#aph ambassador

[fafayayarhen]

lies down

LIES DOWN FOREVER

tfw u want to do that fun very very OVERDUE trend but as an aph austria stan u vibe with being multiship that you wanted to try and have fun a lil with drawing some of your fave pairings

swarski isn't a typo, it's on purpose just in case cause idk copyright stuff maybe

roddi modelling for swarovski product so true -- personal HC he's the eternal brand ambassador cAUSE COME ONNNN they got the prettiest gemstone of a representative, like hell they're not using him!?!??!

funny scenario of multiple generations of descendants/swarovski enthusiasts going "haven't we seen this model's face throughout the centuries, what's happening here?" and swarovski releases the statement that "this model's uh kids and grandkids got the same traits cause strong genes" --

nah another way to circumvent it is changing up styles hence i present to you having made another version with longer hair cause tEE HEE

sorry aushun girlies i swear i had ideas to incorporate them somehow but the composition be set with these four already that had i added more it would've thrown it off balance

maybe i'll draw aushun next time

standalone:

[drev-the-ambassador]

80 Years Ago Today

On the 26th of November, in 1939, the Soviet Union sent a note verbale to Finland, concerning an incident where, near the village of Mainila situated at the border, four Soviet soldiers were allegedly killed in artillery fire originating from the Finnish side.

Despite the fact that the Finns had no artillery anywhere near the border, Finland offered to work together with the Soviet Union and find out what exactly had happened. The USSR refused, and instead stated that the non-agression pact between the two countries was no longer in effect.

This incident is known as Mainilan laukaukset, the Shelling of Mainila, and it led to the Soviet Union cutting diplomatic relations with Finland three days later, on the 29th, and the day after, on the 30th of November 1939, the beginning of talvisota, the Winter War.

Later, after the fall of the Soviet Union, it was admitted by the Russians that the whole incident had been framed by the Soviet Union in order to justify a war against Finland. This had been the Finnish stance since the beginning.

[shinshikesesese]

Hi, I'm sorry to bother you. I was wondering if you could tell me some methods Japanese students use to study and revise for exams. I know that you guys go to cram school. But how exactly do you study?. I tried googling this but I just found tips on how to study the Japanese language (I am studying Japanese but I am also studying to take exams to enter into a medical residency program so I really need to up my study game)

Hi here!! I don’t know how long this ask was sitting in my ask box but I hope you did good on your exam?

Well firstly the most common method is to use this bad boys

People call this memorising pen and sheet. It basically a red pen, green pen, red plastic sheet and green plastic sheet.

How to use

1. Write in red pen(or green)

2. Cover the writing with red plastic sheet (or green sheet if you used green pen)

3. Voila the word disappears

How to use #2

1. Highlight the word in red pen (or green)

2. Cover the word with green plastic sheet (or red if you used green pen)

3. Voila the highlighted parts turns black so you can’t see the word.

By using these pens and sheets, it saves you time to rewrite questions, answers and words you need to memorise. It’s very easy to use and because it’s such a simple method, it’s one of the popular method to study.

Second popular method is to use to use colours when making notes.

In Japan teachers basically uses colours to write on board so students copy the notes using the exact colours that the teachers used (or close the the colours).

By using colours your notes will be colourful and it will be easy to read wich parts are important and not.

My advice is to use more than one colour for your notes (red, blue, green and good) and divide which colour representa what (eg. Red is really important words, blue is dated and data, green is people’s names etc)

Highlight text books is a good way too!!

Third popular method is to is to use flash cards or memory cards.

We usually bing them using a ring and usually the size is small so we can bring them anywhere.

It’s a bit of a pain to write everything but because it’s small sized we can bring them to anywhere and study in any places!!

Fourth method is to use sticky notes

Sticky notes can come in different sizes, shapes and colours. You can use them to mark your text books and notes, use them as a reminder and etc. You can peel them off when you don’t need them anymore and add more if you want to. (It’s good to mark your text books with sticky notes because it’s a waste of time trying to find the pages you need)

Fifth method is to study daily.

Don’t study nights before your test or exam. Study the night you had the class or revise what you did. This strengthens your memory and you are more likely to remember them for long period of time.

Well lastly if it’s difficult remembering numbers and facts, turn them into something fun.

Eg.

Making comic panels to explain things (historical event etc)

Using rhythm/songs/raps

Using Method of Loci

And so on

It’s best to make your study fun and it gets into your brain better if you are thinking positive.

