|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2008 11:29 am
Inspired by Headhunter's semantics thread, the "show us your town" thread, and Sablara's post about friendships, I thought we should make a thread about all things global.
Talk about books, movies, t.v. shows. Myself I am always curious when talking to students from Malawi and Nigeria in class which American shows have or have not been shown over there. Recently I discovered despite it's popularity over here, the t.v. show "Friends" may not be as popular over seas.
Some tips for this thread:
1. When in doubt ask--don't be shy. Let's resolve that school systems are not always very thorough about Geography or History of other countries. Since countries/cities are sometimes called different names it is not unreasonable to ask if a seemingly obvious town is in a seemingly obvious country.
2. Share it! When immersed in your own culture it seems unlikely people would want to learn or don't know already. Other people may find your culture fascinating, even if you don't think it is.
3. There is no one "culture" for any Country- not even if you live in the same town. If 5 different members have 5 different takes on Chicago or Perth- go for it!
4. Photo links and video links are a great idea. Hunt down photos of your favorite snack foods, post youtube links to your favorite music videos. Have fun!
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2008 11:40 am
Here's about my culture. As many of you know, I am an American, and my state is Missouri, which is in the "midwestern" region of the US. Climate wise it is temperate, but the local joke is that we have two seasons: winter and summer. We are a land locked area, we lack oceans and we don't have any mountains either sad We do, however, get bad thunderstorms and tornadoes. I my hometown is outside of the St. Louis region, I moved 200 miles away recently. Mostly I miss Dierberg's, which is a local grocery store. It's a pretty large chain but mostly contained around the St. Louis area.  The closest amusement park to my hometown is Six Flags over Saint Louis- which is not really in St. Louis (it's about a 30 minute drive). Here's a picture I found online of one of the roller-coasters.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2008 12:13 pm
My hometown is the same as hers.^
*is so lazy*
We do have a spring and a fall, but they don't last nearly as long as summer or winter do here. The only way I know we have them for sure is that my allergies act up regularly at certain times of the year.
St. Louis is pretty gray and drab, but once you get a few dozen miles out of town, Missouri itself is a pretty nice place all things considered. Cultural attitudes could use a bit of changing, but otherwise it's not so bad here. Better elsewhere certainly, but not terrible here.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 12:24 am
I actually live on the other side of the Mississippi river from the two above me.  And I would like to state that we do get all four seasons...just usually in the same day. rofl Personally if I'm going to a grocery store I prefer Schnucks.  It's cheaper though the selection is worse. *shrugs* Ya win some you loose some... On my side of the river we have Cahokia Mounds in Collinsville. I love going there. You can actually climb the largest mound (Monk's Mound...see pic) and look over and see the Arch and the rest of the St. Louis skyline.  Though I do have to admit the more amusing things (to me) are on the other side of the river in St. Louis. If you're feeling for some Italian there's a whole area you can go called the Hill. All sorts of Italian resturants around there.  Then there's "The Loop," where you can find all sorts of stuff. Feel like (insert random country here) food, best place to look is on Delmar. I personally recomend Seki's if your feeling for some Japanese, with a pit stop at Bubble Tea afterwards. Looking for that one comic/manga that you can't seem to find, check out Starship Clipper. Want a vintage outfit, Rag 'o' Rama is for you. Feel like trading in your old CD's for some new ones head on over to Vintage Vinal. Bowling? Drinking? Rootbeer? Hippy Clothing and accessaries? An indepentant movie? All covered on one street. On the side walk is the St. Louis Walk of Fame. Basicly anyone famous that has roots in the St. Louis area, ie Chuck Berry, John Goodman, and a long list of others I can't currently remember.  And there is also the Pageant. There I have seen some of the best concerts I have ever been to and hoenstly some of the worst. It's a small vinue but not the smallest one I've been to. I've seen Linkin Park, Dresden Dolls, Bad Religion, and a few other bands here. ^_^  More later, I'm doing this instead of my Anthropology homework....lol
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 4:30 am
I love topics like this! It brings the world into my livingroom. biggrin I serarched photobucket for photos of Perth, Western Australia...here are a couple I thought were nice : Perth City at night :  The Pinnicles (2 hours drive north of Perth) : 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 2:40 pm
Those are gorgeous Sablara! Can you tell some of us a little more about the climate? One stereotype I've had of Australia since I was a kid was that it was always hot.
