Leaders of North Korea

Kim Il Sung:
-viewed as a god
-establishment of "cult of personality"
-people required to show extreme devotion to him

Kim Jong - Il:
-1994-2011
-ruled as supreme leader
-many lies about him to make him look better than he really is

Kim Jong-Un:
-born in 1983
- 32 when he became leader
-lies made about him to make him look larger than life

Korea - North and South

What do you know about North Korea?
-powerful country
-dislike South Korea
-secluded from the world
-government owns the media
-currently headed by Kim Jong-Un
-Kim Jong-Un didn't seem to like "The Interview"


Oppressive Government
-state run socialist government that many consider to be a Stalinist dictatorship
Official name : Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)
-notice that they say "Korea" not North
-Korea - they claim to be the legitimate rulers of the entire peninsula

Secluded and Isolated
-isolated by the government
-also somewhat isolated geographically
-North Korea - peninsula
-Pyongyang is the capital
-located at 39 degrees north (latitude)
-Bel Air, Maryland: also located at 39 degrees north
-North Korea lives in the dark, compared to South Korea
-no internet, little electricity

Tuesday - Class Notes

Human Geo

Cultural Geography

Notes

·                Culture characteristics are parts of a group everyday life. They are the ideas and themes which the group will teach to all members. These same characteristics can also link or divide a region. 

·                Examples- language, religion, heritage. 

Study Guide

Today in class, we continued to take note on Cultural Geography:

Language- Ex.) of cultural characteristics:

- Arabic unites the Arab world
- Spanish unites the Hispanic world

·                Brazil is the only South American nation which does not speak Spanish. It speaks Portuguesse.

·                Canada is a bilingual nation. French and English are their official languages. 

·                American has no official language.

Example: 

·                Switzerland is a country that has multiple languages. There is very little conflict between the groups.

·                English is now considered the world language and is used for most business transactions around the world. 

Example: 

·                In Yugoslavia many ethnic groups were made into one country (Serbs, Croats, Boshians, Albanians).

·                When strong leadership died out the different groups fought a very bloody civil and how they all have separate countries. 

Example:

·                In the countries of Rwanda and Burundi in Africa, Two ethnic groups are dominant in the other. - the Tutsis and the Hutus

·                The Hutus are dominant in one and they persecute the Tutsis and the Tutsis are dominant in the other. 

·                The US and Switzerland have peacefully merged multiple ethnic groups in their countries.

- Korea and Japan have primarily one ethnic group. 

- On the island of Cyprus the Greeks and the Turks try to gain control. 

Notes:

Religion

·                There are 5 major religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. 

·                They have millions of followers all believing the same thing. 

Religion can also be a dividing force around the world.

·                Hindus and Muslims fight in India (Hindu) and Pakistan (Muslim)

·                There are conflicts between Catholics and Protestants (two forms of Christianity) in Northern Ireland. 

·                Jews, Christians and Muslims all claim Jerusalem as their religions holy site. They are constantly fighting over the land.

Spatial Divisions

·                Spatial divisions are how we divide the livable space found on the earth by established social, economic, and political control. 

·                You can be a member of more than one spatial group.

·                Spatial divisions can also cause conflicts or cooperation. 

Examples of Spatial Divisions: -----> 

·                Countries

·                Economic alliances

- European Union (EU)

- Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)

Spatial Divisions                    

·                Political Alliances

- North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

- Commonwealth of Nations

- Organization of American States (OAS)

  _________________________________________________________________________________

Religion

·                Number of adherents: around 2.2 billion (largest in the world).

·                Call them: Christians

·                Geographic Nation: Europe, the Americas, Southern Africa.

·                Denominations: Baptists, Methodists... 

More on Christianity 

·                Founder: Jesus Christ (it's Abraham in origin).

·                Holy book: The Bible, especially the New Testament

·                Beliefs: Jesus is both human and divine - the Son of God; he led a virtuous life; he was crucified, died, buried, and resurrected; descended into heaven where he reigns with God the Father. 

