Culture and Tradition

[Kurokusari]

So yeah this thread is about sharing your country's own culture and tradition and maybe even some stories about it. I've known a certain person that travels around the world as part of his work and he always had some good stories to tell about how other people in different countries' live their lives. I've always thought it was interesting and I wanted to know more about how's the culture and tradition of the other countries. I think most (if not all) countries have their own quirks and I do find it both educational and entertaining. 

 

While I know that there are people here that don't want to tell where they're from, you can also share some of your stories you heard from others. Some of us here travels around, too, so you could also share whatever stories you may have.

 

What, google it and research? What's 'google'? Is that edible? 

 

Anyway to start it off I'll share some of my country's features

Doesn't really indicate anywhere but I'm from the Philippines. That's right people I'm from the country that annoys the hell out of everyone in the internet and games.

>Unlike most countries', our diet mainly consists of rice. I know that other people also eat rice but the quantity is much different. There are the reserved people that only eats 2 servings then there's the people who eats 10 servings. Fun fact: There's a fastfood chain here called "Mang Inasal" where there is a feature called Unlimited Rice Works  "Unli Rice" where you can get as many servings of rice as you can.

>Our culture and tradition is a mixture from a lot of countries because we were occupied by 3 different countries in the past.

>The Philippines have more than 100 languages spoken in the country. Although there are only 8 major ones, there are people who can only speak 2 like me. I can only speak Tagalog and English. Fun fact: Although people mostly recognize our official language as Tagalog, it's official name is called Filipino.

 

Well I could list down some more but the other Filipinos might have some problems listing some of the ones they also want to share. 

 

TL;DR: Share some of your country's own features. Please don't tell me you only read this line.

[Nimbus]

Australian traditions

- Drink your weight in alcohol everyday.

- He's not your best mate if you don't give him a derogatory nickname.

- Sitting down causes you to develop an irrational indifference to anything more than three metres away.

- Smack anyone who says "another shrimp on the barbie" (we don't even call them shrimps!).

- Loath anyone who tries (and as always, fails) at representing us.

- sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport and more sport.

- If it moves it's probably going to kill you so paranoia is quite prevalent in Backwards Land. 

[Yuuko]

I don't know anything about my culture. We don't talk to each other here.

[Kurokusari]

Australian traditions

- Drink your weight in alcohol everyday.

- He's not your best mate if you don't give him a derogatory nickname.

- Sitting down causes you to develop an irrational indifference to anything more than three metres away.

- Smack anyone who says "another shrimp on the barbie" (we don't even call them shrimps!).

- Loath anyone who tries (and as always, fails) at representing us.

- sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport sport and more sport.

- If it moves it's probably going to kill you so paranoia is quite prevalent in Backwards Land. 

These things are so negative and it also gave me a good laugh. I did my best to not focus on the negative stuff in my opening post and this is what comes next.

So does the loathing part apply to you, too? XD

 

I don't know anything about my culture. We don't talk to each other here.

 

Another lover of strikethrough.

[Clephas]

The US is obvious, so I'll go to Texas state.

 

Whataburger and 'Texas-born' food culture in general: Texans in general are really proud of the various Texas-origin cuisine variations that have popped up here.  A big example of this is Tex-Mex, the Texan-influenced variation on traditional Mexican cooking.

 

Guns: Born and raised Texans have a tendency to be proud of their guns.  If you ask which state in the union is the most gun-friendly, most people will say 'Texas'.

 

Insane state pride, even in the face of reality checks and insane politicians (criticizing our state is a huge no-no... and saying something is wrong with the state is enough to get a politician kicked out of office, no matter his popularity).

 

The largest unacknowledged foreign heritage in the United States... to be blunt, a good third of our population (probably more) is descended of Tejanos (those Mexicans who sided with the former Americans during the Texas revolution), but you'll almost never hear of that outside of a college history text.  Sad to say, but Texas politicians have a tendency to ignore just how much of our cultural heritage comes from our southern neighbors.

[Nimbus]

These things are so negative and it also gave me a good laugh. I did my best to not focus on the negative stuff in my opening post and this is what comes next.

