Comments on: The Best Cultural Resource You Have http://gorigirl.com/the-best-cultural-resource-you-have intercultural relationship stories and advice Wed, 28 Jul 2010 06:09:21 -0700 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Jen http://gorigirl.com/the-best-cultural-resource-you-have#comment-3631 Jen Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:02:53 +0000 http://gorigirl.com/?p=1137#comment-3631 HI.. I remembered this post today while creating a post on cross-cultural success! Thank you for sharing your wisdom and experience with us!! http://alaivani.com/Blog/tabid/56/EntryID/437/Default.aspx HI.. I remembered this post today while creating a post on cross-cultural success! Thank you for sharing your wisdom and experience with us!!
http://alaivani.com/Blog/tabid/56/EntryID/437/Default.aspx

]]> By: Aditya http://gorigirl.com/the-best-cultural-resource-you-have#comment-2849 Aditya Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:52:53 +0000 http://gorigirl.com/?p=1137#comment-2849 ladies, it's the ENGLISH premier league... *shakes head in disappointment* ladies, it’s the ENGLISH premier league…

*shakes head in disappointment*

]]> By: Aditya http://gorigirl.com/the-best-cultural-resource-you-have#comment-2848 Aditya Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:52:05 +0000 http://gorigirl.com/?p=1137#comment-2848 yea colts! yea colts!

]]> By: sistergh http://gorigirl.com/the-best-cultural-resource-you-have#comment-2838 sistergh Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:28:32 +0000 http://gorigirl.com/?p=1137#comment-2838 He mostly follows the Colts, not because of geography, but because of Peyton Manning and the no-huddle offense. He mostly follows the Colts, not because of geography, but because of Peyton Manning and the no-huddle offense.

]]> By: Gori Girl http://gorigirl.com/the-best-cultural-resource-you-have#comment-2804 Gori Girl Sun, 01 Nov 2009 18:44:08 +0000 http://gorigirl.com/?p=1137#comment-2804 What team(s) does he follow, sistergh? What team(s) does he follow, sistergh?

]]> By: Gori Girl http://gorigirl.com/the-best-cultural-resource-you-have#comment-2803 Gori Girl Sun, 01 Nov 2009 18:43:32 +0000 http://gorigirl.com/?p=1137#comment-2803 Yes, certainly - thus the caveat I wrote about above: your partner is not all-knowing. :-) When I ask a question, I'll often first inquire with Aditya how much he knows/has studied about a subject. Often, actually, we don't quite believe each other. What'll end up happening is that one person will assert a fact, the other won't believe it, and a bet will be made. (two cents, a million dollars, or some chore, like walking the dog, will often be the forfeit of the loser.) We'll wikipedia it later, <em>if</em> we remember the disagreement. I think I currently owe Aditya eight thousand dollars, on the basis of a poor bet made a few weeks ago (I thought he was bluffing!). A lot of people have told us we bicker more than any other couple they know. Yes, certainly – thus the caveat I wrote about above: your partner is not all-knowing. :-) When I ask a question, I’ll often first inquire with Aditya how much he knows/has studied about a subject. Often, actually, we don’t quite believe each other. What’ll end up happening is that one person will assert a fact, the other won’t believe it, and a bet will be made. (two cents, a million dollars, or some chore, like walking the dog, will often be the forfeit of the loser.) We’ll wikipedia it later, if we remember the disagreement. I think I currently owe Aditya eight thousand dollars, on the basis of a poor bet made a few weeks ago (I thought he was bluffing!).

A lot of people have told us we bicker more than any other couple they know.

]]> By: sistergh http://gorigirl.com/the-best-cultural-resource-you-have#comment-2799 sistergh Sat, 31 Oct 2009 14:25:46 +0000 http://gorigirl.com/?p=1137#comment-2799 My husband is OBSESSED with American football (and bought the Madden game for Diwali). I'm not a fan at all, but I will occasionally watch with him now. (He's pretty good about not watching excessively, except during the playoffs.) We really only had to follow cricket when my now-FIL was here over the summer - we watched a few IPL highlights. He'll also watch tennis and basketball, but those are sports I watched anyway. My husband is OBSESSED with American football (and bought the Madden game for Diwali). I’m not a fan at all, but I will occasionally watch with him now. (He’s pretty good about not watching excessively, except during the playoffs.) We really only had to follow cricket when my now-FIL was here over the summer – we watched a few IPL highlights. He’ll also watch tennis and basketball, but those are sports I watched anyway.

