Post Tagged with "USA"

Happy Valentine’s Day!

This day honors one or more early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine, and today it is celebrated in over 100 countries around the world. Take a look at what some of our contributors have to say about it!

Valentine’s Day in the USA (By Jason, our contributor from the US)

As I child I remember getting a packet of Valentine’s cards and hand writing the names of every child in my class on the back of factory-made cards and putting each one inside an envelope addressed to each kid in my class.  I carried these to school in a brown paper bag then I put one on each classmate’s desk.  At the end of the day, I collected the exact same number of cards from my classmates and carried them home in the same brown paper bag.  I enjoyed reading each one.

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Picture Postcards: Cowboy boots in Texas

This week’s clothing photo has been sent to us by our contributing editor Ana. She says these boots were spotted in Sheplers Western Store in Texas, USA.

Picture Postcards: Sweet iced tea from Alabama, USA

Our contributing editor, Anna, has sent in this photo of a refreshing cup of sweet iced tea. She says,

“Iced tea is a very popular and refreshing drink in South of the United States. This photo was taken in Alabama, where they serve the iced tea very sweet and in tin mugs. “

Read more:
What surprised you most about the US?
A Taiwanese Student in the USA
How to Become a Cultural Insider

Rites of Autumn: The Midwest in the Fall

Usually, when people think of the Midwest, they think of a flat, boring, rural place, covered in corn and soybean fields – way too hot and muggy in the summer, and way too cold in the Winter. Well, that’s about half right. There’s really lots of urban areas, and even some elevation changes (Wisconsin, Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Minnesota, Southern Ohio). Though by and large, the Midwest is pretty flat.

Summers are oppressively hot, unless you live near the Great Lakes. Mosquitoes bite, cicadas buzz and keep you up at night, and electric bills skyrocket from keeping the house or apartment air-conditioned.

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Hand gestures from around the world

Hand gestures play an essential role in nonverbal communication. However, the same gesture may have different meanings -or even none- in different cultures. This collaborative post is an effort to bridge that gap.

India – Namaste

Namaste (India)

Namaste literally means “I bow down to you”, or “Salutations to you”, but it is used in the sense a handshake is used in the western world. For us, no matter whether the person we greet is older or younger, important or not, a man or a woman, he/she has to be greeted with due respect, and the most common way is to join our hands as you can see my son doing in the image, and say, “Namaste”.  When we are greeting an older person or someone important, we bow down a bit. This shows the additional respect due to that person. (more…)

Picture Postcards: Bishops art district in Dallas

It’s September, so we have a new Picture Postcards theme – graffiti / street art. Today’s photo is from Ana and was taken in Bishops art district, a neighbourhood of Dallas (USA).

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