Share your Culture

Warbsywoo

Hellodia.
Veteran
Joined
Apr 15, 2007
Messages
4,891
Age
35
Location
California
Gil
2
We've had threads about the best culture or threads about your favorite culture, but none I think about your own, so express yourself and tell all the goods and bads about your culture, in case we might want to travel there someday.

I'm Filipino, basically meaning that I live (used to live) in the Philippines. It's in Southeast Asia, democracy, and is the only Catholic nation in that part of the world.

It has a rich history, once dominated for 333 years by the Spanish; who established hundreds of cathedrals and grand churches in the capital city of Manila. If you're one of those religious people, and you haven't seen a cathedral, a good way to get a glimpse of one is by going here. Trust me, there are literally dozens in a single town alone.

It's also had a long military history. Along with occupation comes revolution, tried and tested, the Filipinos fought through many underground tunnels and in the dense jungles/forests as guerillas. There a TON of museums dedicated to them and if you're a history buff or just plain curious, stop by a couple of them if ever you chance to visit Southeast Asia.

As far as recreation goes, the beaches are top-notch. A lot of foreign visitors tour the many white beaches and canoe or kayak the many rivulets and sea-caves in the islands. There's much to do, such as going to the beach, taking horse-rides all throughout many islands, and just plain hiking up the many caves. There's lots to see; Baguio, the summer capital, is where all the good stuff happens. You can find everything over there, including every convenience most people know of.

There's also a lot of shopping centers to buy things from books to video games, from software to food. There are huge food centers everywhere even if you don't know where to look. They always have signs that have logos Pepsi or Coca-Cola on them so it's rather easy to find one. (Usually there are also labels of: Sari-Sari Store, meaning All-Purpose store)

Food. It's delicious, don't let people (including myself) tell you otherwise. Just stay away from food that have weird names and always ask what it's made of. But if you like taking risks, take a bite, it won't hurt. :p

People. They're nice, they know how to speak English rather well and fluently, and they know what they're on about when guiding tourists. Learn a few phrases, but that really wouldn't matter. xD

Transportation. Major forms of transportation: Bus, Tricycle, and Jeepney. Buses you know about, tricycles are motorcycles with a cab that seats 2 people inside, 3 people outside, and jeepneys are just jeeps with extended cabs; mini-buses basically.
 
I'm willing to bed that 90% of the people around here don't know diddly squat about their cultural histories. Myself included. All I know is that Independence day has something to do with splitting from England, and...Americans are generally pretty fat because of our culturally bad eating habits.
 
Culture isn't exclusive to where you came from what your country does. ;)
It can be your city culture, your local culture. I can make a giant paragraph about Fallbrook (where I live) California's culture. I can even make a paragraph about the San Diegan culture even though I know little about it.

There's so much about culture that can be taken that it's practically impossible not to know anything about it, IMO. xD
 
Well, mine's the same as yours, Warb...and you practically said everything that needed to be said. =)

I guess I'll add something about that Language bit. I notice that almost everyone there who does know how to speak English fluently, tends to mix sentences up with Tagalog. I'm actually the same way when I have a conversation with my brother. But when it comes to my dad, it's purely Tagalog. =/ He keeps telling us not to forget our own language, which is cool and understandable.

Then there's texting on cell phones. Everyone has a cell phone, even the kids. o_O They text, text, text all day. There's even a booklet you can buy where it lists random numbers of people who wants a "TextMate"...I find that kinda laughable to be honest, but I guess they love it. =/
 
What's your specific culture, GG?
I'd like to know, though if I'd venture to guess, it'd be an Asiatic culture.
That's just my guess though.
 
Lol, two other Filipinos have already answered. Well, here's something that's specific to my heritage.

I'm Filipino, but more specifically, my parents came from the northern provinces and speak the language Ilocano (also called Iloko sometimes). Ilocanos are really frugal (i.e. cheapskates) because we're used to routine hardships caused by nature; the northern Philippines is right in the typhoon belt.

