Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with culture

Recommend some cookbooks that are also history books.

Kurichina — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 15:32:02 -0800

Recommend some cookbooks that are also history books. A few months ago, I bought Medieval Cuisine of the Islamic World by Lilia Zaouali and have been having a ball making, adapting and interpreting the recipes. However, what makes this ten times more interesting for me is all the colour Ms. Zaouali provides about the history, culture and context of the recorded recipes and the fact that they are not re-written in modern recipe format (but they, of course, translated into English). I'd love to repeat this process for other areas of the world/historical timeframes. Do mefites know of other good, historical cookbooks that have additional cultural and culinary notes about the food?

I wipe my own ass!

alona — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 10:40:18 -0800

What are children of different cultures expected to learn to do independantly at different ages? For example, in most of Israel, kids by the second-third grade walk themselves to and from school.

This is just out of personal interest.

This is what sparked my interest.

cultures in transition, over time

ebesan — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 16:15:01 -0800

Looking for writing on how cultures/nations/tribes handled, fared, cope/d with alien influences. In the past or now, ongoing. Examples of what was irretrievably lost?
Examples of resilient traditions that bent and absorbed.
Involuntary-thru colonialism or war. (e.g. Catholicism on the Aztecs)
Or just the gradual seeping of one tradition into another (advertising, the internet)

Pop Culture Call and Response?

flatluigi — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 21:38:52 -0800

Is there a word or a term for a pop-culture handshake? If I wave my hand and tell you 'these aren't the droids you're looking for,' you might repeat me and walk away. If I say "Do you know how many time zones are in the Soviet Union" you might respond with something along the lines of "it's ridiculous, it's not even funny." People can go on for minutes just quoting the Simpsons at each-other.

We've absorbed a lot of pop culture, enough so that responding in reference comes easily and freely. Surely there must be some sort of term for this.

Marriage gifts for coworkers in India

hackwolf — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 07:31:37 -0800

Help me find excellent wedding gifts for my coworkers in India! Both of the guys that I work with in India are getting married next week, and I just found out about it. I live in the US, so obviously I can't attend, but I'd like to get them each something nice for their wedding and as a thank-you for a year of hard work on this project. I'd like to keep it around $100-150 USD per person if possible, but they don't have wedding registries and I'm culturally clueless (even about my own culture).

I've been working with both of them for about 9 months now, but we've only met face-to-face once and I don't really know that much about them other than they're nice enough to chat with in the company canteen, so I don't know of anything really personal that I could get them. I'd be happy to give them cash, but I'm not sure how that would be taken, and if $100 would be seen as too stingy or too generous as a personal gift. We're all employees of HugeComputerCompany that has an employee discount store, so there isn't much in the way of consumer electronics they can't get for themselves cheaply. If it helps, one of the guys is local to Bangalore, the other is from up north (though I can't remember exactly where); one is an arranged marriage and the other is a love marriage. Also, I'm not their manager, but I am the technical lead on the project they're working on.

1950s hidden camera footage?

crayz — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 23:16:08 -0800

Does anyone have "hidden camera" footage of people from the 1950s and before having candid conversations? When they're giving prepared/on-camera remarks in any footage I watch, people seem very very stilted - like unskilled actors. I'm wondering if this was just the style of the "public voice" at the time, or if people actually talked to each other in day to day conversations this way In addition, I'm curious whether there's been formal research into the way the perceived authenticity of a manner of speech changes over time, and whether it's arbitrary or actually a function of some underlying ideal

Developing excellent academic general knowledge.

ekpyrotic — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:46:35 -0800

Developing excellent academic general knowledge. Hey guys. I have reasonable general knowledge, I use to compete nationally. If human knowledge were a map I would know all the counties/states and big cities. I know the top three guys in linguistics, the basic ideas behind all the major world religions, I've read the canon...

Has anyone reached the next level? Gotten both broad and deep knowledge. How was the transition?

Mocking School Lunch in the Movies

jacknose — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:09:04 -0800

When was the first time "school lunch" was ridiculed in a movie (most likely a teen flick) or a TV show? We're currently producing a documentary on school lunch, and we know that there was a cultural shift in how school lunch was perceived (great social achievement to grotesque laughingstock). If you can help us identify the first instance of this shift in popular culture, we'll give you a film credit.

