芸者

The Japanese Culture has developed over the years. From the ancient and classical Japan, to the birth of the samurais, and now a modern Japanese culture came to exist. It is indeed rich in the field of arts, music, literature, and many more.


In a previews class, Sam talked to me about a Japanese movie called “Memories of a Geisha” which I found very interesting so I decided to write a concise review about the movie here but first I would like to give a brief history about the geisha’s art.






The word geisha literally means "artist” Which is a traditional, female Japanese entertainer whose skills include performing various Japanese arts such as classical music and dance.


In the early stages of Japanese history there were female entertainers who were mostly wandering girls whose families were displaced from struggles in the late 600’s.


Some of these girls sold their bodies, while others with a better education made a living by entertaining at high-class social gatherings.

By 1800, being a geisha was considered a female occupation.


The evolving geisha style was emulated by fashionable women throughout society.
Before the twentieth century, geisha training began when a girl was around the age of four. Now, girls usually go to school until they are teenagers and then make the personal decision to train to become a geisha. Young women who wish to become geisha now most often begin their training after completing middle school, high school, or even college. Many women begin their careers in adulthood.




Geisha women dressed in kimono and the traditional makeup of the apprentice geisha is one of their most recognizable characteristics




The traditional makeup of an apprentice geisha features a thick white base with red lipstick and red and black accents around the eyes and eyebrows. Originally, the white base mask was made with lead, but after the discovery that it poisoned the skin and caused terrible skin and back problems for the older geisha it was replaced with rice powder.




The hairstyles of geisha have varied through history. In the past, it has been common for women to wear their hair down in some periods, but up in others. These hairstyles are decorated with elaborate hair-combs and hairpins.


Geisha sleep with their necks on small supports (takamakura), instead of pillows, so they could keep their hairstyle perfect !!!

Reflections From Japan

Ahmed message is to live a balanced life, the same message as what Plato, Aristotle and the prophets said. “Be good in this life, never hurt anyone, perfect your work, and eventually this will come back to you as good on Earth and after death”.


In his program, Ahmed always says that he is not a scholar but a simple human being who just speaks his mind out and has hopes for the Arab and Islamic world to improve in all levels, economically, financially, socially.


His fifth season of the show Khawater “Reflections” which was aired last Ramadan was all from Japan. So he had 30 episodes about the Japanese culture, morals and manners and the Japanese work ethic.




He was aiming at showing the Arab world how the Japanese people are implementing a lot of the things that we “Arabs” are just preaching.

For example, we preach in our schools that cleanliness is a major part of the believer. However, you see the streets in the Arab world, a lot of is just a mess because we're not practicing this virtue of cleanliness.

He was showing the Arab world how the Japanese were able to have extremely clean streets and how they are implementing these morals.




Basically, he was talking about how these moral prescriptions offered by the Prophet Mohammed (Peace be upon him) are being carried out in an entirely non-Islamic environment because these commandments are universal “you don't have to believe in Prophet Mohammed to be clean!” .Ahmed said

He wanted to ask the Arab world, if the Prophet Mohammed came today, who will he see implementing his teachings more, the Japanese or the Muslim world???


This Ramadan, Shugairi is focusing on the Muslim world of the Middle Ages through visiting different countries such as Malaysia, Egypt, Turkey, Spain, Emirates and the UK.

Reflections of a Young Man

Candid Camera type stuff. is one of Ahmed's novel production techniques.
For instance, in one of the shows they had a man who pretends to accidentally drop a wallet, so that you test the reactions of these people.
Will they give the wallet back to the old man who dropped it or will they just take it?

So if the guy tries to just take it, they quickly stop him and say, excuse me, that wallet belongs to that guy. But then they say, why didn't you give it back to them? Is that the kind of thing that the Prophet Muhammad would have done?


I belive that people like Ahmad AL-Shugairi can make a big difference.

a lot of people who watch his show and admire him feel that they were faced with a very difficult choice. The world seemed to be divided for them into sort of a really secular path where they felt a bit like they were abandoning their culture and their traditions, or a really hard line, Islamist’s “I hate the West” kind of stance. And what they like about him is that he gives them a middle path.