One of the biggest cultural aspects of the Ilocos region is the burnay jar. Supposedly bagoong tastes better if you ferment it in a burnay jar rather than a plastic or glass container. In traditional Southeast Asian culture, jars are symbols of wealth, and were frequently a part of trade.

Formerly, Japan once traded with the Philippines in the northern port town of Piat. Many burnay jars made long ago can be found in remote Japanese villages, still being used for pickling, and they swear that these jars make them taste better (In Japan they are called Rusen jars; Rusen---->Luzon, the northern Philippine island).
 
Last edited:
I lend from all of three cultures. I'm hald Danish, half Spanish, and have lived in England for a good 8 years.

tbh I don't know much about Denmark - they had something to do with the Vikings, they used to have an empire of some description, and when any war including Denmark starts, they're usually invaded by teatime. :P But then I come from the rural, mainly aggricultural part of Denmark known as West Jutland where it's boring as hell and the weather is the best toipic of discussion, so usually I tend to forget about DK. The though of it bores me, even though I know it's got a great culture in the larger cities. I lived in Odense for a while in DK, and bugger me, the ammount of bicycles going around is amazing. It's pretty much the same in most of scandinavia and the netherlands (or so I'm told) but it's so impressive every time. Not having somehwere for people to put their bikes is like not having a front door. There are so many more bikes than cars. There are PUBLIC BIKE PUMPS on street corners where you can just stop and quickly pump up your tyres. No wonder you hardly see a single fat/obese person (no offense intended to anyone on the board - but we all know it's a problem in the UK and US) in Denmark.

The Spanish culture, I could write a book about. It's similar in many ways to Jeremiah's description of the Filipines - Cathedrals all over the place, AMAZINGLY kind and polite locals, etc. Having lived in England for 8 years, the comparisons that can be made are huge. This country really does suck compared, and again I really do not mean to offend.

The streets. The one thing the Spanish are good at is the one thing the English lack - pride. Don't say it's not true without going outside, or maybe visiting a public toilet. 99 times out of 100 if you're in Spain, it's impeccably clean and neat, whereas here in England more times than not it's vandalised, dirty, smelly and ugly. Public toilets in this country are DISGUSTING. There is not word to describe the below bottom quality of... pretty much anything a british council is incharge of.

EVERYTHING in Spain is kept looking perfect - it's true. Houses all look so damn nice, and you think that's good, wait until you enter a block of city flats. Lined with Marble everywhere, plants line the halls - all bought and cared for by the local authorites. It's walays either being cleaned or smelling clean and looks beautiful. They have pride in my home country which I have never seen rivalled.

Don't evern get me started on the food. *droool*

The weather, the beaches, the laydez =D all damn amazing. Also, you'll find a generosity in people you would never see here in the UK. I think it's the same along a lot of the mediterranean (particularly Italy) but it's still so amazingly refreshing that everyone just willingly does things for you, helps you out, etc. I've had strangers behind me in the supermarket queue pay an axtra euro or two if I was short just like that. Family and generosity is so highly ranked in Spain.

Oh crap, this post is getting long. I doubt no-one cares this much.. XD I'll try to finish it soon. =p

Umm, Spain used to have a pretty sizeable empire, the biggest naval fleet in the world - the armada, and today is one fo the fastest growing economies in the world. But the bottom line, it's oh so godamn beautiful. And the people and the food are just top notch. I've never been to a better place.
 
The Engish culture is amazingly misrepresented so I shall sum it up for you.

We are peacefull in nature but have a history of invading countries in the name of civilisation. If we win, thats fine, if we lose, that's better.

We are generally communist in political allegence but will die for queen and country.

Just a quick one for Esp... we destroyed the Spanish Armada while playing bowles :)

We pronounce herbs as 'herbs' not 'erbs' because there is a fucking 'h' in it.

We find all nations equal, except the Americans who we despise yet it remains the only country we are willing to send our sons to die for.

We love tea and crumpets, despite prefering coffee and not knowing what a crumpet is.

