The interaction between culture and consumption of immigrants is an important research area in a number of fields including consumer behaviour, marketing, and ethnic studies. This article offers a specific look at issues related to the impact of acculturation on dining-out behaviour of Chinese immigrants living in the Greater Toronto Area in Canada, and the influence of individual factor of acculturation process (i.e., ethnic identification, length of residence, and age at immigration). This study focused on the similarities and comparisons between recent Chinese immigrants who have been in Canada for ten years or less and established Chinese immigrants who have been in Canada for more than ten years, in terms of their dining-out behaviour in the Greater Toronto Area. There were two samples, the recent Chinese immigrants and the established Chinese immigrants in this study. Snowball sampling was applied to recruit the total 30 participants (15 of each sample). The author started to recruit from two participants of each sample among her friends and relatives and asked the interviewers to recommend another two qualified participants. Semi-structures, in-depth interviews were employed in this study to explore the impact of culture, levels of acculturation, ethnic identity, situational factors of ethnic identification and dining-out behaviour. The interviews were audio-recorded by permission and conducted in the participant’s preferable language (in English or in Mandarin Chinese). Data analysis was guided by several previous conclusions and model in the literatures and conducted in both qualitative (coding) and quantitative (SPSS) methods. The findings resulted in some major conclusions. In terms of similarities, it is found that recent Chinese immigrants and established Chinese immigrants obtained restaurants information mostly from friends and relatives. They also searched on internet for other’s reviews, menus, and printable coupons. Secondly, result showed that Chinese immigrants perceived that because they have a long history of food, Chinese people are more willing to try different types of food when immigrated to Canada. Thirdly, situational factors such as peer influences played more significant role on dining-out decision making and self ethnic identifications than parental influences. In terms of differences, data indicated that among Chinese immigrants living in the Greater Toronto Area, recent Chinese immigrants had stronger ethnic identity to their original culture, and dined out more frequently than the established Chinese immigrants. Future, the result suggested that the highest level of Chinese ethnic food purchasing behaviour were reported by highest ethnic identifiers (ones who identified themselves as more Chinese). However, there was another important factor that influenced the levels of acculturation in dining-out behaviour more greatly than the length of immigration: the age at immigration. The study found that Chinese immigrants who immigrated at early age had the highest level of acculturation and identified themselves as more Canadian, while ones who immigrated at late life had the lowest level of acculturation and identifies themselves as more Chinese. The findings reflected the impact of culture and consumer acculturation in dining-out among Chinese immigrants in the Greater Toronto Area and could potentially contribute to the marketing implications to both ethnic and mainstream restaurant marketers. This study also gives some future thoughts on the exploration of more variables at individual differences, as well as other perspectives of research conducting such as from psychological or economic perspective.

The presence of disability in the political sphere has increased with the enactment of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) in 2005. In 2008, implementation of the first standard focused on Customer Service began in accordance with the AODA. While this legislation was in its early phase, it was crucial to conduct research to understand the ways the legislation was being expressed in practical terms. Research makes it possible to point to areas of unmet promises between theoretical and practice application of the AODA so that it may attain its full potential. The purpose of this study was to conduct a narrative policy analysis during the implementation phase of the AODA to identify the parallel and divergent stories that arise from policy actors. Using an interpretive stance, this study was conducted with key people who played a role in implementing the AODA in the municipal recreation context. Participants included both persons responsible for implementing the AODA (i.e., city employees) and people with disabilities who have been directly affected by this policy. This narrative policy analysis sought to uncover the stories (stories that are repeatedly told), counter-stories (those that run counter to dominant stories), and non-stories (stories that are not present) (Roe, 1994). Three groups of narratives arose from this study. Narratives about creating and implementing the AODA included stories about clear steps to implementation, enforcement guidelines, and proactive steps to achieve accessibility. Counter-stories described a need for more specific details, explicit enforcement guidelines, and a “deal with things as they come up” course of action. Narratives about disability examined meanings of disability present in the AODA for people with and without disabilities. Additional narratives explored discrimination against people with disabilities, links between accessibility standards and the removal of barriers for people with disabilities. Issues of accessibility were further explored in the context of leisure and recreation. Analysis revealed the diversity in leisure experiences of people with disabilities, and the need to expand the definition of accessibility for better inclusion in municipal recreation. These narratives were then contrasted and combined to form a metanarrative (alternative to consensus) to recast issues surrounding the AODA in a new light. The metanarrative highlighted a gap between the theory of the AODA and its practical applications. In theory, a policy was needed to improve the inclusion of people with disabilities in community; however, in practice, the AODA might not have the desired impact due in part to the interplay of policy and disability issues. This study suggests that the AODA is much more than what is written on paper in that it has the power to transform our society. The full intent of the AODA will be difficult to achieve until more people are aware of the legislation, its impacts, and its importance.

