Toraja Indonesia

Toraja. TCN.com-  Ada sekitar 157 tulisan yang terhimpun di dalamnya dan terpilih 10  pemenang, di antaranya adalah cerita perjalanan di Tanah Toraja yang ditulis oleh Bayu Adi Persada, seorang blogger Kompasiana yang berhasil menjadi pemenang utama kompetisi ini dengan judul tulisan “Perayaan Hidup Kedua di Toraja“.

Berikut perjalanan Bayu Adi Persada di tanah Toraja yang juga dipublikasikan di Kompasiana.com.

TIBA-TIBA ada suara ribut-ribut di halaman upacara. Orang-orang berteriak keras. Saya tersentak lalu beranjak mencari tahu apa yang terjadi. Saya semakin terkejut melihat seekor babi berlari tak tentu arah. Ternyata, babi yang akan dikorbankan terlepas dari ikatan di sebatang bambu. Dengan badan berdarah-darah, babi itu mencoba melepaskan diri dari kerumunan orang-orang.

Russia - Language, Culture, Customs and Etiquette

Facts and Statistics

Location:  Northern Asia, bordering Azerbaijan 284 km, Belarus 959 km, China (southeast) 3,605 km, China (south) 40 km, Estonia 294 km, Finland 1,313 km, Georgia 723 km, Kazakhstan 6,846 km, North Korea 19 km, Latvia 217 km, Lithuania (Kaliningrad Oblast) 227 km, Mongolia 3,485 km, Norway 196 km, Poland (Kaliningrad Oblast) 206 km, Ukraine 1,576 km

Capital:   Moscow

Climate:  ranges from steppes in the south through humid continental in much of European
Russia; subarctic in Siberia to tundra climate in the polar north; winters vary from cool along Black Sea coast to frigid in Siberia; summers vary from warm in the steppes to cool along Arctic coast

Population:  143,782,338 (July 2004 est.)

Ethnic Make-up: Russian 81.5%, Tatar 3.8%, Ukrainian 3%, Chuvash 1.2%, Bashkir 0.9%, Belarusian
0.8%, Moldavian 0.7%, other 8.1% (1989)

Religions:  Russian Orthodox, Muslim, other

Government:   federation

The Russian Language

Of Russia's estimated 150m population, it is thought that over 81% speak the official language of Russian as their first and only language. Most speakers of a minority language are also bilingual speakers of Russian. There are over 100 minority languages spoken in Russia today, the most popular of which is Tartar, spoken by more than 3% of the country's population. Other minority languages include Ukrainian, Chuvash, Bashir, Mordvin and Chechen. Although few of these populations make up even 1% of the Russian population, these languages are prominent in key regional areas.

Why not learn some useful Russian phrases?

The Thai Wai and Foreign Tourists

At school last week, we held our regular Thai Manners competition for the students. The students wore traditional Thai clothes and had to visit a number of different bases in order to show that they knew how to perform the proper respect in the correct manner. This reminded me of one of the most common questions that we get in our mailbox. That is the “Thai Wai”. How to use it and when to use it.

The Balinese Compound

This is a traditional Balinese house where I Wayan Sila and his family live. The compound, called Karang Sikut Satak, was built based on traditional Balinese architectural principles, such as Asta Kosala Kosali and Asta Bumi. The compound consists of:

Bali Culture

Welcome to the island of Bali, an island with a diversity of unique cultural features. We, Bali Budaya, supported by the residents of Banjar Batusepih, invite you to explore and enjoy the values of today’s traditional Balinese farming life.