We love cricket (not baseball, we play baseball here too, except it's played with a hardball, by girls, and it's called rounders).

We like being portrayed in Hollywood movies as either.
1 Evil
2 Gay
3 Evil and gay
4 James Bond

We are sexually repressed in every way, except in the bedroom.

We hate the European Union, despite being Iberian, Celtic, Roman, Saxon, Norman, Viking, and most other things in our origin.

We like cheese.... and sausages.

We invented the Blues. Well America did, but we invented America so I'm claiming it.

We are arrogant which we know is wrong but most foreign women swoon over us, because arrogance is kinda sexy with an English accent.

We have no idea what the British Empire was all about.

Hope that clears that up!
 
Last edited:
Ah, this is an awesome topic so I'll share my two cents. I hail from a small country in Central America called Costa Rica. Costa Ricans are generally nice and pacific people. We've only had like one civil war in all of our history which ocurred in 1948 for political reasons. Other than that, Costa Rica is one of the most solid democracies in Latin America and the people take great pride in it. It also has one of the highest literacy rates in the region. Typical food includes the tortilla http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tortilla and gallo pinto (which is basically rice and beans). Although the heritage is primarily European, there are African roots in the Eastern province of Limón and indigenous roots all over the country, but primarily in rural zones. It has a lot of beautiful beaches and rainforests, but it also has cities with malls and everything (though said cities tend to be ugly).
 
@ Esp: That's to be expected about Spain. The two share very similar cultures because the two nations were intertwined historically for about 333 years. I would love to visit Spain what with your description; it just makes it more appealing to visit landmarks like that, places dotted with castles and cathedrals, it would be so amazing. lol.

@ GunbladeGirl: Hwong...it sounds Korean, is it? :P
 
Well, the area I live in has a diverse culture. The two major cultures in the area are Italian and Judaism. Also I guess the area where I live is what some of you think ‘New York.’

No, the area that I live in isn’t ‘ghetto’, people aren't stabbing each other or commiting grand theift. This is what some people think when the word ‘New York’ comes into mind. New York City is actually improving since the 90s. Crime rates have been dropping since the late 90s, and NYC is one of the top 10 cities in the US with the lowest crime rate. Manhattan is one of the cleanest cities in the US. Even Harlem has been cleaning up lately and real estate is increasing.

New York City is famous for quite a lot of things such as Pizza, 5th Avenue, Madison Square garden, Empire state building, Central park, Spider man, fashion, China town, Little Italy and more.

New York has the highest population of Jews. I don’t know too much about their customs or Religion. Jews celebrate quite a few holidays here. Schools are closed on Jewish Holidays and supermarkets sell kosher food. Jewish food has become main stream in New York and in the US such as bagels, corned beef, and Pastrami.

Anyways as for Italians….New York has great pizza and lots of awesome Italian restaurants.
 
Let's see...my ancestral culture is whatever Brits, Germans and the Polish have.

As for local culture...we have rednecks. Now some (like foreigners) are unclear as to what a redneck is. Some people think it's just a farmer, but that's not the case. It doesn't matter what your profession is, anyone can be a redneck. They just need to speak in a bad southern accent, wear torn dirty clothes, be covered in dirt/paint/grime and not bother to wash it off, have messy unkempt hair, stubbly facial hair, bad teeth from too much chewing tobacco, guzzle beer, drive a crap vehicle, and be fat (though it's not mandatory).

Basically, watch Jeff Foxworthy's stuff or Blue Collar TV. Every redneck stereotype you see those shows or anywhere in general is actually true. That's the lovely Tennessee culture. Of course you have normal people too, with office jobs and such, but it's about 50/50 rednecks and fully evolved humans.
 
My hometown is culturaly diverse, yet mostly white Mexican. What I mean is that it is about 60%-70% of the people are of Mexican decent, but they have been fairly Americanized. All of them are all about brown pride. This sounds like it's going a different way so I'll talk about something else.