Help, I feel culturally patronised

Xianny — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 07:11:39 -0800

My boyfriend's mother keeps trying to rename me and I find it offensive, what should I do? I use an anglicised version of my Chinese name for convenience. It's a nickname that my friends started using when I was around 13, so it's not just something that I made up. Upon meeting my boyfriend's mother, she concocted a more "English-sounding" pronunciation and spelling for my name - from "Xianny" to "Shanni".

I find "Shanni" to be ridiculously twee but even if I liked the name I don't like being renamed so casually and by someone else, especially someone that I'd (at the time) just met. It wasn't even in the context of "oh, that's hard for me to pronounce, can I call you Shanni instead?" - she just started doing it, no questions asked.

I would just write this off as a harmless annoyance, but for the fact that she's starting to be more aggressive about it and I find it quite rude and patronising. If other family members ask me how to spell my name in her presence, I'll start to tell them but she'll talk over me to deliver her version. On a recent birthday card from her and her mother (who I have a pretty close relationship with), she striked out my name and wrote "Shanni" instead. The rest of the family seem to have no problem with my name, it's just her, but I don't want to wind up having everyone call me "Shanni".

This is starting to bother me quite a bit. I've been with my boyfriend for about 2.5 years and I've known her for about 2 years. She doesn't take kindly to being corrected. She won't make a fuss, but usually just dismisses anyone who disagrees with her, and acts as if she's being personally insulted. How do I deal with this - should I talk to her about it at all? It's quite a close-knit family and simply avoiding her is not something I'm willing to do.

Proper culture for soy yoghourt

monocultured — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:35:18 -0800

Trying to make my own vegan soy yoghourt from scratch, I ended up with an uncultured mess. Please advise on proper microbial use, or improvements upon whatever else it was that I mucked up. I have a 1 litre yoghourt machine which plays a tinny "Macarena" when the 5-11 hour timer runs out, although I'm not certain of how exact the timer is. It does seem to keep the temperature constant at above room temperature though.

I made 2 litres soy milk — this I've done before since I occasionally make my own tofu — and let it cool. Mixed one litre into the machine with one sachet of the stuff in this picture and let it sit. After ten hours there was a 1cm gelatinous strata on top of the stuff, but below it was mostly curdled, like what you might expect if you mix soy milk with hot drinks.

The images below are after 24 hours. There's a slight tangy taste to the liquid, but it's nowhere near yoghourt levels of awesome, nor is there any texture except the grain you see. Looks like seperation, not a healthy process.

Texture 1 & 2
Separation 1 & 2

Possible stuff that has gone wrong:

1) Wrong kind of bacteria (intended for dairy?)
2) Contamination in the bucket (didn't wash it with boiling water)
3) Soy milk too watery or too thick

I'm in Sweden, so there's scant competition among the makers of soy products and I haven't found any starter kits to buy. The Alpro soy yoghourts are excellent, but I've read that they don't contain "live culture" so won't work as starters. Their yoghourt is what I ideally would end up with, so have that in mind, not the more gelatinous products out there.

What to use and where to get it would be appreciated — European stuff preferably — as well as any primers on the noble art of ennobleling the bean of soy by means of bacterium.

What songs stand up at cultural markers?

smelvis — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 07:38:18 -0800

What songs capture a snapshot in time or define an era? Not necessarily the most popular song of the day, but one that is a true marker of a specific time. Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA" seems to capture the Reaganomics/Cold War/Vietnam introspection of 1984.

Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" not only helped change music, but captures the disaffection with the excess/slickness of the years prior to 1991.

Even the Bee-Gee's "Staying Alive" captures the late 70's better than most.

What other songs are cultural milestones? And why?

Examples, real of fictional, of food being framed as elitist or snobby?

loping — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 13:25:27 -0800

I'm working on a video project about the backlash to Obama mentioning the price of arugula at Whole Foods. Can you think of any other examples, real of fictional, of food being framed as elitist or snobby? I'm putting together a video project about the ways certain foods get framed as elitist/liberal/snobby. I've thought of some examples:

The faux Whole Foods in Baby Mama
John Kerry getting called a snob for asking for a cheesestake with swiss cheese
Obama getting attacked for making a comment about the price of arugula.

I'm looking for more, particularly ones that are audio / video.

