The World of Fashion

The World of Fashion

When designer Marc Jacobs, creative director of Louis Vuitton, was asked what fashion is, he said it was part of the art of living, just like books and good food. It is more. Contrary to those who consider fashion the trivial interest of people like the Kardashians, children who spend their free time making doll clothes might need to understand advanced technology. After all, New York's 2013 Toy Fair introduced Barbie wearing a "Digital Dress" that had a lighted touchscreen to let youngsters change designs. (This Barbie is now available for holiday giving in 2013.) In any case, sewing doll clothes can prepare children to make a number of significant contributions to their countries and the world. Anna Wintour, editor of U.S. Vogue, even was mentioned as a possible next U.S. ambassador to the U.K. or France.

     In England during World War II, the availability of new clothing was considered essential to maintaining civilian morale. While incendiary bombs and V-1 rockets were destroying the House of Commons, homes, and water mains, the Board of Trade authorized the use of scarce material for easy-to-mass-produce stylish clothing. Next summer, as part of the celebration commemorating the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth's coronation, British fashion designers who dress the Royal Family have been invited to present a style show in the garden at Buckingham Palace.

    Museums note the importance of fashion by mounting exhibits devoted to textiles and clothing. The current "Interwoven Globe" exhibit that runs through January 5, 2014 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City features fabrics and garments that influenced cultures around the world when they were traded from 1500 to 1800. A catalogue for this exhibition is available from store.metmuseum.org. During the U.S. African American History Month in February, 2013, exhibits devoted to the meaning and designs of the kente cloth woven by the Asante and Ewe peoples of Ghana, Africa, were on display in Washington, D.C. at the Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of African Art and at its Arts & Industries Building.

     In her book, All We Know, Lisa Cohen, through the eyes of Madge Garland, former editor of British Vogue, tells how English designers were urged to raise funds for the war effort and to pay off debt after World War II by creating couture collections for export to North and South America. Familiarity with the names Dior and Chanel and Giorgio Armani, Valentino, Gucci, Pucci, Prada, Versace, and Missoni indicate France and Italy also recognize the importance of fashion exports. Not satisfied to export its fashions to foreign outlets, Japanese-based Uniqlo (unique clothing) opened its own stores to sell its private label brand thoughout Asia and in the U.S. and France. In 2015, Uniqlo also partnered with Muslim fashion blogger, Hana Tajima, to market a "modest wear collection" of headscarves and dresses.

     The U.S. promotes its couture for domestic and international consumption at New York Fashion Weeks, such as the one from Feb. 6 to Feb. 14, 2013 this year. According to trendwatching.com, new countries are entering the global haute couture market as well. These include China's Zhang Zhifeng's NE-TIGER brand, Masaba Gupta's animal print saris from India, and the Brazilian-California fusion styles of the Osklen fashion house. Trendwatching.com also reports Brazil exports its Amazonas Sandals, made from 80% recycled material and raw material from native rubber trees, to China.

     Brazil's sandals are just one indication that fashion has developed a social conscience. Although some designers still work with real fur, once People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) raised awareness of how animals are raised and the way their pelts are collected, other designers stopped using fur or switched to faux fur. The problem is few people are aware that coats that include less than $150 worth of real animal fur can be labeled faux fir. That means a so-called faux fur garment may include the skins of 30 rabbits, 3 raccoons, 3 red foxes, 3 dogs, or a bear. German sculptor, Iris Schieferstein, draws attention to the way people use and abuse animals by incorporating animal parts from animals that have died of natural causes into her shoe, hat, and umbrella designs. You might see Lady Gaga wearing Schieferstein's hoof shoes made from hoofs reclaimed from a butcher shop.

     Designers in the small island of Sri Lanka, who exhibited at the International Fashion Showcase during London's Fashion Week (February, 2013), are determined to make their country a regional center of sustainable fashion. They foster the use of fabric waste, green manufacturing processes, and the incorporation of handmade traditional crafts in their designs.

     Kids for Kids (kidsforkidsfashion.com) sells T-shirts printed with artwork created by orphans and underprivileged children in lesser developed countries and then donates 10% of sale revenue to the organizations that support these little artists. Brazil's Vitoria soccer club changed its usual black and red striped uniforms to black and white to support a blood drive. The website, trendwatching.com, reported the shirts will gradually return to all red and black during the 2012/2013 soccer season, when red replaces white to show blood donation targets are being met.

