Everybody knows that Langports celebrates diversity and welcomes students from so many different countries, but did you know that the Langports’ teams throughout the three campuses are also of diverse ethnicities as well.
I am Sara Motevalli, the Enrolments Officer in the Langports Gold Coast campus. Here on the Gold Coats we have Australians, Canadians, Brazilians, New Zealanders (Kiwis), South Africans, Indians, Russian, Ukrainian, Filipinos, Swiss and Iranian, (that’s me). Not much is known about my country and so I thought it might be a good idea to, just ever so briefly, introduce a little about it. Believe me; it is hard to put nearly 5000 years of history and culture in just one Blog.
Geography and weather
Iran is located in Western Asia, an area that is mostly known as the Middle East and it is among the world’s most mountainous countries. It may surprise you to know that there are very green, luscious rain forests and jungles that cover the northern part of Iran. There are also two deserts in the east along with some salt lakes.
Most of Iran experiences the full 4 seasons throughout the year, with mildly cool fresh springs, with spring showers and colourful blossoms; warm and hot summers, with so many different varieties of fruits and vegetables; rainy cool autumns, that are abundant with dreamy colours of all the different tree leaves; and finally cold snowy winters, especially toward the northern states.
The southern states generally have spring and summer only, with palm trees and beautiful beaches.
Most people already know that Iran has large reserves of fossil fuels. We have the fourth-largest oil reserves and the largest natural gas supply in the world. However, there is a lot more to the former heart of the Persian Empire than you might imagine.
History
Did you know that Iran is one of the world’s oldest civilizations? The Persian Empire was the largest empire that the world has ever seen.
When Iran was concurred by famed general, Khalid ibn Walid during the Muslim conquest of Persia in 633 AD, many Persians converted to Islam. Iranians are mostly Shia Muslims; however, there are Christians, Jews and various other religions in Iran as well; but they are all unified by one identity. They are all Iranians and they all speak Persian, the official language of our country.
Art and Literature
Each region and period in Iran produced many different varieties of works of art. Iranian art extends to architecture, painting, weaving, pottery, calligraphy, metalworking, stonemasonry and of course literature.
Most people have heard about the value and beauty of Persian carpets and rugs, which are a great display of Iranians’ art. Iran is the largest producer and exporter of handmade carpets in the world.
Iranian literature is one of the world’s oldest literatures as the Persian language has the soft melodic tone for poetry and prose. Poets
like Rumi and Hafez played with words like magic.
Sport
Freestyle wrestling is the national sport of Iran but Soccer is the most popular sport along with volleyball and basketball and since there are so many mountains in Iran skiing, snowboarding, hiking, rock climbing, and mountain climbing are also popular too.
Other Interesting Facts
Iranians use three official calendars; the Solar calendar is the main one used, then the Gregorian calendar is used for international and Christian events, and the Lunar calendar for Islamic events.
Iran’s New Year is on the 21st of March, which is celebrated as the first day of spring, and we call it Nowruz. It is an old traditional holiday, when we have a s
pecial table setting called Haft Seen.
In Iran, fashion is manifested through vibrant colours and interesting styles, while also trying to observe the religious and cultural identities of our people. If you were to Google “fashion in Iran”, you would be surprised by what you will find.
Thank you!
Sara Motevalli