Well we have different ways of studying so try a few things and hope it helps you a bit

[scarlet--holmes]

Hi! It's derp, your asker for the APH Ask Event :D I'd like to know what's the significance of flowers in Ukrainian culture? Since it shows up a lot as flower crowns, patterns, embroidery and the like. Thanks in advance :D

Hello Derp and thank you for an interesting question!

Yes, flowers are indeed significant in our culture. They were often used during various rituals, especially those that were connected with family and marriage. Flowers were an important part of different ancient cults that worshipped life, motherhood and life-giving properties of earth. Nowadays flowers are also significant, but in a slightly different way. They are considered to be a good gift for almost every occasion.

And now let’s talk about some flowers - symbols of Ukraine!

Волошка (centaurea) symbolizes love, politeness, kindness, beauty and youth. The blue plant has a strong scent and is also considered to be a medical herb. Centaurea was used to decorate churches and crosses. If a young girl died, people would make flower crowns with them and put those on her head.

Барвінок (periwinkle) is another traditional flower, which stands for happiness, eternity and the undying memories. People often associated it with the beginning of spring. Soon it became a symbol of life and people started to grow these flowers in their gardens. Periwinkle was used to provide protection to everyone that needs it.

Мальва (malva, mallow) means love for your Motherland. They served as a reminder about home for people who left their native place. A lot of people decorated their houses with these flowers.

Even though it is not a flower, калина (viburnum) is an important plant that symbolizes Ukraine itself. There is even a saying: “Без верби та калини нема України” (There is no Ukraine without willow and viburnum). The viburnum and its vibrant colours symbolize life, fire, blood. It also represents home, family, a special bond between different generations and everything that is dear to us. There are a lot of beautiful legends about this plant, so it is clear why Ukrainians love the viburnum so much! :D 

And that’s it for today! I hope that the information was helpful. If you have any questions about my country, make sure to ask them! I will be glad to answer. Goodbye!

P. S. This post is brought to you by @aphaskevent ! There you can find a lot of interesting answers about various countries of the world. Thank you for organizing this wonderful event! 

Source: x

[salytierra]

Sorry for this really random ask, but do you think António would have a Tío de Nadal in his house for Christmas? ;v;

-notes under the text- 

Listen, Antonio takes Christmas very seriously. And you bet your ass that even if he doesn’t really practice all the traditions related to every local character for these days, he has at least one figurine of each of them, neatly arranged around the house and mingled with more modern decorations. 

So yes, there is a Tío, lovingly covered with a blanket under the Christmas tree. He places a figurine of the woodchopper Esteru under the tree too because he thinks it’s a funny place to put it, and to keep the Tío on its toes. 

And you bet your ass at least some of his kids will randomly receive a pond of chestnuts over the mail, courtesy of the Apalpador living in a potted plant on his balcony. 

He takes out a folding table too and arranges an entire nativity scene with a caganer hidden behind the barn. Los Reyes Magos start the holiday season on the dressing table at the door but every day he moves them closer to the nativity scene. 

Seriously, his home ends up so full of decor it’s difficult to walk without bumping into something. Sometimes he even has fun improvising. No chimney? Well just put the Olentzero next to the space heater!

Notes: 

El tío de Nadal (in Catalonia, called La Toza in Aragón) is a log with a face that shits presents. 

Esteru (a Cantabrian woodchopprer that brings presents), Apalpador (a Galician farmer that touches children’s tummies to see if they’ve eaten well - and then gives chesnuts and other presents) and the Olentzero (a Basque/Navarre coal seller) are all local alternatives to Santa Claus. There are more, btw, these are just examples. 

The nativity scene is a common tradition in the Catholic countries, but the caganer (a random guy taking a shit) is something typical of the Valencian and Catalan regions. 

Los Reyes Magos (the Magi/the three wise kings ) are very important in all of Spain and  bring presents (or coal, if they’ve been naughty) to children on January 6th. 

[aphcanada-inactive]

Heeyy babe❤ it may be really off topic, but what do you think about the hungarian school system?

I’m not sure if you mean my personal opinion or what the school system is like in general, but as someone who really didn’t like going to school past 2nd grade, I can’t really give an unbiased opinion but I can give a rundown of what the school system in Hungary is generally like:

Children usually start attending kindergarden at age 3. When they turn 6, they have the choice between going to elementary school or staying one more year in kindergarden and starting school at 7.

They usually go to elementary school for 8 years but those students who do very well can apply to highschools after the 6th or even 4th grade. We don’t really have what Americans call “middle school” here. Essentially grades 5-8 of elementary school are where middle school-aged kids are.

