The cultural exchange thread. - Page 4

Beren3000 · 11-04-2004, 04:44 AM

Bump!
(For all the newbies out there...)

Ñólendil · 11-04-2004, 05:11 AM

I live in Rancho Cucamonga. I don't know any myths about the place, or originating from it, but I think "Rancho Cucamonga" has become something of a myth itself. I meet people who live an hour or two away, and when I tell them where I live, they say "It DOES exist!" Apparently they thought it was a fanciful name for a society given to frequent Cave Man Clubbings, and horsebackriding.

Yes, this post was useless.

sun-star · 11-04-2004, 02:41 PM

OK I promised a story in this thread in August and never delivered! Sorry

I don’t know how many people in other countries know about the British custom of Bonfire Night, but since it’s November 5th tomorrow, I’ll tell you a little about that…

Bonfire Night is celebrated across the UK on 5th November. Not to give you too much history, the date marks the failed attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament by Guy Fawkes, along with a group of Catholic co-conspirators, in 1605. The intention was to kill King James I and wipe out everyone in the government. The group were Catholic extremists who wanted to return England to the Catholic faith (long story). They put barrels of gunpowder into the cellars of the Houses of Parliament, but were caught, tortured and executed rather gruesomely. Guy Fawkes is the one who’s gone down in history, but he wasn’t the leader. He’s just the one who gets burnt

To commemorate this (sort of) on Bonfire Night people organise bonfire parties or attend big public fireworks displays. When I was younger we used to have really cool parties at home with a bonfire in our garden and some simple fireworks like Catherine Wheels. We used to write our names in the air with sparklers, which was hard because my name is quite long and the sparkler always ran out…

Then we ate nice warming food like sausages and jacket potatoes. There’s a certain sausage smell which reminds me of those parties… *gets all nostalgic*

To go with this there is also a poem (/chant) which goes:

Remember, remember the fifth of November,
Gunpowder, treason and plot,
We see no reason,
Why gunpowder treason,
Should ever be forgot.

Or something like that!

At bigger public displays they burn life-sized effigies of Guy Fawkes which are called guys. The tradition started in 1606, but in those days it wasn't an effigy of Guy Fawkes that was burned, it was one of the Pope. It wasn't until the 19th century that people started burning effigies of Guy Fawkes instead. In fact there are some places (one in Sussex I think?) where they famously still burn effigies of the Pope, which doesn’t please Catholics very much these days… or effigies can be of other public hate figures like Osama bin Laden.

There’s also a tradition that children make their own ‘guy’ by stuffing some old clothes with newspapers, making a head out of material, and drawing a face on it or whatever. They then go around pushing it in a wheelbarrow, asking for 'A penny for the guy'. Adults give them money… sometimes… I’ve never done it myself but I’ve seen other kids do it.

I hope this is new information and not totally boring - but I've fulfilled my promise!

Beren3000 · 11-04-2004, 05:56 PM

Great story, sun-star. I saw a statue of Guy Fawkes in Madame Tussaud's museuem this summer. The statue (and the hall it was put in) were quite oppressive. Anyway, I like how the effigies are called "guys"

(is the pun intentional, btw?)

Linaewen · 11-05-2004, 01:22 AM

Thanks for that great info, sun-star.

I think you should try pushing your own guy in a wheelbarrow and see how much dosh you can get.

IIRC, the phoenix Fawkes in Harry Potter was named after Guy Fawkes.

BeardofPants · 11-05-2004, 01:55 AM

Yep, we celebrate Guy Fawkes Night as well (guess I'll be listening to a barrage of fire-works tonight...)

***Jonathan*** · 11-05-2004, 04:46 AM

A few years ago I was in London on Guy Fawkes Night. I kept some extra money in my pocket and decided that if some kid asked for "a penny for they guy", I'd give it

. Though no one asked and I never got to see any guys or wheelbarrows either, even though I looked for them. Can't remember seeing any fireworks either

Well, happy Guy Fawkes! I didn't know you celebrated it in NZ too.

