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 [ BACK]  [NEXT]                       Issue #126 - 01/10/1999

DUELING CULTURES

When cultures meet, funny things happen...

Hello, culture fans!
     All of us belong to one culture or another - many of us to
more than one.  It wasn't so very long ago that different ethnic
groups on this old rock were fairly isolated and unchanging.  If
two cultures met, it was usually in the middle of some battle. 
Hard for people to have a meaningful conversation when their
trying to kill each other.  But modern transportation, and
especially modern communication, have resulted in cultures
bumping up against each other in more peaceful ways.  Old
barriers have come down and old ideas are being challenged at an
ever-increasing rate.  Which makes some people quite
uncomfortable.
     It isn't that the world has become smaller, just that it is
no longer possible to ignore other cultures, ideas and events
happening in other parts of the world.  Not many years ago,
financial conditions in China had about the same effect on
America as the rainy season in Swaziland.  Not anymore.  We see
it all on CNN and it will have a direct effect on what happens
right here on Main Street.  Which makes it even more important to
have some understanding of how other people think.  And to
appreciate and enjoy our differences.
     We face too many challenges to assume that any one group has
all of the answers - or even most of the answers.  When solving a
really big problem, you have to ask the folks on the other side
just what they see.  No one piece of a jigsaw puzzle holds the
complete image.  You only get the big picture when you put all of
the fragmented views together.
     We are here to laugh about these things after all.  A sense
of humor is always the best tool for working out our differences. 
Thanks this week to the members of our own multicultural group: 
Jerry Taff, Fumiko Umino, John Wallner, Akiko Ogino, Timothy
McChain, The Petersons, Hiroe Sugiyama, Laura Hong Lee, Kerry
Miller, Sylvia Libin He, Caterina Sukup, Masami & Yuko Shimizu,
Peter Adler, Beth Butler & Junji Taniguchi.   And special
congratulations to my wife (SUNFUN's Editorial Assistant), Carol
Becwar, who is the new Editorial Assistant for "Doll House
Miniatures" magazine.  Pretty much the same job she has been
doing here, except that they'll probably have to pay her.  Not a
cultural difference - that's just business.
     Have A Great Week!

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EXPLOSIVE CULTURAL CHANGE
-------------------------
     A journalist who had done stories on gender roles in the
Middle East during the Gulf War returned to Kuwait a short time
ago.  One of the first things she noticed was the amazing change
in how men walked with their wives.  Before the war, it had been
common for women to walk two or three meters (about 10 feet)
behind their husbands.  Now it was the women who took the lead as
a married couple walked, with the men trailing behind.  She could
hardly wait to write about this amazing gender progress.
     At the first opportunity, she asked her Kuwaiti friends
about the reason for the change.
     "Oh that is easily explained," her friend replied.  "Land
mines."


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HARDLY WORKING...
--------------
     We often suppose that the culture of Europe is really pretty
similar to that of America - after all, most Americans can trace
their ancestry back to the "old countries" of Europe.  But there
are distinct differences.
     For one thing, social programs are quite different.  In
Germany last summer, a lobbying organization filed a petition to
increase vacation time for the unemployed.  Currently, unemployed
people in Germany get only about half of the six weeks holiday
that is common in Germany.
     "The unemployed are only allowed to be unreachable for three
weeks each year," Arbeitskreis Arbeitslos (Working Group for the 
Unemployed) said in a statement. "There is no such thing as
holiday for those without a job."
          [ Nice work if you can get it... ]


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LANGUAGE STUDIES...
----------------
     A couple I know recently adopted a Korean girl, and were
showing their new baby off to friends.  A neighbor came by to
admire the baby, and asked, "But what will you do when she gets
older and starts speaking Korean?"
                            - Marc Parmet at Cornell University