Where is the most bountiful font of 'hipster cribs' stories?

mattholomew — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:23:49 -0800

Where is the most bountiful font of 'hipster cribs' stories? I'm looking for a bunch of stories I can only call a hipster version of MTV's 'Cribs'. I have come across a few randomly, but I would like to find some book or magazine that specializes in these stories so that I can mock it mercilessly.

It is always a couple, and they are cuter than a button, in a disheveled hipster sort of way. They live in a Williamsburg loft, or a converted farmhouse or some such. They do some crafty/foodie activity like printmaking or crafting artisanal ketchups. Their pad is gorgeously interior designed, but in a DIY, slightly off-kilter sort of way. Their furniture always has a backstory; the bookshelves might be made from the floor planks of a Milliner's shop that they found while knocking around Europe. Often there is a quote such as: "I love the light that comes in this room in the afternoons; I have a workbench here so that I can [do whatever crafty/foodie activity that couldn't possibly pull the kind of income that would pay for this lifestyle]."

What if the world was a glorious donut?

reverend cuttle — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 08:09:05 -0800

If I'm sitting on the terraformed surface of a Culture orbital, what does the horizon look like? For those unfamiliar with Iain Banks' Culture novels, imagine an artificial ring spinning on its axis and revolving around a star. People live on the inside (concave) surface of the ring.

Ostensibly, the curvature of the ring is gradual enough that the ground beneath them appears flat, as it does on the convex surface of the Earth. But what do they see when they look to the horizon? Can they see the far edge of the ring? Every time I try and picture this, my brain stops working.

Thanks for indulging a nerd.

Help me understand America.

lapsangsouchong — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 21:35:06 -0800

Americans: if you had to represent the USA with only three things, what would they be? I've just moved to the US. For the moment I'm still in decompression mode: the fact that I've crossed the Atlantic hasn't properly sunk in yet. But I'm here, and will be for the next two years.

So--Americans: If you had to choose three things to represent what you take to be the essential parts of US history, culture, society, to help a recent arrival understand the place, what would they be? And why?

Three things for Britain might be a copy of What a carve up! by Jonathan Coe (I've given this to several UK-resident foreign friends: pretty good guide to the country, post-WWII); the way you can never get a decent cup of tea in places that sell you a cup of tea, only places that sell it to you in a pot; and, more positively, the view from the Malvern Hills. Obviously I could come up with loads more, good and bad.

In Damascus, just after arriving for the first of several long stays, I met a chap who was about to go and work as a pastry chef in the Taif Sheraton (Saudi Arabia). The night before his departure he invited me to join him and his friends for a night out eating fatteh (way too heavy for me) followed by a trip to the Midan for pastries ("the best!"). Then we all piled into a car and just drove around the city, which I'd just arrived in for the first time. It was his way of saying goodbye to his hometown, and it was also the most intensely "Syrian" evening I had in all my time there.

And a Canadian once made me watch Strange Brew so that I would understand Canada, though I've often wondered if that was more of a self-hatred thing.

It can be anything. Driving over the Brooklyn Bridge; Sunday morning service at a mega-church in exurban Illinois; or going to a certain Georgia diner on a Wednesday morning, getting a cup of coffee, and just looking out across the street. Please, tell me about it--and tell me why you think it represents America. Positive, negative, or sentimental things are all fine, provided they're thoughtful too.

Last weekend I saw this exhibition of Robert Frank photos, which was a start...

Por favor: help me find "cultural immersion" podcasts

Piscean — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 21:34:14 -0800

I used to enjoy a podcast titled "Josh in Japan" produced by an ordinary guy living in Japan who talked about his daily experiences adjusting to Japanese culture. I am looking for other podcasts in this vein. I'm looking for podcasts in English, preferably by Americans living in foreign countries during the time of their podcasts (although I'd enjoy podcasts by non-Americans adjusting to U.S. culture as well). I don't want travel guides, documentary-style podcasts or those styled as lessons, nor do I want to listen to inanity or immaturity. Josh's podcasts ranged from funny to serious, and were conversational and engaging. Although he added a short lesson in Japanese vocabulary at the end of some episodes, this never interfered with the mood or energy of the podcast. Does anyone know of other podcasts similar to this? (They can be defunct, as long as they are still available).

Comfort foods for the sick around the world?

illenion — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:03:29 -0800

What are different cultures' versions of comfort foods that are prepared for people who are sick and feeling under the weather? The dishes I know from firsthand experience are American chicken noodle soup, Japanese okayu (rice porridge), and Italian pasta in bianco (pasta, parmesan, olive oil). I'm curious about what other sick folks around the world are eating.

