Cherry Blossom Festival Returns

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Cherry Blossom Festival Returns 

By: Cherish Baker

  • This was the 36th Annual Cherry Blossom Festival
  • Festival took place at Georgia International Horse Park 
  • Cherry Blossoms bloom in March

CONYERS, Ga. – The Annual Cherry Blossom Festival is an event that many Rockdale county and other surrounding counties look forward to every March which features the understanding of the Japanese Culture.

This event takes place every year at the Georgia International Horse Park which was once the site of the 1996 Olympic Equestrian events.

The 36th Annual Cherry Blossom Festival took place March 25-26, 2017. There will also be international treats and local vendors.

Cherry Blossoms are significant in Japanese culture. Significance being that they represent the fragility and beauty of life. They represent spring.

” I am an avid attendee,” says Ben . ” Something great for the whole family and there’s plenty of things to do keep the kids entertained.”

The Cherry Blossom Festival

Its the pinkest time of the year, and this festival is one of many being held during the month of March. There is the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington D.C. and  also one in Macon Ga. not to far from Conyers, Ga..

The Cherry Blossom festival was originated to encourage others to understand different cultures through music, food, and other entertainment.

March is the month in which the Cherry Blossoms are in their peak season for four days to two weeks before they fall from the trees. And this is why people get together to watch the trees and parlay.

In 2006 Conyers received full rights to the festival. And hundreds of people gather at the park every year to celebrate the rich traditions of the Japanese culture.

 

The Vendors

Not only were there steady performances, there were homemade arts and crafts vendors.

Vendors were happy to be apart of such a great celebration. Many vendors attend the festival annually. Rain or shine, they create and set up shop for the two day experience.

Many attendees walked around from booth to booth checking out the handmade crafts.

“I picked out a personal bouquet of paper flowers from a vendor,” said Tiffany Barnes. ” I named her the paper flourist because she cut all of the flowers by hand.

Tiffany Barnes Paper flowers Bouquet

If anyone wanted a good laugh they headed over to Caricature artist and Owner of Toonheadz, AJ Jensen’s booth.

” A guy posted up next to my booth kept laughing at each caricature I drew,” said AJ Jensen. “So I suspected he wanted one and drew one of him.”

The Food & Entertainment

The different smells filled the air . The smell of the cherry blossoms in bloom, the smell of a variety of festival favorites and Japanese dishes and cuisine.

From fair foods such as funnel cakes and Italian Ices to authentic bento boxes.The festival made sure everyone was immersed in the culture.

Bento Boxes are common Japanese cuisine, containing rice, vegetables and fish in a box-like container.

As far as entertainment, it was ongoing. With one act after another there was never a time when there wasn’t someone on the stage.

Local artist performed and 104.7 The Fish and other local radio stations were there to broadcast live. But the highlights included Japanese dancing and demonstrating the ancient art while wearing elaborate traditional costumes.

If you have missed this past weekend full of fun be sure to not miss the opportunity next year to see the Cherry Blossoms at their peak. Also a few reminders, make sure to bring water and try to arrive early to obtain a good parking spot.

 

 

 

 

Places, Experiences and Mapping

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What is a place? And what is its significance?

First lets define place. Place is a particular position or point in space. It can refer to a living space, a place of worship, or even entertainment. It can also be a feeling or perception held by a person. These places can be unique and special to some creating an attachment. But when you write about a place you have to give the physical aspects as well as the characteristics that relate to you. But in order to understand place you need to understand experience.

There are two experiences. Primary is your initial experience. And Secondary is the experience you reflect on. You can go to a place and have a primary experience then later you will have the secondary experience when you reflect on the experience and how you relate to it.

In What is a Sense of Place by Jennifer Cross she goes over the characteristics related to people and places.  She says that the concept of sense of place came from two different aspects. Relationships to place being the first aspect, and community attachment being he second. People can relate to places by creating  bonds and types of  attachments to a place in particular. But you as a person are not limited to have a relationship with one places but many ppeople have relationships with multiple places.

Cross goes over characteristics between people and places in the Table below .

Table 1.1 Relationships to places

I can agree that you can become connected to a place which then becomes meaningful to you in a certain way.

