Oct

Aha Moment: Halloween!

by Joyce McGreevy on October 31, 2016

A 19th century, bat-themed French Halloween costume offers an aha moment about Halloween around the world.

In 19th century France, Madame goes batty for Halloween.

Goblin Day Goes Global

What’s as changeable as a costume shop and has more frequent flyer miles than a witch’s broom? Halloween, of course.

An ancient tradition that’s as new as this season’s marketing trends, the popularity of Halloween around the world is soaring. An agile shapeshifter, it both adapts to and changes the way cultures celebrate.

A vintage ghost-themed Halloween sign offers an aha moment just right for Halloween around the world.

Halloween’s treats can be tricky!

But just when you think you’ve captured the essence of Halloween—solemn, scary, crass, or silly—it surprises you. Read on for an aha moment or two on global Halloween trends, tricks, and treats:

1. Even the “re-branding” of Halloween is ancient.

“There’s a popular misconception that Halloween is a modern American invention. Not so,” says Irish educator Brendan Smith. Its roots are firmly in Celtic culture.

But, adds Smith, modern Americans were hardly the first to “re-brand the festival. In the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church created the Christian festival of All Hallows’ Eve or All Souls’ Day, when people were asked to remember and pray for their dead family members. This event was superimposed onto the pagan Celtic festival of Samhain.”

Actors from Macnas performing in Galway, Ireland trigger an aha moment about Samhain, which led to Halloween around the world. (Image © by Darach Glennon)

Wild spectacle by theatre group Macnas is a Halloween tradition in Galway, Ireland.
© Darach Glennon/ Darachphotography

2. The first jack-o’-lanterns weren’t pumpkins.

Pumpkins are native to the Americas. So what preceded them in Halloween’s early days? To find out, let’s summon up the ghost of English folklorist Jabez Allies, who died in 1856:

“In my juvenile days I remember to have seen peasant boys . . . hollowing out a turnip, and cutting eyes, nose, and mouth therein, in the true moon-like style; and having lighted it up by inserting the stump of a candle, they used to place it upon a hedge to frighten unwary travelers in the night.”

Sugar beet lanterns carved into Jack-o'-lanterns in Germany trigger an aha moment about the diversity of Halloween around the world. (Image by Niklas Morberg)

German jack-o’-lanterns follow their own beet.
“Sugar beet lanterns” by Niklas Morberg (Flickr) CC-BY-NC-2.0

Tall tales also describe how an Irishman named Jack devised such a method to find his way back from Hell. (We won’t ask how he got there.) Hence, the jack-o’-lantern.

3. It’s the most hygge-ful time of the year.

As Halloween spreads around the world, each culture has put its unique stamp on it. Japan has had a love-hate relationship with Halloween. Romania plays up its Transylvanian tourism at Halloween.

In Denmark, the holiday drew little notice until 1998 when a local tabloid advertised Halloween-themed events. Today, Halloween is popular, and the Danish version is all about hygge. Loosely translated, that means “coziness.” Think candlelight, baked goods, and hot chocolate.

Carving pumpkins as a family has become so popular in Denmark that sales of pumpkins soared from 15,000 in 2001 to over 800,000 in 2015.

A little girl with Halloween pumpkins at a produce market in Copenhagen, Denmark exemplifies an aha moment about Halloween around the world. (Image © by Joyce McGreevy)

In Copenhagen, Denmark, a child picks a seasonal perch beside Halloween pumpkins.
© Joyce McGreevy

4. Halloween’s got a global theme song.

In 1962, there was “Monster Mash,” a novelty song that became #1 on America’s Billboard Top 100. It got banned by the BBC as “too morbid.”

Flash forward to November 14, 1983 and the premiere of a 14-minute music video: Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.” Since then, as the Web went public and flash mob videos proliferated, “Thriller” has had a major impact on how we celebrate Halloween around the world.

Louisiana revelers create an exciting aha moment at the Halloween Zombie Walk in Shreveport, an example of Halloween around the world. (Image by Shreveport-Bossier Convention & Tourist Bureau)

In Louisiana, the Halloween Zombie Walk is a no-brainer for ghoulish fun.
Shreveport-Bossier Convention & Tourist Bureau licensed under CC BY 2.0

From Tulsa, Oklahoma to Torrevieja, Spain; Derry, Northern Ireland to Wellington, New Zealand—even a BBC news room in London and a retirement community in Elk Grove, California—dressing up for zombie dance-offs has become a global Halloween tradition.

A 13,000-strong "Thriller" flash mob in Mexico City triggers an aha moment about Halloween around the world.

In Mexico City, a flash mob of 13,000 “zombies” dances to “Thriller.”

5. Halloween’s greatest superheroes are your neighbors.

On Halloween 1950, milk cartons labeled Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF gave kids the (super)power to make the world a better place.