Mūsų amžiuje individai kaip niekada turi galimybių formuoti savo gyvenimus. Kadaise žmonių gyvenimo kelius ypač stipriai veikė tradicijos ir papročiai. Individų asmeniniai identitetai klostėsi jų gimtosios bendruomenės kontekste. Vertybės, gyvenimo būdai ir etika, viešpatavusios toje bendruomenėje, pateikdavo palyginti tvirtas gaires, kuriomis žmonės vadovaudavosi savo gyvenime. Globalizacijos sąlygomis susiduriame su posūkiu į naują individualizmą, kaip žmonėms tenka aktyviai kurti save ir formuoti savo identitetus. Vykstant vietos bendruomenių sąveikai su nauja globaline tvarka, mažėja tradicijų bei įtvirtintų vertybių reikšmė. Gerokai susilpnėjo ir „socialiniai kodeksai“, ankščiau kreipdavę žmonių pasirinkimus bei veiklą. Nors globalizacija dažnai siejama su „didžiųjų“ sistemų – tokių kaip pasaulio finansų rinkos, gamyba ir prekyba, taip pat telekomunikacijos – kitimu, tačiau jos padariniai vienodai stipriai juntami ir privačioje srityje. Globalizacija nėra kažkas „anapus“, veikiantis tolimu lygmeniu ir nesikertantis su kasdieniais reikalais. Tai „čia esantis“ reiškinys, daugeliu skirtingų būdų veikiantis mūsų intymius ir asmeninius gyvenimus. Asmeniniai gyvenimai tiesiog negalėjo pasikeisti, kai į mūsų vietinius kontekstus, namus ir bendruomenes įsiveržė globalizacijos jėgos – ir nuasmenintais kanalais, tokiais kaip žiniasklaida, internetas, populiarioji kultūra, ir per asmeninius kontaktus su kitų šalių bei kultūrų žmonėmis Tyrimo tikslas – ištirti, kaip miestiška... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Title of the work – „Urban lifestyle influence on students free time“. Urbanization is one of major phenomena of modern society steadfastly determining the occurrence of qualitative territorial differences. It could be defined as a process of urban expansion including the mutually related expansion of urban environment and urban way of life (on local level). The aim of the study - to examine how urban life affects academic youth leisure then they cames to Vilnius from villages. The pressure of today’s life, reinforced by workplace, economic, social and political climate, has reduced students quality of life. We live to work and don’t work to live. It is asserted that access to and enjoyment of leisure are central to a high quality of life for individuals and, indirectly, to quality of the society as a whole, The recovery of leisure must begin by asking what are students priorities and raising they consciousness as to what constitutes leisure for them.

Darbe yra iškeltas tikslas – atskleisti paauglių popamokinio užimtumo struktūrą socialiniu – edukaciniu aspektu. Vadovaujanti šiuo tikslu iškelti tokie uždaviniai: taikant teorinę analizę, atskleisti laisvalaikio reikšmę asmenybės formavimuisi socialiniu – edukaciniu aspektu, taikant anketinę apklausą paaugliams, išsiaiškinti esamą laisvalaikio leidimo situaciją per laisvalaikio fazių, popamokinės veiklos ir fizinės aplinkos prieinamumo aspektus bei taikant neparametrinę statistiką atskleisti pageidaujamą laisvalaikio leidimo situaciją per laisvalaikio fazių, popamokinės veiklos ir fizinės aplinkos prieinamumo aspektus. / Obtained results of the research demonstrated that currently the leisure structure among adolescents comprise the following ways of spending passive free-time: watcing TV, sitting at computer, listening to music. Activities of active leisure most often include the following: riding a bicycle, rollerskates, being engaged in sports activities. When looking at the situation of needs, the adolescents express a wish to spend their leisure in a more active, public way and to visit cultural institutions more often. It is noticed that traditions of festivals are fostered in families, however there is no tendency to organise leisure, very often passive recreation is selected, although after completion of the reserach it was established that there is a need to spend leisure with family in a more active way. It should be noted that more than a half of all the respondents indicated that their parents encourage them to take part in after-school activities which demostrates parents‘ interest in their child‘s occupation. It is obvious from the results obtained that the situation of availability of public spaces and occupation institutions within adolescents‘ residential area, according to their opinion, is satisfactory.