BeardofPants · 11-05-2004, 05:28 AM

Unfortunately ... yes. [/scrooge] I feel for the wild-life and pets on this raucous night.

sun-star · 11-05-2004, 09:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beren3000

Anyway, I like how the effigies are called "guys" (is the pun intentional, btw?)

I suppose so. When Americans ask me if we call each other "guys" in Britian, I tell them this story

Quote:

Originally Posted by BeardofPants

Unfortunately ... yes. [/scrooge] I feel for the wild-life and pets on this raucous night.

I agree with you there

If I was going to make a guy, it would probably look like the one in this picture:

Now this is political satire!

sun-star · 12-23-2004, 12:53 PM

*bump* Local Christmas traditions anyone?

The other day Janny and I went to a pub in the deepest depths of the Kent countryside and witnessed a performance by a group of hoodeners. This is a winter custom peculiar to East Kent which dates back at least a couple of centuries and is probably a relic from pagan tradition. It's a form of mummer's play. A group of local people dress up and go round the villages around Christmas-time to get money by performing (think of it as a less friendly version of carol singing or wassailing).

The central figure is the Hooden Horse, a person wearing a costume which consists of a wooden horse's head (or skull) and a long shroud-like garment covering their body. The horse is accompanied by other characters - a servant-woman (a man dressed up as a woman), a farm labourer, a jockey etc. They perform a play, sometimes acting out legends or just causing as much chaos as possible. In the one we saw they tried to get a member of the audience to ride the horse (the horse itself snapping the head's jaws and trying to throw them off). They also sing traditional songs and folk carols and play music.

It's hard to describe but very interesting to watch. I'm not sure if you can imagine it if you haven't seen it, but there are many stories of people being scared to death (literally) by seeing the horse unexpectedly on a dark winter's night, and even today, watching it, you get a very weird feeling of menace and danger. We were in a warm, comfortable country pub, but there was a wild, dark, sinister side to it which made me feel like I was witnessing something older than I could imagine.

Beren3000 · 12-29-2004, 10:30 AM

Not exactly local, but it's more of a family tradition: we used to put some beans on a piece of wet cotton by the 1st of January so that by the 7th of January the beans would've bloomed. By the way, being coptic orthodox, I celebrate Christmas on January the 7th.

inked · 12-29-2004, 11:28 AM

I say Beren3000, isn't that because you use the old style calendar and not the spiffy Gregorian one? At least that is how I recall the difference! Happy Advent until Christmas, then Happy Christmas!

**Nurvingiel** · 12-29-2004, 12:23 PM

What's Coptic Orthodox Beren?

Actually, I'm not quite sure what orthodox means in general. There's Greek Orthodox, for example.

Beren3000 · 12-30-2004, 12:26 PM

Inked,
Yes, it's true. That's where the difference comes from, but it just so happens that most (or maybe all) orthodox sects celebrate christmas on the 7th. What bugs me is, we're aware that the Gregorian calendar is the more accurate but what do we do to correct ours? NOTHING

Nurv.,
Coptic ==> Egyptian Church
Orthodox ==> I'm not so sure what it means either, but I'll go for "eastern church". It's all about differences in doctrine really.

Millane · 12-30-2004, 09:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beren3000

Inked,
Yes, it's true. That's where the difference comes from, but it just so happens that most (or maybe all) orthodox sects celebrate christmas on the 7th. What bugs me is, we're aware that the Gregorian calendar is the more accurate but what do we do to correct ours? NOTHING

Nurv.,
Coptic ==> Egyptian Church
Orthodox ==> I'm not so sure what it means either, but I'll go for "eastern church". It's all about differences in doctrine really.

do you still get presents on the 25th?

Nerdanel · 12-30-2004, 10:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Millane

do you still get presents on the 25th?

nope: on the 24th as always^^

Santa brings us presents on Christmas Eve every year.. Our presents aren't under the Christmas tree, Santa brings them in his sack.