Ahmed became extremely religious during a seven year stay in California after a hyper secular period.

He says his message of moderation grew out of the two extremes he lived while he was in the U.S.

“You know, a pleasure-based life and zero spirituality, just living day by day and having fun, and then I switched to the total opposite, meaning I just cared about spirituality and religion. And I guess the balance is what I believe I reached. Of course, everyone thinks he’s balanced at the end of the day. Even extremists describe themselves as being balanced. But I believe now religion helps me be a better manager, a better husband, a better student”. Ahmed said


During his saty in the States, the American media taught him the strategy of not focusing more than 20 or 30 seconds on the same frame! And he is using that now, he is not focussing on anything more than 30 seconds. So it’s a fast paced, right to the point, no lecture-y attitude.

Ahmed Al-Shugairi

In this post, I’m going to talk about Ahmed AL-Shugairi, one of the most loved travel
writers and television hosts in Saudi Arabia who I personally respect and admire very much.




Ahmad is an active Saudi man. He started as a TV host for "Yalla Shabab" program on MBC channel. Now, he has his own Ramadan program Khawater " Reflections " which he started five years ago.


Ahmad also writes some articles in Saudi newspapers. He also published a book
" Reflections of a Young Man" and few months ago he published the second part of reflections book " Reflections 2".


Ahmad Al-Shugairi has always been interested in reading and books. He has his coffee shop "Andalusyah" in Jeddah which urges youth to read and be knowledgable.


His unique writing style and moderate entertaining way of hosting educational programs has Influenced many young adults and made him very popular in the Arab world .
Shugairi’s success stems from relating the tenets of Islam to everyday life.

For example he said that, it’s against Islam to waste and not to care for the poor. And he went to a wealthy neighborhood in Jeddah, where he lives, and showed huge amounts of food being tossed into a dumpster!! and then he showed images of people starving in other parts of the world.


He also talks about incredibly mundane things, which actually I think is one of the wonderful things about his show.

For instance, he talked about type of the way people park their cars, and he said, you know, there’s a careless way to do this.


A lot of what he’s doing is really sort of basic civics. He says be a responsible person, but he is talking about that in an Islamic language.

Into The Wild By Jon Krakauer

Currently, I’m reading a 1996 non-fiction book called INTO THE WILD by the American writer Jon Krakauer, bestselling author of Into Thin Air.






It is an expansion of Krakauer's 9,000-word article, "Death of an Innocent", which appeared in the January 1993 issue of Outside. The book was adapted into a 2007 movie of the same name directed by Sean Penn with Emile Hirsch starring as McCandless the protagonist of the story.






I have finished reading the first three chapters of the book which started to get interesting now as it was a bit boring at the beginning.


The book is talking about a young man from a well to do family who hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of MT.His name was Christopher McCandless.


His journey into the wild began right after he graduated with honors from Emory University in Atlanta in 1992, as a top student and athlete.


Chris abandoned his family, car, most of his possessions, gave his entire $25,000 savings account to charity and hitchhiked to Alaska, where he went to live in the wilderness. Four months later, he turned up dead and his body was found by a group of moose hunters.

My First Birthday Away From Home ( Part Two)

After meeting my friends: Dawlat, Norah and Samyah, we went to watch the Chinese New year celebration which was on the same day at the Old Market Square.








Drums



Fireworks


It was dinner time , we decided to go and have a nice meal.
“Let’s go to Zizi”. I said
“I prefer Tamatanga”. Norah replied
“What do you mean you prefer Tamatanga ? It’s MY birthday not yours!!” I answered sarcastically
“Actually I prefer Tamatanga too.” Dawlat said

On that moment I really started to get upset. “What’s wrong with you people ? It’s MY birthday for God’s sakes!!” I screamed
“Listen to me Doody, I swear Tamatanga will be better, It’s always busy at Zizi”. Samyah interrupted.