So does the loathing part apply to you, too? XD

 

 

We Aussies are quite open about our flaws (either that or i'm incredibly jaded and just assumed everyone else was). Fortunately I don't act particularly Australian so I'm exempt from the loathing. 

[Kurokusari]

The US is obvious, so I'll go to Texas state.

 

Whataburger and 'Texas-born' food culture in general: Texans in general are really proud of the various Texas-origin cuisine variations that have popped up here.  A big example of this is Tex-Mex, the Texan-influenced variation on traditional Mexican cooking.

 

Guns: Born and raised Texans have a tendency to be proud of their guns.  If you ask which state in the union is the most gun-friendly, most people will say 'Texas'.

 

Insane state pride, even in the face of reality checks and insane politicians (criticizing our state is a huge no-no... and saying something is wrong with the state is enough to get a politician kicked out of office, no matter his popularity).

 

The largest unacknowledged foreign heritage in the United States... to be blunt, a good third of our population (probably more) is descended of Tejanos (those Mexicans who sided with the former Americans during the Texas revolution), but you'll almost never hear of that outside of a college history text.  Sad to say, but Texas politicians have a tendency to ignore just how much of our cultural heritage comes from our southern neighbors.

It's pretty interesting how people can be that proud for something, more so that it's a gun since it's not really practical to have around. Given that there are state firearms laws.

 

So it's the opposite here in my country regarding state pride. Here, you'll be hard-pressed to find someone who can honestly say that they are proud of this country. The patronage is terrible with our products and the country itself. You can see teens boasting about how their stuff are imported but you won't find one that will boast about how his stuff is local. Also, our country is one of the most corrupted countries despite the small size. You could see it with the poverty almost everywhere here. That and there are tons of issues popping up here and there. Although you can't really say that there's a country without any problems at all.

 

The history part about the revolution is really interesting. First time I've heard of it.

 

 

We Aussies are quite open about our flaws (either that or i'm incredibly jaded and just assumed everyone else was). Fortunately I don't act particularly Australian so I'm exempt from the loathing. 

Accepting your shortcomings is good and all but this is almost self-loathing to me. Well, I'm not from Australia so I'll say no more.

[krill]

continental USA traditions: 

 

a large portion of the american diet is traditionally meat followed by starches and veggys. some places its even against the law to talk badly about the beef industry,

 

Americans like sports but if you look carefully its closer to america just loves competition. 

 

we are a consumer culture Americans buy a lot of goods, and many Americans buy stuff they don't need or even want simply cuzz the price is perceived as a good deal. (after 9-11 the government told people if they wanted to help they should go shopping . im not even making this up google if you think i am.)

 

america privatizes any thing it can from health care to the prison system cuzz you can make more money that way.

 

our currency is a fiat currency backed by nothing more then the government's word that its valuable.

 

america is a melting pot nation made up of populations from all over the world so we steal the culture's of others then twist them to suit our tastes.

 

america has a history f doing what ever we feel like and saying what we want , individualism is more valued here then the collective. 

 

and we as a nation like to pride ourselves on being scientifically forward thinking but when something comes along to disprove the current theory on things the government and academic body's get scared and try to do what ever they can to do to bury it, forcefully discredit it and pretend that its crackpot conspiracy theory's.

 

america is resistant to change. 

[Nimbus]

 

Accepting your shortcomings is good and all but this is almost self-loathing to me. Well, I'm not from Australia so I'll say no more.

 

 

We always take people's flaws and laugh at them regardless of who they are. I guess you could say Australia is the physical embodiment of the phrase "I don't discriminate, I hate everybody". It's all done in jest though, there's no malice behind my words. 

Ok, I'll give some positive traditions.

 

- Mateship is the most important thing to Australian males (possibly even females).

- When John Farnhams "you're the voice" starts playing you are obligated to sing along.

- Pub Rock is the cornerstone of Australian Music.

- Australian's aren't really offended by much, but if you insult our pride, you will pay!

- ANZAC Day is the most important non-religious holiday.

- The only thing young Australians regret is Tony Abbott.

 

A couple more negative ones I just thought of

- South Australians are physically incapable of driving properly

- Bogans, bogans everywhere!