Being raised in the west part of Texas you kinda get imbedded with 100's of years of culture. Chili is a staple around these parts. Having our own kind of Southern accent is nice too. But the culture of past is slowly getting modernized. Country music as well as bull rides and rodeos are still a way of life around here, but people are also getting into metal, skating, and fashion clothes. We have a landmark here called the Waddell Pecan Tree. It is the oldest tree in this city. There are a few old houses here as well. Driving through the downtown area almost reminds me of a modernized old west kind of feel. I get the feeling that people who aren't from Texas or have never been here think of the state and its people as country hicks who ride horses all the time, but that is far from true. I think there were more horses here 100 years ago than there are now. One thing you can count on though is that football is life. Folks around these parts are all about their high school football teams. Texas even has some of the best NFL players. All in all Texas has a pretty deep history and culture goes a long way back. And in each and every Texan is a little part of that history.
 
Well, I'm originally from Hong Kong which was once part of the crown colony of the United Kingdom until 1997 when it was given back to China. Even though Hong Kong is still part of China, it still kind of acts as it's own country. It has it's own flag, it's own legal system, police force, customs policy and such.

I'd have to say the two main languages in Hong Kong are Cantonese Chinese and English, and I only say English because so many Amercian companies come to do business with China, a lot of them actually bring their familes. Such as we even have an international school in Hong Kong (which I used to go there) that has grade K through 12th for english speaking students.

As in most of mainland China the main religion in Hong Kong is Buddhism which actually all of my family except me follow, mainly because I'm the only one in my family who still doesn't live in Hong Kong, but yeah I used to follow Buddhism.

I'm not really sure about Hong Kong history, or even Chinese history. I mean a lot of very early chinese history we get from Historic novels, and I'm sure most of you have heard of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" which is a book that details Three early kingdoms in china, Wu, Wei and Shu. The only thing with Historic novel is nobody is quite really sure how much of it is actually true.
 
i have to agree with most of what grimoie say's (esp the way the pronunciation of herbs annoys me soooo much) but i'l add my twopenneth worth!

I can only really comment on our modern day culture aswel, as i'm sure most of us would agree, we only get patriotic over football!!

We love to COMPLAIN about EVERYTHING we bitch about our country, go as far as saying we hate it, but god help anyone else that does!!! (and secretly we wouldn't change it for the world - but no-one likes to admit that!)

I'd say we are a massive drinking culture, at least where i am from is, we like a good drink! We seem to be a nation of binge drinkers at the moment, myself included i hate to admit

We dont like smart arses

Football is the main sport of choice - the kind you kick.....we seem to like arguing about the fact its called FOOTball aswel and rugby is what Americans call football...only without the padding.....

theres the sunday dinner & the english brekkie. fish & chips, chip muffin, chips & gravy.........but we also love all manner of foreign foods - curry being the national favourite (altho i love chinese best)

We don't seem to care all that much about religion and rarely go to church

british tourists always seem to be portrayed as badly dressed & pasty...which i guess on the whole is tru >.<

our holiday spots in england are always really cheesy and cheap but we secretly love them, esp blackpool even tho we hate to admit it!

These are just my opinions though and not necessarily how other people percieve our culture, before anyone starts yelling at me.....
 
I come from Romania....the land of all posibilities(not). We were comunists untill 1989 when we killed the dictator on Christmas day( lovely isn't it?). We always complain that we are poor and that our kids have only three cellphones each and our three-member families don't fit in those two luxurous cars. We are profesional liars. BUt we have one advantage....we can tell when someone is lying. Very cool really. Our youngsters are driven by violence( a few days ago three teenagers played football with a poor kitty....damn retards) and vices( smoking/alcohol/drugs). About religion...well we worship money( I mean that even the priests are greedy jerks....God bless their pure hearts).
And about good things: we are friendly( at first sight), we have few gays( don't get me wrong...I'm no homophobe), we do not hold grudges against other cultures and we have a harsh educational system( I hate it but I know it will serve me good someday). There are more things but I can't think of any right now.
 
Back
Top