It began as a coin drive to help kids affected by World War II. Today, young trick-or-treaters collect donations to help children in areas impacted by poverty, war, or natural disaster.

Meanwhile, a growing number of communities are marking Halloween by scaring away hunger. Across Canada, the U.S., and the U.K., Halloween food drives have become increasingly popular events.

Whether this will counter another Halloween trend—the annual spending of $350 million by U.S. pet owners on costumes for animals—remains to be seen. But it’s a move in the right direction.

A White House cat in costume circa 2007 sparks an aha moment about Halloween around the world.

A White House cat is disenchanted by its wizard costume.

My aha moment? Halloween around the world is all about contradiction—our very human impulses to get and to give, to uphold traditions and to reinvent them, to dress up as make-believe monsters and to save humanity from real-world horrors. Oh, I see: The actual magic hides somewhere in between.

A Macnas street performer and costumed girl share an "aha moment" in Ireland, likely birthplace of Halloween around the world. (Image © Darach Glennon/ Darachphotography)

At Halloween, barriers between mortal and mythic worlds melt away.
© Darach Glennon/ Darachphotography

See last night’s frightfully fun Macnas Halloween Parade in Galway, Ireland here!

Learn more about Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF or find your local food bank here.

Learn Halloween greetings in Irish, American Sign Language, and other languages.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Joyce McGreevy 1 Comment

Cultural Heritage & Traditions/Worldwide Sites

Oct

Discoveries: Serenity in Cities

by Joyce McGreevy on October 10, 2016

The Culture of Urban Quiet

Marit Krogh's "Seated Girl with Headphones" in Oslo, Norway exemplifies the potential discoveries in urban peace and quiet (© Joyce McGreevy)

In Oslo, Norway, Marit Krogh’s “Seated Girl with Headphones” evokes sound and silence.
© Joyce McGreevy

Ah, the quest for urban tranquility. “No man should live where he can hear his neighbor’s dog bark.” That’s how ardent ruralist Nathaniel Macon admonished city dwellers.

Macon was born in the 1750s, when 3 percent of the world’s population lived in cities. He also said those words while active in what some consider a major source of annoying noise, the U.S. Congress.

A sign for Quiet Street in Bath, England is one of the more whimsical discoveries in the quest for urban peace and quiet (© Joyce McGreevy)

Finding quiet is easy in Bath, England.
© Joyce McGreevy

Today 54% of the world’s population lives in cities. The noises that can drive us barking mad range far beyond barking dogs.

“Noise is not just irritating,” reports Graeme Shannon, a lecturer at Bangor University. “It can have direct human health impacts.” In fact, the World Health Organization has recognized annoying noise in the environment as harmful pollution.

Happily, you can find urban peace and quiet in cities around the world. Here are some favorites.

Close to the Madding Crowd

Siobhan Wall doesn’t recall the moment she decided to write a book about finding urban peace and quiet. As a Londoner living on a main road, she began seeking out places where one could escape environmental cacophony.

The results became Quiet London (Frances Lincoln, 2011), a guide filled with surprises. Along with rooftop gardens, cloistered cafés, and libraries designed for lingering, there are also shops and pubs, places where conversation needn’t compete with blaring sound systems.

Cherry blossoms on a London garden path reflect the nature discoveries to be made in urban peace and quiet. (© Joyce McGreevy)

This garden hides above a busy London shopping district.
© Joyce McGreevy

Wall’s revelatory guide soon inspired a series. Check it out to find the hush in New York, Paris, and Amsterdam.

Nature in the Nation’s Capital

From boisterous Naples to nonstop Hong Kong, Bonnie Bracey Sutton knows her way around the world’s liveliest cities. A thought leader in education, Sutton travels the globe to advocate equitable access for students in science and technology. On returning to the nation’s capital, she finds urban tranquility even during rush hour.

“Most of my quiet places are National Parks. I love the serenity of the Great Falls Park and hidden Theodore Roosevelt Island.”

Theodore Roosevelt Island in Washington, DC offers nature's discoveries to seekers of urban peace and quiet. (Public domain)

Rush hour on Roosevelt Island.

The latter is part of Washington, DC. In the 1930s, landscape architects transformed 88 acres of neglected farmland into Theodore Roosevelt Island by “mimicking” the natural forest that had once covered the island. It’s one of several national parks located in or near city boundaries.

Musing in Museums

Also in DC, Quinnie Lin finds respite in museums. Lin works in international anti-corruption law. When she needs a break from urban noise, she finds it in the atrium of the National Portrait Gallery.

The atrium of the National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC is one of the surprising discoveries for seekers of urban peace and quiet. (Image by Benoit Richon)

Escape the Beltway buzz at the National Portrait Gallery.
Image by Benoit Richon licensed under CC BY 4.0

“It’s large and public, but there is a calming grace about the way in which light comes in through the skylights. Everyone is in their own world, whether it’s quietly chatting with friends, people writing in their journals and even meetup groups discussing philosophy.”