Like I said above, highschool can be 4, 6 or 8 years long, depending when someone leaves elementary school. 4 years is the most common, though. However, many highschools offer a +1 year program, where students essentially have an extra year in the middle that heavily focuses on foreign languages. 

The most common second languages here are English and German, options for third languages usually include French, Spanish, Italian and Russian.

(So basically if someone decides to stay in kindergarden for an extra year, then takes a +1 year program in highschool too, they graduate at age 20 instead of 18… like me.)

There are different kinds of highschools too. Gymnasiums give a more universal education and generally prepare students for university. (Most 6-8 year highschools are gymnasiums.) Vocational schools have more specialized education for a specific field of work.

(I’d also like to point out that most villages and smaller communities only have elementary schools at most. Kids who live in such places will usually take a bus or train to addent highschool in a nearby city or town.)

Those who enroll in higher education, either go to university (if they attended a gymnasium) or go on to a vocational college after graduation.

@hetaliafandomdirectory

[silk-road-to-samarkand]

When speaking of Uzbekistan, a few major cities come to mind as we navigate the region’s complex and beautifully rich history. Among these cities are Samarkand and Bukhara. Together, these two cities of “divine Bukhara and happy Samarkand” make up what British poet-diplomat James Elroy Flecker called “the Golden Journey.”

Known by the Greeks centuries ago as Marcanda, Samarkand stands as one of the oldest inhabited cities in Central Asia. With its centralized position, Samarkand enjoyed status as a valuable trade hub and intersection of goods, culture, philosophy, intellect, and innovation from places such as China, India, Europe, and Siberia. Through Samarkand and Bukhara from the East traveled porcelain and silk; spices and Gems from the South; ivory and perfumes from Europe; fur and amber from Siberia.

This dual status as such thriving cities meant the two sometimes campaigned for supreme leadership in the region. Tamerlane’s capital was Samarkand in the fourteenth century (for it was close to his birth city of Kesh, and when not campaigning, all his efforts went into forging Samarkand into a city worthy of his might); before him, Persian Samanids named Bukhara the capital. Just when Bukhara enjoyed dominance over Samarkand in the eighteenth century, Russia’s Bolshevik Revolution again made Samarkand the dominant city.

As crossroads of the world, Samarkand and Bukhara were exposed to much of the world’s treasures, both physical and intellectual, enjoying all the best that North, South, East and West wanted to share. It was in Samarkand that the first paper mill outside of China opened, and tenth-century eastern Islam enjoyed the most influential library in Bukhara.

The influences upon these cities is as complex as the rest of Uzbekistan’s history, and just as colorful and all-encompassing. For the capital Tamerlane (”Timur the lame”) built out of Samarkand, the architects he captured incorporated a unique Tartar concept, though the final product bore Arab, Indian, and Persian influences alike.

And of course the city needed to be in palettes of the fearsome conqueror’s favorite color: blue.

Sources:

Image 1 Image 2

Lawton, John, and Francesco Venturi. Samarkand and Bukhara. London: Tauris Parke, 1991. Print.

[kimanda]

Hello, hello! It's the Ambassador for Carpathian Ruś here! I have a (long passed, sadly) great grandmother from Ireland, and apparently she did Irish stepdancing! Would you be able to tell me more about it, please? Thank you in advance!!

Hello there! :D

Aaah well, I don’t really consider myself to be a big expert on Irish dancing or to be very knowledgeable on the technicalities of Irish step dancing. However since I’m a big history nerd, I can offer you a brief history on Irish dancing and how step dancing fits in the whole picture?  ;w;

(video of step dancing from 1972)

There is surprisingly not much that is known of Irish dancing in medieval Ireland and earlier. Therehave been quite a few references to it in written records throughout the centuries, but we know little of how these dances would have looked like back then.

We are first able to start working with known dance forms from the 12thcentury onward. Withthe Norman invasion of Ireland in the 12th century, various Normancustoms were introduced to the country. Among them was the Carol, a type of dancein which the leader sang in the middle of a circle of dancers who would reply tothe leader’s song. This dance was often performed in Irish towns that had beenconquered by the Normans. It is believed that the Carol introduced the concept of circledances in Ireland, although it isn’t completely certain that native forms ofcircle dances didn’t exist previously. However the Carol seems to have stuckaround for some time and perhaps popularized the concept of circle dances.  

 In the 16thcentury there were three types of Irish dances that were the most oftenmentioned: the Irish Hey, the “Rince Fada” (Irish for long dance) and the Trenchmore. 

