Euroasia: Language, Culture and Travel

Euroasia is proud to once again support the Fiesta de la Chilenidad in Auckland. We encourage all our clients/friends to join in the celebrations. It will be an awesome party. Invitation from Renacer en Auckland Cultural Society attached.

Hi Everybody

Renacer en Auckland Cultural Society is cordially inviting you to the “4th Fiesta de la Chilenidad in Auckland 2011” to celebrate Chilean culture with traditional Chilean food and dances as well as a fantastic dance party with a live band.

This great event will be held in the Te Atatu Peninsula Community Centre, at 595 Te Atatu Road, Te Atatu Peninsula, on Saturday 17th of September 2011 between 5pm and midnight.

The evening will start at 5:30pm with the Chilean Folkloric Show in which “Renacer en Auckland” will entertain us with their new folkloric works as well as other Latin American dance presentations from our talented guests.

And from 8pm the amazing “Matecito” Latin Band will make sure we dance to the best Latin rhythms till midnight.

This year we have improved the sales system inside the hall so that you can enjoy the best Chilean food and drinks without wait (only cash is accepted and I.D. is required to purchase alcohol).

Tickets are already on sale at $15 (kids under 12 are free)

To buy your tickets contact Jose Valdivia (Spanish teacher at Euroasia) 0211113569 or jose.valdivia@euroasia.co.nz 

So don’t wait any longer and buy your tickets before they go!*

Please extend this invitation to all your friends and resend this email to all your contacts.

We hope to see you soon

Renacer en Auckland Cultural Society Inc.

* Last year tickets sold out a week before the event. We recommend you buy your tickets before September so you don’t miss out.

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Came across this funny story, not sure how true it is, but it’s funny nevertheless.

The police swear that this story is true, and that it is about a Christchurch judge who was once in session in a court down south, when the case of a German tourist was called.

The tourist could speak no English and no interpreter was available.

Was there anyone in the court who could speak German? the judge asked.

He did a bit of pleading and cajoling in the interests of getting the case heard right then, and eventually a wee chap in the back of the public seating put his hand up.

Yes, he spoke German, he said.

The judge looked relieved and motioned him forward and told him to stand next to the dock.

He would act as the unofficial interpreter to get the case moving.

Could he start by confirming the person’s name please? the judge asked.

The wee chap turned to the dock and loudly demanded: “Vot iss your name?”

Shaking his head, the judge said, “Ah well, I suppose I asked for that,” and sent the “interpreter” back to the public seats.

Credit: Courtnews

p/s: Euroasia offers professional translation and interpreting services, to ensure you don’t end up in these “funny” situations.

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This Thursday, 3 February, marks the start of the Year of the Rabbit, according to the Chinese calendar. The Rabbit ( 兔 ) is the fourth animal in the 12-year cycle of the Chinese zodiac. Chinese New Year is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. Despite its winter occurrence, in China it is known as “Spring Festival,” the literal translation of the Chinese name 春节 (Pinyin: Chūn Jié), owing to the difference between Western and traditional Chinese methods for computing the seasons.

Apparently those born in the year of the Rabbit are gracious, kind, sensitive, soft-spoken, amiable, elegant, reserved, cautious, artistic, thorough, tender, self-assured, shy, astute, compassionate, lucky and flexible. They can however be moody, detached, superficial, self-indulgent, opportunistic, stubborn.

Do you know anyone born in the year of the Rabbit?

The New Year festival begins on the first day of the first month (Chinese: 正月; pinyin: Zhēng Yuè) in the traditional Chinese calendar and ends with Lantern Festival which is on the 15th day. Chinese New Year’s Eve, a day where Chinese families gather for their annual reunion dinner, is known as Chú Xī (除夕) or “Eve of the Passing Year.”

The Chinese New Year coincides with the Japanese and Korean New Year as well. So if you meet any of your Chinese, Japanese or Korean friends this week, wish them a Happy New Year! [Ed: In 1873, Japan adopted the Gregorian calendar, moving away from the Lunar calendar (but not the usual New Year traditions).]

Or better still, sign up for a course with Euroasia so you can greet them in their language!

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Federer switches seamlessly from English to French, then Swiss-German and Italian. He always finishes with a couple of German answers and can also handle Spanish if necessary.

For this reason the French and Germans have adopted Federer as one of their own, and it is not uncommon for his post-match media commitments to take longer than his games.

Reported in NZ Herald today. Maybe the secret to tennis greatness is… to speak 5 languages.

OK, maybe start with a second language.