     Organizations, such as the International Labour Organization and Conservation International,  are now working to guarantee "economically marginalized" artisans a fair price, to eliminate child labor, and to protect the environment. WFTOMarket.com, a website of the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO), lists items available to wholesalers from worldwide sources that pay fair prices and operate under safe and healthy working conditions. In North America, the Fair Trade Federation is an association of members that subscribe to WFTO objectives. Before they buy scarves and jewelry, for example, young and older shoppers can look for the WFTO and Fair Trade Federation symbols on catalogs from organizations, such as SERRV International (serrv.org).

     The Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) is just beginning to get clothing companies, such as Gap, Adidas, Nike, Target, North Face, and Timberland, interested in: reducing the billions of pounds of apparel that end up in landfills, finding substitutes for the pesticides that run off into and contaminate water supplies, eliminating the use of  harmful chemicals (coffee grounds can be used as dyes), cutting water consumed in production (cotton is a water intensive crop;1,600 gallons of water can be used to produce a single pair of jeans), and decreasing the energy used to manufacture and transport clothing. Eventually, SAC's Higg Index, higher for the most eco-friendly goods, could appear on clothing hang tags and be approved by the U.S. government.

     Livia Firth, the wife of actor Colin Firth, issued a "Green Carpet Challenge" to the top fashion designers who dress celebrity clients. Working under humane conditions, she asked what haute couture styles they could produce from things like upcycled plastic, discarded ostrich feathers, and fabric remnants. Firth herself has been seen wearing a rubber cuff bracelet made from an old tire and a patchwork jacket made from recycled tweed. Rising to Firth's "Green Carpet Challenge" at the Academy Awards on February 24, 2013, Vivienne Westwood and Michael Badger, the Ghanaian student she mentors, dressed "Skyfall" actress, Naomi Harris, is a gown that incorporated chocolate candy wrappers and reclaimed beads and zippers in its design. Dye from non-chemical goldenrod and chamomile gave the gown its mustard yellow color.

    As Barbie's "Digital Dress" suggests, technology students are finding applications for their skills in the fashion industry. Some work with nanoparticles no bigger than a billionth of a meter to give fabrics stain proof properties. Others have come up with quick-drying textiles, thin insulation for coats and gloves, cool material that stretches vertically and diagonally, and fabrics that shun perspiration. On another front, in the future we are likely to see more garments designed and made of materials created by the 3D printing process.

     One way to keep up with the latest developments in the fashion world is to check into fashionobserved.braveblog.com from time to time. More up-to-date information on sustainable/ethical clothes is available at ecouterre.com. Lately, ecouterre is reporting that marine litter, such as used fishing nets, is being recycled as socks and swimwear. After the collapse of the Bangladesh clothing factory that killed up to 900 workers, ecouterre reminded consumers to continue to patronize the country's ethical fashion companies, such as People Tree, Tulsi Crafts, Bachhara, Bhalo, and KAARU.

     Like a corset in the jazz age, clothes can be out of fashion, if they fail to reflect not only current tastes, but also economic and political conditions. Every since Pope Francis was elected, news coverage about him has noted how he expresses humility and concern for the poor by wearing an iron cross instead of a gold one and how he has dispensed with ermine-trimmed capelets and caps. Similarily, foreign policy experts might gain some useful clues by observing countries where women stop wearing head scarves and military leaders switch to business suits.

What's in a Name?

"What is your doll's name?" "What is your pet's name?"

New plush animals, dolls, and pets that children received as holiday gifts offer naming opportunities to provide creative, globe-spanning answers to the questions adults often use to interact with youngsters.

A plush tiger named "Gandhi" reflects one of the big cat's last remaining habitats in India, and "Mandela" the lion pays homage to South Africa's great leader. "Churchill," England's World War II leader, is the perfect name for a new bulldog.

Girls may choose to name their dolls Marie Curie for the Nobel Prize winner in chemistry or Amelia Earhart for the first woman to make a solo transoceanic flight. They might choose the name "Golda" to honor Israel's late prime minister or "Malala" to honor the girl who won a Nobel Peace Prize at age 17 after she survived a bullet meant to silence her efforts to help girls receive an education in Pakistan.

