http://pocketcultures.com the world in your pocket Tue, 07 Feb 2012 08:35:14 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Some of our contributors have been busy updating their personal blogs. Drop by and say hi! DeeBee, our contributor from France, continues her series about stained glass windows found in Parisian churches. This time she goes to Saint-Séverin in the Latin Quarter. “Today I would like to focus on the [...]]]> http://pocketcultures.com/2012/02/07/from-our-contributors-week-of-february-6/ This month we are looking at shopfronts around the world in Picture Postcards. Our first snap comes to us from our contributor, DeeBee, in France who spotted this lovely shopfront belonging to a master clockmaker in Paris.]]> http://pocketcultures.com/2012/02/05/picture-postcards-clockmakers-shop-in-paris-france/ 1.  Australia is now the most obese country in the world, just pipping the US at the post with a 26% obesity rate to their 25%. Despite Australia being a sport loving nation there’s obviously a whole lot of armchair sport loving going on, with beer, soft drink or greasy takeaway [...]]]> http://pocketcultures.com/2012/02/03/5-interesting-facts-about-australia/ Bryan, our regional Pocket Cultures contributor from the Philippines tells us a bit about the best parts of his country, including videoke, San Miguel beer and Weng Weng. Don’t know who Weng Weng is? Read on! Tell us a bit about yourself My name is Bryan Ocampo. I guide tourists [...]]]> http://pocketcultures.com/2012/02/02/bryan-philippines/ Leave shoes on or take them off? Bring flowers or wine? Call in advance or drop in? What to do? Some of our contributors got their heads together and came up with a very useful guide on how to avoid social blunders when visiting these countries: Canada, Spain, France, Costa [...]]]> http://pocketcultures.com/2012/02/01/the-etiquette-of-visiting-around-the-world/ Like many of their compatriots, musicians Zhenya Kolykhanov and Sergey Vaschenko emigrated from Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. They have since established themselves in Texas, USA, and through the formation of a band called the Flying Balalaika Brothers and a non-profit called Musical [...]]]> http://pocketcultures.com/2012/01/31/us-russia-the-flying-balalaika-brothers-bridge-cultural-gaps-in-texas/ We’ve got three lovely photos today! Our contributor, Ski, has sent in these snaps of some of the variety of transport options there are in Hong Kong. She’s also given us some great commentary! Tram: These historical trams (since year 1904) certainly deserve a ride (or even more)! To get [...]]]> http://pocketcultures.com/2012/01/29/hong-kong-transport/ As you most likely know, the French could not have a proper meal without bread! How would they eat their cheese, wipe off their plates or make the tartines they dunk in their café au lait? Bread was discovered by our hunter-gatherer ancestors some 30,000 years ago! No need to [...]]]> http://pocketcultures.com/2012/01/27/the-french-and-their-bread/ Nuria, our regional Pocket Cultures contributor from Costa Rica, shares why she joined the Pocket Cultures team. “It is simply wonderful to be able to share my culture because I learn more about it and become more aware of it, which makes me value it even more.” Such an excellent [...]]]> http://pocketcultures.com/2012/01/26/nuria-from-costa-rica-living-la-pura-vida/ It used to be milk that was delivered door to door. In most places around the world, the milkman is a thing of the past. But this tradition is still alive and well in Argentina, although it’s soda water and not milk that is delivered. Many Argentineans are fond of [...]]]> http://pocketcultures.com/2012/01/25/argentinean-customs-have-your-soda-water-delivered-to-your-door/