Kokusai Hiroba Café -Around the World- Vol.71『Tibet (China) and India』

The Fukuoka International Exchange Foundation is working to encourage cultural exchange in education by sending lecturers who are either foreign or have experience in foreign countries to schools to share their knowledge. At the Kokusai Hiroba Café, those lecturers appear live to give presentations about cultures all around the world.

◇Contents

Opening（Introducing Hiroba Cafe）

Lecturers introduce Mexico and Inner Mongolia

Question Time and Closing

（Introducing each country）

Tibet (Autonomous Region of China)：

Gelek introduced Tibet’s natural scenery, the nomadic lifestyle, and educational system.

In Tibet, he explained, there are many plateaus as large as 5000 meters wide. He also showed photos of the heavy snowfall in winter. Gelek recommended visiting Tibet in the summer to see the beautiful summer scenery.

Tibetan nomads keep animals like yaks and sheep, and make their homes (tents) from thread made with yak wool. They also use the yak’s milk to make butter and cheese.

Gelek explained that Tibet’s villages originated from the community formed around temples, and showed photos of his hometown to illustrate. In the past, he said, in villages with no school, the temple would double as school.

In Tibet, Gelek explains, schools and kindergarten tend to be in cold places, such as on top of mountains, so it can be difficult to contact the teachers. Also, there is no heating indoors, so the students need to wrap up warm before coming to school. But Gelek explained that despite the cold, Tibetan children are still happy and lively at school, which could be clearly seen from the photos he shared.

India：

Kumar talked about the current image of India (IT, high population) as well as introducing India’s culture, food, and more.

Kumar explained how Indian people are involved in IT and technology industries all over the world, and even the CEOs of companies such as Google and Microsoft are Indian. He explained that the reason that India is so strong in the IT sector is that children in India start learning math, computer skills, and English from a young age, and a lot of them go on to study science.

In India, it is common for food to be eaten by hand. Kumar explained that there is a philosophy that spices from the food can enter your body through the skin of your hands and make your body and soul beautiful and healthy!

Though India has a reputation for being a hot country, Kumar explained that it can vary by region. As for Delhi, on hot days it can be as hot as 45 degrees, but on cold days it can be as cold as 5 degrees.