Nordic Noise Reduction
Retreating to museums for urban peace and quiet is also popular in bustling Oslo. The Nasjonalgalleriet keeps urban Norwegians in touch with their friluftsliv, or passion for nature.

Museum goers in Norway's National Gallery enjoy artistic discoveries amid urban peace and quiet. (© Joyce McGreevy)

Nature whispers along the walls of Norway’s National Gallery.
© Joyce McGreevy

In Malmö, Sweden quiet places are part of the urban fabric. With office overtime frowned upon in many Scandinavian cities, there’s time after work to take a kayak out on the river or stroll through Kungsparken, King’s Park.

Kayakers in Malmö, Sweden savor discoveries in moments of urban peace and quiet. (© Joyce McGreevy)

Savoring the solitude in Malmö, Sweden.
© Joyce McGreevy

In Danish cities, the whoosh of bike wheels replaces auto traffic noise. And with so many urban parks, you can always cycle things down a notch.

A bicyclist in a park in Copenhagen, Denmark appreciates the discoveries inherent in urban peace and quiet. (© Joyce McGreevy)

Cycling down traffic noise, Danish style.
Both images © Joyce McGreevy

Not So Loud L.A.
Life in Los Angeles is hectic for Deb Hiett. She’s been a reporter in “Veep,” a witness in “Documentary Now!,” a dancer in “Arrested Development,” a flight attendant in “The Office,” and dozens of other characters in hit television series. Her latest play, “The Super Variety Match Bonus Round!” opens soon at Rogue Machine Theatre.

So where does an in-demand comedienne and playwright take a break from Hollywood drama?

Brand Park is an oasis of peace and charm in L.A.

“If I’m on the east side of town, I love to visit Brand Park in Glendale. These thirty-one acres at the foot of the Verdugo Mountains have trails, play areas, a tea house, and a lovely quiet library.”

Brand Library was once Leslie C. Brand’s home, Miradero, “a high place overlooking a wide view.”

The library was originally built as a private home by architect Nathaniel Dryden, Hiett explains. Built in 1904, it was inspired by the East Indian Pavilion of the 1893 Columbian World Exposition in Chicago.

“It now hosts interactive presentations by LA Opera, and art installations by various artists and photographers. Just walking around the grounds is contemplative and calming.”

The Sound of Urban Tranquility
The opposite of annoying noise isn’t silence. It’s a level of sound that allows us to form thoughts or willingly let thoughts drift away. Oh, I see: Finding quiet places in the heart of cities actually restores our joy in listening.

There’s even a song for that. Can you guess?

Aaron Copland’s “Quiet City.”

Where’s your city? How do you find urban peace and quiet?

A detail from Marit Krogh's "Seated Girl with Headphones" in Oslo, Norway reflect inner discoveries and urban peace and quiet (© Joyce McGreevy)

The look of listening.
© Joyce McGreevy

Discover Deb Hiett’s highly creative range here.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Joyce McGreevy 1 Comment

Crossing Cultures/Discoveries/Worldwide Sites

Aug

WWOOF’s Homegrown Education

by Eva Boynton on August 22, 2016

Two women on a tractor at a WWOOF farm where they learn new skills and may develop into a global citizen. (image © Lizzy Eichorn).

Full steam ahead! The traveling farmer plows the ground for a worldwide education.
© Lizzy Eichorn

From Traveling Farmer to Global Citizen

“Evvvvvvvaaaaaaa, tea time!” my New Zealand WWOOF host would sing to me each day at noon. It was time to return from the garden for a full plate of fresh garden yummies. And so our days on this organic farm progressed to dinner followed by guitar and accordion melodies from a French couple, WWOOF volunteers themselves.

WWOOF (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) is a global work exchange program. Volunteers work on the farms, and WWOOF hosts offer food, lodging, and an organic education. You get to meet up with people from around the world and, together, you might do anything from A to Z:

—milk cows and make cheese in Argentina

—plant vegetables at a therapeutic center in Kazakhstan

—harvest oranges in Nepal

—become a beekeeper in Tanzania

A woman feeding geese during a WWOOF experience, where she also gains insight into life as a global citizen (image © Courtesy of WWOOF Australia).

As a WWOOFer, you literally break ground, get your hands dirty and cultivate a homegrown education. You arrive at each new destination with a helping hand and an inquisitive mind. You may start out as a traveling farmer, but through the WWOOF experience, you gather crops and the skills of a global citizen.

Connected to the Land

The seeds of WWOOF were planted in England in 1971 when Sue Coppard, a secretary with an office job, wanted to get outside, experience the countryside, and support the organic movement.

