Sharing our culture!
Usually when you hear details about culture from someone you know, the meaning becomes so clear! It seems so disconnected and impersonal when you read about culture in books. I think it would be extremely informative for everyone on the forum if we shared a little personal culture from our ancestry or region of the country, whether English speaking or Spanish speaking. This way we have first-hand knowledge of specific regions' culture in the world. Make sure you share where you are from so it all makes sense! I will go first.
I grew up in Wisconsin (The United States) in a family with a strong Bohemian/German ancestry. Polka (an upbeat dance music played with an accordian and accompanied by clapping) was the cultural music of the area. "Cow-tipping" was a favorite activity among the bored teenaged farm kids! (Cow-tipping: The cow-tipper waits until the innocent cow is fast asleep and then pushes the cow swiftly and firmly causing the unsuspecting sleeping cow to fall over. You could never tip a cow when it is awake.) Bratwurst (A spicy sausage made from pork or beef, usually containing beer and cheese as well) and beer were the food of choice at the many barbeques, and bowling was hugely popular to while away the time in the winter. You say, "Would you borrow me that?" when you want someone to lend you something and every long "O" has almost a Canadian accent.
Please write in your native language as this is part of sharing culture! I am looking forward to reading the replies.
7 Answers
I am from the Manila, Philippines. My country has been under Spanish rule for a few hundred years, then under American rule around half of the last century. Being so, a lot of those who were born here before 1900 could speak Spanish, and those born in the early half of 1900 are quite conversant with American English. Towards the later part of the 1900s, there was a move to focus on the dominant native language, Filipino. So Spanish is practically gone, except with those Spanish speaking families that continue to evolve exclusively among themselves. English is also "suffering" with the younger generation since it has not been the required medium of instruction anymore for at least the last 20 years. But if you will speak English here, in practically all places, you will still be understood. American culture still has a lot of influence here though. Brangelina, American Idol, and Avatar, for example, are part of our present-day consciousness. We still say "good morning/afternoon/evening" instead of our own "magandang umaga/hapon/gabi". That goes for Happy Birthday, Merry Christmas, etc.
I did one of my residencies in Maine.I did not realize I had actually moved to Canada. The winter convinced me of that.When I saw people from Quebec at Old Orchard beach catching the warmth and sun my awareness broadened.WHen I walked my dog at the edge of the sea I saw little icebergs drift by.
Blueberry fields in the winter are beautiful.They turn multiple shades of lavender and crimson which are almost surreal in their coloration.My small car was able to drive underneath the neck of a moose crossing the road at night. I was never so lucky!People ate lobster in the summer like people in the midwest might eat a peach or an apple. SInce the shells were too soft for them to ship they stayed in state and sold for $1.10 a pound as I recall.Wild roses grew along the rocky beaches and only minutes out of Portland you felt like no one was around.
I think because of the isolation most Mainers were reserved and people of few words.I was advised of how to appropriately greet people when I arrived. Very subdued from what I would have considered a normal friendly connection.
I drove to Quoddy Head, the furthest eastern shore of the United States.The air was thick with damp and the moss carpeted the ground six or more inches thick. If it were not so wet one could lie down and sleep on it.The tip of land was covered with granite rocks of all sizes but uniformly smoothed and rounded by the incessant beat of the Atlantic Ocean.
Further inland granite boulders reminded you of the last ice age.Remnants of ancient rock buildings could be found and somehow I would not have been surprised to see a Viking ship on the horizon.
I guess my time in the hospitals limited my social connections so my experience was less cultural and more of an experience of the land.
I was born in Ohio and have the same ancestry that Ranaerules refers to.My father was first generation American.I moved with my family to Kentucky when I was about 10 years old.Bourbon,tobacco, the Kentucky Derby and thoroughbred race horses galloping on blue grass really are part of the scene there.My fears of having to stay barefoot and use an out house because that was what hillbillies did were just fears.I have seen more moonshine in New Mexico than I saw in Kentucky.
Tobacco is less a part of the economy now, for obvious reasons. When I was in medical school the University of Kentucky had a Department of Health and Tobacco.
I left Kentucky about 30 years ago, so Goyo will have to give the current state of affairs if he chimes in on this thread.
Maine,Indiana,Alabama,New Mexico and Arizona have been my homes. If anyone is interested I can tell you what it was like to live in those places.
I'm in Toronto, Canada. We're English/French speaking nation. There's practically no Spanish to speak of, French is the second language of choice up here. Canadian culture very much resembles American culture in many ways, we share the same types of media (movies, clothing, music, but not news). But Canada is rather passive and quiet compared to America, and I mean that...for instance you'd never find a real riot in Canada, or the sort of excitement surrounding politicians or a federal election.
Well I was born and raised in Massachusetts and moved to New Hampshire when I left the nest. One Grandfather is buried in his native home of Reims, France and the other somewhere in Greece. Obviously my parents didn't communicate much in their respective languages so I grew up with only English. I don't really have to describe New Hampshire since its just the way Nizhoni described Maine, our neighboring state, with the exception of the solitude in Maines more northern region. We're known as the "Granite State" and our state motto is "Live Free or Die" a statement carried over from General John Stark during the Revolutionary War. NH has a short shoreline on the Atlantic coast [compared to Maine] and a small group of Islands called the Isles of Shoals where the famous 'Blackbeard the pirate' supposedly buried his treasure. This, along with the Maine coast is where we spend most of our time scuba diving.
Rena,
Here is a picture of the Selway/Bitteroot wildernes - not the one you were trying for though.
Even though I grew up in Wisconsin, it is not my home. I thought I would tell you about Montana! Montana is a very independent state. The people who live here either moved here because they wanted to get away from it all, or because they love the wild nature on every doorstep. I live right next to the Selway wilderness, the largest wilderness tract still left in the United States. We have wolves, elk, bear (even grizzly bear), lynx, coyotes, deer, mustangs and bison. Except for in the Bitteroot Valley, most of the state is very cold in the winter. The valley was named "Bitteroot Valley" by the indigenous Native Americans because of the hard circumstances they encountered when living in the valley. The only thing for them to eat was a "bitter root". Everything here, culturally speaking, is about 7 years behind the rest of the states. Some people still live with rougher circumstances than the rest of the states, often by choice. Even though we are rich with natural resources like the best powder skiing in the world next to Switzerland, much of Montana is poor in culture. There is no school of medicine in the state, the arts are practically nonexistent, we do not have a football team, and we have so few representative votes that to be visited by a politician is a miracle! Country music is the music of choice as it is played in nearly every business in the area! Buffalo hamburgers and elk steaks are popular. A good horse and a shotgun are proud possesions. I would say life is simple, but rewarding, in Montana.
This is a [(http://www.wilderness.net/index.cfm?use=NWPS&sec=enlargeAndDetails&id=1218)]