Edited May 19, 2015 by Nimbus

[Kurokusari]

continental USA traditions: 

 

a large portion of the american diet is traditionally meat followed by starches and veggys. some places its even against the law to talk badly about the beef industry,

 

Americans like sports but if you look carefully its closer to america just loves competition. 

 

we are a consumer culture Americans buy a lot of goods, and many Americans buy stuff they don't need or even want simply cuzz the price is perceived as a good deal. (after 9-11 the government told people if they wanted to help they should go shopping . im not even making this up google if you think i am.)

 

america privatizes any thing it can from health care to the prison system cuzz you can make more money that way.

 

our currency is a fiat currency backed by nothing more then the government's word that its valuable.

 

america is a melting pot nation made up of populations from all over the world so we steal the culture's of others then twist them to suit our tastes.

 

america has a history f doing what ever we feel like and saying what we want , individualism is more valued here then the collective. 

 

and we as a nation like to pride ourselves on being scientifically forward thinking but when something comes along to disprove the current theory on things the government and academic body's get scared and try to do what ever they can to do to bury it, forcefully discredit it and pretend that its crackpot conspiracy theory's.

 

america is resistant to change. 

This privatization. There's one heavy deal here in the PH. There's only one supplier of electricity here (that's right pure monopoly) and it was once owned by the government but some geniuses thought of transferring it to certain people (these people are ofc, influential). Now the electricity here is high as hell and we can't do anything about it. Like the internet, we have one heck of expensive internet connection but the price:speed ratio is crap. You could research about it and see what I mean.

 

This crackpot thing is somewhat familiar to me for some reason. I think I've heard some stories about researches that were buried deep calling it wrong only to be picked up afterwards and accept it.

 

I don't think a country could actually change that easily anyway. The will of the people and the leaders or one thing but actually changing will be one heck of a challenge. That and the first hurdle can't even be overcame by not only countries, but just about any large group.

[Nosebleed]

Portuguese culture:

 

Football (real football you play with your feet): You must be a fan of a football team, otherwise you're a heretic and must be shunned from society. Even if you don't care much about football, always celebrate when the team wins an important game so you can fit in with everybody else. Football is basically on the level of religion in Portugal (probably even higher).

 

About 95% of Portugual's population is catholic (including all the variants) but only a tiny fraction actively practices the religion, most (like myself) were just baptized at birth. Although religious holidays are still celebrated by many even if just for the sake of having a party. We really like having random parties everywhere  and they are often used as fundraisers.

 

Food: We're really proud of our food, especially seafood, if you don't eat seafood once in a while you're not enjoying life. Also Portugal, just like France, has restaurants that serve snails as snacks, most people from other countries are grossed out by it, but we don't really care.

 

Portugal is really proud of their heritage and backstory as we were once a decently big empire, even though right now we're not really that relevant anymore, but you should act proud anyway. We even brag about having our own music genre, but we don't really like it that much.

 

50% of Portugal is made up of beaches, we really like beaches and getting tanned here is basically human instinct for a lot of people since everyone lives close enough to the coastal line.

 

That's all I can think of, I don't care much for my own culture, maybe someone else will chime in later with more info.

[Kurokusari]

Portuguese culture:

 

Football (real football you play with your feet): You must be a fan of a football team, otherwise you're a heretic and must be shunned from society. Even if you don't care much about football, always celebrate when the team wins an important game so you can fit in with everybody else. Football is basically on the level of religion in Portugal (probably even higher).

 

About 95% of Portugual's population is catholic (including all the variants) but only a tiny fraction actively practices the religion, most (like myself) were just baptized at birth. Although religious holidays are still celebrated by many even if just for the sake of having a party. We really like having random parties everywhere.

 

Food: We're really proud of our food, especially seafood, if you don't eat seafood once in a while you're not enjoying life. Also Portugal, just like France, has restaurants that serve snails as snacks, most people from other countries are grossed out by it, but we don't really care and they are often used as fundraisers.

 

Portugal is really proud of their heritage and backstory as we were once a decently big empire, even though right now we're not really that relevant anymore, but you should act proud anyway. We even brag about having our own music genre, but we don't really like it that much.