History and the news are rich resources of names that help children connect with those who have made or now make a major impact on their world. At foreign films, pay attention to the credits which are filled with different names used in other countries. Instead of Bob, encourage a child to name an action figure, Lars.

Getting to Know You

The best way to get to know about a foreign country is to talk to a foreigner in person. Using Skype Translator, it may soon be possible to have a real time conversation with someone speaking a different language. Microsoft is developing software that can translate a conversation between two people videochatting in these different languages: English, Spanish, Italian, or Mandarin. Actually, a person would say one or two sentences and then stop for a translation. The other person then would respond the same way.

      Until these real time computerized translations or face-to-face meetings can occur, the next best thing is to exchange letters or e-mails with children who live in other countries. An episode on the PBS show, "Arthur," showed how correspondence with a child in Turkey dispelled the notion that children there lived in tents and rode to school on camels. There are a variety of ways to find foreign pals, but, until a real one is located, items in a kit from littlepassports.com help children learn about one country each month, and they can pretend to write letters from foreign countries they have studied. From Russia, a young make-believe correspondent might write:

          Do you like to draw? I do. Yesterday our class visited the Hermitage Museum, where
          we saw a painting of Napoleon. He looked very heroic, but we are learning that his
          army tried unsuccessfully to defeat Russia in winter. Our winters are very cold, and we
          get a lot of snow.

If a Russian pen pal is found, it would be fun for a child to compare a real letter with this pretend one.

     Foreign students are in a good position to help children who are searching for a real pen pal. Classmates could have cousins and other relatives who would like to correspond with someone in the United States. Neighborhood families may be hosting foreign students who are eager to maintain U.S. ties after they return home. Then too, a local college or university is a good source of babysitters. Those from foreign countries may develop a lasting relationship that they want to maintain.

     Aside from relying on personal contacts to find an international pen pal, organizations often have established structures that either can or do facilitate person to person correspondence across borders. Some agencies, such as Pearl S. Buck International (psbi.org), encourage benefactors to write to the children they sponsor. Through translators, the children send return messages to those who support them. Members of international organizations, such as Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops, are in a good position to ask their leaders to find counterparts in other countries. Children also should urge cities and churches with sister cities and parishes to help them contact foreign students. The Peace Corps maintains a website, peacecorps.gov/wws/educators, that enables teachers to locate members willing to correspond with their classes. And ePals.com also helps facilitate joint projects between U.S. teachers and teachers in foreign countries.

     In some areas, children may not have to go far to visit a neighborhood where foreign immigrants maintain much of their culture. A walk through Chinatown of Little Italy is an easy way to visit shops, meet people from foreign countries, and sample native foods. While traveling near and far through the United States, there are many opportunities to seek out communities that have preserved a distinctive foreign lifestyle. In Door County, Wisconsin, for example, children will find descendants of Norwegians and Swedes who settled there in the 19th century. Surrounded by brightly painted Dala horses, they can pour lingonberry syrup on their pancakes and watch goats nibble grass from the roofs of nearby log cabins.

     No doubt, these foreign contacts will lead children to want to visit foreign countries. For some ideas about foreign travel, go to the earlier blog post, "See the World." Also see the blog post, "How Do You Say?"



    

Fashion Forward

Before discounting fashion as a trivial subject, consider how exploring closets and underwear drawers can lead children to a map and to ask questions about why their clothes are made in certain countries. Checking labels and listing where clothes are made can lead to a worldwide map search for all the countries that manufacture a child's outfits and accessories.

     Kelsey Timmerman's interest in the economic conditions, wages, and working conditions in countries that produced his clothes motivated him to travel to Bangladesh, Cambodia, and China to see the factories where his underwear, jeans, and flip-flops were made. The record of his journey, Where Am I Wearing?, is a thoughtful discussion of the people and countries that depend on textile jobs and the options consumers have for buying these goods. In the aftermath of the clothing factory collapse that killed more than 1000 workers in Bangladesh, where 75% of the country's exports are textiles, ecouterre.com reminded customers not to boycott clothing produced in Bangladesh and listed some of the responsible companies operating there. After the April 24, 2013 factory collapse, ecouterre.com also reported that Abercrombie & Fitch and the Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger brands signed an Accord on Fire & Building Safety in Bangladesh. Walmart, which announced it would fund a project to develop labor standards for the country, is among the retailers, including Target and Macy's, that have not signed the Accord.