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HAVE THEY MET THEIR WATERLOO?
----------------------------
     As we rush toward the end of the century, one of the biggest
surprises is just how united Europe is becoming.  Tribes that
have fought from the dawn of recorded history are now serving in
the same army units.  Not that a couple of thousand years of
throwing rocks at each other hasn't left the occasional sore
spot.
     Just recently, a group of French politicians suggested that
the way for British Prime Minister Tony Blair to show true
sensitivity to European feelings would be to rename London's
Waterloo Station to something less offensive.
     That particular station is the terminal for channel tunnel
trains arriving from Paris, but the name celebrates the Duke of
Wellington's defeat of the French Emperor, Napoleon, in 1815. 
Though he was diplomatic enough not to say it out loud, Blair's
reply was pretty much, "Learn to live with it."
     "We have seen the reports, but I am not aware of any plans
to rename Waterloo station," a spokesman for Blair said.
     Conservative politicians in France have threatened that if
Waterloo Station is not renamed, they will fight to have Paris'
Gare du Nord Station renamed "Fontenoy," after a 1745 French
victory over the British.
     British newspapers had fun with that, with the London Times
claiming that, "Many will think it the misspelt name of a ballet
dancer."  The paper also suggested that if the French station
must be renamed after a French victory, a better choice would be
the battle in 1066 where the French Duke William of Normandy
defeated the English King Harold and conquered all of England. 
But do you think the French are quite ready to have a station
named "Hastings?"  (Reuters)


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BALANCE OF TRADE
----------------
     One feature of our modern world is that local products are
now often in competition with cheaper, high-quality imports. 
We've seen that with steel, electronics and even cars.
     But a newspaper in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates reported
last year that rising prices have hurt at least one local
product.  With marriage dowry prices now over $30,000 for a local
bride, an increasing number of men in the UAE have been seeking
foreign, dowry-free brides, resulting in a surplus of unmarried
local women.
          [ Authorities are said to be considering import
          duties to protect the local product. ]

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DEAR SIR OR MADAM...
-----------------
     Sons inherit twice as much as daughters in Iran; it's a very
simple rule.
     But a recent case has the inheritance court in Iran
perplexed.  A 19-year-old man named Hassan appeared in court to
claim his inheritance after his father's death.  Except that
Hassan was a daughter until a sex change operation 5 years ago.
     Stuck with making a nearly impossible decision, the Iranian
court bought a little time by postponing the case until Hassan
gets his identity papers changed to reflect his new sex.  That
would require a ruling by a separate court.  (Reuters)


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THE GREEKS HAVE A WORD FOR IT...  BUT YOU WON'T LIKE IT.
-------------------------------------------------------
     In two separate cases recently, groups have protested their
inclusion in Greek dictionaries.
     The Philippines Foreign Office filed a formal protest with
Greece after finding that the definition of "Filipina" in a Greek
dictionary meant "housemaid."  Philippine Ambassador Norberto
Basilio said the description was "an affront to the dignity" of
Philippine women and demanded a correction.
     In another case, a group of Northern Greeks objected to
being called "Bulgarians."  A Greek judge agreed to ban the 
offensive definition which said that the term was Greek slang for
"supporters or players of sports teams in [the Greek province of]
Thessaloniki."  The court threatened the dictionary's author with
heavy fines and a jail sentence.
          [ It's all Greek to me! ]


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THE BIG KISS OFF...
----------------
     A free statue?  Most cities would be happy to get a nice bit
of artwork, especially if it was free.  But not in Switzerland.
     It seems that the sculptor didn't have legal permission to
put up the 12-foot (4-meter) high white marble statue of two
naked lovers kissing passionately, and the orderly officials in
Geneva made him remove it.  Geneva authorities were quoted as
saying they didn't intend to become a dumping ground for
unauthorized works of art.
     The French village of Ferney-Voltaire, just over the border
from Geneva, has given the statue artistic asylum until the
matter is sorted out.  Curiously, that's exactly the same
situation as the French philosopher Voltaire faced in 1760, when
he also had to flee accross the border to Ferney after offending
Swiss artistic tastes.  (Reuters)


