Tourism

Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours.^[1] Tourism may be international, or within the traveller's country. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as being limited to holiday activity only", as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".^[2]

What are the benefits of swimming?

What are the benefits of swimming?

There are plenty of reasons to swim! Here's a list that should get you motivated.

Low impact

There's no ground impact when you swim, and so you protect the joints from stress and strain. In fact, the Arthritis Foundation strongly recommends swimming and water activities for this reason, so much so that they sponsor water classes all over the country (check http://www.arthritis.org for information). Water aerobics classes are also desirable for this reason, because even if you do jump and hit the bottom of the pool, you do so with less force because you're buoyant in the water. Not only that, but if you wear or hold a flotation device during a water aerobics class, the impact is even less.

Can be continued for a lifetime

Because there's no impact with swimming, it can be continued for a lifetime. If you check the United States Masters Swimming (http://www.usms.org/) Web site for age categories of their swim competitions, you will find a 100- to 104-year-old age group! And the master of fitness, Jack La Lanne, who died in 2011, reportedly still swam one hour every day at age 93!

Builds cardiorespiratory fitness

Swimming improves endurance. In one study of sedentary middle-aged men and women who did swim training for 12 weeks, maximal oxygen consumption improved 10% and stroke volume (the amount of blood pumped with each beat which indicates heart strength) improved as much as 18%.

Builds muscle mass

In a study of men who completed an eight-week swimming program, there was a 23.8% increase in the triceps muscle (the back of the arm). My take on muscle mass and swimming is that if you have been doing no resistance exercise at all and you start to swim, you will certainly get more toned and you may even gain mass like the men in this study. But even without the gain in mass, it's well worth the strength and tone that you will almost certainly gain.

An alternative when injured

When athletes are injured, particularly in the lower extremities, they are frequently told to swim to maintain their fitness level. Swimming helps them stay in shape, and it's even part of the rehabilitation. That's because the resistance of the water makes the muscles work hard without the strain or impact that is experienced on land.

It's a break from the summer heat

There's nothing like it during the hot days of summer, whether it's at the beach or in the pool. It's relaxing, the movements are smooth and rhythmic, and it's a great workout.

Twelve Benefits of Music Education

Twelve Benefits of Music Education

1. Early music education exposure helps develop brain areas involved in language and reasoning – our first example of the twelve benefits of music education. It is thought that brain development continues for many years after birth. Recent studies have clearly indicated that musical training physically develops the part of the left side of the brain known to be involved with processing language, and can actually wire the brain’s circuits in specific ways. Linking familiar songs to new information can also help imprint information on young minds 2. Music education research shows a causal link between music and spatial intelligence (the ability to perceive the world accurately and to form mental pictures of things). This kind of intelligence, by which one can visualize various elements that should go together, is critical to the sort of thinking necessary for everything from solving advanced mathematics problems to being able to pack a book-bag with everything that will be needed for the day.

3. Students of the arts learn to think creatively and to solve problems by imagining various solutions, rejecting outdated rules and assumptions. Questions about the arts do not have only one right answer. 4. Another example of the twelve benefits of music education is found in recent studies that show students who study the arts are more successful on standardized tests such as the SAT. They also achieve higher grades in high school. 
5. A study of the arts provides children with an internal glimpse of other cultures and teaches them to be empathetic towards the people of these cultures. This development of compassion and empathy, as opposed to development of greed and a “me first” attitude, provides a bridge across cultural chasms that leads to respect of other races at an early age.
6. Students exposed to music education learn craftsmanship as they study how details are put together painstakingly and what constitutes good, as opposed to mediocre, work. These standards, when applied to a student’s own work, demand a new level of excellence and require students to stretch their inner resources.
7. In music, a mistake is a mistake; the instrument is in tune or not, the notes are well played or not, the entrance is made or not. It is only by much hard work that a successful performance is possible. Through music study, students learn the value of sustained effort to achieve excellence and the concrete rewards of hard work.
8. Music education enhances teamwork skills and discipline. In order for an orchestra to sound good, all players must work together harmoniously towards a single goal, the performance, and must commit to learning music, attending rehearsals, and practicing.
9. Music education provides children with a means of self-expression. Now that there is relative security in the basics of existence, the challenge is to make life meaningful and to reach for a higher stage of development. Everyone needs to be in touch at some time in his life with his core, with what he is and what he feels. Self-esteem is a by-product of this self-expression.
10. Music education develops skills that are necessary in the workplace. It focuses on “doing,” as opposed to observing, and teaches students how to perform, literally, anywhere in the world. Employers are looking for multi-dimensional workers with the sort of flexible and supple intellects that music education helps to create as described above. In the music classroom, students can also learn to better communicate and cooperate with one another.
11. Music performance teaches young people to conquer fear and to take risks. A little anxiety is a good thing, and something that will occur often in life. Dealing with it early and often makes it less of a problem later. Risk-taking is essential if a child is to fully develop his or her potential. Music contributes to mental health and can help prevent risky behavior such as teenage drug abuse, which often leads to institutionalization in a teen rehab.
12. Our final example of the twelve benefits of music education is that an arts education exposes children to the incomparable.

