JAPAN










BURUNDI

These are two population pyramids for the countries of Burundi, Africa and Japan. Burundi is a registered LDC (Least Developed Country) and is completely landlocked. The economy of Burundi is suffering and causing shortages in many places. Japan is one of the most economically developed and prosperous countries in the world. They have made it their country's goal to provide support to LDCs like Burundi. The main goal is to inspire the citizens of Burundi to raise the country's economy on a program of Produce-Buy-Sell. This puts the responsibility of creating a new government and working economy on the citizens of that country, instilling a sense of patriotism. Aside from economic differences, which are vast, Burundi also differs from Japan due to its fractured and unstable government. The country's first democratically elected president was assassinated. This lead to long-term civil war between the country's dominant minority Tutsi faction and the Hutu faction, the majority that has little power. The Tutsi also control most of what little trade Burundi does have in the way of coffee, tea and sugar. This disproportionate economy means that the few who are rich stay rich and the poor stay poor. Looking at the population pyramids, we can immediately tell that Burundi has a much smaller population than Japan, which tells us that Burundi's economy and land area cannot support a very large population. Also, the majority of Burundi's population is made up of people below the age of twenty-five. This indicates that there is a high birth rate but also a very high death rate, probably due to lack of proper health care. In Japan, we can see that the population is made up of all ages with a couple of spikes that indicate large amounts of births. In order to maintain the image of their "baby booms" Japan must have an extraordinary health care system. In essence, analyzing these population pyramids allows us to have some idea of how a country like Burundi is being managed.

Visit to the Least Visited State

During my freshman year I visited my roommate Adam Hubrig's home in North Dakota. I spent part of Christmas break at my home in Little Rock, Arkansas, and then after Christmas I went to his home. On the trip up I encountered all sorts of difficulties. I first flew up to Chicago (bad plan at any time and especially right after the holidays) and my flight from Chicago was delayed so I arrived late to Minneapolis. The plan was to get to Minneapolis by plane and then take a cheaper Amtrak ride out to Fargo, North Dakota. Unfortunately, I did not leave much room for error in my itinerary and ended up missing the 11 p.m. train due to my late flight. If you know anything about the Amtrak schedule, you will know that the train only runs once a day. I was stuck, with very little money and being new to Minneapolis I had absolutely no idea where I was going to spend the night and most of the next day (I had about 23 hours to wait). I survived the half mile walk to a dingy hotel and the bitter, bitter cold (I could not find my gloves so my hands were pretty darn cold by the time I got to the hotel). The following evening I boarded my train and began the five hour trip to Fargo. By the way trains are not very exciting, but they are much better than a 24 hour bus ride (But that's another story). My roommate, who had unfortunately been waiting since the previous evening for my arrival, was not very excited by his choice of accomodations either. We left Fargo that morning and began to drive south to the little town of Hankinson, North Dakota. That morning was absolutely frigid and the wind was making the snow blow everywhere and threatened to push Adam's car off the road. Since it was still very early in the morning there was not very much to see outside. When we finally reached Adam's home we basically collapsed on the beds and slept for a few hours. When I woke up and remembered where I was I began to look around. The most striking things about North Dakota is the supreme flatness of the land, the lack of trees and how cold it was in the winter. You could see for miles in every direction. Coming from Little Rock where it was fairly warm and hilly and trees are everywhere, this was a little bit of culture and environment shock. But I still enjoyed my visit. I met part of Adam's family and helped butcher some deer and failed miserably at shooting cans (I really do suck at shooting things). It was one of the best times I had spent anywhere. Eventually though it was time to return to college and the unfortunate realities of life.

Jewelled Spider

This particular spider is part of the species known as Jewelled Spiders (Gasteracantha Minax). They are found in subtropical regions such as Australia and Tasmania. I find these spiders to be particularly beautiful and mesmirising. I think that the back of this spider looks somewhat like a skull. Maybe you see something different?

If this interests you in any way you can follow the link to

http://www.spiderzrule.com/spiderphotos.htm

Geography Class

I am a student at Concordia University in Seward, Nebraska. I am 19 years old and am a sophomore. This semester I am enrolled in a geography course that requires me to write a blog expressing some of my views and opinions concerning various topics of interest in the geographic field. At the moment I'm not sure how I feel about this assignment nor am I certain that I will be able to find the time to get online in order to make my posts regularly. We shall have to wait and see I suppose.