Overview

My over all view of this class I can honestly say was that it was very time consuming. However, I did learn a lot. I did enjoy learning about all the different regions and how they differ from ours. There is history from every region that I did not remember learning in a school when I was younger. Even though it has been a long time since I have had a geography class, you seem to learn much more as an adult. I believe it is because you actually care to know about it. I know that I do feel fortunate to live in North America after learning about the different gender roles, climates, transportation routes, cuisines and political differences. I did find that the religions, such as Christianity, in North America still differs in other regions in different countries on how they practice it. I know we Americans take for granted what we have and we should take better care of our surroundings and appreciate the land we have and our government. I know that I do.

It is hard to read and learn about these differences and not form a biased opinion on other countries religions and beliefs. I know that I was not happy when reading about the Islamic and Arabian cultures how women are treated. I would not have been happy at 15 years of age to have my parents put some strange man in front of me and say, “This is who you will marry.” I also know I would not want to live where the water I drink is a dumping site for sewage or a spiritual spot for bathing. They are treated at as gift to men, the house keepers and they are not allowed to disobey the husband (which I would fail at). The only friends they have are family, I was appalled. Then you have to remind yourself that each individual country was taught differently and that things are changing now for women in society. Medically what is done to female babies for religious reasons of purity make me want to scream. I literally wanted to cry when I read that. Hopefully the society will realize the harm coming from that and eventually discontinue that practice. Yet, in Oceania, women are seen as love objects. That I can say, I did like that.

Some of the features I learned about made me want to travel to see them. I would like to travel to the Amazon River to see what a pink dolphin looks like in person. That fact was the most fascinating to me. Lake Balaton in Hungry was mesmerizing to me. Finding the picture that I wanted to use for my website was hard. They were all so beautiful. I would love to swim in it. I have not been white water rafting in a while. I believe I was in Oregon the last time I did. When I read about Victoria Falls, it made me want to go there to enjoy the white water rafting. The most appealing place to live I think would be the Pacific Islands. You can live in exotic climates and because I am a woman I would be seen as a love object and drink wine and eat fresh fruit and fish. If that does not sound appealing I don't know what else would. The only down fall would be all the tourism. I does sound like the population is starting to increase fast.

The country that did amaze me though, was Russia. I am not exactly sure why, but I seem to think of it as a place that is very cold and that has lots of snow and ice. When I hear the word “Russia,” I view a man with a fur hat talking and you can see his breath. I have always had that envision in my mind. I did not know until working on this project that it has a forest and a volcano. This surprised me. I do not think of forests or volcanoes in areas where there is ice, or where it is cold. Until reading about Russia I did not know that. I learned something new! I learned many new things with each region I studied.

Transportation was another topic that I found interesting. Here we take advantage of the fact that we have a variety of different forms of transportation that we can use just about anywhere in any state. Most of the regions over seas are limited to where they can travel and how they can travel. This reason being that a great majority of the land masses are being consumed by desert. I did not realize until now how much desert there really was. We have some spots in North America that is desert, but not to the extreme of how it is in North Africa and Southwest Asia. Because of all this land mass of desert it is difficult for people to travel. In places where the people live, it is so congested with people transportation is limited too. When you look out your window and see cars driving by we don't realize we are one country of few that actually sees that. For the most it is people riding animals, or clusters of people clinging from buses or driving scooters.

Cuisine was my favorite subject to explore. I love trying foods from different cultures. Though some of the foods like guinea pig and hamster I do not believe I would try. I am a meat and dairy lover and I know that in the Christianity and Muslim cultures in Africa I would not survive. Who could go without ice cream or a pork chop for that matter? Not me, that is for sure. I know that the Christians in North America do practice lent though. Then there is India where the cow is sacred and not eaten. Or you could live in East Asia and live off of rice. I like rice, but not enough to have it for every meal everyday. Yep, I love America. The food here is great!

Environmental issues are similar everywhere, for the most part. Every region is dealing with some kind of pollution whether it is from cars, mines, industries, noise, garbage and the loss of forests and trees. The desert regions are loosing the land they have for agriculture and living environments. This is because of the increasing growth of the deserts from the dry heat, aridity and lack of rain. Oil spills are becoming a popular environmental issue everywhere. If is not water, it is the air. All in all the planet is suffering. Some regions do not have places where they can dispose of sewage, mining and industry debris, garbage, or that even have safe drinking water. Nuclear plant areas are causing cancer, birth defects, miscarriages and there is inappropriate dumping of the nuclear wastes. Animals are another problem with environmental issues. One would not think of and animals destroying land but they do. They graze and consume land that could be used for agriculture or living. We destroy forests to give them places to live and graze. Then there is agriculture causing environmental issues from the pesticides we use to grow and protect them creating pollution in the ground and water.

The weather is very different everywhere. I do believe there was quite a difference in every region. The Northern regions are much colder than the South. This is where I seen the most areas with ice and freezing weather. Mountains and deserts play a big role in the changes of weather also. I never knew until now that a mountain could prevent rain reaching land on the other side. I learned about sand storms in deserts and hot unbelievably hot they get during the day, yet can be freezing cold at night. Then again, how does it not rain for years in some areas of the world? The further south you go the only place you will find snow is in mountains where the altitude plays a role in the climate. I also learn that the sliding of the plates are what cause earthquakes, the formations of mountain, reefs, and tsunamis.

Taking a look at population really shocked me. How can small islands with not much mass hold so many people? Yet there is East Asia, which is the most populated region in the world, only lives on 1/6th of their land? That to me is just crazy. The difference in the geography of the land from one country to another is very interesting. The over populated regions are learning birth control, families are shrinking in size and women are taking a stronger voice in society.

In the end this was an enjoyable, yet challenging project. I hope that those that have taken the time to view my website were able to enjoy it as much as I did. I put much effort in research and I hope that I chose the right features of interest to keep my readers coming back. In the end, it was a learning experience and I hope it was for you.