Music

What is Music? Music is the ‘art of combining tones in a manner to please the ear’. It may also mean sounds so combined as to make a pleasant impression on the mind.

All sound, however, is not music. It is only when the sounds (combined) produce harmony and melody and please the ear that they become music.

Music paves the way for the absorption of the mind in the Supreme. In fact, it is an innocent and refining diversion.

Importance of Music:

• Music can bring excitement in our life.
• It can stir up the feelings of love and sympathy.
• Music makes our life beautiful and fills our heart with joy.
• A emotional song can melt the heart of even a violent person.
• A patriotic song awakens in one of the love for one’s country.
• The solemn and stately music fills the worshipers with awe and reverence and the sense of the Divine Presence.
• Some famous musical pieces are ranked among the greatest achievements in human history.

Everyone knows how the song or Orpheus, the great musician of ancient Greece, proved captivating to stones, trees and flood.

The song of Tansen at Akbar’s court brought about a heavy shower and kindled a fire. Music not only rouses various feelings but also quiets the worried and wearied soul.

Conclusion: We can play a musical instrument. Alternatively, we can listen to a song according to our mood or choice. Either way, music enhances our lives in many ways.

Benefit of Running

Everyone knows that running is a great way to get into shape, but did you know that it can benefit almost every part of your body, as well as lift your mood? Running is incredibly effective at making you healthier in a number of ways. While it may not be everybody's favorite form of exercise, knowing what it can do for your life just may make you look at running in an entirely new light.

Improve Your Health

Believe it or not, running is actually a great way to increase your overall level of health. Research shows that running can raise your levels of good cholesterol while also helping you increase lung function and use. In addition, running can also boost your immune system and lower your risk of developing blood clots.

Prevent Disease

For women, running can actually help to lower your risk of breast cancer. It can also help reduce the risk of having a stroke. Many doctors today recommend running for people who are in the early stages of diabetes, high blood pressure, and osteoporosis, and it is proven to help reduce the risk of having a heart attack. By helping the arteries retain their elasticity and strengthening the heart, your chances of suffering a heart attack can be significantly reduced.

Summer skiing of the hottest spots

Hintertux, Austria

Hintertux is the only ski resort in Austria open 365 days a year and boasts extensive high-altitude summer skiing and snowboarding at the head of the Ziller valley south east of Innsbruck.

With up to 10 lifts and a possible 18 kilometers of slopes above 3,000m, Hintertux offers a range of skiing for all levels below the Olperer peak at 3,478 meters.

The quality of the snow means the Hintertux glacier is a favorite spot for international ski teams to train in the off season.

The Betterpark Hintertux is one of the highest freestyle parks in Austria at 3,200m with terrain for all levels from April to early June and from mid-September to December.

