What SL teaches about other countries/cultures

[Nick0678]

44 minutes ago, StrongZer0 said:

Yeah, that taxis are not cheap, that is for sure.

Those cab drivers in the UK are amazing. My first experience with them was back in 2000 after landing at Heathrow when i got one and the driver sharp dressed and very clean offered me the morning newspaper, acting almost like a vip's driver. A real gentleman i must say. Also Intel's HQ in Swindon, very close to the Marriott Hotel was also very amazing, with little ducks swimming to a pool close by to the main building entrance etc..

Only have nice words to say in regards to all the british people i 've met during my visits all these years and i 've traveled to other European capitals and large cities as well but they really can't compare (or i am biased cause i like uk a lot).

 

Edited February 23, 2022 by Nick0678

[Tama Suki]

34 minutes ago, Nick0678 said:

Those cab drivers in the UK are amazing. My first experience with them was back in 2000 after landing at Heathrow when i got one and the driver sharp dressed and very clean offered me the morning newspaper, acting almost like a vip's driver. A real gentleman i must say. Also Intel's HQ in Swindon, very close to the Marriott Hotel was also very amazing, with little ducks swimming to a pool close by to the main building entrance etc..

Only have nice words to say in regards to all the british people i 've met during my visits all these years and i 've traveled to other European capitals and large cities as well but they really can't compare (or i am biased cause i like uk a lot).

 

I know the British quite well, too.
But I was lucky enough to meet them doing menial jobs and therefore for me getting a black cab was an unsustainable luxury.
I think you missed the best of the British, sorry.

[Tama Suki]

1 hour ago, StarlanderGoods said:

oh, I love a good digestive.

 

It´s my favorite medicine.

One of the best digestives, I love it. Although I must admit that I like the Jägermeister better.
However, I prefer to take the medicine as an aperitif.

[Tama Suki]

On 2/21/2022 at 4:10 AM, 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?

 

This is not a strong point of SL.
Here you don't really meet the world.
Here you only meet wealthy folks who can afford the luxury of wasting time on an online game that requires expensive hardware.
It is probably a beautiful thing, but it has nothing to do with meeting different cultures and different humanity.

[ChinRey]

13 hours ago, Silent Mistwalker said:

And has absolutely nothing to do with what I said. Thanks for the uneeded lecture. 

WTF is wrong with you people today.

Sorry if you felt offended by my little joke. And yes, it probably didn't have much to do with your post.

It did however have quite a lot to do with the topic of the thread as a whole because it's all about national cultures.

French measurements before metrics was a total mess with each region having their own, often wlidly different, system. Bordeaux, as I said, even had two. That caused a lot of problems with trading; how can you set a price for a pound of corn when you don't even know how much a pound of corn is? They had to find a solution so they came up with metrics and they deliberately chose new names for the new units to avoid confusion with the old.

Britain was different. They too had different standards across the island but the powers in London couldn't care less about what the peasants thought (they still can't) so they weren't in such a hurry to sort things out. When they finally got around to it, they didn't see any problems with redefining the old unit names. Any confusion that was going to cause, were the peasants' problem, not the elite's. (Besides, metrics is French. France and Britain have been frenemies for ages and the last thing one of them want to do, is implement something the other one came up with.)

USA is another special case. They don't seem to be much into standardisation at all and as far as I know (correct me if I'm wrong here), there is still no official US standard for measurements. But English was the dominant immigrant culture there so gradually the English imperial system became the most common one.

Other nations didn't really have any strong feelings in either direction. We adopted metrics because it turned out to be the most practical in the long run but still use the old measurements casually when there's no need for precision. It's no big deal because unlike in the USA and the UK (and possibly France) measurement units is not a significant cultural marker for us.

[Pamela Galli]

30 minutes ago, Tama Suki said:

This is not a strong point of SL.
Here you don't really meet the world.
Here you only meet wealthy folks

I specified “to me”. You (and others) may learn nothing from people in SL but I do. 

[Tama Suki]

16 minutes ago, Pamela Galli said:

I specified “to me”. You (and others) may learn nothing from people in SL but I do. 

I apologize if I misunderstood you.
I think I can say that the best experiences in SL are the occasional ones that happen by chance with random trolls.
Those are real, rare and precious pearls of knowledge from a different culture.
The rest is relegated to an asset imposed by a private company.

