Things from your culture you never do.
 

So... Alot of people here are from different types of cultures and probably do something that relate to your culture to, just by normal, everyday actions.

But knowing society today, there's probably somethings about your culture that you never got accustom to doing, and probably never will unless it was the end of the world. So what don't you do that everyone one in your culture seems to be doing?

My parents came from the Philippines and introduced me to this method of wiping your ass with soap and a cup of water. For some reason when I was little, I never seemed to get it right, I'd have water flowing down my leg and make a big mess of the bathroom. I know that the majority of filipinos still in the Philippines do this, but I never got the hang of the here in the US... That's why I'm sticking to toilet paper.

So, what's your story?

I still refuse to eat "nopales". Being Mexican and saying you don't like nopales is like being a priest but REFUSE to digest the New Testament. It just doesn't fly with my people.

Wow, can't really top that one, but I think I have a better idea of my aunt's culture from your Philippines post. I follow some of the basic traits of American Indians (honor elders, listening, remain quiet, etc.), but some of the more important cultural beliefs I haven't been able to do. The Cherokee are mostly Christian, but some Cherokee do believe in Shamanism and I have yet to go on a vision quest (which is suppose to be done at age 13 according to a 1/2 Cherokee friend). I've been trying to see if I can contact my totem/power animal, but I don't have the drumming sounds or a quiet environment to be able to meditate longer than 15 minutes.

Another important ceremony involves blessing the ground ahead of time and the females perform "The Stomp Dance" and wear tear dresses. My family doesn't believe in the Cherokee traditions, so if I ever wanted to discover Cherokee traditions my best source would be to either bug the 1/2 Cherokee guy or look it up on the internet. I think there was also a rumor about a certain marriage ritual where the man gives the woman a ham and the woman gives the man a basket of corn, but that could be fabricated.

Well, since I'm a straight up white bread, ancestors came from Europe and stole America, targeted advertising demographic kind of guy I'd have to say that I don't follow a good deal of my culture.

I'm not addicted to staring blankly at a television with no interaction or mental stimuli taking place, I don't order a quadruple stacker at burger king, I don't view sex, drugs and alcohol as taboo and thusly think I'm awesome for partaking in any of the three, I don't believe material possessions are the focus of my existence... what else... OH! I do see something wrong with a person with no children to drive around and no sort of loads to haul driving around a massive truck/suv. which apparently absolutely defies white "American" culture.

i don't wear shoes except when it's required. i just can't stand suffocating my feet like that. flip flops everywhere.

i also don't read books because that's just asking to be near-sighted. i don't understand how people allow themselves to stare at a bunch of tiny letters a few feet from their face for hours at a time. i get my brain exercise from videogames because those are good for you without the negative effects.

i also enjoy eating like a fatass when everybody else whatches their weight (yet i'm still 5'10" and 150lbs). i eat italian bread instead of white bread because it's so much better in every way.

i don't shower every day because my immune system needs exercise. that's why i never get sick and everybody else has allergies. it's been scientifically proven that too many showers greatly increases your chances of getting allergies.

I really hope you're being ironic here.

A LOT of people from my culture tend to join these Polish youth clubs in which the people make arts and crafts, learn about the wilderness, and learn about Polish heritage and junk like that. Think of it as Polish boy-scouts and girl-scouts. My parents berade me for not going "Its fun! You should be out there with people like you." Considering how I don't find arts and crafts to be THAT enjoyable, I hate it with a passion.

Still, Polish people are cool to hang around with.

Exactly the same thing with my parents and I which stopped when I was relatively young. I eventually thought that the "tabo" method was pretty gross, and then I realized what the roll of toilet paper on the wall was for.

On a more culinary note, my culture also seems to find it very strange to eat something by itself. Rice can't be by itself, chicken can't be by itself, vegetables not by themselves, etc. I'm fine and don't see why you have to always mix your food together, especially rice. I mean pilaf rice tastes fine by itself, and it shouldn't be shocking to sometimes eat white rice solo.

Wow.

I've never been taught that nor knew a majority of people in the Philippines did that. Holy crap. Holy, soapy and washed up crap on your leg.

