(I meant to post about this when I made my first blog entry but it slipped my mind. After reading about the southeast Asian countries this week it rejogged my memory.)

 Military & Defense More: Vietnam Father And Son Who Fled Vietnam War Bombs Emerge From Jungle After 40 Years

A 42 year old man and his 2 year old ran into the forest when their village was bombed during the Vietnam war. They hadn't been seen and thought dead until they were found and brought back to society. Naturally the 2 year old, now  the same age as his father when they fled is accustomed to forest life and is under close watch, because he wants to return to what he has known as home for the past 40 years.



It's really interesting to me that people can still live almost like indigenous people after a traumatic event like the beginning of a war. The length of time they spent living in the forest to me is amazing and I wonder what we can learn from the man and his son.

A month later, unfortunately, I haven't been able to find any follow up articles about the man and his son.

For this week, in preparation of class I actually made a study guide that corresponded with the questions asked on NDNU Asian Studies 2013

The study guide was an effective tool for me because I didn't know much about south east Asia, except for it's hot, and Thailand is there.

I learned that Myanmar and Burma are the same place. Thailand restaurants are called Little Siam sometimes because Siam was it's name until 1932.

Kinda funny because one of my favorite Thai Restaurants in San Jose is called "Siam"

I thought it was interesting that the people of almost ALL of southeast Asia came from China as well. It's interesting to see what a change in regions can change the way a race of people to suit their locale.

The volcanoes on Java made the island fertile. I never thought of a volcano as a land cultivation technique, a natural one at that!

I always thought Thailand shared a lot of their design, dance, and other cultural aspects from India, but the book confirmed that for me.

I found the importance of trade to Southeast Asia really fascinating as well. Because of trade the Islamic traders were almost like missionaries spreading their religion into south east Asia.

The only thing that didn't transfer was the practice of “purdah” or women not being allowed to be seen by men outside of the family and to cover themselves completely while out of the house was not practiced in Southeast Asia. Mainly because the function of a woman in south east Asia is far more dominant than in other Asian countries.

Indian Civilization 1

One of the things that I definitely thought was interesting about chapter 6 was the influence on India. Not only Islam but of the other Asian groups had a direct influence on India as they mingled.

Like their traditional beliefs like Hinduism and Buddhism which originated in India and spread to other countries, Islam came to India, but not spread in a peaceful way. It was brought over by a conqueror group, the Persians. The Persians however did not go to India to spread Islamic beliefs but rather to rob them of their resources. This mostly happened in Northern India.

I did not know that the Persians had enslaved the Indians or that they killed them if they did not convert to Islam. Eventually they just made them pay taxes on not converting instead of killing them. Essentially the Persians indebted them into becoming slaves for not changing their religion.

The presence of slavery was very apparent in the 13th through history it would appear and Asia was no different. Lots of slaves from the Indians enslaved by the Persians, to the Turkish youth enslaved by their own people. Some slaves did undesirable hard labor like American slaves while others were forced into war (the Mamluks).

Ancient India

Reading this section on Ancient India was quite an interesting read. I'm a huge fan of Indian culture, especially the food. So reading about the ancient cultures was an eye opener.

The ancient culture of the Indus in some ways were more advanced than the current Indian culture residing there now. They had a planned layout for their cities and they had mostly even sized homes. Meaning unlike today, they didn't have large difference in class or variation in equality based on status like they do now, with the caste system.

Most interesting to me, was the private per home waste system. Each home had a water fed waste disposal system. Something that is not in place in India today! Western civilizations didn't have this technology until the 19th century. They were over 2000 years ahead of their time. 

Reading about religions I have heard of, but am not quite familiar with is always interesting. I was surprised to learn that most/all religions originated in Asia.

My favorite part was reading about Hinduism and Buddhism and how their culture and ideals have meaning in today's modern culture. Dharma, the duties one has while on earth, has most meaning for those familiar with yoga classes, which excludes most modern Americans. However anyone familiar with today's media is familiar with the basic understanding of Karma. If you do good duties for your "dharma" you accumulate good karma, alternatively if you do bad dharma you accumulate bad karma. I never knew the appropriate term for dharma, I would call karma, brownie points you accrue while living on earth.