- The Irish Hey was a type of circle dance that involved dancers wounding in andaround their partners. It was a forerunner of the reel, which is stillperformed in Ireland to this day. (the video above is an example of a treble reel, one of the evolved dance forms of the Irish Hey)

- The Rince Fada was typically done in two longlines, one line with women and the other with men. Hence the name “long dance”. :P The video is a pretty good example of how this dance would go, though usually there are more participants.

- The Trenchmore was apparently an Irish dance that was adapted for the Englishinvaders, being derived from an older type of Irish peasant dance. This dancewas very popular with the English, to the point that they brought it back tothe court of Queen Elizabeth. This video is a reconstruction of how it would have looked like, to my knowledge the Trenchmore hasn’t survived otherwise.

By the 18th century the jig was well established inIreland. Other popular dance steps included slip jigs, double jigs, slides,mazurkas and polkas. From around the 1750s to the early 1900s, travelling dancemasters were going from village to village, teaching various forms of dancesand steps. Step dancing in particular was widely taught in all parts ofIreland. Another type of dance that was taught during thistime was the reel, the whirling or spinning dance. Travelling dancemasters usually would spend a couple of weeks in each village, staying with alocal family. In return for the lodging, they would teach dancing free ofcharge to the family members.  

Inthe 19th and 20th centuries, the most popular dancesthroughout Ireland were sets and half sets. A good example of a set dance canbe seen in this video:

Setdances were brought over to Ireland and England by the armies of the Duke ofWellington returning home from the Napoleonic wars in 1816. This militaryorigin can be seen in the names given to certain dance movements. Beingoriginally derived from the French quadrille, set dances in Ireland developedfurther to better suit native Irish rhythms.

Dancesused to be commonly hosted in people’s houses but this practice would decreasewith the appearance of commercial dance halls and changes in travel,communication and lifestyle by the mid-20th century. However anotherfactor that is thought to have majorly contributed to the decline of housedances was the passing of the Public Halls Dance Act in 1935, which made thehosting of unlicenseddances illegal. House dances as they hadbeen known previously would disappear almost completely afterwards. A survivingrelic of this custom is the Irish word “céilí”, which refers to “an informalsocial gathering (at a neighbour’s house)” but now the word is mostly used to describean organized dancing session.

TheGaelic League, in their goal of re-establishing the Irish language and culturein the country, went on to ban their members from participating in dances thatwere regarded as being foreign introductions. One of the dances that werebanned was set dancing, which was regarded by the Gaelic League as being tooEnglish.

Stepdancing would instead be encouraged by the Gaelic League and this form ofdancing would become heavily popularized during the 20th century. Throughout the 20th century,the competitive solo form of step dancing would evolve. This would lead to step dancing becomingcodified and certain styles being standardised. (particularly styles from thesouthern areas of the country) Informal competitions for students of variousdance masters were held between towns for several years but the Gaelic Leagueheld the first organised competition in 1897. The Gaelic League would create in1927 An Coimisiún Le RincíGaelacha (The Commission of Gaelic Dances), a separate body that would be incharge of organising dances and contributing to the further standardisation ofIrish dances. This organisation wouldalso start holding examinations and giving certifications to dance teachers. 

Inthe recent years, older and freer forms of step dancing have started to betaught at summer schools and festivals. Showslike Riverdance would also revolutionize Irish dancing by returning to moretraditional step dance forms and move away from the rigid competitive forms. The video below shows the interval act of the 1994 Eurovision show, which is considered to be truly historic as it introduced Irish dancing (particularly step dancing!) to a global stage. This act not only managed to attract new fans to this dance form, but it also reinvigorated traditional Irish dancing and has contributed to the bright and vibrant culture it is today.   

Whereare the arms in Irish dancing?

So this is probably a question that has baffled many people when on the subject of Irish traditional dancing: Why is there little to no arm movement in Irish dances, particularly in step dancing?

Aaaahif only there was a straightforward answer to why arm movements became absent fromIrish dancing. The silliest explanation I’ve seen states that when the Englishbanned the Irish language and other forms of cultural expression, the Irish decidedto not only dance inside their houses, but to do so without using their arms sothat any Englishman passing by wouldn’t know the Irish were dancing.

A more likely explanation is due to lack of space back then. Local venues wereusually small, so travelling dance masters reportedly taught the steps bydemonstrating on tabletops, or even on top of barrels! If this was the case,these masters would have had to hold their arms rigidly at their sides and wereunable to do any kind of lateral movement. Later when there were larger venues,various regional styles evolved to include more movement of the body but armmovements never fully caught on.  