 

50% of Portugal is made up of beaches, we really like beaches and getting tanned here is basically human instinct for a lot of people since everyone lives close enough to the coastal line.

 

That's all I can think of, I don't care much for my own culture, maybe someone else will chime in later with more info.

Our history is full of only being colonized. I don't think we did any conquering or anything remote to that at all. Coincidentally, one of the countries that colonized us was Spain but the one who led the expedition that lead to PH being discovered by the other countries is a Portuguese.

 

The thing about religion is also the same here in the PH (funny since that expedition led to the inhabitants to convert to Roman Catholic) where majority are Catholics but not really that into the practices. Although the Church still has considerable influence here since there are bills that can't be passed due to being opposed to the Catholic faith. There are still people that are active in their faith but not really that many (teens here don't find religion cool). They're not exactly few tho, too.

[Monmon]

Chinese new year is the most important Tradition for me and my family.

Its the only time where our super big family come together and have fun. We eat,talk,play Mahjong and etc together. The party usually last 3-4 days.

And older people will give the little kids(including me) red envelope for our good luck and extra pocket money.

For Culture, its kinda hard to say. My family follow both Indonesia culture and Chinese culture. So its pretty hard to say one by one.

[Kurokusari]

Chinese new year is the most important Tradition for me and my family.

Its the only time where our super big family come together and have fun. We eat,talk,play Mahjong and etc together. The party usually last 3-4 days.

And older people will give the little kids(including me) red envelope for our good luck and extra pocket money.

For Culture, its kinda hard to say. My family follow both Indonesia culture and Chinese culture. So its pretty hard to say one by one.

This certainly sounds like someone from the PH having Chinese descent. That red envelope here is usually called 'Aguinaldo'(named after the first president) here. I guess the Chinese people are same regardless where there are, I guess.

[Nosebleed]

Our history is full of only being colonized. I don't think we did any conquering or anything remote to that at all. Coincidentally, one of the countries that colonized us was Spain but the one who led the expedition that lead to PH being discovered by the other countries is a Portuguese.

 

The thing about religion is also the same here in the PH (funny since that expedition led to the inhabitants to convert to Roman Catholic) where majority are Catholics but not really that into the practices. Although the Church still has considerable influence here since there are bills that can't be passed due to being opposed to the Catholic faith. There are still people that are active in their faith but not really that many (teens here don't find religion cool). They're not exactly few tho, too.

Portugal has a very clear separation of Church and State, the Church has 0 saying in state affairs here and you can not invoke things like the bible when arguing about state affairs, any type of regulations is overseen by the federal court and they decide wether something is constitutional or not based on all the evidence presented. This was issued when we got rid of our dictatorship, back then everybody had to do what they were told and shut up. Schools are were also made religion free back then and religion as a whole really doesn't impact people's lives here for the most part anymore although you do have the option to go to religious institutes to study, but again they're optional, we also do have all kinds of religious sites for people of all religions to pray in and stuff without bothering anybody, so all in all this is a good compromise and most people really don't care much about such things, we're more worried about how our government is making us bankrupt after all.

[Eclipsed]

I never really thought about it but oh wow Clephas is Texan

~~

On July 4th we 'Muricans like to send fireballs into the sky to ward off aliens

[Kurokusari]

Portugal has a very clear separation of Church and State, the Church has 0 saying in state affairs here and you can not invoke things like the bible when arguing about state affairs, any type of regulations is overseen by the federal court and they decide wether something is constitutional or not based on all the evidence presented. This was issued when we got rid of our dictatorship, back then everybody had to do what they were told and shut up. Schools are were also made religion free back then and religion as a whole really doesn't impact people's lives here for the most part anymore although you do have the option to go to religious institutes to study, but again they're optional, we also do have all kinds of religious sites for people of all religions to pray in and stuff without bothering anybody, so all in all this is a good compromise and most people really don't care much about such things, we're more worried about how our government is making us bankrupt after all.

I guess my country takes religion too seriously compared to the other countries. Well, it's not really bad considering that religion comes with some good morals. Not that a lot of people follow them.