Forget about a vacation, I want to challenge my worldview!

hasna — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:09:03 -0800

Help me spend 5 non-traditional days in Egypt! I'm going to Egypt for 5 (3 full, plus 2 mostly full) days at the end of next week. I have no idea what to spend my time doing.

I'm a 24yo single female, well traveled (but don't speak Arabic), and currently living in Istanbul. I have no intentions of visiting the pyramids (et al.) beyond a quick drive-by photo. I don't like most museums, either. Tour groups (unless to some uber-dangerous, hecka cool part of middle earth) are out the question. And I do not want to pay to see anything. What do I like, you ask? Well, a lot. I'd be happy to sit journalling in a small tea shop in some back alley somewhere. Or to while away an afternoon praying in a mosque. Or play football with kids on the street. Or help some women prepare meals for a few days. Or visit a refugee camp. Or...

I'm open to (and would maybe prefer?) getting away from Cairo, although I understand this might be difficult in such a short time. I will not be packing luggage, but carrying everything in a day-pack type backpack, so I'll be fully mobile. I have a specific interest in (semi-professional) photography, but for the right experience/opportunity, I'd leave my camera gear home. I'm willing to get dirty, and I'm not afraid of much. (I'm full of common sense and travel sense, but I've been to some shady places, and I know where my "line" is). I have (almost) zero interest in anything archeology/ruins related. I'm much more interested in experiencing life and culture as lived by lower class Egypt.

I'm also strongly considering heading up to Al 'Arish, and edging as close as possible to the Gaza border, to see how life is lived there, and what impacts the closed border have on life there. I'd also love to volunteer someplace (not one of those "pay to volunteer" scams), maybe the Egyptian equivalent of a soup kitchen.

Finance-wise, I'm not too concerned, mostly because the things that usually cost the most money (hotels, entry fees, guides...) aren't the kind of things I want to spend my time on. In any case, I'd rather spend less money, than more.

As you can see, there's a lot I could do, I just haven't quite gathered my thoughts on this enough yet. Before you mention it, I have been checking out CouchSurfing, but I'd rather have some sort of a plan before I contact anyone.

Any thoughts, advice, personal experiences would be appreciated. Thanks!

Smile!

kmtiszen — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 05:40:11 -0800

Are there any cultures in which a smile is not an expression of happiness? What about laughter? Are these traditional expressions of happiness universal?

Soch. Programs studying us and me

elationfoundation — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 06:50:22 -0800

What are some sociology phd programs where I would be supported in (where research is already being done) studying the interaction between social-psycology (micro-interaction) and culture. I am specifically looking for programs that will allow empirical and pragmatic research along side critical research, and has cultural sociologists and social psychologists.

I focus on the functions of social conflict and how individual conflict styles transform society. I would feel remiss if I did not produce research that could be used by practitioners and policy makers. This is why empirical and pragmatic research needs to have some support in the institution. A bonus for schools with a researcher or two who examines the history of social theory so I can work on examining the history of social conflict theory.

Help me, uh, go Dutch!

embrangled — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 05:22:16 -0800

I'm half Dutch, but I've never been to The Netherlands. On my first trip there, where should I go, and what should I do, to get a better understanding of contemporary Dutch culture and language? Second-generation-immigrant-filter: So, I grew up eating hagelslag and hutspot, but my knowledge of Dutch culture is limited; cobbled together from the stories of ageing relatives who left in the 1950s, and the clogs-and-windmills kitsch one sees in postcards. I can comprehend basic Dutch conversations, but I struggle to speak back unless strings of the conversation calls for strings of profanity or words for food.

If I visit the Netherlands in November, where should I go and what should I do to remedy some of this, and get a better understanding of what it's like to be Dutch today? How can I meet other young people, practise speaking Dutch, encounter Dutch multiculturalism, enjoy dry Dutch humour, and generally come away feeling a bit more Dutch than when I arrived?

Previously, but not quite the same: 1, 2, 3.

Dating Across a Language Barrier

Anonymous — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 08:44:56 -0800

Dating Across a Language Barrier: Can you share success stories and advice about relationships where you and your partner primarily spoke different languages? I've just started dating an incredible woman: she's funny as hell, considerate, really intelligent and she's gorgeous, too.