Music as therapy

This music research aligns with the larger arena of music therapy.
The American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) reports that music therapy programs can be designed to achieve goals such as managing stress, enhancing memory, and alleviating pain.
It might seem surprising that music can help people cope with physical pain, but research has shown a clear link.
A 2015 review in The Lancet found that people who listened to music before, during, or after surgery experienced less pain and anxiety, compared to patients who did not listen to music.
The music listeners didn’t even need as much pain medication.
To conduct the study, researchers looked at data from 73 different trials, involving more than 7,000 patients.
The people who experienced a slightly greater, but nonsignificant, reduction in pain, and needed the least pain medication, were the ones who got to pick their own music.
“Music is a non-invasive, safe, cheap intervention that should be available to everyone undergoing surgery,” lead study author Catherine Meads, Ph.D., of Brunel University in the United Kingdom, recommended in a press release.
When it comes to treating chronic conditions, music therapy can also play a powerful role.
A recent review in the World Journal of Psychiatry found that music therapy can be an effective treatment for mood disorders related to neurological conditions, including Parkinson’s disease, dementia, stroke, and multiple sclerosis.
After reviewing 25 trials, the researchers concluded that music is a valid therapy to potentially reduce depression and anxiety, as well as to improve mood, self-esteem, and quality of life.
They also noted that no negative side effects were reported in any of the trials, making music a low-risk treatment.

Sydney Harbour Bridge

The Sydney Harbour Bridge or "Coathanger," as the locals call it, was the city's best-known landmark prior to construction of the Opera House. Supported by massive double piers at each end, it was built in 1932 and remains the world's largest steel arch bridge, connecting the harbor's north and south shores in a single curve rising 134 m above the water. Along its length run two railway lines and eight lanes for road traffic, the direction of which can be varied according to traffic flow. Increasing bridge traffic encouraged construction of a harbor tunnel in 1992 to ease congestion, but motorists can still drive over the bridge for blue water views. Pedestrians can stroll across on walkways or join a guided ascent through BridgeClimb for a breathtaking panorama of the city and harbor. To learn about the fascinating history of the bridge's construction, visit the museum in the southeastern pier.
Daring souls who want to climb to the 135-meter-high summit can book the Sydney bridge climb This is a spectacular opportunity that takes groups of up to 13 people on an approximately 3.5 hour climb to the top of the outer arch. Tours run throughout the day, beginning with a dawn climb and ending with a night climb. 1.5-hour Sampler Climbs and 2.25-hour Express Climbs are also available.

Busch Gardens Williamsburg

Location: Williamsburg, Virginia, USA
2013 attendance: 2.73 million
2014 attendance: 2.70 million (down 1.0%)

Formerly known as Busch Gardens: The Old Country and Busch Gardens Europe, Busch Gardens Williamsburg is sub-divided into a number of themed lands, each of which is based on a European country (with the exception of New France, which represents French Canada). The park is renowned for two things: immersive theming, and its line-up of major roller coasters. Apollo's Chariot is frequently ranked among the best roller coasters in the world, while the Curse of DarKastle dark ride is regarded as one of the best of its type outside a Disney or Universal park.

Don't miss: The secrets of Germany's Black Forest come to life in the multi-launch family coaster Verbolten With impressive special-effects and unimaginable scenery, a tandem ride through the woods turns sinister thanks to snarling vines and a first-in-America secret hidden in a dark showbuilding.

A Trip to Borobudur Temple

      Three years ago, I and my classmates visited Borobudur Temple. We went to Borobudur temple by bus. We left our school at nine o’clock. It took us 24 hours to arrive there. I arrived there nine o’clock the next day. Along the road, we saw many vehicles, unique houses, prominent buildings, and some other tourists.

        After we arrived at the Borobudur temple, one of my teachers went to buy tickets. After we waited him for a moment we entered into Borobudur temple area. Then we went up to the top of the temple. Borobudur temple was built at Budur Village, Magelang, Jawa Tengah by Syailendra Dynasty. Borobudur Temple is the biggest temple in the world. It has 504 statues and 1.400 reliefs.   From the top of the temple we can see such beautiful scenery. I and my friends went around the temple together. Finally, after having some visits, we should go to the hotel to stay and continue our study tour the next day.

     We felt tired that day but we felt so happy to visit Borobudur temple which is well-known as one of the greatest legacies Indonesia has ever had. I hope the temple can be loved by all of the visitors and the government.