Coffee

Coffee is one of the most popular drinks in the world. You can find coffee shops on almost every corner of large cities in Canada. Many people like coffee in the morning because it helps them wake up. Coffee has caffeine in it. Caffeine gives people more energy.

Coffee comes from the seeds of a coffee plant. These seeds are called beans. The coffee beans are roasted and ground to make coffee. Coffee plants grow in hot places. They need a lot of sun and a lot of rain.

When people first discovered the coffee plant, they did not use the plant to make a drink--they ate parts of it! They chewed the berries of the plant when they travelled to give them energy. Some people even used the leaves from the coffee plant to make wine.

Later, people started to find new ways to use coffee. They roasted and ground the beans. Then they put the beans in hot water to make a drink. The drink first became popular in Egypt and Turkey. Later, it became popular in Europe.

Each country has its own way of drinking coffee. In North America, people add cream and sugar. In France, people put hot milk in their coffee. Europeans drink strong black coffee, and Italians like to add cinnamon or chocolate. Irish coffee is the strongest coffee. It has whiskey in it!

Taekwondo Peace Corps eyes new volunteers

From the Korea Herald:

The World Taekwondo Peace Corps Foundation, a non-profit organization promoting peace through the traditional Korean martial art, is looking for new volunteers for this year’s program. The World Taekwondo Federation, the sport’s governing body, established the Peace Corps in 2008 to provide more opportunities for youths in developing countries. The Taekwondo Peace Foundation was established in 2009 to further develop the program. Last year, a total of 309 volunteers were sent to 45 countries across the world to teach taekwondo and spread Korean culture. The World Taekwondo Peace Foundation started last week receiving applications for the 2011 Peace Corps. Anyone under the age of 35, specialized in areas such as sports, arts and Korean literature and Korean, can apply for the program until May 10. Selected volunteers will be dispatched to developing countries among the 193 members of WTF for two months up to one year, from July this year. For more information visit www.tpcorps.org or call (02) 546-0074.

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean. It is the world's second largest country by total area (9,984,670 square kilometres) (compared with South Korea's 99,828 square kilometres). Canada's common border with the United States to the south and northwest is the longest in the world.

The land that is now Canada was inhabited for millennia by various groups of Aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French expeditions explored, and later settled, along the Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 after the Seven Years' War. In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal dominion of four provinces. This began an accretion of provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom. This widening autonomy was highlighted by the Statute of Westminster of 1931 and culminated in the Canada Act of 1982, which severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the British parliament.

Canada is a federation that is governed as a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state. It is a bilingual nation with both English and French as official languages at the federal level. One of the world's highly developed countries, Canada has a diversified economy that is reliant upon its abundant natural resources and upon trade—particularly with the United States, with which Canada has had a long and complex relationship. It is a member of the G7, G8, G20, NATO, OECD, WTO, Commonwealth, Francophonie, OAS, APEC, and UN. With the eighth-highest Human Development Index globally, it has one of the highest standards of living in the world.

Interesting fact: Canada’s lowest-ever recorded temperature was -63º Celsius, recorded at Snag River, Yukon, on 3 February 1947.