A house in the countryside with mountains, showing the WWOOF education of a global citizen (image © courtesy of WWOOF.net

The organization was created by people who, perhaps without agricultural background, wanted the opportunity to learn to live with and from their environment—a collaboration with mother nature.

Today, WWOOF operates around the globe from Africa to the Americas, from Europe to Asia. Volunteers, as traveling farmers, find a new respect for the dirt underneath their feet and discover how living things, including even the ladybug that lights on your arm, are interconnected.

WWOOF volunteer Kristen Waddel explains:

We dug holes. But we didn’t just dig holes. We gained knowledge of different soil types (mostly clay and sand). We had close-up encounters with local insects and became aware of how greatly entwined into the whole ecosystem they are.

Ladybugs on a plant at a WWOOF farm lead to insights that develop a global citizen. (image © Lizzy Eichorn)

Field-to-Fork Connections

Farm life also means eating from the farm. From garden to table, WWOOFers experience the direct connection between their handiwork and its homegrown, delicious rewards.

A basket full of fruit and vegetables from a WWOOF farm provides an education for a global citizen (image © Lizzy Eichorn)

Forget the grocery store and check out what’s in the garden—a rainbow of YUM
from Country Flat Farm in Big Sur, California.
© Lizzy Eichorn

The WWOOF experience is an interdisciplinary education that combines soil, plant, and animal science with culinary arts. It contributes to global citizenship by helping the volunteers understand the full process of putting food on the table in different parts of the world.

A bee hive with beekeepers harvesting, showing the WWOOF education of a global citizen (image © Lizzy Eichorn).

Jars of honey, showing the WWOOF education of a global citizen (image © Lizzy Eichorn).

While learning these processes, WWOOFers also pick up new recipes (organic and unconventional): Elderflower Champagne, Spicy Pepper Jam, Vegetarian Chickpea Burgers, and Honey Pizza. They learn and enjoy the “field to fork” cycle.

Practical Insights and Epiphanies

Slam! My friends always look at me perplexed after I jam my fist on top of a clove of garlic.

A WWOOF volunteer crushing apples learns skills that have more to do with being a global citizen that you might think. (image© Courtesy of WWOOF Australia).

It was not an angry attack on the bulb but a technique I learned after peeling loads of garlic on a WWOOF farm in New Zealand: crush the garlic and the clove skin slides right off.

On a farm, daily activities vary—repair a fence, turn the compost, plant and harvest crops, cook breakfast, herd goats by motorcycle, crush apples.

Out of these everyday activities come some practical “Oh, I see” moments:

Since honey takes on the flavors of the surrounding flora and fauna, it can taste different in different places in the world.
A pile of mulch compost can produce a heat over 100 degrees, just right for a hot shower.
A wheelbarrow is the perfect place to take a nap.

A woman sleeping in a wheelbarrow on a WWOOF farm where the work develops global citizens. (image © Courtesy of WWOOF Australia)

Other “Oh, I see” moments are true epiphanies—WWOOFer Ciaran Paul explains how he learned the value of uncertainty from his experiences in Turkey:

Due to the complexity and intricacies of farm life, tasks were almost never predetermined, and I reveled in the uncertainty of what the next day might bring.

Learning just how flexible you can be is another. Part of being a WWOOF volunteer is living with a family. Each farm is different and offers a window into family dynamics. When I took ninja lessons from some 6-year-olds, I found out what it means to adjust and adapt to a different lifestyle, literally and figuratively.

Kids and WWOOFer hanging upside down on a pole, showing the education in family dynamics for a global citizen (image © Eva Boynton).

Embracing uncertainty, developing an open mind, bending flexibly—all these attributes help people live more effectively and happily in the world. They underpin success as a global citizen.

Navigating Across Cultures

WWOOF education is dynamic and eclectic, but there is more. Because WWOOF farms take volunteers from different countries, the work experience also offers a natural cultural exchange.

A group of WWOOF volunteers working together in Portugal, sharing their cultures as they also develop as global citizens. (image © Courtesy of WWOOF.net)

And WWOOFers, who travel to farms on several different continents, encounter even more cultures, lifestyles, and religions. When they leave a farm, they carry with them new-found knowledge about organic farming and a tool box of global skills derived from the cross-cultural collaboration.

Many have found the motivation to learn in the backyard of their own minds, to respect the people and approaches of different cultures, and that’s what changes a traveling farmer into a global citizen.

Thank you, Lizzy Eichorn, for photographs from your family’s WWOOF farm, Country Flat Farm, in Big Sur, California. Thank you, WWOOF.net and WWOOF Australia, for photographs of WWOOFing in action.

To find more stories and information about WWOOF, check out The Green Compass.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Eva Boynton 4 Comments

Crossing Cultures/Nature Discovery/Worldwide Sites

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