     There are organizations that are devoted to distributing clothing and accessories produced by workers paid and treated fairly in developing countries. Although there is no third party fair trade certification program for apparel, Fair Indigo has several small shops that sell "sweatshop-free" clothing in the United States. Baby sleepers and baby clothing made of 100% pure organic cotton from a worker-owned cooperative in Lima, Peru, are available through Fair Indigo's catalog (800-520-1806 or fairindigo.com).

     SERRV is an organization that helps artisans in developing countries maximize profits from their crafts. Among the many items featured in the SERRV catalog (serrv.org) are knitted mittens, scarves, and hats from Nepal; headbands from Vietnam; and jewelry from Swaziland, Mali, the Philippines, Indonesia, Chile, and Peru.

     Museum gift shops are good sources of interesting alternatives to heavily advertised mall fashions. Locally, you might find a beaded ponytail band from South Africa, a handstitched story purse from Peru, or a woven backpack from Mexico that is the perfect present for a little girl who likes to start fashion trends.

Go Holiday Globe (S)hopping

Gifts can help kids think globally on holidays, birthdays, graduations, and other special occasions. In this gift-giving season, catalogues, international organizations, and museum, map, and book stores are good sources of presents with meaningful international connections.

Christmas, Hanukkah, Chinese New Year

Christians can purchase a pop-up Advent calendar from UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund, (unicefusa.org/shop) and help provide for the health and education of the world's children at the same time. SERRV (serrv.org) donates a school notebook to children in Ghana, Africa, for every Advent calendar it sells. Why? Because the chocolate hearts young people find behind the numbers for each day in Advent come from the Kuapa Kokoo cocoa cooperative in Ghana. SERRV also sells Kosher certified dark and milk chocolate foil-covered coins for children who celebrate Hanukkah.

     When the Chinese New Year arrives between January 21 and February 19 at the second new moon after the beginning of winter, Chinese children receive money in red envelopes. Children in other countries would approve if their families joined in this tradition. Besides U.S. currency, the American Automobile Association (AAA) could add some foreign currency in the form of a TipPak (registered trademark) of Australian, British, Canadian, Japanese, or European Union money to these red envelopes. In preparation for the Chinese New Year, youngsters also can write their own fortune cookie messages with rub-on Chinese characters in a kit from Multicultural Kids (multiculturalkids.com).

Personalized presents

For children old enough to appreciate personalized presents with a foreign twist, there are cartouche (kar-toosh) necklaces and netsukes. In Egypt, a cartouche, or amulet, was designed to protect each Pharaoh. Nowadays, necklaces sold my Signals (signals.com) or made in Cairo for National Geographic (shopng.org) translate children's names into Egyptian hieroglyphics using eagles, owls, crowns, lions, and other symbols.

     Birthdays are especially good occasions to give Japanese netsukes, little statues once used on cords that closed pouches or baskets. Some are made to symbolize the animal zodiac signs for each year. This is the Year of the Dragon, and 2013 will be the Year of the Snake. Since animal designations occur in 12-year cycles,  kids can find the symbols for their birth years by counting forward or back from an animal known for one year. Children might enjoy seeing if their personalities match the qualities attributed to their birth year animals.

2000/2012 Dragon: A solitary, free-spirited non-conformist who is generous to others.
2001/2013 Snake: A wise, well-organized person who understands others and can wiggle out of
                              trouble.
2002/2014 Horse: A cheerful, popular crowd-pleaser who loves excitement and handles money
                              carefully.
2003/2015 Sheep/goat: A dazzling, elegant dresser and creative thinker with a shy nature.
2004/2016 Monkey: A clever, brilliant thinker with a thirst for knowledge and the ability to solve
                                  difficult problems.
2005/2017 Rooster: A talented, deep thinker who likes to work alone.
2006/2018 Dog: A loyal, somewhat eccentric protector who can keep secrets and inspire
                           confidence.
2007/2019 Pig: A gallant champion or causes who is satisfied with having a few lifelong
                         friends.
2008/2020 Rat: A charming, energetic, imaginative perfectionist who is careful not to hurt others.
2009/2021 Ox: A patient leader who inspires confidence.
2010/2022 Tiger: A warm, courageous, goal-oriented worker with a sparkling personality.
2011/2023 Hare/rabbit: A tactful, ambitious peacemaker who is fortunate in business.

