Winter in the "Lesachtal" :)

In my home village, St. Lorenzen im Lesachtal, thick snowflakes have been falling last weekend.
The "Lesachtal" is my favourite place in winter, because it``s such a beautiful landscape and with all the snow it looks amazing :)
I love making tours with the skis on mountains with my friends and my family - I feel like a free person and I enjoy every minute when i do this sport.
Now i want to show you some fotos of my beautiful home valley in winter.



Sunrise tour with one of my friends. We started at five in the morning and on the top of the mountain we had a wonderful view and a beautiful sunrise. :)

Another tour with one of my friends.

The gold rush

About 70 years after the Declaration of Independence a worker in a sawmill in Sacramento/California found gold. The mill belonged to a very rich colonial pioneer.
When the news about the gold in California was published in a newspaper, thousands of people moved to the West.
Within a very short time San Francisco`s population grew from 1.000 to 25.000 people. Because of the missing infrastructure it burnt down 6 times in a couple of years.
The rivers got polluted and the Cholera broke out.
Some people made a fortune during the gold rush but many had to live under very tough and poor conditions.
A lot of Native Americans lost either their lives or their land at this time because the white settlers took it away from them in order to establish their own settlements there.

Native Americans

Native Americans were all the people who lived in America before Christopher Columbus and the Europeans discovered America and called them by mistake Indians.
There were many different tribes who lived in different states with their own customs, languages and cultures.

Two famous tribes were the Sioux, who mainly lived in Minnesota and Dakota, and the Cherokee, who lived in the eastern states, like Georgia or South Carolina.
The Sioux are also known because of the massacre at Wounded Knee, where at the end of the 19th century hundreds of Sioux died in the las major battle with the army of the United States.

The Cherokee are known because of the Trail of Tears. In the middle of the 19th century many Indian tribes were relocated, with means they had to leave their land and were forced to lie somewhere else.

Between the 16th and 19th century many Native American died either because of diseases which the Europeans had brought with them or in battles with the American army who wanted to take their land away from them.

Today many Native Americans live in reservations or poor communities where they often face problems like unemployment, alcohol addiciton and so on. Many of them, however, are also successful and proud of their origins and ancestors.

One famous Native American chief was Chief Seattle who is best known for his famous speech to the President of the United States of America in 1855:

"... My words are like the stars that never change. Whatever Seattle says, the great chief at Washington can rely upon with as much certainty as he can upon the return of the sun or the seasons...
... I here and now make this condition that we will not be denied the privilege without molestation of visiting at any time the tombs of our ancestors, friends and children..."

American Culture

 Definiton of Culture

Culture is the characteristics of a particular group of people defined by language, religion, social habits, music, arts...

Useem, J., & Useem, R. (1963) - Human Organizations
 "Culture has been defined in a number of ways, but most simply, as the learned and shared behavior of a community of interacting human beings"

 Linton, R. (1945) - The Cultural Background of Personality (New York)
 "A culture is a configuration of learned behaviors and results of behavior whose component elements are shared and transmitted by the members of a particular society"

 American Culture - Traditions and Customs of the United States

Nearly every region of the world has influenced American culture because it is a country of immigrants.
U.S. culture has also been shaped by the cultures of Native Americans, Latin Americans, Africans and Asians.
Just als cultures from around the world have influenced American culture, today American culture influences the world. Here is a brief overview of the culture of the United States:

Language

There is no official language of the United States, although 31 states have made English their official language or given it exceptional status. More than 90 percent of the U.S. population speaks and understands at least some English and also most official business is conducted in English.
While almost every language in the world is spoken in the United States , Spanish, Chinese, French and German are among the most frequently spoken non-English languages. Each region of the United States, in particular the South, has its own spin on the language with unique pronunciations and phrases.

Religion

More than 75 percent of Americans identify themselves as Christians. About half are Protestant, about one-quarter are Catholic, and a small percentage are Mormon. About 20 percent of the population has no religious affiliation.

American food

American cuisine has been influenced by Europeans and Native Americans in its early history. Today, there are a number of foods that are commonly identified as American, such as hamburgers, hot dogs, potato chips, macaroni and cheese and meat loaf. "As American as apple pie" has come to mean something that is authentically American.

American style

Clothing styles vary by region and climate, but the American style of dressing is casual. Denim, sneakers and cowboy hats and boots are some items of clothing that are closely associated with Americans. Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein and Victoria Secret are some well-known American brands. American fashion is widely influenced by celebrities.

Arts

The United States is widely known around the world as a leader in mass media production, including television and movies. The television broadcasting industry took hold in the United States in the early 1950s and American television programs are shown around the world. The United States also has a vibrant movie industry, centered in Hollywood, and American movies are popular worldwide.


American music is very diverse with many, many styles, including rhythm and blues, jazz, gospel, country and western, bluegrass, rock 'n' roll and hip hop.