Falagar · 12-31-2004, 12:25 AM

On the morning of the 24th we watch the traditional Disney-cartoons (which I this year, for probably the first time in my life, missed), in the evening we eat, drink, open presents, drink some more, perhaps watch some TV and socialize with relatives. Being the geek that I am I even managed a few visits on mIRC. We have presents both beneath the Christmas tree and the sack. However, this year he only left the sack on the stairs. But we did have a few rounds around the Christmas tree, singing tradition Christmas songs.

We round it up with some sleeping.

Beren3000 · 12-31-2004, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Millane

do you still get presents on the 25th?

No, we get our presents on the 6th. (But we still get the 25th off

)
Btw, happy new year everyone!

Millane · 12-31-2004, 08:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nerdanel

nope: on the 24th as always^^

Santa brings us presents on Christmas Eve every year.. Our presents aren't under the Christmas tree, Santa brings them in his sack.

wait on this is going to sound stupid but christmas is the 25th yeah

why would you get them on the 24th? do you mean because Santa comes late that night.... oh god my heads ****ed...

Beren3000 · 01-03-2005, 09:24 AM

I'm currently vacationing in Egypt. I visited Luxor (the Ancient Egyptian capital) and took a lot of photos. Once I get back to the UAE (to my computer), expect some of the details of this trip (with pictures)!
(Plus I bought a book about Egyptian mythology, so I'll post even more stories once I get to read it

)

11-04-2004, 05:11 AM	#62
Ñólendil Elf Lord Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: California Posts: 60,865	I live in Rancho Cucamonga. I don't know any myths about the place, or originating from it, but I think "Rancho Cucamonga" has become something of a myth itself. I meet people who live an hour or two away, and when I tell them where I live, they say "It DOES exist!" Apparently they thought it was a fanciful name for a society given to frequent Cave Man Clubbings, and horsebackriding. Yes, this post was useless. __________________ Falmon -- Dylan

11-04-2004, 02:41 PM	#63
sun-star Lady of Letters Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Either Oxford or Kent, England Posts: 2,476	OK I promised a story in this thread in August and never delivered! Sorry I don’t know how many people in other countries know about the British custom of Bonfire Night, but since it’s November 5th tomorrow, I’ll tell you a little about that… Bonfire Night is celebrated across the UK on 5th November. Not to give you too much history, the date marks the failed attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament by Guy Fawkes, along with a group of Catholic co-conspirators, in 1605. The intention was to kill King James I and wipe out everyone in the government. The group were Catholic extremists who wanted to return England to the Catholic faith (long story). They put barrels of gunpowder into the cellars of the Houses of Parliament, but were caught, tortured and executed rather gruesomely. Guy Fawkes is the one who’s gone down in history, but he wasn’t the leader. He’s just the one who gets burnt To commemorate this (sort of) on Bonfire Night people organise bonfire parties or attend big public fireworks displays. When I was younger we used to have really cool parties at home with a bonfire in our garden and some simple fireworks like Catherine Wheels. We used to write our names in the air with sparklers, which was hard because my name is quite long and the sparkler always ran out… Then we ate nice warming food like sausages and jacket potatoes. There’s a certain sausage smell which reminds me of those parties… gets all nostalgic To go with this there is also a poem (/chant) which goes: Remember, remember the fifth of November, Gunpowder, treason and plot, We see no reason, Why gunpowder treason, Should ever be forgot. Or something like that! At bigger public displays they burn life-sized effigies of Guy Fawkes which are called guys. The tradition started in 1606, but in those days it wasn't an effigy of Guy Fawkes that was burned, it was one of the Pope. It wasn't until the 19th century that people started burning effigies of Guy Fawkes instead. In fact there are some places (one in Sussex I think?) where they famously still burn effigies of the Pope, which doesn’t please Catholics very much these days… or effigies can be of other public hate figures like Osama bin Laden. There’s also a tradition that children make their own ‘guy’ by stuffing some old clothes with newspapers, making a head out of material, and drawing a face on it or whatever. They then go around pushing it in a wheelbarrow, asking for 'A penny for the guy'. Adults give them money… sometimes… I’ve never done it myself but I’ve seen other kids do it. I hope this is new information and not totally boring - but I've fulfilled my promise! __________________ And all the time the waves, the waves, the waves Chase, intersect and flatten on the sand As they have done for centuries, as they will For centuries to come, when not a soul Is left to picnic on the blazing rocks, When England is not England, when mankind Has blown himself to pieces. Still the sea, Consolingly disastrous, will return While the strange starfish, hugely magnified, Waits in the jewelled basin of a pool.