 

I never really thought about it but oh wow Clephas is Texan 

~~

On July 4th we 'Muricans like to send fireballs into the sky to ward off aliens

I hope those fireballs are fireworks and not missiles. Some smart cops here in the PH shoot their guns toward the sky during New Year. Does it hit anybody? Yes. Do they die? Some. Is it illegal? Yes, but who cares about the safety of others? I want to shoot to celebrate.

[solidbatman]

Some North Carolina/South Carolina traditions

 

-In North Carolina, you are required by law to love one of the triangle (a region of my state) college basketball teams. UNC Tarheels, Duke Blue Devils, or NC State Wolfpack. Some hipsters like to pull for Wake Forest Demon Deacons, but they haven't been relevant in years. 

 

-In South Carolina, the Confederacy never really lost the Civil War, and the South will rise again

 

-Andrew Jackson was born in either North or South Carolina, but we have a symbolic football game that pits the best high school players from North against the best from South. The winner of the game gets to claim Andrew Jackson was born in their state until the next game (Its just a joke thing. Officially to the government, it was SC.)

 

- It is important to visit the mountains of North Carolina at least once. The Blue Ridge Parkway has some gorgeous sights to see. At the other end of North Carolina, the Outer Banks, thin narrow barrier islands, are perfect for a nice relaxing vacation. Every citizen is required to visit both at one point in their lives.

 

-Eastern style BBQ > Western style. Other states use a tomato based BBQ for eating while we like to use a vinegar based BBQ. Any other type of BBQ than that is false BBQ

 

-In North Carolina, we always vote Republican for cities and counties (except larger cities like mine) and Democrat for state offices. Then to confuse people anymore, we typically vote Republican in national elections. Obama recently broke this trend though.

 

-In North Carolina, you are either pro-Charlotte (western city and largest city in the South East US) or pro- Raleigh (eastern city and state capital). The state has a bit of an East v. West rivalry, especially in government where eastern counties will get more money for infrastructure while western counties get less which leads to worse infrastructure. 

[Rose]

Hm... Brazil...

 

• We have soccer which is basically religion to some people here. 7-1 mass depression and people ranting on social medias, never forget.
• We have the typical stuff you associate with Brazil, such as Carnaval and Capoeira.
• People here love their food to a really incredible extent. Seriously, some beans with meat and some other questionable contents is what could very well be the main face of our country when it comes to culinary.

And I can't really remember much more. I'm not the most knowledgeable person about my country. I'll try to think about more stuff eventually.

[Kurokusari]

Some North Carolina/South Carolina traditions

 

-In North Carolina, you are required by law to love one of the triangle (a region of my state) college basketball teams. UNC Tarheels, Duke Blue Devils, or NC State Wolfpack. Some hipsters like to pull for Wake Forest Demon Deacons, but they haven't been relevant in years. 

 

-In South Carolina, the Confederacy never really lost the Civil War, and the South will rise again

 

-Andrew Jackson was born in either North or South Carolina, but we have a symbolic football game that pits the best high school players from North against the best from South. The winner of the game gets to claim Andrew Jackson was born in their state until the next game (Its just a joke thing. Officially to the government, it was SC.)

 

- It is important to visit the mountains of North Carolina at least once. The Blue Ridge Parkway has some gorgeous sights to see. At the other end of North Carolina, the Outer Banks, thin narrow barrier islands, are perfect for a nice relaxing vacation. Every citizen is required to visit both at one point in their lives.

 

-Eastern style BBQ > Western style. Other states use a tomato based BBQ for eating while we like to use a vinegar based BBQ. Any other type of BBQ than that is false BBQ

 

-In North Carolina, we always vote Republican for cities and counties (except larger cities like mine) and Democrat for state offices. Then to confuse people anymore, we typically vote Republican in national elections. Obama recently broke this trend though.

 

-In North Carolina, you are either pro-Charlotte (western city and largest city in the South East US) or pro- Raleigh (eastern city and state capital). The state has a bit of an East v. West rivalry, especially in government where eastern counties will get more money for infrastructure while western counties get less which leads to worse infrastructure. 