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You may be interested in these upcoming NZSO concerts to celebrate the Year of the Rabbit. Two dazzling young Chinese artists will star in the NZSO’s Postcards from Exotic Places concerts celebrating the Chinese New Year in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. The NZSO programme of popular classics features Dvorak’s thrilling Symphony No 9, From the New World – one of the most popular symphonies ever written.

Hong Kong-born conductor Perry So will lead the orchestra. Only in his twenties, he is already set to become a classical music megastar.

He will be joined by 24 year-old violinist Tianwa Yang, whose performances in the US have excited both critics and audiences. A former child prodigy, Yang was described as “The Pride of China” when she was only 11 years old.

The concerts feature arias from Jack Body’s Alley opera, sung by Australian counter-tenor Jon Jackson, whose versatile voice has been said to be able to “wallow in the depths like Johnny Cash, growl like Eartha Kitt, purr like Peggy Lee and trill like Maria Callas”.

The NZSO is using the Chinese New Year as an opportunity to focus on China’s growing importance in the classical music world.

Postcards from Exotic Places takes the form of a journey that will transport the audience from East to West, from the old world to the new.

The concert opens with Chinese-American composer Bright Sheng’s Postcards, which draw a series of colourful pictures of a mystical, old-world Chinese landscape.

We move through a newer China with arias from Jack Body’s opera Alley – which is based on the life of the New Zealand-born teacher, social reformer and friend of China, Rewi Alley. From here we continue to the warmth of Spain and the piquant rhythms and melodies of Lalo’s Symphonie Espagnole.

Our musical odyssey comes to a magnificent conclusion in America with Dvorak’s thrilling Symphony No. 9. The Czech composer was inspired by the local music he heard while working in America near the end of the 19^th century.

Postcards from Exotic Places is presented in association with Four Winds Foundation Limited.

*There will be a free pre-concert talk within the venue by composer Jack Body one hour before each concert.

Postcards from Exotic Places

A Chinese New Year concert

SHENG Postcards
I. From the Mountains
II. From the River Valley
III. From the Savage Lands
IV. Wish you were here
LALO Symphonie Espagnole
BODY Alley Arias
DVORAK Symphony No. 9 From the New World

Wellington / Michael Fowler Centre / Sat 29 Jan / 8pm
Book at TICKETEK 0800-842-538

Auckland / Town Hall / Tues 1 Feb / 7pm
Book at THE EDGE  0800-289-842

Christchurch / Town Hall / Thurs 3 Feb / 6.30pm
Book at TICKETEK 0800-842-538

Tickets start from $25. Booking fees apply

Fast Facts

• Tianwa Yang started learning the violin at age four and could very quickly learn her music. She loved reading but her father thought she should focus most on her music practice. When young, she once tricked her father into believing she was practicing by playing her music while reading a book hidden inside the music on her music stand!

• Tianwa Yang set a world record when she became the youngest-ever interpreter of the Paganini 24 Caprices, recording them at the age of 13.

• Jack Body was inspired to write his Alley opera after a visit to China in the 80s, where he recognised that Rewi Alley was an iconic New Zealand adventurer of the same ilk as Sir Edmund Hillary.

• Bright Sheng is the adopted name of the Chinese-born American composer, conductor and pianist Shèng Zōngliàng. The second syllable of Sheng’s given name, Liang, loosely translates as “bright lights”, which is why he took “Bright” as his English first name.

· Bright Sheng’s Postcards was commissioned by a couple in 1997 to celebrate their silver wedding anniversary. They chose Sheng because his music reminded them of a wonderful trip to China they’d had. Says Sheng: “So I thought a selection of musical postcards from various places in China would be appropriate for the occasion. I based each of the four short movements on folk music styles from different regions in China.”

• Chinese New Year in China is as important as Christmas is in the West. It’s about spending time with family and giving gifts, with food being an important feature

• The upcoming Chinese New Year falls on February 3, 2011 and ushers in the Year of the Rabbit

• Red underwear is a popular gift that couples give each other at Chinese New Year, as red is one of the luckiest colors in Chinese tradition. It stands for loyalty, success and happiness

• At New Year it’s traditional to give Hong Bao, particularly to young people. These are red envelopes in which money is placed. The amount is usually in bills (not coins) and an even amount – multiples of eight are considered lucky
• The main focus is on food. Chinese families will prepare their New Year meal for many days. If you’ve been invited to Chinese New Year festivities it’s a nice idea to bring your hosts food and drink. Focus on the colours red and gold for presentation
• Many Chinese homes will place an upside-down character on their doors or windows at New Year. The character is 福, fu, pronounced “foo”. It means fortune or luck has arrived

• Chinese New Year festivities traditionally end with the Lantern Festival or Yuanxiao, which falls on the last or fifteenth day, and provides another reason for families to get together and have fun.