[Caroline Takeda]

19 hours ago, Sukubia Scarmon said:

How German do you feel? 

That question can not really be answered.

Germany is a compound of different historical roots, cultures, mentalities and dialects.
The different Germans are in mentality and lifestil more similar to their respective direct neighbor countries than to people from other parts of Germany.

Bavarians are more like Austrians than like people from Northern Germany. 
Berlin people are closer to the Polish than to Western Germans.
The Saarland is heavily influenced by the French. 
People around the Lake of Constance even speak similar as Swiss people.
Cologne People have a lot in common with Dutchies.

All of feel German and not.

Edited February 23, 2022 by Caroline Takeda

[Caroline Takeda]

14 hours ago, Jordan Whitt said:

PLATFORM!  

I'm not posh enough to have a skybox!!!  😝

When did skyboxes became a posh thing?

[Nick0678]

1 hour ago, Tama Suki said:

for me getting a black cab was an unsustainable luxury.

Yes i understand what you say but in my case all my travels around Europe were for business and paid by corporations i worked for, so those were covered as travel expenses.

For instance in Bucharest back in 2006 i had a personal driver for 15 days for the cost of only 200EUR or in Unterhaching back in 2007 my girlfriend came along and everything was covered even her perfumes.. It was either use it or lose it.

Edited February 23, 2022 by Nick0678

[Tama Suki]

21 minutes ago, Nick0678 said:

Yes i understand what you say but in my case all my travels around Europe were for business and paid by corporations i worked for, so those were covered as travel expenses.

For instance in Bucharest back in 2006 i had a personal driver for 15 days for the cost of only 200EUR or in Unterhaching back in 2007 my girlfriend came along and everything was covered even her perfumes.. It was either use it or lose it.

Gorgeous!
Has your company ever sent you to india?
Expenditure would probably also include coins you would throw at poor children on the street.

[StrongZer0]

2 hours ago, Nick0678 said:

Those cab drivers in the UK are amazing. My first experience with them was back in 2000 after landing at Heathrow when i got one and the driver sharp dressed and very clean offered me the morning newspaper, acting almost like a vip's driver. A real gentleman i must say. Also Intel's HQ in Swindon, very close to the Marriott Hotel was also very amazing, with little ducks swimming to a pool close by to the main building entrance etc..

Only have nice words to say in regards to all the british people i 've met during my visits all these years and i 've traveled to other European capitals and large cities as well but they really can't compare (or i am biased cause i like uk a lot).

 

Oh spit! I was in London in 2000! I did not know anything about the place and had to set up our office there. Ended up getting a Regus office near Green Park. I remember taking the Heathrow express to Paddington station. I had zero clues...got in the cue for the taxi...all of my luggage fit (amazing). The dude looked a little pissed...come to find out my hotel was a seabag drag away in those B&B style places off of Marble Arch. 

[BelindaN]

London, the stereotype city, has had so much media exposure over decades, that being there is like being on a movie set, even if you live in the UK.

London is light years away from where I live in the sticks in Yorkshire. And so is the mentality.

[Krystina Ferraris]

3 hours ago, ChinRey said:

Sorry if you felt offended by my little joke. And yes, it probably didn't have much to do with your post.

It did however have quite a lot to do with the topic of the thread as a whole because it's all about national cultures.

French measurements before metrics was a total mess with each region having their own, often wlidly different, system. Bordeaux, as I said, even had two. That caused a lot of problems with trading; how can you set a price for a pound of corn when you don't even know how much a pound of corn is? They had to find a solution so they came up with metrics and they deliberately chose new names for the new units to avoid confusion with the old.

Britain was different. They too had different standards across the island but the powers in London couldn't care less about what the peasants thought (they still can't) so they weren't in such a hurry to sort things out. When they finally got around to it, they didn't see any problems with redefining the old unit names. Any confusion that was going to cause, were the peasants' problem, not the elite's. (Besides, metrics is French. France and Britain have been frenemies for ages and the last thing one of them want to do, is implement something the other one came up with.)

USA is another special case. They don't seem to be much into standardisation at all and as far as I know (correct me if I'm wrong here), there is still no official US standard for measurements. But English was the dominant immigrant culture there so gradually the English imperial system became the most common one.