Sounds like the competition here is everywhere. I find it as a good thing since there's something to strive for in competitions. Rooting for sports teams seems like a thing in most countries. Here in the PH, there are a lot of people rooting for at least one team in basketball here in the country (with the names being brand names unlike the cool ones you people use) and it's not limited to males. I've seen a lot of girls in class chatting about basketball. I have to say tho, I'm not one of those fans. I don't really hate basketball but I don't love it either. While I'm at it, we also have University competitions called the UAAP (University Athletic Association of the Philippines). Not all Universities are included, just a few of them (with one of those being my university, good luck figuring it out). There are also some funny traditions in the UAAP. No offense intended to anyone but the University of the Philippines always lose when it comes to basketball. By always pretty much all the time. Recently, they broke the 27-game losing streak and set up a bonfire in the university (this was in the news lol).

 

Hm... Brazil...

 

• We have soccer which is basically religion to some people here. 7-1 mass depression and people ranting on social medias, never forget.
• We have the typical stuff you associate with Brazil, such as Carnaval and Capoeira.
• People here love their food to a really incredible extent. Seriously, some beans with meat and some other questionable contents is what could very well be the main face of our country when it comes to culinary.

And I can't really remember much more. I'm not the most knowledgeable person about my country. I'll try to think about more stuff eventually.

 

Culinary stuff. When it comes to those we have some good food (we're Asian so you know what I mean by good). Jokes aside, there are a lot of foreigners who really enjoy the Filipino cuisine when they visit the country. We have all sorts of dishes so I can't really list them down. We also eat the so-called Balut which is pretty much a bird fetus. <<< I can attest that it's good food. 

[solidbatman]

Sounds like the competition here is everywhere. I find it as a good thing since there's something to strive for in competitions. Rooting for sports teams seems like a thing in most countries. Here in the PH, there are a lot of people rooting for at least one team in basketball here in the country (with the names being brand names unlike the cool ones you people use) and it's not limited to males. I've seen a lot of girls in class chatting about basketball. I have to say tho, I'm not one of those fans. I don't really hate basketball but I don't love it either. While I'm at it, we also have University competitions called the UAAP (University Athletic Association of the Philippines). Not all Universities are included, just a few of them (with one of those being my university, good luck figuring it out). There are also some funny traditions in the UAAP. No offense intended to anyone but the University of the Philippines always lose when it comes to basketball. By always pretty much all the time. Recently, they broke the 27-game losing streak and set up a bonfire in the university (this was in the news lol).

For college sports we have the NCAA along with one or two other smaller organizations for setting up inter-collegiate games. In the NCAA, hundreds upon hundreds of teams are able to play against each other. The basketball season ends with the NCAA Tournament which is a month long tournament between 68 or so of the "best" teams in the nation. Everyone tries to predict who will win it all, and tries to get every single game correct. We call it, March Madness

[Kurokusari]

For college sports we have the NCAA along with one or two other smaller organizations for setting up inter-collegiate games. In the NCAA, hundreds upon hundreds of teams are able to play against each other. The basketball season ends with the NCAA Tournament which is a month long tournament between 68 or so of the "best" teams in the nation. Everyone tries to predict who will win it all, and tries to get every single game correct. We call it, March Madness

Seems like sports is taken seriously by not only the citizens but everyone else, in different countries. The only sports that people focus on here is basketball and volleyball. That and boxing. Although I say boxing, the only high profile figure here is Manny Pacquiao. Another fun fact: Whenever Pacman has a fight, which is always Sunday here, the streets are empty. By empty, the traffic is extremely smooth. You could even walk on the road in some parts. I still remember this as a kid but not much now since he's been losing quite a lot. This is also something that I find irritating. How can the people only support him in the good times when he needs it more when he's losing? I'll stop here since the rant might go on hahaha

[babiker]

Ahhh, a wonderful place for me to dump some of my stories. Thank you for starting such an awesome topic, Kuro.

 

Anyways, culture. Since I grew up in like, 3 different continents, I tend to have a lot of an internal struggle with culture. What culture do I represent? Which can I say is really "my" culture? Can you have multiple cultures at once? Things I doubt many get the privilege... Or shall I say curse of questioning.

