FOSTERING CROSS CULTURAL DIVERSITY, TOLERANCE, INCLUSION, AND UNDERSTANDING AROUND THE WORLD WITH AN EMPHASIS ON JEWISH HISTORY.
Category used when publishing Blog Posts by Irene Shaland or Alex Shaland
Last May, we visited Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. Everything we encountered there looked beautiful; and in spite of the cold and rain, this beauty seemed almost surreal. This short video takes you on a boat cruise through the inner harbor and canals of beautiful Copenhagen. Denmark’s capital is one of the loveliest and greenest cities in Europe and is a great travel destination.
Join us on a short Oslo Fjords cruise starting at the Oslo City Hall, leisurely floating by the Akershus Fortress and Castle, and enjoying the best view of the marvel of modern Norwegian architecture, the Opera House. Watch Navy ships, submarines, cruise liners, commercial vessels, and pleasure boats of all kinds and sizes moored along the shores. After leaving Oslo city limits, admire pastel colors of Norwegian fjords, neat summer cottages with matching bathhouses, sailboats, motor boats, and rowboats of all sizes and style. All aboard!
We returned only a week ago from our trip to Scandinavia and have not yet started on either an article or picture gallery, but here is what we wanted to share. It was cold and often rainy (we are in the North of Europe!), but we had a terrific time every minute of our trip, rain or shine (well, it never did shine). We fell in love with this under-appreciated part of Europe. Scandinavian countries – Denmark, Sweden, and Norway – constitute arguably: the most cultural and sophisticated, most educated and prosperous (with the least income disparities), most highly taxed and socialistic (oh well…), least churchgoing and most unmarried – part of the West. People are the happiest we ever encountered, reserved, but very polite and helpful and after few minutes of conversation.
Continue reading “Sharing first impressions from Scandinavia”
This is a short excerpt from Irene Shaland’s lecture presented on December 1, 2013 in Fort Lee, New Jersey. In this episode, Irene talks about the origins and development of Buddhism in China.
Masai Warriors – “God’s Chosen People”
This is a Jewish story of Africa that I found in the most unlikely of places: the vast plains of Masai Mara and Serengeti reserves. As we drove there, we saw the light-skinned, tall, slender people dressed in red, who were as ubiquitous to the landscape as sky above and earth below. Surrounded by their herd of cattle, they leaned on their long spears or stood on one leg in a stork-like pose. Bearing remarkable similarities to ancient Romans from North Africa, most had classical profiles, wore red togas and sandals, and were equipped with Roman-style short stabbing swords. Women had shaved heads, while the young men’s hair was plated and stuck together with red clay. To us, they looked like young mythical gods. These are the proud Masai (sometimes referred to as Maasai) people of East Africa, whose mysterious past is enveloped in legends of being one of the lost tribes of Israel.
Continue reading “Masai – the Lost Tribe of Israel”Take a quick look around Milan famous main square, Piazza del Duomo, with its Duomo Cathedral, Victor Emmanuel II statue, and Galleria Vittorio Emanuele. Milan is a perfect stop on a European vacation trip.
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Read useful tips for traveling to Milan, Italy: Milan Tips
Interested in Jewish history around the world? Meet Irene Shaland and her books, lectures, and magazine articles.
Are you an adventurer? Meet Alex Shaland, the author of “Suburbanites on Safari.”
Rome has so much to offer! We were advised by our new Roman friend Marco, the owner of Arco dei Tolomei B&B in Trastevere, to celebrate Alex’s approaching milestone birthday at L’Arciliuto Teatro near Piazza Navona. “A very non-traditional place, “said Marco. “You will be enchanted.” And we truly were.
Continue reading “The Best-Kept Secret in Rome: Maestro Enzo Samaritani and his Arciliuto Theater”
We were travelling all day: through the exotic strangeness of the Zanzibar Stone Town to the Nairobi airport’s thick mess of people and suitcases, sickening smells and deafening noises. Then again, through the traffic and dust and darkness of Nairobi streets, until all of sudden, like a mirage in the wilderness, we saw a brilliantly lit Jewish star. “Are you meeting with Barbara?” a voice asked. We were.
Continue reading “Finding Home away from Home – in Africa”
While visiting China in October 2012, we had a chance to meet, well, maybe not the Chinese Emperor Puyi himself who is long gone – but his nephew, Aisin-Gioro Yuming.
Continue reading “Where can you meet a real Chinese Emperor?”
October 2012, Again – Kaifeng, China. We are at the oldest Jewish burial place in China – with Mr. Jin in front of his life-long project, his family memorial. Our new friend dedicated his life savings and his entire life to create this marble memorial book which presents – engraved in English on one side and in Chinese on another – the 900-year story of Mr. Jin’s family within the context of Chinese history.
Continue reading “What does it take to preserve Jewish identity if you are a Chinese Jew?”