In response to what AuraLyn said about the West Illinois/East Missouri area- it is true that we sometimes have days that change so dramatically in temperature that we joke about them having 4 seasons. I'm trying remember what day it was, but it seems it was in the last two years that it started off really, really warm. Immediately during a part of the day it began to rain with a decent wind and if I recall the temperature literally dropped 20-30 degrees (edit: Fahrenheit, sorry) within 3 hours. I wish I could remember what I was doing at the time because it was rather amazing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 7:05 pm
 Perth's climate is mediterranean - hot dry summers, cool/mild wet winters. During the summer months it often gets over 40C (104F). In the cooler winter weeks, the temperatures (maximum) are usually in the low teens. (15C or 59F) Sydney and Perth have similar climates. Melbourne is said to have "four seasons in one day". And Adelaide is a hole, so I'm not going to mention it.I lived in Brisbane for a few years and LOVED the weather there. Brisbane (and places north) is sub-tropical so it tends to rain more in the summer months and has much greater humidity, but doesn't tend to get as hot or cold as Perth does. (20C/68F in winter and 35C/95F in summer). 35C with 98% humidity feels just as hot as 42C with very low humidity. Kangaroos are common and can be seen anywhere out from the city. There are lots which visit my parents property (to eat!) Kangaroos can be a dangerous traffic hazard when driving at dusk/dawn. I've never seen a koala in the wild.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 7:53 pm
up here in erie, pennsylvania, the weather is constantly changing. our city's motto is "if you don't like the weather, give it five minutes. it'll change." i had lots of really nice pics of the town, especially the wooded areas, the creeks, and the lakeshore during sunset, but since my comp died, i can't get them. the weather here is your typical temperate climate. it gets really bitter cold (between 15 degrees F right down to the negatives!) in the winter with a dumping of 20 feet of snow through the course of the winter. the summers are usually mild and very humid.(usually upper 80's to lower 90's and we're talking a steady humidity of 85% or higher. strange to see such high humidity without rain.) there's lots of history in erie, being that we were a port city back in the late 1700's. we were also a ship building port during the war of 1812, with a huge battle being fought right outside of our bay. map of erie,pa courtesy of google maps
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 8:05 pm
I am from Liberia, in West Africa. When I am not being lazy I promise to come back and actually talk about stuffs. ^_^
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2008 10:38 pm
Let me bring you up to speed, My name Wayne Cambell, I live in Aurora Ill, which is a suburb of Chicago, excellent.
OK so my name isnt Wayne Cambell, this is however what my city looked like in 1992, please note that none of this is around anymore, lol.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPnw8Z8Z00E
Random facts: Aurora is the second largest city in the state, Chicago is #1
We are known as the city of lights.
it takes about one hour to drive from one side of the city to the other (we've done it, lol) this is of course NOT using I-88, which you can do, lol.
The wether here pretty much sucks, just like the rest of the midwest we have days where we get all 4 seasons.
AntoniaMerEnfant- I remember that weird temp day!! froze my butt off!!
As for food stores, Im for up here gonna go Jewel, Though i went to school in this tiny tiny town called Macomb, and man Nothin bets that hyvee.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 8:31 pm
I too recall that weird temp day! Man, that was absurd!
Anyway, I'm from Overland Park, Kansas -- a suburb of Kansas City (as you've probably read from my little blurb with the member of the month thingy). I live very close to Downtown Overland Park and like to think of myself as actually part of it, but in actuallity I'm about 3 blocks south of it (not much really). Speaking of Downtown here's a picture near the town clock (and across the street from where a massive fire took place about one or two years ago).
As everyone in the previous posts have testified, we can (and some times do) get all four seasons in one day. Overland Park is probably best known as being the home of the NCAA basketball museum and the Sprint Campus (that I believe has failed miserably).
Also in Overland Park (good ol' OP for short) is a botanical garden that I have yet to visit or if I did visit it I was too young to remember it. Here's a picture from somewhere in the garden.
There are also lots of corporate offices (more than I can count), but most of them are small and sort of well, not noteworthy (other than Sprint). Here's a picture of one of the buildings in Corporate Woods (a business park area where many corporate offices are loosely connected) and I tried to get a job in one of these many offices as a secret shopper.
The photo below is a picture of a section of Metcalf Avenue, one of the busiest roads in Overland Park (and I hate driving on it for that very reason...I also almost got into an accident on this road because someone ran a red light).
If you want inexpensive groceries your best bet, in my opinion, is to go to a Price Chopper (preferably where I work), sign up for a Chopper Shopper Card and shop there. Here's a picture of the Price Chopper I work at.
If you have seen the movie called "Where Pigeons Go to Die" there is an aerial shot of this building
the Corporate Headquarters of Sprint; it is located off of 95th Street (near my grade school).
I think I'll stop there, but believe me I'll post more pictures when I find them or take them. I did NOT take any of these photos, though. Sorry to disappoint you if you thought I did.
One final note; I found out that Overland Park does have a sister city in Germany, but I forgot the name. Feel free to post questions, comments, etc.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