]]> By: luckyfatima http://gorigirl.com/the-best-cultural-resource-you-have#comment-2797 luckyfatima Sat, 31 Oct 2009 06:48:45 +0000 http://gorigirl.com/?p=1137#comment-2797 This is great advice, for sure. But one downside to this is that unless we have an anthropological type mind, we are not 'experts' on our own cultures or good at explaining why we do things. And we often have strong cultural biases towards our own culture. So if someone asked me, "Why does Texas have such a strong BBQ culture?" I might not know. I might not say "It is connected to our history with Mexico and the culinary connections which we have there...there was a South Western cowboy culture and blah blah blah..." I might just say "Oh it's cuz us Texan like beef." And that would be it. One answer would be a true reason, and one answer would be "folk-knowledge" so to speak. So when we do ask our guys, we have to remember this and not use the info to generalize (All Texans like beef) or rule out other possible answers. I dunno. Am I making sense? Maybe the beef BBQ thing is just a bad example. Both of my husband's grandmothers are from India and wore sarees every day of their married lives...they were from a part of India in which married women tend to wear saris. Women do wear sarees in Pakistan, especially at formal evens and when they come in to fashion. And there are a lot of Pakistanis who are recent immigrants from India and you see a lot of sarees as daily wear in Karachi on those type of women. Once I asked something about sarees to my husband and he told me "Oh, it is mostly the Punjabis who wear sarees." Totally, utterly wrong. I didn't argue with him. No point in doing that. But I knew he was wrong about that. But you get my point. He doesn't automatically know everything about every aspect of Pakistani culture. This is great advice, for sure. But one downside to this is that unless we have an anthropological type mind, we are not ‘experts’ on our own cultures or good at explaining why we do things. And we often have strong cultural biases towards our own culture. So if someone asked me, “Why does Texas have such a strong BBQ culture?” I might not know. I might not say “It is connected to our history with Mexico and the culinary connections which we have there…there was a South Western cowboy culture and blah blah blah…” I might just say “Oh it’s cuz us Texan like beef.” And that would be it. One answer would be a true reason, and one answer would be “folk-knowledge” so to speak. So when we do ask our guys, we have to remember this and not use the info to generalize (All Texans like beef) or rule out other possible answers. I dunno. Am I making sense? Maybe the beef BBQ thing is just a bad example.

Both of my husband’s grandmothers are from India and wore sarees every day of their married lives…they were from a part of India in which married women tend to wear saris. Women do wear sarees in Pakistan, especially at formal evens and when they come in to fashion. And there are a lot of Pakistanis who are recent immigrants from India and you see a lot of sarees as daily wear in Karachi on those type of women. Once I asked something about sarees to my husband and he told me “Oh, it is mostly the Punjabis who wear sarees.” Totally, utterly wrong. I didn’t argue with him. No point in doing that. But I knew he was wrong about that. But you get my point. He doesn’t automatically know everything about every aspect of Pakistani culture.

]]> By: AmericaNepali http://gorigirl.com/the-best-cultural-resource-you-have#comment-2781 AmericaNepali Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:36:44 +0000 http://gorigirl.com/?p=1137#comment-2781 And our good friend "D" is a HUGE Chelsea fan, so although I'm sure P will be disappointed to here about Aditya and your football team choices, we can still be blogging buddies. And our good friend “D” is a HUGE Chelsea fan, so although I’m sure P will be disappointed to here about Aditya and your football team choices, we can still be blogging buddies.

]]> By: Jenn23 http://gorigirl.com/the-best-cultural-resource-you-have#comment-2780 Jenn23 Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:24:47 +0000 http://gorigirl.com/?p=1137#comment-2780 Oh my gosh! That's one of my favorite things about "us". He and I both LOVE baseball and football (Eagles and PHILLIES!!!) so we spend a LOT of our time watching sports together. It's wonderful! GG, that would be the YANKEES and just so you know, we are going to kick their butts tomorrow, Sunday and Monday! :) Oh my gosh! That’s one of my favorite things about “us”. He and I both LOVE baseball and football (Eagles and PHILLIES!!!) so we spend a LOT of our time watching sports together. It’s wonderful!
GG, that would be the YANKEES and just so you know, we are going to kick their butts tomorrow, Sunday and Monday! :)