Well, I don't know much of Tagalog, the Filipino language, at all. I've always meant to take classes in college, but I could never fit it in. Some time though, I definitely will.

I'm still learning new words even if I'm able to speak the language well. Of course, I tend to only use it when visiting the country. If you understand the language, learning it is much easier. =p

Um, my family still looks at me funny when I remind them that I don't eat meat. It's like they've never heard of vegetarians.

"What? You don't eat meat? What about chicken?"

I don't know if it's just my family or the whole culture, but pretty much the consenses is that you should be able to eat anything and everything without limiting yourself (unless of course you have permanent dietary limitations). Even this girl at Ihop questioned me when I asked if a seemingly meatless burger had meat in it.

"What? You're a vegetarian? What's that? Oh. So no meat at all? Not even chicken? What do you eat then?"

Well, since I´m only now starting to get to know my culture, I notice I´m not obsessed with putting cream on just about everything I eat like my family here does. I also don´t litter and I like to walk on sidewalks, which it seems this entire fucking country avoids.

I remember in immigration jail the Polish people were known for not using toilet paper. They just washed their ass straight from the toilet water.

Being Chinese, German, Polish, Unknown, first generation American...

My way of life is extremely eclectic. My family is spread out all over the world, not to mention I live in one of the most diverse cities in the world, I have so much exposure to different religions, different beliefs, different societies, that is hard to follow a specific tradition. I derive a little from everything, but I follow nothing specifically.

I don't drink tea. It's a very British thing, and I can't stand it. That might not sound like much, but it always seems to surprise my friends, even though they've know about it for years.

Well, Chinese have very weird customs and habits. It even depends on which part of "Chinese" you look at if you include HK and Taiwan.

I guess the biggest thing I noticed was that I eat pizza by holding it. You'd think that's the right way right? Well seemingly, most Chinese (and Asians for that matter) who are born in Asia eat pizza with a fork and knife cutting it into small pieces. I just can't do that even if I try. Should've seen my cousin's reaction to me eating pizza. Same reaction you'd give someone if they were peeing in public.

Wearing slippers in the house? Okay, I admit I don't wear my shoes past the front door area. But I've never worn slippers in my house. Slippers are a huge deal too, my family won't let me walk around without slippers in their houses.

Talking really loudly in resturants. I'm more of the softer talker, especially in public. I'd rather the neighbours of our table not learn about me intimately because of my shouting. Ever go to a Chinese resturant? You'll experience the loud talking.

All I can think of at the moment.

I don't eat at the dinner table. I just don't.

Its not that I'm trying to be rude, but I have this thing where, unless I'm out at a resturant where its unavoidable, I don't like to eat in front of other people, or at a crowded dinner. Let me eat my meal at my own pace! This is more just general american culture then my specific ethnic background.

Oh and for Ethnic background... the only thing I can think of is that I'm not a heavy drinker. Yes I do have Smirnoff or Bacardi sometimes, but I usually don't drink, which is like o_O for people since I'm Irish, Scottish, German, Dutch, and some other stuff, which are all pretty heavy drinking nationalities.

Toilet paper is a luxury in the Philippines to some people, so what other methods do they have?

Ugh... My dad still does it to this day. I still find it gross.

And don't worry about it, I don't know much Tagalog either. I never got a grasp on it.

I think all the Caucasian blood within me comes from the British, Scot-Irish, German, and Italian countries, so I understand about the heavy drinking. The closest I've come to alcohol was Nyquil (LOL). Or sad? I didn't watch the World Cup religiously and I haven't played soccer in forever. I used to be a good goalie, but I suck when it comes to forward.

Let's see....My parents are Bangladeshi, but I'm about as Americanized as one can get. I suppose one of the customs is the oldest girl of the family entertaining guests [my parent's friends] and considering a) my bengali is passable but not all that great and b) I have no interest in hanging out with 30 and 40 year olds who will probably grill me on my educational future, I tend to greet them then stay upstairs. This pisses my mom off ALOT but, oh well.

<---Puerto Rican/Dominican

I refuse to wear PACO jeans...or PACO anything for that matter.
Now that I think about it, I think this refers to all latinos.