     Finally, no present is more personal and infused with international significance than a child's own passport. Students don't need to have a foreign trip planned when they get a passport, they just can start thinking about which countries they would like to visit. Local post offices provide the details about obtaining a passport, and they even take passport photos.

Global gifts

Usually presenting children with educational gifts is like giving them underwear. A number of globes, books, and toys escape that classification, however. The National Geographic website sells a levitating globe, suggested for students 8 and up, that uses electromagnetism to hover in mid-air between the top and bottom of its display stand. Younger children, 3 and up, can use a joystick to circle National Geographic's Fly and Discover Talking Globe to learn about the world's oceans, animals, customs, and fun facts. Young Explorers (YoungExplorers.com) sells the GeoSafari (registered trademark) talking globes that children 6 and up can use to answer 10,000 geographical questions, while MindWare (mindware.com) and National Geographic have interactive globes that students 5 and up can touch with a digital pen to find information about a country's population, weather, currency, and more. With a remote control, children 6 and up also can watch the world's cities go by on a wall "globe" using MindWare's Earth from Orbit Light. In low tech worlds, UNICEF has a Planet Earth Lift-the-Flap book and SERRV's mobile of the world includes children dressed in costumes representing their cultures.

     There is no shortage of fiction and non-fiction books with an international theme. For centuries, classics have taken children through German forests in the stories of Red Riding Hood, Snow White, Hansel and Gretel, and many others collected by Jakob and Wilheim Grimm. Children have traveled with Paddington bear from Peru to meet Christopher Robin's Pooh bear and Alice in Wonderland in the gardens of England. Through literature, children have experienced the splendor of the Swiss Alps with Johanna Spyri's Heidi. Ever since the 18th century, when Frenchman Antoine Galland recognized how European and Muslim cultures could share the fascination of The Arabian Nights, kids and adults have shared the Indian and Persian stories of a genie who granted Aladdin's wishes, a girl who saved Ali Baba, Sinbad's adventures, and 998 additional tales.

     Books about Asia, Latin America, and Africa now have joined these familiar stories. Heian publishes a series of Asian folktales, and Raul Colon uses a unique combination of paint, etched lines, and colored pencils to illustrate a book of Latin American folktales. For their illustrations in Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions, Leo and Diane Dillon won a Caldecott Medal from the Association for Library Service to Children. Just a couple more examples suggest the breadth of books that help children explore their world. Journey to the River Sea takes young people down the Amazon River, while Gena Gorrell, in the context of The Land of the Jaguar, describes every South American country for her young audience. The Children's Atlas of World Wildlife goes around the globe to show children the diversity of nature's creatures, and National Geographic Kids: Animal Creativity Book couples information about the world's animals with games, stencils, stickers, and crafts.

Animals in a healthy environment

Gift givers are on a sure footing, when they tap into a child's love of animals. The World Wildlife Fund (worldwildlife.org) makes it possible to present children with plush animals and, at the same time, introduce them to ways to save animals all over the world from harm and extinction.

     There are both animal gifts that help children play in traditional ways and some that provide a new experience. Besides plush animals, kids 6 and up can construct their own lions, tigers, giraffes, and zebras using puzzle pieces from MindWare. Toys to grow on (ttgo.com) invites kids 3 to 10 years old to go on their own safaris by giving them vinyl jungle huts, an SUV, and 12 animals. Kids also can hide a monkey, elephant, or tiger and launch an adventure using wands from YoungExplorers to find them.

     Toys appeal to children's concern for the world's environment not only its wildlife. To see solar power in action, youngsters can build robots from Young Explorers and MindWare that use the sun to move windmills, boats, helicopters, cars, bulldozers, and a scorpion. Even adults will be excited to learn how MindWare's zero-emission car runs on water converted to hydrogen power. And how does the greenhouse effect, desalination of salt water, or a solar oven work? MindWare has kits to teach those means to a clean environment, too.

Conclusion

From Signals (signals.com) wooden blocks with alphabets, numerals, and animal pictures in Arabic, Chinese, and 14 other languages to a full array of dolls, map puzzles, and books from Multicultural Kids and Latin American rainsticks from Musician's Friend (musiciansfriend.com), the world is ready to help children realize globalization can be fun.

Pizza, Plantains, and Moo Goo Guy Pan

Recognizing that food can reflect a nation's history, such as its immigration patterns and conflicts, the U.S. State Department has been known to send a corps of chefs to practice "gastrodiplomacy" with foreign chefs. These cultural ambassadors use food to foster understanding.

