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Thank you so much Artliquide! That was wonderful! I would definitely say you grew up with Belgian culture. Like you, I don't believe where you were born determines your culture unless you are still there when you are old enough to observe and practice it. To me, culture is how you live, the cultural identity you take on. In my eyes, our genetic heritage is what our parents pass down to us, our cultural roots are formed by how we live. I imagine you probably had a multi-cultural upbringing. I consider myself the same way. Although I grew up in the states, my cultural heritage was primarily Scandinavian (Norwegian) with a side order of American culture, because my communities might have well been in Norway, except for the language, it was so deeply embedded in the cultural identity of the communities.
Thank you so much for sharing!! I really appreciate it, and enjoyed reading it all!
AA
Thank you I forgot to add my experience with multicultural people. When I lived outside of Brussels, I was really just around Belgians most of the time. However, my dad taught at a Bible institute in Leuven/Louvain, and many people came to study there from all over the world. I had a lot of exposure to Africans there.
In Brussels, since it's a major political city in Europe, there were many kids in my schools from all over the place as well. I had friends from Morocco, Portugal, France, Somalia, Togo, Vietnam, Australia, England, all over. I was actually shocked when I came back to Arizona to be around so many white kids who only spoke one language. But I thank having grown up in a multicultural environment for my current love of multicultural activities.
And...the Moroccan market in Brussels was awesome! My parents would buy me a coconut or a sprig of mint sometimes. Oh, and I ate some great food when I visited my friend from Togo...lots of couscous growing up.
I'm a Southerner, born in Mississippi. Three of my four grandparents were also Mississippians; one grandmother was from Alabama. My most recent immigrant ancestor arrived in 1800. My ancestry is Scots-Irish, German, Dutch, and Melungeon. The Melungeons are a Mestee (mixed-race) people from the Appalachias. They formed their own communities and were generally counted apart from the whites, blacks, and Indians.
Seven of my ancestors fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War, and yes, a lot of my ancestors were slave owners. That's the way things were back then. None of them lived in anything remotely resembling Tara. My mother's family comes from a very small community in the pinewoods of Mississippi, the sort of place people don't go unless they're from there. It's very isolated and rural, but also very beautiful. My father's family came from the river city of Port Gibson and were a lot more well-to-do than my mother's family. My maternal grandmother's parents were Alabama sharecroppers and very poor. My grandfather was a moonshiner and his daughters (my mother and aunts) would walk up and down the highway picking up discarded bottles for him to fill with moonshine.
A lot of people forget how primitive life could be in the Deep South until relatively recently. I didn't grow up with an outhouse, but my mother did -- I think she was eight or nine before they got indoor plumbing. When I was young, we lived on a farm and had a pet duck named John Deere (after the tractor) that lived in the house with us. We harvested corn and beans out of our garden, and raised cattle. I remember my mother teaching me how to pick cotton. My grandmother cooked the best biscuits and gravy you ever put in your mouth (we say it's so good, it'll make you go home and slap your mama!). We ate a lot of fried chicken and fried porkchops, black-eyed peas with mayo on them, peanuts in Coke, pecan pie, fried okra.
Contrary to popular belief, not everyone in the Deep South is a Southern Baptist! My family is Methodist, and I'm an atheist. We have big get-togethers at Thanksgiving, when all the cousins come and stay at my aunt and uncle's house. One year, we had thirty-some-odd people staying there, since my cousin showed up with a bunch of his hippie friends. We had people sleeping on the floor, on the front porch, in the yard. I would wake up in the morning listening to my cousins downstairs playing country music on their guitars and banjos and singing.
Wow, that's really cool. I've always been a city girl, so I can't imagine that kind of life. It sounds charming to me
(even though I live in the city, I do have chickens though. Never thought I would, but I do.)
Seven of my ancestors fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War, and yes, a lot of my ancestors were slave owners. That's the way things were back then. None of them lived in anything remotely resembling Tara. My mother's family comes from a very small community in the pinewoods of Mississippi, the sort of place people don't go unless they're from there. It's very isolated and rural, but also very beautiful. My father's family came from the river city of Port Gibson and were a lot more well-to-do than my mother's family. My maternal grandmother's parents were Alabama sharecroppers and very poor. My grandfather was a moonshiner and his daughters (my mother and aunts) would walk up and down the highway picking up discarded bottles for him to fill with moonshine.
