Category: CULTURES
Culture News March 23 ’07
It’s Official: Video Games Part of French Culture
French Culture Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres has inducted three game designers into the prestigious Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of Arts and Literature), following on a new law signed earlier this month that provides generous tax breaks for video games made on French soil. Wired [...] Read More »
Culture News March 21 ’07
Veils banned in English schools
English schools win the right to ban Muslim veils
Hispanic digital culture
US Hispanic youths embrace the web, increasing the digital generation gap within the Hispanic immigrant community
Chinese culture explained: sneezes and the color red
Jordan’s Chinese colleague explains the meaning of sneezes in Chinese culture to an Indian colleague and Renmenbi [...] Read More »
Norooz: the Persian New Year
The Persian New Year holiday, alternately spelled Norouz, Nowruz, Nevruz, Newruz, or Navruz, coincides with the rebirth of nature on the first day of spring. It is celebrated by some communities on March 21st, or on the exact day of the vernal equinox, which occurs on March 20th, 21st or 22nd. Traditions include spring cleaning, [...] Read More »
Culture News March 20 ’07
A Random Collection of News and Notes on World Cultures
Expatriate blogger Ben Ross tries to explain American satire to his Chinese readers.
Somali Muslim cashiers at Target stores in Minneapolis are given the option of wearing gloves or being assigned to other duties after they refuse to touch pork products and some customers complained. Eating [...] Read More »
Snake Day: the Day the Earth Opens
In Romanian folklore, March 17 is Snake Day, the day on which the ground opens, and animals that burrow in the ground emerge at the end of winter. It is a day on which people traditionally clean their fruit trees and their households. Storks return to build their nests, fish begin to swim, [...] Read More »
St. Patrick’s Day
Irish communities around the world celebrate their patron saint on Saint Patrick's Day, March 17. It is the Irish national holiday, and a public holiday in the Republic of Ireland, the territory of Montserrat, and the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The holiday is also widely celebrated in the United States, and [...] Read More »
Commonwealth Day
The second Monday in March is Commonwealth Day. About one quarter of the people in the world live in one of the countries in the 53-member Commonwealth of Nations, all of which, with the exception of Mozambique are former colonies of the United Kingdom. According to the Commonwealth Secretariat, “the aim of commemorating [...] Read More »
Karbala and the Arbeen Celebrations
Karbala, also spelled Kerbala, Kerbela or Karbila, is a city in Iraq, located about 60 miles (100 km) southwest of Baghdad. It is one of the holiest cities for Shi’a Muslims because it holds the shrine of the martyred Imam Husayn ibn Ali. Husayn’s death in the Battle of Karbala in 680, and [...] Read More »
Old Dochia, or Why March Weather is so Changeable
Have you ever wondered why early March weather is can change from spring to freezing and back again, all in a day? The answer is Old Dochia--a Romanian figure that personifies mankind's impatience in waiting for the return of spring. Her holiday is celebrated in Romania from March 1 to March 9, which [...] Read More »
Irish Wedding Traditions
St. Patrick’s Day – March 17th – is one of the luckiest days on which to be married. “Marry in May and Rue the Day” says one Irish proverb.
Before the wedding, the groom was invited for a traditional meal of stuffed goose at the bride's house cooked a goose in his honor. After [...] Read More »
