What SL teaches about other countries/cultures

[Rolig Loon]

1 minute ago, Sid Nagy said:

And thankfully you didn't mention the obligatory windmills and wooden clogs.

No, but someone has to. My uncle spent several years studying old Dutch so that he could read historic documents. In the process, he picked up some fun linguistic tidbits, one of which he shared with me:

Ik zag de zon in de Zuiderzee sinken. Hoor de kleine klompjes klepperen op de klinkers.

I have no idea what it sounds like spoken, but my uncle said it made him smile. And it has clogs in it.

[Persephone Emerald]

1 hour ago, Pamela Galli said:

I don’t know what Gas Monkey Garage is,, but yes to the rest. Almost all large cities are Democrat.

Not to be picky, but "Democrat" is a singular noun, as in "Barrack Obama is a Democrat." Democrats is the plurral noun. Democratic (capitalized) is the adjective for the Democratic political party, and democratic, not capitalized is the adjective for political systems that rely on elections of their politicians by the general public. The Republican party under our previous president started using "Democrat" as an adjective as a means of distancing their rival party's proper name from the general idea of a democratic political system.

[Sid Nagy]

6 minutes ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

They also like to throw them in Amsterdam's canals at the end of their little trips.

But most of them end up at the bike parking lots around Central Station.

[Pamela Galli]

2 minutes ago, Persephone Emerald said:

Not to be picky, but "Democrat" is a singular noun, as in "Barrack Obama is a Democrat." Democrats is the plurral noun. Democratic (capitalized) is the adjective for the Democratic political party, and democratic, not capitalized is the adjective for political systems that rely on elections of their politicians by the general public. The Republican party under our previous president started using "Democrat" as an adjective as a means of distancing their rival party's proper name from the general idea of a democratic political system.

We talk funny here, y’all. 

[Madelaine McMasters]

14 minutes ago, Sid Nagy said:

But most of them end up at the bike parking lots around Central Station.

I don't recall seeing a field of bikes like that when we arrived at Centraal Station, or we might have taken one. We took a gondola ride and watched one going the other way, pulling bikes from the water with a hooked pole.

I also just remembered hubby remarking that the urinals at Schipol airport had little flies drawn in the porcelain near the drain, to give you fellas incentive to keep it in the bowl and off your shoes.

ETA: https://simpleflying.com/how-amsterdam-schipol-reduced-toilet-cleaning-costs-by-8-with-fake-urinal-bugs/

Edited February 21, 2022 by Madelaine McMasters

[Sid Nagy]

1 minute ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

I also just remembered hubby remarking that the urinals at Schipol airport had little flies drawn in the porcelain near the drain, to give you fellas incentive to keep it in the bowl and off your shoes.

Yes, and it works. It helps to keep the place tidy.

[Madelaine McMasters]

1 minute ago, Sid Nagy said:

Yes, and it works. It helps to keep the place tidy.

I'm jealous. I can't write my name in the snow, either.

[Sid Nagy]

6 minutes ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

I'm jealous. I can't write my name in the snow, either.

Practice more often. 

 

I wonder if we are still talking about culture now....

Edited February 21, 2022 by Sid Nagy

[Rolig Loon]

6 minutes ago, Sid Nagy said:

I wonder if we are still talking about culture now....

Some of us may be more cultured than others.

[Persephone Emerald]

I waited to respond to the OP because it was hard for me to remember what I've learned about other cultures and countries from being in SL. I think most of the people I've met from other countries haven't been that different from what I'd expect from Americans. With some people I need to use a translator to communicate, but people are just people no matter where they come from. 

One thing I think I learned - though only from one person - is that the rich are different from regular folk. I had one friend in SL who claimed to be European and wealthy. He was very interesting to have long talks with. He had no reservations about donating money to sims or people that he had an interest in, but didn't volunteer money or help to someone otherwise. He gave a lady he was involved with a small mansion to decorate and call her own, but when he became disappointed in her for what I thought were rather superficial reasons, he dropped out of SL and basically ghosted her. He also admitted that he had a son from his first marriage with whom he had no contact, and didn't seem that concerned with his current wife and children.

Edited February 21, 2022 by Persephone Emerald
grammar. left out a word

[Madelaine McMasters]

8 minutes ago, Sid Nagy said:

Practice more often. 

 

I wonder if we are still talking about culture now....

If a culture test comes back positive, seek medical attention.

[HeathcliffMontague]

19 hours ago, Pamela Galli said:

To me the most fascinating and valuable thing about Second Life is how it brings people from all over the world together to share perspectives and insights about different cultures. 

What insights about other countries/cultures have you had due to SL?

 

I guess Egypt. Greetings from Scandinavia.