An example that comes to mine is the story that my mom tells us about how she grew up. And unless you have lived there you may not be able to actually relate unless you have visited and experienced it yourself. I have heard many stories on how the home was only one room and that she would have to walk down to the creek to fetch water and there was no bathroom nor was there a stove because there was no electricity. See my mom is not that old so I always thought her stories of living out in the middle of no where in White Plains Ga. were bogus. A few years ago on a sad occasion after a funeral we decided as a family to visit the land that my mom was with her sisters which was the very place where she grew up. This place had only created a Narrative Relationship with me. I had only grew oup on stories about this place.  But as I experienced the land on which my mother lived and saw the home in which she lived in it became a Biographical Relationship now I’m not only emotionally connected with this place but my mother as well.

When writing it is important to create the Places and hen determine the Experiences.

In Katherine Harmons book, Personal Geographies and Other Maps of the Imagination, she states that people have the instinct to map. People often create a map of their own after experiencing certain places. Everyone experiences places different. Therefore there are many different maps.

But each places, experiences, and mapping go into writing! You can’t have just one to make a good story.

 

 

DIY Video: Cold Remedy Tea

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I chose this home remedy because this is one that is often used in my house and has been for years. When you are sick you don’t exactly want to get up and go to the store but if you have these simple ingredients on hand always you will never have to worry about that. And It has always helped me through a cold. Not only does it contain only four ingredients but it takes less than 2 minutes to make and you will start feeling better in no time.

Each ingredient aids in helping your immune system fight off a cold. The only reason people get sick is because they are not eating the proper foods that help fight off viruses and bad bacteria from growing and spreading throughout the body.  A diet in fruits and vegetables helps your body fight off free radicals in your body because they are rich in vitamins minerals and nutrients that your body needs. So, if you are one to get sick often maybe you should start consuming more fruits and veggies.

Through this process, I have learned that everyone’s remedy is its own. Maybe you like more honey than ginger or like your tea hot rather than lukewarm. Maybe you like lime rather than lemon. It’s all how you prefer it. And that these remedies have been passed down from decade to decade. Remedies can change depending on research and learning more about what it is you are consuming. I have learned to make it your own, don’t forget to do research and consult a doctor if problems persist.

Check out my video below!

L.A. Experience

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My Digital story is about my first trip to L.A. and not to mention my first trip to the West Coast and it was Grammy Weekend. This experience was very enlightening for me. It opened my eyes to see that there are so many opportunities in other places rather than just Atlanta and its possible to create opportunities as well. This trip also gave me insight into the entertainment industry. The entertainment industry is where I want to be. My passion is music and this is what brought me to L.A. I took a risk and took on a challenge and it landed me this awesome opportunity. I’m an assistant to two companies a music management company and a firm, and although it was initially a work trip full of meetings and photo/video shoots it took a turn when the artists decided not to comply with their manager and the itinerary. It quickly became a leisure trip. It showed me that the industry is not all glitz and glamour. And you must have a tough backbone to stand firm. But I’m sure that’s with anything in life. Everything is not easy if it’s something you really want then you will take failures as lessons learned and strategically plan your next step.

The process in creating the Digital Story board was not easy. Well at least not for me. I had never created a mini movie before just the normal power points. So I had to learn how to put together this short film and also figure out how I was going to compile my whole trip into three short minutes. I was a difficult task, as far as the first draft I created a story board to help with the format and a script for the voice over. But when presented to the class they informed me to try not to go in order from day to day but to create topics grouping things together. Which should allow it flow better. They also told me to speak up because my voice was low and to focus on the point that I was trying to get across and how could relate to the readers. So I took all of the constructive comments from the peer revisions and applied it to my final draft. When I presented the final draft to my peers they were very impressed on how I took what they all suggested and applied it. And they were in awe that I created this Digital Story on my phone simply using IMovie.

I myself am proud. Its not the best but it is better and I am still in the learning process. I’m sure it is much easier to use IMovie on the Apple laptop rather than on the IPhone, but I had to work with what have.

Check it out below!! Hope it makes you think of a time when you felt like you can make it despite what may come your way. Take risks create opportunities and live life!