Food also can help children develop an international perspective. Thanks to the proliferation of international travelers, foodies, and immigrants a trip to the supermarket now includes an introduction to a sushi bar, jalapeno chilies, exotic mushrooms, cumin, coriander, turmeric, a wider variety of beans and rice, imported cookies, and bottled foreign water and juice. Small World Toys (smallworldtoys.com) provides hands-on-play with a 6-piece set of pizza slices, a red pepper shaker, and more. Just as adults hold wine tasting events, children can hold a tasting of chocolates from around the world. Those SERRV sells at serrv.org come from Ghana in Africa.

     Books, such as those in the library's 641 section, have a wide variety of international recipes. Global Vegetarian Cooking from SERRV includes over 130 simplified recipes that use readily available ingredients. At tv.disney.go.com/disneychannel/passtheplate, children can click on a country to find ways adults can help them prepare international recipes using rice, tomatoes, bananas, and other familiar foods. Vegans concerned about eating the world's animals might like to check out the site of blogger, Kathy Patalsky, at kblog.lunchboxbunch.com and her recipes at findingvegan on Facebook. In Food Journeys of a Lifetime, National Geographic serves up taste tempting reasons why kids can start planning lifelong travel to 500 extraordinary dining experiences around the world.

     Those not inclined to prepare a complete international meal themselves might seek out foreign neighbors, school families, and church members who would like to bring their native dishes to a community, school, or church social. Also, the advertising pages of telephone books list restaurants offering a wide variety of Chinese, Ethiopian, French, German, Greek, Italian, Mexican, Thai, Turkish, and other international cuisine, as well as ethnic fast food fare. Since some restaurants print their entire menus online and in telephone books, children might have fun using a pocket foreign language dictionary to look up translations for unfamiliar items. For children too young to sit still during a meal at a foreign restaurant, there is carryout. Take youngsters along to pick up the food, and they will get a taste of another culture just by seeing the restaurant's decor. They even may see people who have removed their shoes to kneel or sit on floor mats and cushions when they eat.

     About the time children learn to tie their shoes they also can be introduced to the art of eating with chopsticks. The trick is using the middle finger to hold one of the chopsticks steady against the ring and little fingers while manipulating the other chopstick up and down to pick up food with the thumb and forefinger. Servers at local Chinese and Japanese restaurants should be able to provide chopsticks and help children and adults master the technique.There is no better opportunity to try out this new skill than at a Chinese New Year celebration at home or in a local Chinese restaurant. At that time, children also can write their own fortune cookie messages using rub-on Chinese characters in a kit from Multicultural Kids (multiculturalkids.com).

When to Buy/Sell in the World Market

Not only do countries have their own languages, they often have their own currencies. To name just a few, there are: Indian rupees, Mexican pesos, South African rand, Swiss francs, Turkish lira, British pounds, and Chinese yuan. You may see Chinese currency called renminbi (RMB) and wonder why. Just as "pounds" are units within British pound sterling currency, "yuan" are units within the overall renminbi currency of the Chinese Communists People's Republic. Smaller units of the yuan are the jiao (10 jiao = 1 yuan) and the fen (10 fen = 1 jiao). In every day "slang," Chinese people often refer to money as a "kuai" (piece), like the British would say a "quid" or Americans, a "buck."

     Within the European Union, euros have replaced the national currencies of countries such as France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, and Spain. Euros also are the official currency of Andorra, Monaco, Slovakia, Vatican City, and several other countries outside the European Union. If students have never seen foreign currency, adults can pick up a TipPak (registered trademark) of coins and currency from Australia, Britain, Canada, Japan, or Europe at a local AAA office. Prior to an international trip, AAA is able to provide international travelers with more than 70 varieties of the foreign currency they will need on arrival to pay for taxis, tips, and other situations where credit cards are not accepted. Find out more at aaa.com/TravelMoney.

     Foreign currency has a different exchange value in relation to the U.S. dollar and other currencies. Since many of these values float, or change, the amount of currency needed to purchase another currency can go up and down within a day. Therefore, experienced travelers keep an eye on currency fluctuations and convert their Travelers Cheques to just enough local currency for a day or two. In order to make quick calculations, travelers also try to learn the value of foreign coins that are similar in size to the coins of their own countries. The website, finance.yahoo.com/currency, provides brief descriptions of foreign currency concepts. This website also is an easy way to keep track of the changing relationships between the U.S. dollar, Japanese yen, euro, Canadian dollar, U.K. pound, Australian dollar, and Swiss franc.