This is an autoethnographic account of my 1000km journey across The Camino Via de la Plata, framed within transpersonal theory. From my personal account of a peak experience on The Way, this spiritual inquiry attempts to connect myself and the reader to insights into transformation and living through embodied writing while contributing to the exploration of personal flourishing and growth in leisure studies. This process involved moving into and through Romanyshyn’s (2007) six orphic moments found in re-search processes with soul in mind. I then unfold my journey along the Camino and deepen this inquiry by engaging literature that help to explore spiritual aspects of my journey on the Camino. Leisure inquiry frames this transpersonal peak experience in a number of ways: it is an act of empowerment (Arai, 1997), focal practice (Arai & Pedlar, 2000), resistance (Shaw, 2001, 2007), and an experience of liminality (Cody, 2012) with transformation occurring at the flux of it all.

Tourism and adoption are separate subjects, which are both well-studied. Studies that look at adoption and tourism together are hard to find. Generally, these studies are written from a social work perspective rather than a tourism perspective. Works by Muller, Gibs and Ariely (2003); Passmore (2005); and Sachdev (1991) are examples of these types of studies. However there is a small amount of research written from a tourism perspective, which focuses on adult adoptees that travel back to their homeland to explore their roots. Amongst tour operators, these types of tours are known as Adoption Homeland Tours and cater specifically to adoptees to show them the place and culture of their biological roots. As Sachdev (1992) points out, “since the professionals have only recently directed their attention to the phenomenon of search and reunion between adoptees and their biological parents, research studies are exceedingly limited” (p. 54). This study aims to address this under-represented area of tourism research by providing a baseline understanding of the subject as understood through a phenomenological perspective and bring forward the term “Adoption Homeland Tours” to the academic community. Moreover, this study aims to explore the meanings adoption homeland tourists attribute to their experiences and to contextualize the findings within broader academic approaches towards understanding dynamics which influence adult adoptees’ understanding of self through tourism experiences.

Darbo tema: Poilsinis ir pažintinis turizmas (kelionės) moksleivių laisvalaikio kontekste: sociologinė analizė (Trakų miesto mokyklų atvejis). Darbo aktualumas ir problema Mes gyvename globaliame, mobiliame ir nuolat kintančiame pasaulyje. Labiausiai priimtina ir populiariausia žmonių mobilumo forma šiandien yra kelionės. Kelionė – tai judėjimas laiku ir erdve. Kelionėje bene svarbiausi yra susitikimai su kitu žmogumi, kita kultūra, kitokiu patyrimu. Kelionėse plėtojasi tokios asmenybės savybės kaip žingeidumas, savarankiškumas, noras įgyti aukštesnį išsilavinimą, pasiekti aukštesnį kultūros lygmenį. Jaunimo dalyvavimas kelionėse leidžia jiems susidaryti objektyvesnį pasaulio vaizdą, geriau suvokti praeitį ir dabartį, palyginti įvairių kraštų kraštovaizdį, žmonių gyvenseną, kalbą, kultūrą. Akademinis jaunimas vis dažniau „atsiliepia į vietovių erdvių signalus, kurie kviečia įsitraukti į socialumo plėtrą, socialinių santykių viešose vietose kūrimą“. Pasirinkome turizmo temą, nes jaunimo poilsinės ir pažintinės kelionės Lietuvoje sociologiniu požiūriu yra beveik nenagrinėtos. Apskritai galima teigti, kad sociologijos darbų, nagrinėjančių keliautojų tapatumą, kelionių priežastis ir motyvus, Lietuvoje trūksta, tad šis darbas – tai bandymas šį poreikį patenkinti. Šio darbo tikslas – ištirti, kokią vietą poilsinis ir pažintinis turizmas užima moksleivių laisvalaikio struktūroje Darbo uždaviniai: 1. Ištirti teorines laisvalaikio apibrėžtis; atskleisti jaunimo laisvalaikio... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Work relevance and the problem We are living in a global, mobile and constantly changing world. The most acceptable and popular people form of mobility today are traveling. Travel – it is a movement of time and space. In the journey the most import thing are meeting with another person, knowing another culture, a different experience. Travel develops in the personality characteristics as curiosity, independence, the desire to acquire higher education, to reach a higher culture level. Youth participation in the trips allow them to obtain a more objective picture of the world, to understand better about the past and present, to compare a different edges of landscape, people lifestyle, language and culture. Academic Youth increasingly „responding to the areas of spacial signals are invited to become involved in the development of sociality, social relations, the creation of public spaces.” We have choosen tourism, because youth resort and sigthseeing tours in Lithuania from sociological point of view are not examinated. All over, we can suggest, that the sociology work dealing the identity of travelers, causes and reasons for travel in Lithuania is missing, so this work – an attempt to meet this need. The aim of this work – examine the place and educational tourism has the structure of sudents leisure. Objectives: 1. To explore the theoretical definition of leisure; disclosure of youth leisure features. 2. To examine the concept of tourism and nature; to discuss how youth... [to full text]