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WHAT COUNTRY WAS THAT?
---------------------
     Asians sometimes get a little frustrated with foreigners,
because so few Westerners understand the differences in Eastern
cultures.  Maybe that's not so surprising, because the Asians
aren't always that great at it, themselves.
     At a preliminary match for the recent Asian games, a band
played the United Arab Emirates (UAE) National Anthem as that
country's team entered the stadium.  At least, that's what they
thought they were playing - the tune was actually the Saudi
Arabian National Anthem.  An apology from the provincial governor
was needed to straighten that mistake out.  (It also helped that
UAE beat North Korea 7-4.)
     Surprisingly, the same thing happened later when a runner
from India won the first gold medal of the games.  Jyotirmoy
Sikhdar earned the medal by beating China's Wang Qingfen to win
the women's 1,500 meter race, only to hear what sounded like the
Chinese anthem played at the medal ceremony.
     Only after the crowd booed and shouted was the incorrect
anthem taken off and the Indian anthem played.
     Then, at the APEC trade meetings in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
last November, organizers were horrified to find that Chiang
Pin-kung was listed in the speaker s program as President of the
People's Republic of China instead of Jiang Zemin.  Even more
embarrassing is that Mr. Chiang is actually the top economic
planner in Taiwan.  (Reuters / AP) 


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WAR OF WORDS...
------------
     No one guards their language and culture more vigorously
than the French.  Maurice Druon, secretary of the famed French
Academy (excuse me, Academie Francaise), guards the language as a
national treasure.
     Now, after taking on such horrors to the spirit of French
culture as "primetime" and "compact disc," this watchdog of true
French has been growling at feminists.  Especially since French
Prime Minister Lionel Jospin ruled that women cabinet members
should be known by the feminine "Madame la Ministre" instead of
"Madame le Ministre" as the rules of French grammar require.
     Now, we in English may think that a single letter isn't much
to fight about.  After all, we've hardly ever gone to war with
Canada over their perverse use of 'u' in "favour" or "colour." 
But M. Druon sees that as a sign that we're all in on the plot to
corrupt the French language.
     "Do we know where this fashion of feminizing titles was
born?  Certainly not in Canada, but in the United States.  Canada
was only contaminated through geographical proximity.  Now, using
its Quebec staging post, it ends up perverting our grammar,"
Druon fumed in a newspaper article.
          [ Man the barricades!  I think I just heard
          someone say "Hot Dog!" ]


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THE SPORTING LIFE...
-----------------
     Some cultures have really intense sports fans.
     Chicago fans have some kind of riot every time the Bulls win
another championship.  After six years of this, the Chicago
Police are really tired of the whole thing.  And the same sort of
over- exuberant sports celebration took place in Greece recently,
when Athens won the Greek basketball championship.  During the
World Cup in France last year, over 100 spectators and 35 police
were injured in riots by fans supporting their teams.
     On the other hand, janitors in one section of the World Cup
stadium were astonished by the behavior of Japanese fans, who saw
their team lose to Argentina.  Far from being rowdy, these fans
remained so tidy that the janitors had almost nothing to do. 
Many of the Japanese fans even brought along their own trash
bags.  One janitor said, "they left the stadium cleaner than it
was when they arrived."


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NO BOUNDARIES...
-------------
     Jews who follow the strict Jewish dietary laws by "keeping
kosher" often have trouble finding food in restaurants that is
fast and cheap.
     That's why it was quite a surprise recently when a
McDonald's in Buenos Aires, Argentina announced that they would
be providing a "kosher burger" for the local Jewish population. 
Members of Argentina's 300,000-strong Jewish community no longer
have to eat out at more expensive kosher restaurants.  The
changes mean a lot for traditional Jews, but are hardly noticed
by most of the restaurants patrons; the biggest difference being
that the "kosher McDonald's" doesn't have cheeseburgers.
     "I am having a McDonald's!  And at a shopping mall!  I just
can't believe it!" a 19-year-old said.  (Reuters)
          [ Kosher food from McDonald's in South
          America?  That should be enough of a cultural
          mix for anyone. ]


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          COMING NEXT WEEK (01/17/99): 
                     ARMED AND CONSIDERED RIDICULOUS!
                       It's a Crime to be Stupid...

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© 1999 by Bill Becwar. All Rights Reserved.