A lot of people forget how primitive life could be in the Deep South until relatively recently. I didn't grow up with an outhouse, but my mother did -- I think she was eight or nine before they got indoor plumbing. When I was young, we lived on a farm and had a pet duck named John Deere (after the tractor) that lived in the house with us. We harvested corn and beans out of our garden, and raised cattle. I remember my mother teaching me how to pick cotton. My grandmother cooked the best biscuits and gravy you ever put in your mouth (we say it's so good, it'll make you go home and slap your mama!). We ate a lot of fried chicken and fried porkchops, black-eyed peas with mayo on them, peanuts in Coke, pecan pie, fried okra.
Contrary to popular belief, not everyone in the Deep South is a Southern Baptist! My family is Methodist, and I'm an atheist. We have big get-togethers at Thanksgiving, when all the cousins come and stay at my aunt and uncle's house. One year, we had thirty-some-odd people staying there, since my cousin showed up with a bunch of his hippie friends. We had people sleeping on the floor, on the front porch, in the yard. I would wake up in the morning listening to my cousins downstairs playing country music on their guitars and banjos and singing.
My ancestors also held slaves and some fought for the CSA. My great-great-grandmother also took in an orphaned black boy and raised him which I guess was unheard of in those days(my mamaw died 13 years ago at the age of 98). My grandpa also told us recently that everytime someone would have a dance at their house someone would show up with some 'shine lol (I never thought of grandpa that way!) Mamaw still had the outhouse out back but it was long used for storage.
As for the rest, to me sounds heavenly! I would have loved to grow up on a farm and having tons of people over for jus about everything but my grandma wouldn't hear of it. My grandpa wanted a farm, she wanted the city and she won.
yes. our most important holiday is chinese new year. we give money in red envelopes to children. red is a lucky colour in china. people get married in that colour as well. marriage is real big, and people are expected to marry, but women do not change their last names. parents are expected to take care of their kids to a large degree including giving them money as adults when they need it. at the same time, children are expected to give money to their parents when they are old. people are also expected to worship their ancestors and visit their ancestral graves once a year. people in general pay respect to elders. someone is supposed to be treated with respect if he is older than you. it's sort of like a military hierarchy. we do not like to eat sweet foods. we love seafood. we dont drink as much. pubs are not popular in china. we are more into eating than drinking. still we dont overdo it, thats why most chinese are not fat. chinese eat more vegetables than meat. not because its healthy but just cause we think it tastes better. chinese are also focused on education. people are expected to go to university in general, but even if you dont, thats ok. sports are not as big. you are respected more for being a scholar rather than a prized footballer. our past times include swimming, gambling, and eating seafood. video games are also very popular among the younger generation. football is the most popular sport. people will take a day off from work to watch the world cup. most of the chinese population is centred in the east coast. the west is lowly populated. many people in the west do not actually speak traditional chinese but their own language. it is very isolated from the east.
in general, chinese people are not religious. most are atheist. our gdp grows each year close to 10%. one of the fastest growing economies in the world. with the growing economy, comes a growing foreign population. china is seeing an influx of foreigners from usa, europe and around the world. once an isolated country, china is learning more and more about foreigners.
yes. our most important holiday is chinese new year. we give money in red envelopes to children. red is a lucky colour in china. people get married in that colour as well. marriage is real big, and people are expected to marry, but women do not change their last names. parents are expected to take care of their kids to a large degree including giving them money as adults when they need it. at the same time, children are expected to give money to their parents when they are old. people are also expected to worship their ancestors and visit their ancestral graves once a year. people in general pay respect to elders. someone is supposed to be treated with respect if he is older than you. it's sort of like a military hierarchy. we do not like to eat sweet foods. we love seafood. we dont drink as much. pubs are not popular in china. we are more into eating than drinking. still we dont overdo it, thats why most chinese are not fat. chinese eat more vegetables than meat. not because its healthy but just cause we think it tastes better. chinese are also focused on education. people are expected to go to university in general, but even if you dont, thats ok. sports are not as big. you are respected more for being a scholar rather than a prized footballer. our past times include swimming, gambling, and eating seafood. video games are also very popular among the younger generation. football is the most popular sport. people will take a day off from work to watch the world cup. most of the chinese population is centred in the east coast. the west is lowly populated. many people in the west do not actually speak traditional chinese but their own language. it is very isolated from the east.