....which part of Asia is your cousin from? Not that it really matters, pizza is considered a "western" food which naturally prompts most Asians (from metropolitan areas) to eat it in a "western" matter (fork and knife), regardless of how Westerners actually do it.

Plus, it's hard to eat pizza with chopsticks.

Things from my culture I never do. Hmm. I dunno, eat at McDonalds? I wasn't even aware North America had culture. :(

"The entire British empire was built on cups of tea, and if you think I'm going to war without one, mate, you're very much mistaken."

Double Post:
I didn't know I made jeans... :p

That's your real name? You can't get more Mexican than that! :D

I don't really celebrate holidays. I mean, thanks for the days off when applicable, and I'll go for a turkey dinner when offered, but that's about it. It's bad enough I have to keep track of these days in the first place. I shouldn't have to be pressured to do a bunch of unnecessary shit just because of something that happened in past history which usually doesn't even have any relevance to the way the day is celebrated in modern time. Fuck you. I'll celebrate when I want, how I want.

April 1st is an exception though.

Well, while I've lived all over this side of the world, I've never lived anywhere outside what legally constitutes North America, and while people like to pretend that american islanders and american mainlanders and Canadians are any different from each other .... they really aren't. Ergo, I've got no idea what kind of culture I do and do not follow

Well, actually, I don't give a shit about tradition, hate holidays, avoid most prepared food (vegetarian because I'm allergic to lactose and a lot of meat) and like to study/eat/play/sleep on the floor as opposed to a desk, table or bed. Sex is good in bed, everything else is better on the floor. You have more elbow room. Anyway ... where was I ... oh right. Um, basicaly I'm just weird and thoroughly Canadian otherwise. (Was that redundant? Though Canadians really aren't all that strange as a whole.)

My parents were catholic island peoples in the gulf of mexico, but after my the car accident I moved around a lot with some different family situations and picked up what I liked from each of them. From age ten (after ending up in Canada) I was brought up on coffee, hockey, and potatoes. Those traditions I liked best (except for potatoes), and kept them.

The potatoes part I want no part of. Potatoes are not really food, sez me.

I don't kiss the cod....
I don't have to anyway seeing that I am already a newfoundlander ^_^

I'm from Kentucky. I don't go cow tippin', moonshinin', gettin' my cousins pregnant (or anyone, for that matter). I do not like, however, wearing shoes.

Actually, most Kentuckians do not participate in any of the above- they're cultural stereotypes. Most do wear shoes, although I consider shoes not to be a sign of culture, they're just a sign of discomfort.

Let's see...

1. I don't do drugs, other than medication. So, does that count? (Using drugs is a culture, IMO)

2. I don't really care about all the feng shui stuff. So, that too?

3. Erm... I don't pray. (all the incense and stuff)

My ancestry is Cherokee Indian, German, Dutch, Welsh, Irish, and Scotch.

So...what culture do I follow?
To be honest, I really don't know much about any of my ancestry to much of anything.

I hate kielbasa and sauerkraut, though. And can't eat Ham and Cabbage for good luck on New Year's Day. My god--that stuff's nasty.

I think I can't follow cooking vegetables. Some are okay, but cooked cabbage, carrots, celery, spinach, broccoli, and cauliflower taste nasty. And I think that drives my mom crazy.

I wont ever eat dog.

I was born in the US, but my parents were first generation immigrants (Korean) who were pretty traditional, so I'm kind of a strange guy. I don't do a lot of things from either culture. For example, I don't drink coffee, I don't watch TV, and I won't wear jeans. From the Korean side, I can only speak very broken Korean, so I try to avoid speaking it whenever I can, and I don't play any MMORPGs (I also refuse to play DDR or anything remotly related to it).

eat balut and isaw and all that gross food. can't eat them...

I'm partially Hindu and most Hindu people refuse to eat beef. I actually like it. =| My relatives don't mind, though.

Well Ireland and its culture stem from the church but I don't have anything to do with it whatsoever, i've gotten a fair amount off stick off people for choosing not to follow the religion, but its becoming more and more common now.