“You know what, I prefer to go to McDonald's!” I said in anger. LOL
“Come on, don’t be silly let’s go to Tamatanga. It’s going to be fun I promise”. Dawlat said.


We went to Tamatanga eventually. A lot was waiting for me there!

My friends had made a reservation at Tamatnaga that day for my birthday.

The staff were singing: “Happy Birthday Doody” from the moment we entered the restaurant!
They brought a big yummy chocolate cake and asked me to have a wish then to blow the candles.
I can’t describe how I felt. I was sOoOo Happy but yet soOoOoOoO embarrassed lol.


I had such a great time! My friends all came (well, most of them did) and it was such a fun and relaxing time!

it was neat to just sit at the table and look at all the people in my life who are now important to me that I didn’t even know a few months ago.

All in all, it was a super great day thanks to my great friends!
I can’t wait till my next birthday to see what unexpected things the next year will hold!

My First Birthday Away From Home

On the 12th of February 2010, I celebrated my 1st birthday away from my country , family and friends as I’m here studying in the UK.



I woke up that morning with tears in my eyes. My best friend had just called from Saudi Arabia to wish me a happy birthday.



I felt so depressed because I was missing her and my family so much. I cried my eyes out and went back to sleep trying to escape the grips of loneliness I was feeling.



My phone rang again, It was Dawlat, a great friend I met here in Nottinigham.


Dawlat: Good morning Birthday Girl, are u still sleeping?
Me: Morning hon, I just woke up, I stayed up all night working on a project.
Dwalat: Ok you got enough sleep now, take a shower and meet me at Costa cafe.
“I don’t feel like going out today Dalool I’m sorry”. I replied
Dawlat: Come On !! Let’s go and have some fun, It’s your birthday!
“Ok, I’ll meet u in an hour”. I replied with a big smile on my face.



Dawlat is one of the most wonderful people I have ever met. Knowing her was one of the good things that happened to me during my scholarship in the United Kingdom. She has two cute boys whom I love like my own sons, Rajeh and Ammar.




Rajeh



Ammar eating + sleeping at the same time lol


I went to meet Dawlat. I really wasn’t sure what to expect. Usually the bulk of our birthday celebrations is family oriented.
I usually choose what I’d like for dinner and what activity I’d like to do, and then we do that as a family.
So, I wasn’t too sure how I would feel spending my birthday on the other side of the world from them.


However, my day turned out absolutely wonderfully!


To be continued ....

The Alchemist

I can’t believe that I'm finally here at the same place where the Al-chemist was.


I really feel overwhelmed while I’m looking at the great Pyramids that Santiago made his dangerous journey crossing across the desert to look for his hidden treasure beneath them.


It has been 2 years since I have red that incredible book “The Alchemist” by the Brazilian writer Paulo Coeliho. It really captivated me and it’s the reason why I’m here right now.




It talks about Santiago who is a young shepherd boy from the Spanish countryside of Andalusia . He had a dream which reveals the location of a hidden treasure buried at the Egyptian Pyramids.

The king of Salem in Tarifa convinces Santiago that he has succeeded in discovering his Personal Legend so he should follow it because as the king told him following the Personal Legend to its conclusion is a person’s only real obligation in life.


Santiago listens to his heart and decides to go on a dangerous search for the treasure.





I joined a caravan to make a similar tripe in the desert. I’m now travelling the desert , crossing the golden sands. It is too hot . I can’t feel anything but the extreme heat of the sun and the desert dry, dusty wind blowing.






Now I began to understand the Soul of the World and how I fit in it exactly like Santiago did.


We soon reached an oasis. There are some palm trees where people went to sit under.
I don’t need to relax now as I’m too excited to get to the Pyramids where the treasure was.




I just need to wash my face and my hands because I got so dirty from the sand which got inside everything my bag, shoes and even my scarf.


Soon, we are moving again, the Pyramids are so close now. I can see how great they look from here.


I’m now way more excited to reach the Pyramid of Giza which is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.


Finally we are standing in front of the great Pyramids! I’m overwhelmed with the magnificent shape of them.


