Elementary

Cherry blossoms are a sign of spring. There are festivals in many countries to celebrate the bloom of these flowers. The flowers don’t last long and fall off after a week. In Japan, people have picnics under the cherry blossom trees. This is called hanami.

The US also has this tradition because Japan gave them cherry trees in 1912. The flowers mean new beginnings. Now, people sell things that taste like cherry blossoms, such as ice-cream and cookies. They also watch the weather to see when the flowers will bloom.

Most organizations, such as the widely recognized Henley Passport Index, believe the strongest passports are the ones that allow their citizens to enter more countries without a visa. They rank Singapore as the most powerful passport in 2023 because it provides easy access to 194 countries.

But is this the best way to decide how strong a passport is? Global Citizen Solutions has developed a more detailed but slightly different approach. The Global Passport Index analyzes how desirable a country passport is, considering the following:

Melbourne, Australia—where I live— is a city of festivals. Every year there are arts, music, film, food, beer, wine, and cultural festivals. For example, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Street Food Festival, and Autumn Festivals. There's always something to look forward to in my city.

J.J. Abrams has created many action and sci-fi films and TV series. A few of the best-known are Star Wars, Mission Impossible III; and the TV show, Lost. Abrams loved magic when he was a boy. He once bought a Magic Mystery Box. For $15, he got $50 worth of magic. He carried the box everywhere he went, but he never opened it. Why not? He finally realized that it was the mystery that was so special. Not knowing what's in the box allowed him to imagine it. Mystery inspires imagination. So the box helped him use his imagination.

Abrams sees today's technology as part of the magic. Without special effects, he couldn't bring his stories to life.

In math terms, you could say:

Mystery + imagination + technology = magic!

For Abrams, magic exists wherever there is mystery. And technology can help us see it.

Gen Z employees have many advantages in the modern digitalized workplace. They are used to remote working and can usually choose their work conditions.

But it can be hard for them to communicate and behave correctly amongst others. That’s because they might not have any experience with casual situations and interactions other generations were exposed to in a physical workspace.

In the past, these circumstances helped young employees understand how to behave, work together, and network. For example, a casual exchange of ideas by the water cooler or an office seating arrangement helps us know who is more available or understand the chain of command.

As a result, inexperienced Gen Z workers are great with specific tasks they can do alone but struggle to understand the work environment as a whole. Unfortunately, that means they are not given the chance to develop leadership qualities.

When I was a kid, my father had a huge vegetable garden. He taught me how to plant and grow vegetables from seed to harvest. One year I decided to grow a tomato plant. I named it Wilson after a song I liked by Livingston Taylor.

Well, Wilson had a couple of serious accidents along the way. First, his pot fell off the shelf when he was a seedling and he crashed onto the floor. But I picked him up and put him in another pot, and he survived. Then our horses got loose in the garden, and one of them stepped on Wilson and squashed him flat! All that was left was a little stem. My dad was sure that was the end of the story. But I put stem-Wilson in a pot and he quickly grew back and returned to the garden. At the end of the summer, he gave us lots of big, healthy tomatoes.

If you go to Bangkok during the Thai New Year in mid-April, you might get splashed with water. This is because the Thai celebrate New Year with a water festival called Songkran. It is a holy festival where people bless each other with water. So, in Bangkok, people with water guns take part in huge water fights.

People of all ages take part in Songkran. You should be careful when refilling your water gun since older folks might pour ice-cold water down your back while you’re not looking. The good thing is that it’s very hot in Thailand, so the cold water feels refreshing. Some tourists join in the fun. Others don't. For those who don't, the best place to be is indoors. Anyone on the street will get splashed with water, even if they're driving. Throwing wet powder on each other's faces is also an important part of the festival!

What a fun way to spend New Year!

The 1st of January is an important day in many countries, and people have different ways of welcoming the day. For some, it may be as simple as having a family dinner, while others perform specific rituals to start the new year off well.

In Denmark, they save all of their unused dishes and plates until the 31st of December, when they affectionately shatter them against the doors of all their friends and family to banish bad spirits.

In the Philippines, it’s all about the cash. They believe that everything should be round to represent coins and bring wealth. Round food, round clothes—as long as it’s round.

In Bolivia, coins are baked into sweets, and whoever finds the coins has good luck for the next year.

Adecco, a Japanese company providing human resource services, conducted a national survey asking 900 elementary and junior high school boys and girls what job they wanted to do when they grew up. Many children showed an interest in jobs that involve digital technology, which is no surprise since they have been surrounded by the technology since birth.

The detailed results of the survey are shown below.
 

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elementary [adjective] /el-uh-MEN-tuh-ree/—simple or early stages of studying