[Sid Nagy]

1 hour ago, Rolig Loon said:

Ik zag de zon in de Zuiderzee sinken. Hoor de kleine klompjes klepperen op de klinkers.

I have no idea what it sounds like spoken, but my uncle said it made him smile. And it has clogs in it.

Those two sentences have a lot of alliteration in it.
They are two old Dutch tong twisters, like the English "She sells sea shells on the sea shore" or "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers."

Two famous ones in the Dutch language that were used during WWII to determine quickly if someone was really Dutch or an imposter, were the name of the town Scheveningen or  "achtentachtig kacheltjes" (88 stoves).
Both totally impossible to pronounce correctly for non native Dutch speakers.

Edited February 21, 2022 by Sid Nagy

[Silent Mistwalker]

3 hours ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

Don't forget 'further' and 'farther' -- though I don't know if the Europeans understand those two any better than most US folks.

The further you go, the farther away you are.

 

*runs

Edited February 21, 2022 by Silent Mistwalker

[Silent Mistwalker]

3 hours ago, Sid Nagy said:

Language is a huge part of culture. So spot on IMHO.
Did you for instance know that the Inuit have dozens of different words for snow and ice types?
Amazing.

Because they aren't names so much as descriptions.

[Silent Mistwalker]

3 hours ago, Lindal Kidd said:

The more I learn about the world, the more I think it looks best in the pages of the National Geographic.

I tend to agree with John Carter. It looks best from Mars.

 

Yes, I'm reading the series. Started the 5th book last night.

[Sid Nagy]

4 minutes ago, Silent Mistwalker said:

*runs

So now you are farther away too I guess.
Or do you run towards us?

[Pamela Galli]

1 hour ago, Persephone Emerald said:

One thing I think I learned - though only from one person - is that the rich are different from regular folk.

My understanding is that you need more than one person in order to make a generalization. (See: The Great Gasby.)

[Nick0678]

54 minutes ago, Persephone Emerald said:

had one friend in SL who claimed to be European

Just a reminder, Europe is not one country, it's 7 geographic regions with more than 50 countries and about 800million people. so yes we are all Europeans but actually have nothing in common (*not even the EU), it's best to refer to people based on their country.

[Silent Mistwalker]

7 minutes ago, Sid Nagy said:

So now you are farther away too I guess.
Or do you run towards us?

I was wondering what everyone was doing under the bridge.

[Persephone Emerald]

21 minutes ago, Nick0678 said:

Just a reminder, Europe is not one country, it's 7 geographic regions with more than 50 countries and about 800million people. so yes we are all Europeans but actually have nothing in common (*not even the EU), it's best to refer to people based on their country.

I don't remember which country he said he was from, somewhere in Eastern Europe, but he was living somewhere else. The point I wanted to make was that he claimed to be wealthy.  😉

Edited February 21, 2022 by Persephone Emerald

[Nick0678]

Just now, Persephone Emerald said:

I don't remember which country said he was from, somewhere in Eastern Europe, but he was living somewhere else. The point I wanted to make was that he claimed to be wealthy.  🙂

Oh such stories are plenty in SL, i once had a tenant who tried to convince me that she was secretary for the President of Ecuador, just to give her some extra time for her rental... and also a few others that i shouldn't say in public...

My reply was always the same "Photos or it didn't happen!"

[Madelaine McMasters]

Just now, Persephone Emerald said:

I don't remember which country said he was from, somewhere in Eastern Europe, but he was living somewhere else. The point I wanted to make was that he claimed to be wealthy.  🙂

Could it be that, rather than learning the rich are different from regular folk by acting crappy, you learned that one regular person, acting crappy, claimed to be rich? L$ are disproportionately impressive at first glance.

For me, the biggest question I have for anyone claiming to be wealthy is.. "Why are you here, talking to me?"

Honestly, I wonder that about all of you.

[Rolig Loon]

1 minute ago, Nick0678 said:

Oh such stories are plenty in SL, i once had a tenant who tried to convince me that she was secretary for the President of Ecuador, just to give her some extra time for her rental... and also a few others that i shouldn't say in public...

My reply was always the same "Photos or it didn't happen!"

Remember to smile. Think how rotten you would feel if you offended a Nigerian prince and he decided to take his business elsewhere.

[Nick0678]

8 minutes ago, Rolig Loon said:

Remember to smile. Think how rotten you would feel if you offended a Nigerian prince and he decided to take his business elsewhere.

Nigerians are cool. i have a few friends in RL who are Nigerians (*Yorubas), wouldn't say they have much to do with royalty but still we had some good times together. (a bit con artists though but then again who isn't..politicians do even worse and are called gentlemen.)

Edited February 21, 2022 by Nick0678