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Today I received a package in the mail – with a brand new t-shirt from our email marketing provider, Mailchimp. It’s a Christmas gift that they sent out from their Austin, Texas HQ to clients all over the world. I must be one of a few people in New Zealand who received this package. The guy putting the package together might have wondered to himself where New Zealand was. Maybe off the coast of Alaska.

Pretty cool t-shirt don’t you think? This is quite a smart way to get people talking about Mailchimp. So for a couple of bucks, they’ve managed to get me to blog about this I wonder if we send out free Euroasia t-shirts to clients it will produce the same effect. Well, maybe not with a monkey on the front.

Euroasia has been using Mailchimp since last year to manage our email marketing campaigns. We pay USD30/month (for 2500 subscribers or less). We’re about 100 short of the upper limit, after which we’ll have to pay USD50/month for up to 5000 subscribers. With the high Kiwi dollar, it’s pretty worth it. Especially seeing the features offered are far superior to what we had previously with our open-source email management software.

There are standard things like Analytics integration, subscriber activity reports, social media integration etc. Even not-so-standard things like the ability to add users on the fly using the Mailchimp app on my iPhone, or to view reports on the go.

For those with a smaller subscriber base, Mailchimp offers a free email marketing plan: store up to 1,000 subscribers and send up to 6,000 emails a month. With no expiring trials, hidden charges or sneaky contracts. They won’t even ask for a credit card. All for ZERO dollars. You might be thinking there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Well, Mailchimp employs what’s known as a freemium model. In a September 2010 blog entry, they explain how it all works, and how they’re making a lot more money by offering free plans. They also describe their experience starting the Mailchimp business in the wake of the dot-com bust, and why it makes sense starting up a business in a bad economy (useful reading for all of you still thinking about whether to get started on the business idea you’ve been thinking about).

So what are you waiting for? If you’ve been using an underwhelming product to manage your email newsletters, the New Year is the time to consider Mailchimp.

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Marketing guru Seth Godin showcased Ibex as an example of what a good website should look like in his blog today. Ibex is a Vermont, USA-based company that sells outdoor clothing. Their long sleeve tops for men average about USD100 each. Not exactly cheap, but not over-the-top expensive either. Seth Godin outlines five things that make Ibex successful online:

No doubt with the advent of online commerce anyone can sell anything online. As you go through the list, it’s apparent this is not rocket science. But it’s a wonder how few businesses get the basics right. This got me thinking about the missed potential for New Zealand firms. New Zealand is blessed with some of the most amazing natural resources in the world, superior products including honey, wool, seafood, dairy etc.

Almost all of the Ibex products I came across use the same raw ingredient: New Zealand merino wool.

A woolies zip t-neck (USD72) uses 18.5 micron New Zealand Merino lightweight rib; 150 g/m2. Not sure what the raw cost is, but probably not more than USD2 given the low price of raw processed wool. So basically of the USD72 retail price, maybe USD2 accrues to New Zealand wool producers and processors COMBINED, or 3% of the retail price.

OK, this may not be surprising to some people who already understand that it doesn’t matter if you have the best product in the world; if you can’t sell then you’re finished. However, my bet is the average New Zealander probably doesn’t realise the extent to which we’re “giving away” business. Coming back to the official website of New Zealand merino wool, the organisation tasked with marketing New Zealand merino wool globally.   The homepage is not particularly impressive, and people clicking on the “customer gateway” (curious terminology- maybe they asked the resident IT geek to write this) get this “under construction” message. I don’t get these messages. If you don’t have a website, just wait until you have one. Why put up an “under construction” message?

Seeing this is the top site that appears on Google whenever anyone searches for “NZ merino wool” I’m not sure it’s a good look for foreign visitors researching NZ merino wool.

The 1992 Arthur D Little (American management consultancy) report quoted on the “About Us” page says:

New Zealand merino is unequivocally the best in the world and needs to be taken to the market in a manner which is distinctly different from the rest of the clip.

Sounds good. Hope there has been some progress in the 19 years since that report was published.

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A friend sent me an interesting email today.

A Tale of Two Cities - This is Lahore in Pakistan ……………………………   And this is Dewsbury in Yorkshire , United Kingdom………………………

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