in general, chinese people are not religious. most are atheist. our gdp grows each year close to 10%. one of the fastest growing economies in the world. with the growing economy, comes a growing foreign population. china is seeing an influx of foreigners from usa, europe and around the world. once an isolated country, china is learning more and more about foreigners.
I find Chinese culture and traditional beliefs to be interesting. You talk about red being a lucky color, which made me think about my Chinese astrological sign: the fire dragon. The dragon is supposed to be lucky, but don't the Chinese slay the dragon at New Year's? Maybe I'm confusing Chinese tradition with St. George's dragon.
Even though many are atheist (due to communism??) do Chinese Americans practice buddhism and Taoism? What about in China?
Also, I thought there were quite a few Chinese in the West Coast port towns (San Fran, Seattle, Vancouver). ??
My parents are from Taiwan, which has almost the same culture as China (political split in 1949). I was born and raised in the US, but my parents were quite traditional in my upbringing.
Since Taiwan is an island, seafood is a big part of the typical cuisine. Usually meals were rice, lots of veggies, and tofu, eggs, or fish (very different from Americanized Chinese food!). Mom would cook for the family every night so we rarely went out to eat.
Like StreetFighter mentioned, the biggest holiday is Chinese [Lunar] New Year. In addition to giving out red envelopes, the usual celebration in Taiwan is lots of firecrackers, a big family get-together, and lots of good food!
The west coast probably has the most Chinese people due to its proximity to Asia. San Diego's population is at least 15% Asian, and I've noticed a LOT of Chinese people here. Other cities in CA also have large numbers of Asian people. However, Texas and the NE also have quite a few. Most people here speak Mandarin Chinese, but there's also a large number, especially those who immigrated during the 19th century, who speak Cantonese or other dialects.
Religion in Taiwan is a mixture of Buddhism, Daosim, Confucianist ideas, and Chinese folk religions, although other religions such as Christianity exist. However, most people tend not to be very religious. My parents are non-practicing Buddhists, and I'm not religious either.
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Even though many are atheist (due to communism??) do Chinese Americans practice buddhism and Taoism? What about in China?
Most of my Chinese friends are Christian or agnostic.
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I find Chinese culture and traditional beliefs to be interesting. You talk about red being a lucky color, which made me think about my Chinese astrological sign: the fire dragon. The dragon is supposed to be lucky, but don't the Chinese slay the dragon at New Year's? Maybe I'm confusing Chinese tradition with St. George's dragon.
I am a Chinese-born American but I've decided to ignore the culture of my origins. I'd much prefer to immerse myself in a multi-cultural identity, particularly the cultures of the Horn of Africa. There are quite a few Somali and Ethiopian restaurants in San Diego and I try to go regularly to eat and talk with Ethiopians and Somalis. I highly encourage anyone to go to an Ethiopian restaurant, the cuisine and eating method may be radically different from anything you've tried before. The food is served on a large communal plate. The stews, meats, and vegetables are placed on top of a flatbread, injera, covering the entire plate. Everyone is given their own rolls of injera. To eat tear a piece of the injera and use it to grab the food. One of the meats I highly recommend trying is kitfo, raw beef smothered in spices (make sure to try it raw).
To all who have recently posted and again to those who posted earlier, My deepest thanks to all who have shared so far!! I really appreciate all of you being willing to share your cultural experiences with me and what it was like growing up in your communities. I have learned so much already. I hope more and more people will discover this thread and learn about our cultures and share their own with us. I have given you each a rep point!
My best to all of you,
Annie
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I forgot to add my experience with multicultural people. When I lived outside of Brussels, I was really just around Belgians most of the time. However, my dad taught at a Bible institute in Leuven/Louvain, and many people came to study there from all over the world. I had a lot of exposure to Africans there. 