By looking at them right now I can imagine the joy Santiago felt when he finally reached them.

The Book Of My Life (Part Two)

Chapter Two

The Toughest Time Of My Life

By the time I turned 17, my parents got divorced. Since that happened, nothing in my life is the same anymore. They got divorced in a summer holiday which I will never forget for the rest of my life.



I have experienced all kinds of emotions that humans can experience in two months only.

I was so angry about Mom and Dad, afraid that if one of them leaves, I would lose him/her forever, guilty because it might be my fault that they split up, soo embarrassed and didn’t want anyone to know about it, lonely because no one will understands what I’m going through, lost, worried and sad.
I also felt relieved somehow, I thought it’s going to be less stressful at home this way. Apparently, I was sooo verrry wrong!










We used to live in Jeddah before my parents got divorced. After the divorce, my father decided to take us to Makkah where his family live. He has a big house there so he decided we should move there to stay close to his family!



This part was the hardest. Because if we moved to Makkah, we won’t be able to see Mom everyday,,,
If we moved to Makkah, we would have to go to a new school and have new friends,,,
if we moved to Makkah, we would leave our lovely house where we belong, where we shared bitter and sweet memories together,,,



but yes,, we did move to makkah!

although the two cities are very close,it was like traveling to another country for me. I had a culture shock !!

Many things were so different. People in makkah are more conservative which required me to act in a different way at many occasions. I miss everything in Jeddah. Going to the mall every weekend with my friends, watching a movie at the gym :D :D , having a nice meal at a fancy restaurant. I couldn't do any of these things in Makkah. I felt so lonely. I can write pages about how bad I felt while I was there. I felt homesick although I was in my own country with my own family !

Dealing with all these changes was so difficult for me. I hated everything there. The house, the school, the people, even my Dad! I hated him so much that summer although he was trying his best to satisfy me.


One year after that, my father finally agreed that we can move back to Jeedah. So we did immediately.


I joined King Abdulaziz University, started to study English Language.

I began to get used to my new life . I even started to like it because it is less stress at home and I’m happy to have special time alone with each of my parents.


Everything was going ok, of course, I was still having hard time trying to play the role of a messenger between my parents but It was fine I would say. I was doing great at university, had fun with my friends, and got a scholarship to the UK :D



I still live with the dream that both my father and mother will get back together one day. Who knows!

The Book Of My Life

In each chapter of this book, I’m going to talk about so many different remarkable incidents I have experienced in my life. Some of them are going to be too personal as I can’t write about anything unless it meant a lot to me.


Chapter One


I was born in Jeddah city. A big busy city located in the western cost of Saudi Arabia. MY family is originally from Makkah which is about 70 km far from Jeddah.



Jeddah




Makkah



I have three brothers and only one sister who I am so close to.

My parents got into fights since i was 5, this continued for years. They used to fight about anything, they often tried to invent problems from nothing so they can stay mad at each other for months.


My 3 brothers, sister and I got used to that tensed lifestyle. In fact, we used to find it weird when they weren’t fighting!

Although It was like growing up in world war ||| I have tried not to get affected by that, I was a very good student at school, I had lots of friends, my teachers used to like me very much and all my cousins tried to be friends with me.


However, I was too ashamed from the fact that my parents hate each other. I kept denying it even to myself. When I was a little kid I used to draw family portraits that show how a happy family we are.








I wanted everyone to think that we are a perfect family so I was pretending that we don’t have any problems because I hated the way people showed pity toward us after they hear about the fights between my Mom and Dad. I wanted to believe that we are a happy family although I knew that happiness is very far away from us deep inside.


In spite of all that, I would have to say that I had a good childhood. My parents were always very good to me, and I can't remember a time when I didn't feel loved by them. I used to be my Dad’s spoiled girl, I always believed that he loves me way more than my sister which I used to like very much :D.


My mom and I have been best friends, and I have never ever felt like I couldn't tell her something. They gave me everything I wanted but not everything I needed. I know that they sacrificed a lot for me and I will be forever grateful.