Anotherpossible explanation relates to the state of the stage, or a lack thereof. Mostplaces lacked a hard surface to dance on properly, so people often unhingeddoors and lay them on the ground to dance on. Doors didn’t offer a lotof space and so due to having a small “stage”, it didn’t favour using the armsmuch. Instead, people would favour dances that showed off the quick and intricatemovements of the feet.

Addingon to this explanation, there is a belief that in earlier competitions a danceteacher decided to have his students perform with arms purposefully heldrigidly to the sides to draw more attention to the steps. According to thisbelief, those students were praised for their movements and won thecompetition, which led to other teachers and dancers adopting this trend and iteventually became part of the standard of Irish dances.

I’mnot certain about the validity of this last explanation as we are not givennames, dates or any kind of specifics for that matter. But I could believe thatthe trend of not using the arms grew gradually and not one, but several danceteachers began to forgo arm movements completely and it eventually became thestandard.  

Inany case, we don’t have a straightforward answer to why arms fell out of use inIrish dances. The most likely explanations show that lack of space (and/or lackof a proper stage) led to arm movements being an underdeveloped aspect intraditional dances and with the establishment of dancing competitions, thenon-usage of the arms probably became deliberate. 

Inmodern Irish step dance, arm movements have started to be integrated more often thanks to showslike Riverdance but many regard it as non-traditional and dancing competitionsstill maintain the “no arms” rule. 

[from-russia-with-mixed-feelings]

Hey so, you've mentioned tea is the most popular (?) drink in Russia and I wanted to know what the most popular/common flavour was and if the tea+jam combo was actually A Thing. Thank you for giving us all this awesome info about Russia!

Oh don’t you give me that (?), tea is definitely the most popular drink in Russia! :P By a wide margin, too! It’s difficult to find statistic data for some reason, but here’s a list of major non-alcoholic beverages by popularity. Tea is the one on top, naturally, with mineral water in 2nd place and coffee only in 3rd. I also found 2 blog posts about it, with some historical and liguistic facts, in case you’re interested: post #1, post #2. And just based on personal observations: most people I know drink tea at least twice a day; if the guests come, you don’t offer them “something to drink” or “coffee, tea or water” - no, you offer them tea, because 9 times out of 10 that’s what they’ll want; and even at work, if you’re having a break it’s either a smoke break or a tea break, because coffee is usually for waking up in the morning only.

(and by the way, if anyone thought that at least among alcoholic beverages vodka is the most popular one here - nope. That would be beer!)

Anyway, back to your question! Flavoured teas are not very popular here in general (i’m the only one who likes them in my family, for example), but the most popular way to drink tea is definitely this: black, hot, and with a slice of lemon (sugar optional). Black tea with milk/cream and sugar, and green tea (plain) are also pretty popular options.

As for the tea + jam combo, it is absolutely A Thing, yes, especially for sick people. A cup of hot tea with raspberry jam is the essential “grandma’s recipe” when it comes to home remedies for cold and flu. It’s also delicious! Beats hot milk with butter & honey (aka the other essential Russian recipe against cold) ANY DAY, imo xP

That’s it, thank you for the question (and for the compliment, oh my >////

[random-cardverse--hetalia]

Monaco!

[drev-the-ambassador]

Hey! I know this is a bit short notice bUt I was wondering if you could tell us about the origins of the word for 'Finland' in Finnish? (and why is some variation of 'Finland' used everywhere *except Finland* lol).Its something i've always wondered and what a better opportunity to find out than here! (I hope this makes sense aah) Thanks! ☆

Thank you very much for the ask! It makes sense, don’t worry, and it is also a very good question!

Finland in Finnish is Suomi, and indeed, it is used for Finland only in most of the Baltic-Finnic languages, like Karelian suomi, Estonian soome and Votic soomi. 

The origin of the name Suomi is… unclear, to say the least. Actually, nobody knows where it comes from, but many theories exist! Some say that Suomi comes from the word suo or suomu, meaning swamp and a scale (like on a fish) respectively. We do have quite a lot of swamps here, according to some sources as much as a third of the whole land area (which would make Finland the most… swampiest country in the world), and fish has been quite a common source of food here, thanks to all those lakes and the sea and also rivers. 

Others say that the word Suomi is a loan from somewhere, perhaps the Baltic šama-, which comes from proto-Baltic žeme, both essentially meaning land (the word zemlja/ земля in Russian is a descendant of this word, too), which would mean that Suomi means… land. Just plain land. A bit anticlimactic, isn’t it?