Also i'm not the biggest fan of vast oceans of alcohol, pretty much our national pastime here so I guess thats against my culture too!

being from the french part of canada (QUébec), I'M not supposed to vote conservative, since they represent the far right (i've heard it numerous times during the last campaign) and since i'm gay ("friends" compared me to a turkey voting for thanksgiving). On the provincial, this would keep me from vitng for the ADQ (of which i'm a member)
I also must demonize money and profit, since they were, for so long, controlled by the anglo bastard. Equally, I must bless our government, who has put down those bastards by taking control of the economy, hence our high taxation level

Of course, this is all sarcasm, but other French Quebecers (not sure about the English ones) could probably concur how our "culture" is indoctrinating us

I'm english, and live in an urban environment. I don't drink hot drinks.

This is interesting because when I'm at home my family will all drink tea...
...and when I'm out during the day my friends and I will often end up in a café and I'll be unable to drink coffee. :/

I'm Hispanic, but I can't tolerate any food that has chili incorporated to it. I don't like the spicy sensation that comes from tasting chili. It's pretty unnerving for me to go to family reunions where half of the food is chili-based since people tend to give me odd looks for my food preference. No chili con carne for me, thanks.

I have no interest in dairy work, if that's a trait of my particular region's Portuguese population :).

Also, I refuse to eat most of the really Portuguese food, like morcella (blood sausage) and kale soup. I'll stick to the Sopas and Tremoços, thank you very much.

But is it YOUR genetically predisposed culture? I don't think any of us who use drugs or have used them in the past can say that it's a cultural tradition passed on for generation. I'm sure there are a few who do, but for the majority I know I wasn't raised snorting cocaine; I did that shit on my own.

Please don't say you're Mexican. If you do, I hereby disown you from our race.

Now that I'm old enough to choose for myself whether I would like to partake in my father's cross country skiing expeditions, I choose to do something more fun with my time, like counting the number of times the word "faggot" is used on internet forums. I don't like cross country skiing. In fact, I hate it. First of all it's so painstakingly dull, just going mile after mile in some never changing snow covered environment. Secondly, it's a surefire way to catch a cold. I could be wearing a space suit in the middle of summer; the minute I strap those skis on is the minute my nose starts to run.

Downhill skiing on the other hand, now that can be fun.

Ok, I'll confess.




Well I don't speak/read my hometown's dialect. I've been very lazy about it and I regret it. Oh, I also don't like nopales, but they aren't used that much on the local cousine anyways.

What is your hometown's dialect? I know nobody down there speaks Nahuatl anymore. Do they?

Zapoteco, and it's spoken widely in my area. They are plenty of groups who still mantain their dialects although it still represents a minority.

He's not.

Oh, and...
I don't eat nopales either.


I've grown up Americanized and anything from my culture has not been introduced to me. My parents, once they got here to America, have left there old life behind except for speaking spanish or castellano as the Bolivians say(at least my dad's friends and family).

:(

Okay, I'm not Mexican. Nahual's right.

I'm more of a spanish Hispanic (my family bloodline goes back to early New Mexico), but chili is an abundant food source over here. I don't completely understand why I don't like chili when I don't even know another relative who dislikes it. Weird genetics, I guess.

Well, let's see... I don't binge drink until I pass out and then wake up next to random various people with whom I may or may not have had unprotected sex with...

That is 1 thing from my culture I don't do... :rolleyes:

Actually, on a serious note I don't hunt or fish. It's not that I'm against them ideologically or anything - I just don't enjoy hunting and fishing is fine but I never get around to it it seems. It's serious business around here - politicians are elected on the basis of whether or not they are sportsmen, in fact, for example.

My roommate's sister doesn't like Nopales, and she's quite Mexican (as is my roommate). However, she finds it amusing whenever Mexicans say that they don't like it.

I wish that Nahuatl was still spoken. It's one of the 'dead' languages I'm interested in learning (along with Latin and ancient Egyptian). But I suppose if there's still dialects that retain some of the characteristics, it's not completely dead.

Well, I'm American, so I HAVE no culture.

And I happen to like chili.

You would to anyone else if you up and moved outside the U.S.

hmmm
 

Well thanks to hip hop and rap. Black culture has been destroyed so yeah no culture for me.