11-05-2004, 01:55 AM	#66
BeardofPants the Shrike Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: San Francisco, CA <3 Posts: 10,647	Yep, we celebrate Guy Fawkes Night as well (guess I'll be listening to a barrage of fire-works tonight...) __________________ "Binary solo! 0000001! 00000011! 0000001! 00000011!" ~ The Humans are Dead, Flight of the Conchords

11-05-2004, 04:46 AM	#67
*Jonathan* Entmoot Attorney-General, Equilibrating the Scales of Justice, Administrator ♎ Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Stockholm, Sweden Posts: 3,891	A few years ago I was in London on Guy Fawkes Night. I kept some extra money in my pocket and decided that if some kid asked for "a penny for they guy", I'd give it . Though no one asked and I never got to see any guys or wheelbarrows either, even though I looked for them. Can't remember seeing any fireworks either Well, happy Guy Fawkes! I didn't know you celebrated it in NZ too. __________________ An unwritten post is a delightful universe of infinite possibilities. Set down one word, however, and it immediately becomes earthbound. Set down one sentence and it’s halfway to being just like every other bloody entry that’s ever been written. ☻

11-05-2004, 05:28 AM	#68
BeardofPants the Shrike Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: San Francisco, CA <3 Posts: 10,647	Unfortunately ... yes. [/scrooge] I feel for the wild-life and pets on this raucous night. __________________ "Binary solo! 0000001! 00000011! 0000001! 00000011!" ~ The Humans are Dead, Flight of the Conchords

11-04-2004, 04:44 AM	#61
Beren3000 Fëanorophobic Join Date: May 2004 Location: Between the pages of a book Posts: 1,417	Bump! (For all the newbies out there...)

11-04-2004, 05:56 PM	#64
Beren3000 Fëanorophobic Join Date: May 2004 Location: Between the pages of a book Posts: 1,417	Great story, sun-star. I saw a statue of Guy Fawkes in Madame Tussaud's museuem this summer. The statue (and the hall it was put in) were quite oppressive. Anyway, I like how the effigies are called "guys" (is the pun intentional, btw?)

11-05-2004, 01:22 AM	#65
Linaewen Fair Dinkum Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 2,319	Thanks for that great info, sun-star. I think you should try pushing your own guy in a wheelbarrow and see how much dosh you can get. IIRC, the phoenix Fawkes in Harry Potter was named after Guy Fawkes.

12-23-2004, 12:53 PM	#70
sun-star Lady of Letters Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Either Oxford or Kent, England Posts: 2,476	bump Local Christmas traditions anyone? The other day Janny and I went to a pub in the deepest depths of the Kent countryside and witnessed a performance by a group of hoodeners. This is a winter custom peculiar to East Kent which dates back at least a couple of centuries and is probably a relic from pagan tradition. It's a form of mummer's play. A group of local people dress up and go round the villages around Christmas-time to get money by performing (think of it as a less friendly version of carol singing or wassailing). The central figure is the Hooden Horse, a person wearing a costume which consists of a wooden horse's head (or skull) and a long shroud-like garment covering their body. The horse is accompanied by other characters - a servant-woman (a man dressed up as a woman), a farm labourer, a jockey etc. They perform a play, sometimes acting out legends or just causing as much chaos as possible. In the one we saw they tried to get a member of the audience to ride the horse (the horse itself snapping the head's jaws and trying to throw them off). They also sing traditional songs and folk carols and play music. It's hard to describe but very interesting to watch. I'm not sure if you can imagine it if you haven't seen it, but there are many stories of people being scared to death (literally) by seeing the horse unexpectedly on a dark winter's night, and even today, watching it, you get a very weird feeling of menace and danger. We were in a warm, comfortable country pub, but there was a wild, dark, sinister side to it which made me feel like I was witnessing something older than I could imagine. __________________ And all the time the waves, the waves, the waves Chase, intersect and flatten on the sand As they have done for centuries, as they will For centuries to come, when not a soul Is left to picnic on the blazing rocks, When England is not England, when mankind Has blown himself to pieces. Still the sea, Consolingly disastrous, will return While the strange starfish, hugely magnified, Waits in the jewelled basin of a pool. Last edited by sun-star : 12-23-2004 at 01:24 PM.