Well, there are also other theories, none of which have been and probably never will be proven right (or wrong for that matter). Suomi used to mean the part of Finland that nowadays is called Proper Finland, this area here.

By Pera7 - karttapohja Care, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8954505

Why the name of Finland is Finland or a variation of the word almost everywhere else, that’s quite easy to answer. 

Finland is also the Swedish name for Finland. Finland was a part of Sweden for around 600 years, from the 1200′s to 1809. Before that Finland had never been a unified country, or any kind of an organized society. Since Finnish wasn’t an official language, and was looked down upon by the Swedish-speaking upper class as a language of the commoners, the name that ended up being used in all the official contexts was the Swedish one. 

Oh, but the origin of the name Finland is just as unknown as the origin of Suomi. The -land in Finland means, well, land, but the Fin-part is a bit more complicated.

Some say it comes from the Scandinavian male name Finn. Others say it comes form the Swedish adjective fin, which means the same as fine (though grammatically it should then be Fintland (unless it’s just been shortened) because land in Swedish is ett land and the adjective should be in the correct form or whatever), and others say it comes from the Swedish noun fiende, meaning an enemy. Funnily enough, among the theories there is the Germanic word fen, meaning swamp, and also the word fin, as in the fin on a fish. 

Some have suggested that it comes from the Swedish verb finna, to find, referring to the way the ancient Finns gathered their food like ye olden hunter-gatherers from the youth of our species (Finland has always been a little behind on these hip new things like hunting and agriculture). Some have also suggested the old Scandinavian word finnr, meaning a human, that has been used to refer to both, Finns and the Sami people. 

Wherever the fin- comes from, it’s been around for a loooong time, since a people named the Fenns far in the north were mentioned by the Roman historian Tacitus, and that Greek guy Ptolemaios told about the folk called phinnoi who lived in the northern parts of the Island of Scandia. However, it is unsure whether they’re talking about Finnish or Sami people. But yeah.

I hope this helped! 

[shinshikesesese]

hi! this is more regarding the Japanese language (although not really?), but I trust you can answer me anyway. is there a way to keyboard smash in Japanese? do you just type random katakana? I hope this doesn't sound too weird, I'm just really curious, oops.

Keyboard smash???

As in typing fast on keyboard that you look like your smashing the keyboard?

Well on Japanese keyboard, there's ひらがな (hiragana) and the alphabet(and a lil bit of differences with the command and stuff)

I guess the most common way to type (on laptop/computer) is by typing the romaji. And some cases where people are more used to the computer keyboard likes to use it. We just click the word we want (like how in English the words come up on top of the keyboard)

On phones many Japanese people uses the 3x4 keyboard (its like the 1-9 with two more keys) and it shows the first letter of each rows of hiragana

You press the hiragana you want to get the hiragana you want fronm the row

And the you drag your finger to the hiragana you want

Most Japanese people who are more used to using phones rather than computers use this way to typing.

I hope you understood my explanation and hope it helps

[scarlet--holmes]

Short post: A special artist

Hello everyone!

This year in Ukraine is called the Year of Japanese culture (Рік японської культури). The main purpose is to celebrate the rich culture of this country. Last year we celebrated British culture.

So today I will tell you about an artist that combines both Ukrainian and Japanese cultures in their artworks! 

Natsume is a Japanese artist, whose works are inspired by Ukrainians, especially the Ukrainian army. 

She became interested in Ukrainian culture in 2014, when the world was shocked by the news from the Donbas. Her works often show brave Ukrainian warriors in an unusual cute anime style.

This year Natsume had an opportunity to visit Ukraine. She has been to this country for the first time. One of the soldiers (who is also a huge anime fan) gave her a present: a tube from a hand grenade to carry her drawings in. She was really excited to visit the country that inspires her so much. Natsume’s artworks will appear on billboards all around Ukraine. 

Natsume also tries to show similarities between Ukrainian and Japanese cultures in her artworks. Her hard work proves that art bonds us all and it has power to erase cultural differences. 

If you want to see more of her art, make sure to follow Natsume on Twitter: @msc-mn 

Feel free to ask your questions about Ukraine and have a nice day. Goodbye! 

Sources: x , x

[thatpikachulover]

HETALIA DAY SF 2017 UPDATE

I was able to get in contact with the person in charge of the website, and turns out they haven’t heard from the usual hosts in a while. So, I decided to take matters into my own hands and host it this year. 

I’ve only been to one Hetalia Day (last year), but I really hope I can run a successful Hetalia Day. 