Other nations didn't really have any strong feelings in either direction. We adopted metrics because it turned out to be the most practical in the long run but still use the old measurements casually when there's no need for precision. It's no big deal because unlike in the USA and the UK (and possibly France) measurement units is not a significant cultural marker for us.

Actually, as far as Italy is concerned, the metric system was first introduced in Milan during the Napoleonic wars, 1803 or so. The rest of Italy wasn’t unified and every State had different measure systems.

The states I know best, Lombardy and Venetia, were under Austrian rule and last to be annexed, 1866. Venetia (Veneto) used feet, ounces, arms, miles, pints etc. It was a base 12 system. Even today in the local language you hear expressions like “illness comes in tons and goes away in ounces”.

Veneto also used the Austrian monetary system, that’s where the local word for money, schei, comes from, schilling.

 

Edited February 23, 2022 by Krystina Ferraris

[Nick0678]

2 hours ago, StrongZer0 said:

Oh spit! I was in London in 2000! I did not know anything about the place and had to set up our office there. Ended up getting a Regus office near Green Park. I remember taking the Heathrow express to Paddington station. I had zero clues...got in the cue for the taxi...all of my luggage fit (amazing). The dude looked a little pissed...come to find out my hotel was a seabag drag away in those B&B style places off of Marble Arch. 

February 2000 for me and actually the weather was pretty good.

My hotel was one of those Best Western and it was decent if someone didn't mind listening to people getting laid in the next room and girls puking in the back alley because there was a pub nearby. (*which of course stole my attention but i am not gonna lie, sadly i didn't score)

The main issue for me was that due to not being a native English speaker, although having  a certificate degree in  English from Cambridge, i wasn't used of all the different accents, so that first time i kept telling everyone to slow down a bit. Other than that, for a first time visit it was great, ignoring that the first day i felt a bit like Lawrence of Arabia, not knowing where to get some normal NON SPARKLING water to drink/make me my own coffee.

Edited February 23, 2022 by Nick0678

[Sid Nagy]

2 hours ago, BelindaN said:

London, the stereotype city, has had so much media exposure over decades, that being there is like being on a movie set, even if you live in the UK.

London is light years away from where I live in the sticks in Yorkshire. And so is the mentality.

One can tell the same story about Amsterdam and the place where I live in the south of the province Limburg.

For the people in the cities in the west like Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht the Netherlands ends outside the circle around those cities. The rest of the country is much politer, modest, relaxed and less self centered. Of course I'm painting with a broad brush now. There are nice exceptions.

Edited February 23, 2022 by Sid Nagy

[StrongZer0]

49 minutes ago, Nick0678 said:

February 2000 for me and actually the weather was pretty good.

My hotel was one of those Best Western and it was decent if someone didn't mind listening to people getting laid in the next room and girls puking in the back alley because there was a pub nearby. (*which of course stole my attention but i am not gonna lie, sadly i didn't score)

The main issue for me was that due to not being a native English speaker, although having  a certificate degree in  English from Cambridge, i wasn't used of all the different accents, so that first time i kept telling everyone to slow down a bit. Other than that, for a first time visit it was great, ignoring that the first day i felt a bit like Lawrence of Arabia, not knowing where to get some normal NON SPARKLING water to drink/make me my own coffee.

Try being in the Philippines and getting some iced tea without sugar. In fact, its all that powdered Lipton lemon stuff...horrible.

[Scylla Rhiadra]

I don't think I've necessarily learned a great deal about other cultures from SL. I have a reasonably multinational friends list: the only continents not very well-represented are Asia and Africa, although I do have, or have had, a fair number of Indian friends (one or two of whom wanted to "marry" me, as I think I've noted before here).

But I'm very leery about reading too much about a "culture" from the individuals I know who are representative of it. I know a fair number of Swedes, for instance, but they are all very different. Similarly, most of my American friends are very progressive: collectively, they provide a rather distorted view of the totality of the US political landscape. Possibly the only "big things" I've learned about another culture are from American friends. I get mildly freaked out by the occasional insights into gun culture there, and how really horrific the health care system seems to be.

That doesn't mean that there aren't immense benefits to be had by interacting with people from elsewhere, of course. Different perspectives and voice are soooo important. It's just that I'm careful not to generalize too much on the basis of my exposure to individuals.