 

I'll put my tale in spoilers, since I know already a decent amount of people have heard it before:-

 

So, I was born in Britain, to a Muslim family of Sudanese decent. My dad was studying there, you see, and so I got a pretty heavy Western early childhood. Here, I learned the many things most of you guys can identify with: Freedom, easy living, entertainment. From the age of 8 I would sit all day on my Playstation 2, trying to complete some game before my damn brother can accidentally shut down the thing (since we never bought a memory stick for some reason. Pretty dumb, I know).

 

All this was flipped upside down when, after 10 years of living in Britain, my dad decided to move to Sudan, a dry desert land where the electricity disconnects at least once a day, and where you can't find video games very easily. I was forced to live in an environment where I could barely get my hands on any video games at all... Admittedly though, the lovely social life there kinda made up for it. In such countries, people tend to be pretty friendly, and I had such a big family that welcomed me with love and open arms that I couldn't really complain much.

One thing that took me quite some time to get used to however, is how... Violent people naturally are. I know everyone jokes about how Middle East people are way too violent, and I'm afraid to say there's quite a bit of truth to that statement. Late to class? Whip! Forgot homework? Whip! Not doing what one of your classmates demands you do? "Just wait for me after school..." And (surprise surprise), you get beat up after school. At first, I was really nothing more than a wimp that would cry at the smallest touch, but with time one gets use to it. You guys might see this as nothing short of evil, but honestly, I find some merit so such an environment. Children are a gazzilion times tougher, mature faster, and aren't as blind to the dark truths of life by the time they get to High school/Middle School. Personally, I prefer a tough man to a crybaby.

Anyways, so I stayed in Sudan for another 2 years, before my dad decided to move (for financial reasons) to Saudi Arabia, the heart of the Middle East. Since I didn't have much family here, and video games were way more accessible, I slowly returned to my nerdy old self, playing video games 24/7. And I've been here for the last 9 years. Saudi Arabia is pretty much the heart of all Muslim countries, so many, many Muslims from across the world live here, something that never seizes to fascinate me. In the city I currently live in, my best friends are one Syrian lad and one Philipino boy, in the past cities it was others. It's quite refreshing to have such diversity.

 

But ummm, yeah. That's enough boring talk about me, let's talk about some of the cultures I have some familiarity with.

 

Because I'm a traveler since birth (no seriously, I was born while we were in the middle of driving to an airport. Pretty hardcore traveling m8), I find it hard to identify with only one single culture, so I'll talk about the different ones I've met throughout my experiences:-

 

• The British are pretty open minded people. Despite being like the only Muslim in the schools I went to, some which were even Catholic, I never felt that others were judging me because of my faith. I did have a horrible personality back then though, so I had a lot of reasons for people to hate me . And Scottish aren't dumb, their accent is annoying as F though.
• Sudanese are considered to be the nicest Arabs out there, at least to other Arabs. If you're South Sudanese however, I'm afraid you won't find much love. As for white people, just be sure to laugh at all the jokes they crack, which isn't hard considering their English.
• Ah, and now it's time to talk about Saudis. Where do I even start? Saudis are rich as you can get. They can also be pretty kind, so if a Saudi ever invites you to eat at any time, be it 1 AM, be sure to go as you'll probably get some pretty classy food

I like how I'm talking about people as if they're objects... Thing is, the coolest places here are all religious, so you'd have to be a Muslim to even visit most of them 

[Kurokusari]

 

Ahhh, a wonderful place for me to dump some of my stories. Thank you for starting such an awesome topic, Kuro.

 

Anyways, culture. Since I grew up in like, 3 different continents, I tend to have a lot of an internal struggle with culture. What culture do I represent? Which can I say is really "my" culture? Can you have multiple cultures at once? Things I doubt many get the privilege... Or shall I say curse of questioning.

 

I'll put my tale in spoilers, since I know already a decent amount of people have heard it before:-

 

So, I was born in Britain, to a Muslim family of Sudanese decent. My dad was studying there, you see, and so I got a pretty heavy Western early childhood. Here, I learned the many things most of you guys can identify with: Freedom, easy living, entertainment. From the age of 8 I would sit all day on my Playstation 2, trying to complete some game before my damn brother can accidentally shut down the thing (since we never bought a memory stick for some reason. Pretty dumb, I know).