Something that is completely new to me, though, relationship-wise, is that we don't really speak the same language. Although I am an Asian guy (we're both in our 20's), I don't speak a word of Mandarin nor Cantonese (I've just started learning Mandarin, but it'll be a long time before I'm fluent). Her English, while good, means that sometimes it's hard for us to have the sort of free-flowing conversation I'm used to.

To be honest, until I met her, I thought that conversational ease was a prerequisite for a romantic connection, but somehow we really enjoy just hanging out with each other.

It must sound like it's just a sexual connection, but that's not it. This is all still new to me, but our attraction isn't very sexual at all.

I'm actually very surprised by how much we enjoy one another's company, even in the absence of her being able to tell me the nuances of what she's thinking and feeling, and me feeling like all of the things I'm talking about require so much explanation of cultural context.

We've only been out once, but we talk on the phone, and I'll be seeing her again this weekend.

Sometimes when we're talking, the conversation goes great and we're both laughing and having a great time. Then there are brief moments when it feels like language and cultural differences make our conversation drop out or stumble.

We both like each other so much that we both make a huge effort to get past the stumbles, but it'd be good to hear some advice from people who have been through similar things.

To people who have had relationships across language barriers: do you have any tips? Success stories and insights? What did you do when the conversation drops out?

I've setup a throwaway account: anon.learning.chinese@gmail.com

Thanks in advance!

Post-Thatcher, pre-Britpop

mippy — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 07:29:52 -0800

London in the early 1990s. (Or, Britain in general). How did it differ from the present day? What were the little, day-to-day differences, the minutiae that was of its time? Any books or resources recommended? (Oh, and loving the Hallowe'en gifs on the 'Ask a Question' page!)

Recommendations for good ESL or EFL materials?

wander — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 17:47:31 -0800

Can anyone recommend some good ESL/EFL curriculum materials, both for the child and adult level? Bonus points if they are not so western-centric. I recently had the chance to volunteer for a foundation in Indonesia that teaches English classes to locals. I was talking to one of the teachers before I left, and she told me that the materials that they were using were getting old and in need of replacement. She asked me if I could help find them new materials (specifically I'm looking for textbooks, but if anyone has any audio or video recommendations that are easily obtainable I'd be happy to have those, too).

While I was helping to teach there, I had the chance to look over the materials that they were using. They were good, but a little too culturally-specific at times (in terms of people's names, places, currency, items, etc.).

I realize a lot of these things could be alleviated by teachers adapting the curriculum to be more localized, and hopefully that can happen, but it would be nice if any new materials I could find for them could give them an easier starting point. I also realize that there is always going to be some measure of western cultural specificity to materials. It just would surprise me that given how many people there are in Asia learning English that someone would not have written course materials aimed towards them, using more culturally familiar examples in the lessons. Maybe many of these things already exist, but are in the local languages, and that's why I can't find them using an English-language search?

The school is located in an area where many of the jobs are based around tourism. Many of the people taking classes there are doing so to increase their skills to find better work. For that criteria, a lot of the things I saw in the materials seemed either redundant, or not entirely useful for what they need it for. They don't plan on emigrating, they want to learn English for work, or for more educational options.

I've done a bit of research around the web trying to find good recommendations for materials, but I mostly found big lists of things with no real description of why they're worthwhile. I would much rather hear recommendations from people that have experience using something and can explain why they liked or disliked it. Also, many of the materials I've researched seem to be aimed towards new immigrants improving their practical English skills for living in their adopted country, and thus are even moreso focused on culturally specific things. Are there any ESL/EFL materials out there aimed towards people who will be using it primarily to work in their own countries?

Thanks in advance to all of you!

Who are our Pansexual Icons?

divabat — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 16:23:57 -0800

There are gay icons and lesbian icons - are there people who are bisexual/pansexual icons? I don't necessarily mean icons who are bisexual/pansexual (though they can be), but people who particularly appeal to bi/pan people the same way gay icons are, well, icons. How would you define such a person anyway?

I asked this on a LJ community for pansexuals and the only answer I got was the lead character of Torchwood, who's bisexual. Are there any others that would qualify? I'm thinking Lady Gaga or Angelina Jolie, but that's more "appeals to both sexes" rather than "appeals to bisexuals".