     An alumni magazine posed a clever foreign currency problem for its graduates. It said that a professional tennis player wanted to buy a diamond tennis bracelet for his girlfriend that was priced at 100,000 Swiss francs at the airport in Geneva. He was en route to a tournament in Spain, so he called the friend meeting him at the Madrid airport to ask the cost of a diamond tennis bracelet there. The friend said it was 40,000 euros. Rather than go to finance.yahoo.com/currency, the tennis pro saw that a copy of the International Herald Tribune was selling for 4 Swiss francs or 1.5 euros. He bought the tennis bracelet in Geneva, since at a 4 to 1.5 ratio, the bracelet should have cost 37,500 euros in Madrid, not 40,000.

     Ratios are the basis for determining foreign exchange rates. During the first few years after the euro's introduction in 1999, the annual average rate of exchange for one U.S. dollar was about 1.25 euros.
                                                      
                                             $1                                    x
                              _______________     =            _______________
                                        1.25 euros                           1 euro
                                                                             1
                                                       x        =      _________     
                            
                                                                           1.25

                                                       x        =      $0.80
                                                                                                                              
 Consequently, U.S. tourists realized their stronger dollars bought wonderful vacations in Europe and U.S. retailers took advantage of the opportunity to import European luxury goods. When one U.S. dollar purchased 1.25 euros and one euro was worth only $0.80 in 1999, a U.S. tourist paid $160 to purchase the 200 euros needed to stay in a European hotel room priced at 200 euros. By 2008, however, one U.S. dollar purchased only 0.64 euros, less than one euro. At that point, the purchase of European goods and travel to Europe grew prohibitively expensive. A U.S. tourist then had to spend $312 to buy enough euros for the same European hotel room that cost $160 in 1999.

     On the other hand, as the value of the U.S. dollar declined, the United States became an attractive destination for European tourists. U.S. manufacturers also found that the weaker dollar helped them expand their exports. When 1.25 euros were needed to purchase one U.S. dollar in 1999, European consumers paid 25,000 euros to purchase the $20,000 needed to buy a $20,000 U.S. automobile. In 2012, however, when only 0.77 of a euro was needed to buy one U.S. dollar, a $20,000 automobile sold for 15,400 euros. Likewise, European tourists could purchase $400 to stay in a $400 hotel room in New York City for 308 euros, compared to the 500 euros the same room would have cost in 1999.

     Children who track changing monetary relationships online at finance.yahoo.com/currency can become the family's financial advisers. They know when U.S. dollars will buy the most imported goods, international travel, and foreign currency. A family trip to Vancouver, for example, was a very attractive option in 2000, when the U.S. dollar was worth almost $1.50 Canadian dollars. In early October, 2012, however, one U.S. dollar was worth only 0.98 Canadian dollars. Ask youngsters to figure out how much a $100 hotel room in Canada would cost a U.S. tourist in 2012, compared to 2000.
           $1                                x                                          $1                               x
_____________    =     ____________                 ______________    =     _____________

       0.98                      1 Canadian dollar                        1.50                     1 Canadian dollar
       
                     x      =      $1.02                                                     x         =     $   0.67
  
The answer: $102 compared to $67.

     While worldwide economic stability makes planning for personal travel and business much easier, the art of forecasting foreign exchange fluctuations is an attractive career option for students who develop an interest in tracking foreign exchange rates. A company that expects to build a factory in Canada within the next year wants to buy the necessary Canadian dollars, when the U.S. dollar is strongest. Which way is the U.S. dollar moving in relation to the Canadian dollar, and what economic conditions, such as growth in gross domestic product, unemployment, inflation, and weather conditions, are likely to affect foreign exchange rates? It is up to would-be traders in the foreign exchange market (forex) to come up with these answers.

     Finally, girls need not shy away from becoming financial whizzes. The new U.S. Chair of the Federal Reserve Board is Dr. Janet Yellen, and Christine Lagarde is Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund.

(Also, check out the later post, "Time to Revisit China's and the World's Foreign Exchange Rates.")