FOR MY SF BAY AREA FRIENDS: Here is the event link! https://www.facebook.com/events/1166359443464028/ 

Invite your friends, come along and have some fun! I’d love to see a lot of people here :)

I’m still not entirely sure what activities I should have at the event, so I’m open to suggestions! 

Reblogs are absolutely appreciated. 

[salytierra]

Hello there! :D I'm a huge fan of mythologies from various different cultures, so I was wondering if you could tell a bit about Spanish mythology? Anything from mythical creatures to popular legends. Thank you in advance! ^^

SPANISH LEGENDS AND MYTHOLOGY 

Hello! Sorry for taking so long to answer. Unfortunately, this theme is not my specialty at all, but I’ll try my best to give you a decent answer :’D 

PRE-ROMAN IBERIANS

Little is known about Iberian customs and beliefs. They had a very rich and flourishing culture and social life, but all the written testimony had been lost due to the fact that their writing has not bee de-codified yet. Apparently they were polytheists and, according to the late chronicles of roman historians during the invasion, had received a lot of religious influence from Phoenicians and Greeks, their permanent trade partners for centuries. There had been some discoveries like The Lady of Baza and the Lady of Elche that suggest a strong leadership by Priestesses in the religious life. 

As for mythology, it had been heavily inspired by the Helenic beliefs about this part of the world. According to Carthaginian chronicles there used to be a temple where the “Columns of Heracles” were supposed to be, at the edge of the Strait of Gibraltar. Hannibal Barca is said to have sworn eternal hate to Rome in that temple. One of the theories also say that he gave name to the city of Barcelona and the Columns of Heracles are still present in the Spanish Crest of Arms. 

Still, most of the known Iberian mythology is like: “here supposedly be a rock where something happened according to other people.” 

A myth/legend/weird history thing worth mentioning though is Tartessos:

TARTESSOS

Tartessos is, crudely said, the Iberian Atlantis. Although to be fair Atlantis was probably made up by Plato but Tartessos has been definitively proven to have been real in the recent research. The problem is that nobody knows where the heck it was. 

Supposedly it was a great coastline civilization miles ahead of its surrounding regions and of their time, with a rich culture and technology, that just disappeared without leaving any trace. It’s fall is mostly consistent with the fall of Phoenicia, around the Vth century BC. 

Some theories say that Tartessos had been wiped out by a Tsunami, since its a region of heavy seismic activity, others that it just died out with the end of the Phoenician commerce or that the surrounding cultures caught up and they stopped being special, thus just mixing around and disappearing. 

In any case, it’s a mystery! 

THE CELTIC NORTH-WEST

Their legends and mythology are far clearer, more documented, and survive to this day. However, I don’t think I can surprise you with any of them because (according to my tour guide in Santiago) most of them can be found in other regions of Celtic descend, specially in Ireland. 

Of the most “recent” (middle ages) The Holy Procession (the procession of the dead dressed in white that you can find walking around at midnight) comes to mind, also the meigas, sort of witches, and bruixas, their nice, cool equivalent that people liked. 

St. JAMES THE MOOR-SLAYER

This is an individual legend but it’s very important. So, in Galicia they say rest the bones of the Apostle St. James (Santiago), which turned it into the hotspot for pilgrimage, specially after the Muslims in the east cut the christian pilgrimage routes to Jerusalem and started killing the pilgrims. So like, the next best option, and way safer, was the restplace of St. James, crossing the territories of the Catholic Kingdoms of Hispania. 

PS: Leaving aside the fascinating legend of how his rests got there (it involves a stone boat, a couple of bulls and a truckload of scallops), the first touristic-guide in the world is believed to be a guide to the way of St. James, the Codex Calixtinus, written around the year 1135.

According to the Legend, the Asturian King Ramiro I was visited by the Apostle Santiago clad in battle wear the night before a big battle with the moors, and the next day, at the battlecry of “Santiago!” the troops of Ramiro won a seemingly impossible battle. From then on and through the centuries variations of “For Spain and for Santiago!” (Santiago and charge, Spain!, For Santiago and the Spains!, etc…) became the official cry of the Spanish Army and the apostle Santiago is the patron Saint of Spain. 

PS: Around the same period we also find a lot of legends and lore related to the Templars and the military orders of the Peninsula (Santiago, Calatrava, Alcántara, Montesa in Spain and Avis in Portugal) 

THE LOVERS OF TERUEL

Sometimes called “the Spanish Romeo & Juliet” it’s in my opinion a way better story, not only it has been proven to have elements of truth in it, but because nobody is fucking 13! 