]]> By: AmericaNepali http://gorigirl.com/the-best-cultural-resource-you-have#comment-2778 AmericaNepali Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:01:06 +0000 http://gorigirl.com/?p=1137#comment-2778 Yeah, we were at a Superbowl party because of the Patriots. Right as the national anthem was reaching that high note at the end of the song the electricity went out. You could hear people screaming all up and down the street (much like when the Red Sox won the world series a few months before hand), and five minutes later you could hear all the cars starting up and the headlights heading out of the neighborhood. We eventually relocated the party at someone else's house... the electricity didn't come back on until halftime! Yeah, we were at a Superbowl party because of the Patriots. Right as the national anthem was reaching that high note at the end of the song the electricity went out. You could hear people screaming all up and down the street (much like when the Red Sox won the world series a few months before hand), and five minutes later you could hear all the cars starting up and the headlights heading out of the neighborhood. We eventually relocated the party at someone else’s house… the electricity didn’t come back on until halftime!

]]> By: Gori Girl http://gorigirl.com/the-best-cultural-resource-you-have#comment-2774 Gori Girl Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:47:49 +0000 http://gorigirl.com/?p=1137#comment-2774 *sniff* Whatever happened to "the enemy of my enemy is my friend"? *sniff* Whatever happened to “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”?

]]> By: raj http://gorigirl.com/the-best-cultural-resource-you-have#comment-2773 raj Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:36:19 +0000 http://gorigirl.com/?p=1137#comment-2773 I knew there was something about Aditya that I liked....and now i know! A Chelsea supporter....and he hates Man Utd. What a guy! Did you cry when we lost to Barcelona in the European champions league Semi final? My son and I both did.... Keep up the good work Aditya! Oh....and your Mrs is ok. Although the Man City remark was a bit lame. I knew there was something about Aditya that I liked….and now i know! A Chelsea supporter….and he hates Man Utd. What a guy!

Did you cry when we lost to Barcelona in the European champions league Semi final? My son and I both did….

Keep up the good work Aditya! Oh….and your Mrs is ok. Although the Man City remark was a bit lame.

]]> By: Gori Girl http://gorigirl.com/the-best-cultural-resource-you-have#comment-2772 Gori Girl Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:19:47 +0000 http://gorigirl.com/?p=1137#comment-2772 Heh. Aditya supports Chelsea in the British Premier League, and hates on Man U. I support Man City, and thus also hate on Man U. Sorry! :-P Aditya also follows Serie A & supports Inter there, altho he's pretty depressed about Ibrahimović's shift to Barcelona. Ah, football... Personally, I can't wait for the World Cup - woot to the US for getting so far in the Confederation Cup! We follow American football too (and Aditya plays Madden Football video games...sigh) - so far, I've had great success in explaining the game to internationals. Couple of years back we had a party for all of the grad students in my econ program for the Superbowl (the Giants v. Patriots game, which I'm sure you were aware of, if not watching, given your location...). By the end of the game everyone was <em>really</em> into it. (It helped that the game was absolutely superb, and had a good back story/narrative for both teams.) Hmmmm... maybe I should write a post on sports too! Heh. Aditya supports Chelsea in the British Premier League, and hates on Man U. I support Man City, and thus also hate on Man U. Sorry! :-P Aditya also follows Serie A & supports Inter there, altho he’s pretty depressed about Ibrahimović’s shift to Barcelona. Ah, football… Personally, I can’t wait for the World Cup – woot to the US for getting so far in the Confederation Cup!

We follow American football too (and Aditya plays Madden Football video games…sigh) – so far, I’ve had great success in explaining the game to internationals. Couple of years back we had a party for all of the grad students in my econ program for the Superbowl (the Giants v. Patriots game, which I’m sure you were aware of, if not watching, given your location…). By the end of the game everyone was really into it. (It helped that the game was absolutely superb, and had a good back story/narrative for both teams.)

Hmmmm… maybe I should write a post on sports too!

]]> By: Gori Girl http://gorigirl.com/the-best-cultural-resource-you-have#comment-2771 Gori Girl Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:07:48 +0000 http://gorigirl.com/?p=1137#comment-2771 I like both sports and video games, just not <em>together</em>. But, um, not baseball. Who's up against the Phillys? :-? I like both sports and video games, just not together. But, um, not baseball. Who’s up against the Phillys? :-?

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