A couple nights ago I had a long discussion with my wife about maintaining the Armenian culture. But first, why is it so important to maintain a culture? What is culture anyway? In this context, culture is “the sum total of ways of living built up by a group of human beings and transmitted from one generation to another.” Many people, unfortunately, never get to experience another culture to its fullest…

It was a sunny day in August of 1993. I was all worried. How does one greet his new family? Would the Armenian hug and kiss be accepted? Who would be meeting me at the airport? As I walked down from the plane, I saw a group ahead of me with a banner held up high welcoming me. My new family welcomed me with open arms and hugs. It was the absolute best welcome anyone could ever expect. Two of the best people I have ever met were appointed…

It was the winter of 1993. Yerevan was covered with a white freezing blanket of snow. It was serene and peaceful outside, no cars, no people, nothing. Just the snow… and the occasional smoke emanating from a makeshift tin exhaust vent built into the kitchen or living room window, a pipe on a wall made black by whatever people had been burning to stay warm…

The process of learning a foreign language has a number of stages. Each stage seems exciting, new and impossible to overcome. Yet somehow after we internalize the knowledge, a new stage presents itself in due time. I learned the letters and the most basic constructs of the English language in school, but I was not serious about it until my last couple of years…

Isaac Newton’s three laws on motion are fundamental in classical mechanics in physics but I think they also apply just as strongly in our daily lives and our relationships. Let me draw the parallels and let you decide. Is it possible that if we applied these in our lives, we would be able to achieve a new level of harmony and tranquility…