. It was moving to bare witness to the open-mindedness and even the eagerness of people to experience and learn about different cultures and belief systems. Not with an interest in converting, but to simply learn. It shows respect for the differences we share and even an interest in those differences. It is as if Vancouver said “oh, you see things this way? That is interesting. Tell me about it”.
    People have spent thousands of years warring over religion and belief systems because they did not want to hear about someone else’s. It was as if the only universal belief was people of different beliefs could not coexist. Not only did I witness them coexist, but the desire to learn from each other. This embodied the entire purpose of Diwali; the triumph of good over evil, of knowledge over ignorance, and of hope over despair. This was met by with a showcase of light and candles placed inside Diyas; the perfect symbolism of positivity and prosperity with bright colors and light to guide in wealth and prosperity. Whether you are looking to guide in some positivity or the goddess of wealth and prosperity, it was an event that would bring anyone optimism!

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  3. Excellent points! Thanks for sharing your experience!

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  4. Canadian music today is growing at an amazing rate, which is part of our culture. What music we listen to and how we listen to it is a part that distinguishes people form one another. I was at the Tokyo Police Club concert at the Commodore Ballroom on November the 15th. The doors opened at 8:00pm and the concert started at 9:00pm. We got there about 8:40pm as we usually do, and it was packed. I have never seen the commodore so full so early in all my life. Tokyo Police Club is from Newmarket Ontario. There were two bands that opened for them; Said the Whale who are from Vancouver, and The Pack AD who are also from Vancouver. I have seen probably over 50 concerts in the last 3 to 4 years and I have seen a lot of bands from the Vancouver area. It is rare to see a crowd that was so proud of the music that was being played. I have never seen The Pack A.D. before, but that’s not from a lack of trying, I have listened to them a bunch so I was kind of excited. They blew me away; it was loud in your face garage rock, which was awesome. I have never seen a crowd yell so loud for an opener of an opener before. Next came on Said the Whale, I have seen these guys 4 or 5 times live and in my opinion they just keep getting worse. I could go on why I don’t particularly care for them but I won’t. So they played a fine set, and the crowd loved them once again, it was even louder than when The Pack A.D. finished there set. Everyone in the place was just going nuts when Tokyo Police Club came on the stage. I thought they played a great show. Some stuff off their new album and some from older ones. They are great to see live because every member of the band has there part of the show and you get to see it all. This was probably in my top 5 crowds I have ever been in before; it was purely for a love and appreciation for the artists. I think the Canadian youth loves all these local bands that are making it big. They feel proud that these bands are representing a good size of new music today. I’m proud to be Canadian musically when we have so many artists from so many different genera’s that are just killing it.

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  5. Diwali, also known as Deepawali is a agonizing event that is very diverse all over the world, but primarily in my culture is it very popular. Diwali is seen as the festival of lights, but have you ever thought why so many lights, or candles are lit this specific day? What does it possibly represent? This is a cultural event that i was raised, i remember my grandparents explaining to me the significance of it. It simply signifies the celebration, and worship towards our protector, our god. So, knowing this my family and I always attended church on this occasional day to thank the lord for his presence, his protection, and his gratefulness towards everyone. We thank him for everything he's done, the good and bad. This year, i attended the temple located on Skeena Road in Vancouver with my friends. I was unable to go with my family because they don't live with me in Vancouer. I went to the temple,and i prayed for his blessings to always seek the best for me in the future. There were hundreds of people at the gurudwara (temple) seeking his blessings, and praising the celebration of him. Although this year i did not have a candle to light which represents the victory of good over evil, everyone around me was lighting many. There were thousands of candles lit and put around the entrance of the temple, along with this dinner was also provided. I had an amazing day, because i felt as i was doing the right thing. I felt that he has protected me and helped me choose good decision in life, over the bad. Each year i try and attend the temple for the victory, and celebration of the good over evil.

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  6. For my cultural event day, 3 friends of mine decided to volunteer at the Apple Festival at UBC’s botanical gardens. For me, I have only lived in Vancouver to a little over 2 months so I have never heard about this apple festival. We ended up getting split up into two groups of two. My group wound up at the Apple Tasting Tent where we got to cut up different apples for people to try. I had never seen a larger variety of apples in my life. I had always viewed BC as a fruit factory where most of our fresh produce came from but I was not aware of how many different types of apples there were to try. According to the head volunteer, there were 60 different types of apples in the tent; most of them had already been sold out. Not only were they selling bags of apples but they were also selling apple trees. According to the website, more than 54,000 lbs were sold this year and there were over 100 different types of apple trees that people could purchase. Because we were volunteers we were also allowed to sample some of the apples between the rushes of people. I couldn’t pick a favorite although I only tried a couple. Apples are one of my favorite fruits and I never knew that an apple could have so many different flavors. It was a very enlightening experience and I look forward to trying different apples that BC has to offer.

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  7. I’m not an expert in Buddhism, or a devotee of Dalai Lama but I was very intrigued to see him speak and be in his “presence”. I’d read many stories about how his presence is very peaceful. Prior to the visit, my expectations were to come away with some interesting, maybe even profound, nuggets of wisdom.
    It’s definitely cool to be able to say I saw him, and I’m interested in reading some of his books to better understand his message. I can’t help but think that part of his wide appeal is that he seems to provide some profound Ghandi-esque messages in a non-threatening, visually appealing package.
    He has a serene, sweet physical presence, a soft-spoken demeanor, and is known for spreading messages of peace. He is never angry, imposing, or confrontational. It’s the archetype of the spiritual leader. As i waited to enter the UBC arena, it was amazing to see the huge line of people caught up in the hype. Some were obviously Buddhists or Dalai Lama devotees, others like myself were regulars just looking for some thought provoking ideas. I was amazed how many people turned up because traffic jams were occurring all around the campus.The UBC thunderbird arena is absolutely enormous and this made for great acoustics. Seeing him speak was a very spiritual experience for me because I hung on every one of his words His messages spoke volumes and I left optimistic about my future.

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  8. For my culture events day, I went to Ling Yen Mountain Temple, which locates in Richmond. I am a Chinese and I live in Richmond now. First of all I want to clear that most Chinese are Buddhist, but I am not. In my family, my grandma is Buddhist, she goes to temples every week. Although I am not a Buddhist, I still go to temple at least twice every year. In Vancouver, Ling Yen Mountain temple is one of the biggest Chinese temples in Vancouver. When I stepped in the temple, I smelled the smoky air because all the people were offering incense. I noticed that most people were very earnest and I was wondering that if I did not offer incense what the point I came to this temple. Maybe I was affected by the other people in the temple, thus I decided to offer an incense. I kneeled and prayed to the Buddha, and heard about that if I told others my wished so that my wishes would not become true. After offering the incense, I walked over the temple, and the style of the temple is very Chinese. It looked like the old Chinese palace, but not as luxurious as the temple in China. I knew that The Buddism culture was started from India, but in China, many people believed in that. I was glad I went to the temple because I felt after going there, my life was easier and I felt I was calmer than before. I know I will go to the temple more often.

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