12-29-2004, 10:30 AM	#71
Beren3000 Fëanorophobic Join Date: May 2004 Location: Between the pages of a book Posts: 1,417	Not exactly local, but it's more of a family tradition: we used to put some beans on a piece of wet cotton by the 1st of January so that by the 7th of January the beans would've bloomed. By the way, being coptic orthodox, I celebrate Christmas on January the 7th.

12-29-2004, 11:28 AM	#72
inked Elf Lord Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: sikeston, MO, usa, earth, sol Posts: 3,114	I say Beren3000, isn't that because you use the old style calendar and not the spiffy Gregorian one? At least that is how I recall the difference! Happy Advent until Christmas, then Happy Christmas! __________________ Inked "Aslan is not a tame lion." CSL/LWW "The new school [acts] as if it required...courage to say a blasphemy. There is only one thing that requires real courage to say, and that is a truism." GK Chesterton "And there is always the danger of allowing people to suppose that our modern times are so wholly unlike any other times that the fundamental facts about man's nature have wholly changed with changing circumstances." Dorothy L. Sayers, 1 Sept. 1941

12-30-2004, 12:26 PM	#74
Beren3000 Fëanorophobic Join Date: May 2004 Location: Between the pages of a book Posts: 1,417	Inked, Yes, it's true. That's where the difference comes from, but it just so happens that most (or maybe all) orthodox sects celebrate christmas on the 7th. What bugs me is, we're aware that the Gregorian calendar is the more accurate but what do we do to correct ours? NOTHING Nurv., Coptic ==> Egyptian Church Orthodox ==> I'm not so sure what it means either, but I'll go for "eastern church". It's all about differences in doctrine really.

12-31-2004, 12:25 AM	#77
Falagar Death of Mooters and [Entmoot] Internal Affairs Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Oslo, Norway Posts: 2,870	On the morning of the 24th we watch the traditional Disney-cartoons (which I this year, for probably the first time in my life, missed), in the evening we eat, drink, open presents, drink some more, perhaps watch some TV and socialize with relatives. Being the geek that I am I even managed a few visits on mIRC. We have presents both beneath the Christmas tree and the sack. However, this year he only left the sack on the stairs. But we did have a few rounds around the Christmas tree, singing tradition Christmas songs. We round it up with some sleeping. __________________ Fëanor - Innocence incarnated Still, Aikanáro 'till the Last battle. Last edited by Falagar : 12-31-2004 at 12:29 AM.

01-03-2005, 09:24 AM	#80
Beren3000 Fëanorophobic Join Date: May 2004 Location: Between the pages of a book Posts: 1,417	I'm currently vacationing in Egypt. I visited Luxor (the Ancient Egyptian capital) and took a lot of photos. Once I get back to the UAE (to my computer), expect some of the details of this trip (with pictures)! (Plus I bought a book about Egyptian mythology, so I'll post even more stories once I get to read it )

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Religious Knowledge Thread	Gwaimir Windgem	General Messages	631	07-21-2008 04:47 PM
The Entmoot Gift Exchange	Nurvingiel	General Messages	149	01-01-2005 05:06 AM