·                Clergy: Pope, priests, etc.

Islam         

·                Number of adherents: 1.5 billion (second largest). 

·                Call them: Muslims

·                Geographic Nation: Indonesia, Middle East, North Africa.

·                Denominations: Sunnis (75-90%), Shittes (10-20%)

·                Founder: Muhammad (570-632).

·                Holy Book: Qur'an

·                Beliefs: Monotheistic, Abrahamic

·                Five Pillars (testimony, prayer, alms-giving, fasting, pilgrimage)

·                Muslims see their purpose in life as serving and submitting to Allah (God), and observing Islamic law. 

Hinduism

·                Number of adherents: 1.1 billion (third largest) 

·                Call them: Hindus

·                Geographic Location: India, Nepal

·                Holy Book: The Vedas - eternal truths revealed to ancient sages; composed in verse form (meant to be sung and easily memorized). 

·                Founder: No distinct founder - it is a series of intellectual or philosophical points of view, rather than a rigid, strict set of beliefs - probably the oldest religion, although Hinduism is less religion than a way of life, or faith. 

·                Example: " As a person puts on new clothes and discards old and torn clothes, similarly an embodied soul enters new matrials bodies, leaving the old bodies." 

·                In other words :: re-incarnation. 

Buddhism

·                Number of adherents: 500 million to 1.5 billion (estimates vary quite a bit)

·                Call them: Buddhists

·                Geographic Location: Southeast Asia, China, Nepal, Japan (there are 1.2 million Buddhists in the US). 

·                Founder: Siddhartha Gautama

·                Denominations: Tibetan. Zen, Theravada, Amidist

Monday 12/8

Five Major Religions:

Buddhism:
-Four Noble Truths
     -There is suffering
     -Attachment to desire is the origin of suffering
     -There is a cessation of suffering
     -The Eightfold Path will lead to the cessation of suffering 
The Eightfold Path:
-rigth view
-right intention
-right speech
-right action
-right livelihood
-right effort
-right mindfulness
-right dedication 

Judaism:
-number of adherents: 14-18 million (ninth)
-call them - Jews
-geographic location - Israel 
-Founder - Abraham (?)
Holy Book:
-Talud
-Torah (first five books of the Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy)
Belifes:
-ethical monotheism - God is one, and concerned with the actions of humankind
-Ten Commandments
-13 Principles of Faith 

Wednesday and Friday Classes

I did not blog on Wednesday or Friday because I was absent from school.  I had the flu for 5 days and missed Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, so therefore, I could not participate in class. 

Tuesday 12/2

Cultural Geography:


Cultural Characteristics:
-Cultural characteristics are parts of a group's everyday life.  They are the ideas and themes which the group will teach to all members.  These same characteristics can also link or divide a region.
-Example of cultural characteristics would be language, religion, and ethnic heritage

Examples of Cultural Characteristics:
Language:
-Arabic unites the Srab wolrd
-Spanish unites the Hispanic world 
-Brazil is the only South American nation which does not speak Spanish; it speaks Portuguese.
-Canada is a bilingual nation. French and English are their official languages.
-Switzerland has multiple languages but very little conflict between the groups
-English is now considered the world language and is used for most business transactions around thee world
-The United states and Switzerland and have peacefully merged multiple ethnic groups in their countries.
-Korea, China, and Japan have primarily one ethnic group

Monday 12/1

Today in class, we finished watching the movie.  As I said in my last blog, Latika was running to answer the phone call from Jamal to answer the question.  Latika had answered the phone and Jamal told her the question.  Latika told Jamal that she did not know the answer and they both just laughed.  In the end, Jamal ended up guessing the answer to the question.  Jamal had surprisingly gotten the answer right and he and own 20,000,000 dollars.  After he had won the money, he went to the train station to see if Latika would come to meet him.  Latika did come to meet him at the train station, and they had reunited and were so happy.  After everything they both went through, they were finally together.