 

All this was flipped upside down when, after 10 years of living in Britain, my dad decided to move to Sudan, a dry desert land where the electricity disconnects at least once a day, and where you can't find video games very easily. I was forced to live in an environment where I could barely get my hands on any video games at all... Admittedly though, the lovely social life there kinda made up for it. In such countries, people tend to be pretty friendly, and I had such a big family that welcomed me with love and open arms that I couldn't really complain much.

One thing that took me quite some time to get used to however, is how... Violent people naturally are. I know everyone jokes about how Middle East people are way too violent, and I'm afraid to say there's quite a bit of truth to that statement. Late to class? Whip! Forgot homework? Whip! Not doing what one of your classmates demands you do? "Just wait for me after school..." And (surprise surprise), you get beat up after school. At first, I was really nothing more than a wimp that would cry at the smallest touch, but with time one gets use to it. You guys might see this as nothing short of evil, but honestly, I find some merit so such an environment. Children are a gazzilion times tougher, mature faster, and aren't as blind to the dark truths of life by the time they get to High school/Middle School. Personally, I prefer a tough man to a crybaby.

Anyways, so I stayed in Sudan for another 2 years, before my dad decided to move (for financial reasons) to Saudi Arabia, the heart of the Middle East. Since I didn't have much family here, and video games were way more accessible, I slowly returned to my nerdy old self, playing video games 24/7. And I've been here for the last 9 years. Saudi Arabia is pretty much the heart of all Muslim countries, so many, many Muslims from across the world live here, something that never seizes to fascinate me. In the city I currently live in, my best friends are one Syrian lad and one Philipino boy, in the past cities it was others. It's quite refreshing to have such diversity.

 

But ummm, yeah. That's enough boring talk about me, let's talk about some of the cultures I have some familiarity with.

 

Because I'm a traveler since birth (no seriously, I was born while we were in the middle of driving to an airport. Pretty hardcore traveling m8), I find it hard to identify with only one single culture, so I'll talk about the different ones I've met throughout my experiences:-

 

• The British are pretty open minded people. Despite being like the only Muslim in the schools I went to, some which were even Catholic, I never felt that others were judging me because of my faith. I did have a horrible personality back then though, so I had a lot of reasons for people to hate me . And Scottish aren't dumb, their accent is annoying as F though.
• Sudanese are considered to be the nicest Arabs out there, at least to other Arabs. If you're South Sudanese however, I'm afraid you won't find much love. As for white people, just be sure to laugh at all the jokes they crack, which isn't hard considering their English.
• Ah, and now it's time to talk about Saudis. Where do I even start? Saudis are rich as you can get. They can also be pretty kind, so if a Saudi ever invites you to eat at any time, be it 1 AM, be sure to go as you'll probably get some pretty classy food

I like how I'm talking about people as if they're objects... Thing is, the coolest places here are all religious, so you'd have to be a Muslim to even visit most of them 

 

I get what you mean by people being friendly when there aren't much gadgets and electronics around. I had an experience in my childhood when we visited our province. You could really feel nature there, the air was clear, you can bath in the sea and rivers, and even get free food from trees everywhere as long as you ask the owner of the yard. Can't say it's still the same tho since urbanization is already getting near those places and I haven't visited for a while now.

 

Is that Philipino supposed to be Filipino? It's kinda likely from my view since it's a well-known fact here that there are tons of OFWs in different countries. Some people even believe that there's no country without a Filipino. Reason being getting a job with a decent pay here is pretty challenging, even if you are a degree holder.

 

I can relate with the broken English. I have nothing against them since language is supposed to be a medium of communication so as long as you get your point across, it's fine. There's a lot of broken English here in the country and it always make me laugh since the meaning sometimes get crazy and irrelevant. Then there's the grammar nazis that have better English to tell them off.

[XReaper]

what should i say...as hungary is only famous for exporting hordes of gypsies & producing high quality porn (especially the weird one). oh forgot to mention our food is quite spicy, but thats about it.