[Krystina Ferraris]

3 minutes ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

had, a fair number of Indian friends (one or two of whom wanted to "marry" me, as I think I've noted before here).

.

You need Skype and a cam Scylla, just saying.

[Scylla Rhiadra]

1 minute ago, Krystina Ferraris said:

You need Skype and a cam Scylla, just saying.

But WHYYYYYYYYY?

I mean, yes, it's certainly true that I could have my pick of fine young male specimens from the Subcontinent. I mean, duh, obviously, right? And most of the ones I've known were apparently promising young engineering students, with good prospects!

But, seriously dahling, the time zone difference would be just too too boring.

And can you imagine the expense of flying family and friends out to Mumbai for a wedding?

[Krystina Ferraris]

1 hour ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

But WHYYYYYYYYY?

I mean, yes, it's certainly true that I could have my pick of fine young male specimens from the Subcontinent. I mean, duh, obviously, right? And most of the ones I've known were apparently promising young engineering students, with good prospects!

But, seriously dahling, the time zone difference would be just too too boring.

And can you imagine the expense of flying family and friends out to Mumbai for a wedding?

Oh I know, if only you could expense that! Terrible isn’t it, missing out on delightful virtual action! 😛

[Nick0678]

8 hours ago, Tama Suki said:

Gorgeous!
Has your company ever sent you to india?
Expenditure would probably also include coins you would throw at poor children on the street.

Nope i always arranged my trips to be in EMEA countries. I do regret though that i 've never visited Prague although i had the chance many times.. Traveling the world is an amazing thing....have also been to Singapore, Melbourne, Cuba, Mombasa and a few other places but that was as a kid traveling with my parents. Don't remember anything though..

(is that you in the photo, you look fine for a middle aged man! kudos very italian tourist style! btw my ancestors were italian, migrated from Veneto back in 15th century.. it's a rather small world if you think of it. tc)

Edited February 23, 2022 by Nick0678

[Persephone Emerald]

11 hours ago, ChinRey said:

USA is another special case. They don't seem to be much into standardisation at all and as far as I know (correct me if I'm wrong here), there is still no official US standard for measurements. But English was the dominant immigrant culture there so gradually the English imperial system became the most common one.

Other nations didn't really have any strong feelings in either direction. We adopted metrics because it turned out to be the most practical in the long run but still use the old measurements casually when there's no need for precision. It's no big deal because unlike in the USA and the UK (and possibly France) measurement units is not a significant cultural marker for us.

In the USA, the type of measurements one uses depends on what one is doing. In the sciences, everyone uses the metric system, which is the simplest for collecting and analyzing data. I also wouldn't want a doctor or nurse to have to figure out a dose of medicine using ounces or tablespoons. Coming from a biology and chemistry background, I've never had any problem using the metric system. At work we'd measure the room temperature in Centigrade. At home we measure it in Fahrenheit.

Machinery, nuts, bolts, screws and such may be calibrated to either the English or metric system, depending on where the machine was made. Working in pharmaceutical production, we had some machines that had been made in the US and some that had been made in Germany. Thus we'd have tools calibrated to both systems, two sets of Allen wrenches, etc. The measurements used for weighing ingredients, as well those used on the packaging, was always in the metric system.

In the USA, most common things are measured in the English system, but most high-tech things are measured with the metric system. When cooking, one usually uses the English system, which is more difficult to convert between ounces, tablespoons, cups, etc. When doing things that require a finer precision or export to other countries, the metric system is usually used. Measuring tapes have measurements in both systems on either side, because one never knows which system might be needed with them.

[Jordyn McGregor]

11 hours ago, Caroline Takeda said:

When did skyboxes became a posh thing?

They have walls.  Far more "posh" than a simple flat prim.

[Maryanne Solo]

Honestly I don't mean to be rude.....
But I would rather sit under a shady tree by a nicely flowing creek bubbling over rocks
listening to amazing bird calls than go to another country or city.
Have a dreamy snooze lying in the cool shade..... 🥰
...... (in reality - wakes up suddenly).....
Get bitten by a funnel web spider, chased by the funnel web AND a king brown snake all the way to the ocean,
jump in the waves to escape and get chewed & munched up by a great white shark. 😂