Funnily enough for a short while this legend had been accused of being a copy of one included in the Decameron of Boccaccio until it had been discovered that the first instances of it date back to a whole century before the Decameron was written, so it may have been actually the other way ‘round. 

Anyway, the events were supposed to have happened in the city of Teruel in the year 1217. A young boy Diego (sometimes called Juan) of the Marcilla family and the girl Isabel of the Segura family, grew up playing together and when their teenage hormones hit hard, fell in love. 

However, even though the Marcilla family was important, it was not as important as the Segura family and Diego was the second son, meant to inherit nothing. There was no way he could marry the only daughter and heiress of the Segura family. So he struck a deal with her father: he’d go to war (meaning la Reconquista) fight hard, rise in rank and earn a world of wealth in five years. If in that time he returned rich, he’d marry Isabel. 

So he left. Passed some years, Isabel’s father started insisting in her to get married but, and here comes my favorite part, she refused on the premise that she had to remain a maiden until 20, because no woman should get married before she learned how to manage a household. And her father, as any good middle-ages dad, that loved and respected his daughter, agreed with her. 

However, when the five years passed and Diego didn’t return, Isabel believed him dead and agreed to marry Don Pedro of Azagra. However, right after the ceremony, Diego returned with great riches! Too late tho. His beloved was already married. 

So he sneaked up into her and her husband’s bedroom at night and asked her for a kiss: “kiss me, for I’m dying!”. She refused on the terms that she would not be unfaithful to her husband, he asked her again and she refused again. 

So Diego just dropped dead of heartache. 

Isabel woke up her husband and told him what happened. He was like “but why didn’t you kiss him?!” so she told him she hadn’t wanted to betray her husband, so he was “you truly are a woman worth of praise.” 

They sneaked him out of their home in the middle of the night and left him in a local church, so the husband wouldn’t get blamed for his death. 

The next day the funeral ceremony took place and Isabel came, dressed in her wedding gown, and leaning over Diego’s body gave him the kiss that she had refused him in life. 

And then she also fell dead. 

The husband then told everyone in the church their story and the town agreed to bury them together, so at least in death they would be side by side. 

Their inexplicably mummified bodies were discovered in 1555 during repair works at the San Pedro church, in Teruel, next to a document dating to the formerly stated year, corroborating the popular legend. 

Since with time the fame of this story spread around Spain. The mummies now lay in a chapel and in marble tombs with exquisitely sculpted lids by the artist Juan de Ávalos y Taborda.

Written as a part of the @aphaskevent

Country embassy: Spain (in case it wasn’t clear… xD) 

Sorry for not being able to tell any better stories, and this probably doesn’t answer your question, but I just thought it better not to talk too much on stuff I didn’t know about and focus on what I did. 

[aphcanada-inactive]

Hello, Ancsa! I'm Esmé, the ambassador for Carpathian Ruś here! I've seen the term "gens fidelissima" pop up now and then, with only a very brief explanation—that it means "most faithful" and stems from the Carpatho-Rusyn loyalty to the kurucok in II. Rákóczi Ferenc's War of Independence. I've tried looking up more info on it, but everything I've found is in Hungarian, and my Hungarian is sadly very limited. If it's not a bother, would you be able to tell me more, please? Thank you so much!

Hi, Esmé!

First of all, sorry that this reply took me so long. I honestly don’t remember ever learning about this aspect of the War of Independence, so I needed to do some research/translating.

Basically, the Rusyns who lived in the Kingdom of Hungary at the time were loyal to Rákóczi because he gave tax benefits, rights of freedom and decent living conditions to his serfs who lived on his lordships in Transcarpathia. It also helped that the Austrians were more oppressive towards the Rusyns. Touched by their loyalty, Rákóczi gave them the name “gens fidelissima” or “the most faithful people”.

On August 28 1703, Rákóczi released an “edict about serfdom”, which meant that those serfs (and their families) who fought in the war of independence would be free of all the taxes towards their lords and the state. In 1708, he gave permanent freedom to those who stuck with him in the war until the end.

After the war ended in 1711, Rákóczi refused to vow loyalty to Vienna. As punishment, his lordships in Munkács (Мукачово / Мукачево) and Szentmiklós (Чинадійово) were given to a German baron and later to the archbishop of  Mainz.

Despite Austria’s efforts to turn the Rusyns against Hungary, they remained loyal and about 20 000 of them fought on Hungary’s side in the War of Independence of 1848-1849.

There’s also a book that bears the same title (Gens Fidelissima: The Rusyns) written by S. Benedek András. The book can be read here in English. The info above is also from an extract of the book.

@slovenska