Projekto meninė idėja – Kelmės rajono centras. Projekto tikslas: padidinti vietos funkcionalumą, sukuriant meninę kompoziciją, kuri taptų papildoma informacija, stiprinančia krašto identitetą. Perplanuojant aikštelę įrengiama poilsio vieta, tvarkomos prieigos prie vandens. Likusi teritorija paliekama automobilių parkavimui. Akcentuojant projekto idėją naudojama centrinė kompozicija. Atsižvelgiant į klimatą ir vartotojų grupę, naudojamos atsparios ir pigios medžiagos. Didelis dėmesys skiriamas technologijos tvirtumui ir saugumui. Taip pat, greitam įrangos surinkimui ir pasatymui. / The idea of a project is a center of Kelme district. The project aim is to improve the functionality of a place, creating an artistic composition which is an additional information, strengthening the capacity of the national identity. There was created a new leisure ground and managed access to water in the stop area. The rest place will remain on the parking problem. There was used a central composition. There was designed new original benches, lighting, shed and plants around the centre of the composition. There was used cheap ant proof materials, as a stone, metal and wood.

Organizuotas ir prasmingas laisvalaikis – neatsiejama jaunuolių su negalia socializacijos ir kokybiško šeimos gyvenimo dalis, kuri užtikrina ne tik efektyvesnę pagalbą šeimoms, bet ir sudaro prielaidas atsižvelgti į šių šeimų poreikius ir užtikrinti, kad jos aktyviai dalyvautų visuomenėje. Šio tyrimo tikslas – išanalizuoti šeimų, auginančių jaunuolius su negalia, laisvalaikio poreikius ir socialinės pagalbos galimybes. Remiantis veiklos tyrimo rezultatais galima teigti, kad laisvalaikio organizavimo programa ir pagalba pasiteisino. Tai parodo programos pritaikomumas ir priimtinumas jaunuoliams su negalia ir jų šeimoms. Atliktas tyrimas atskleidė, kad šeimų, auginančių jaunuolius su negalia, laisvalaikio poreikiai yra individualūs, o jų atliepimas yra socialinės pagalbos procesas. Svarbu paminėti, kad laisvalaikio organizavimas yra specifinė sritis, reikalaujanti emocinio atsidavimo, gebėjimo betarpiškai bendrauti, gebėjimo kompleksiškai planuoti ir komunikuoti. Todėl laisvalaikio organizavimui turėtų būti skiriamas specialus dėmesys ir specialios lėšos. / Organized and meaningful leisure time - an integral part of the socialization of disabled youth and the quality of family life, which not only ensures effective support for families, but also take into account the assumptions of the needs of families, and to ensure their active participation in society. The aim of the study - to analyze families, which are raising disabled youth, leisure and social needs assistance. Based on the operating results of the study suggest that leisure program and support came up to expectations). This program shows the applicability and acceptability of disabled youth and their families. An investigation revealed that families, which are raising disabled youth, leisure needs are individual, and their response is the process of social support. It‘s important to mention that leisure is a specific area that requires an emotional devotion, the ability to directly communicate, the ability to holistically plan and communicate. Therefore, for leisure time organization should be given special attention and special funds.

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