USA

Picture Postcards: Point Reyes, California Emporium

Here’s an interesting looking place spotted by our contributing editor, Ana, in California, USA. It’s the Point Reyes Emporium from 1898, now housing a bookshop and a saddlery.

Read more:
Jason: Working hard in Marin County California
A Taiwanese Student in the USA
Sean Oliver: What surprises you most about the US?

Mike: “Anywhere you go in the World, you will see Children Smile”

Mike is a retired engineer currently living in Okinawa, Japan, and also one of our regional contributors here at Pocket Cultures. Mike would describe himself not as an “expat” but as a “transplant”. In today’s interview, Mike tells us about his experiences travelling the world and getting to know other cultures and specifically his insight for how to blend and avoid behaving like a “high and mighty foreigner.” And above all, the best advice: listen to Louis Armstrong’s “What A Wonderful World.”

Photo credit: Luis Sanchez

Here is Mike’s story, in his words:

At age 17, after graduating high school, I left the farm in upstate New York to travel the world.  My first taste of culture shock came soon afterwards.  People, even in the USA, didn’t know someone from New York could be a farmer. People around the world, at least back in the 60′s, thought everyone from New York lived in a big city!  Hopefully the internet has changed all that.

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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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From our contributors: week of February 6

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 modern windows (here are five out of the seven windows) that adorn the walls of the ambulatory in Saint-Séverin, one of the oldest churches in the Latin Quarter.”

Liz, our contributor from Australia, features mouth-watering photos of Pakistani and Indian food that can be had in Enmore (Sydney)

“A Sydney stalwart for cheap Pakistani and Indian Eats, Faheem Fast Food has long been the go-to place for taxi drivers hailing from the subcontinent. It still is, but you’re also likely to see groups of 20-something Newtown dwellers pre or post bar crawl, families and assorted in the know spice lovers amongst the mix.”

Jenna, our contributor from Poland/Washington DC, finds a sense of community in the neighbourhoods of Washington DC.

“I love walking because it gives me time to observe, both minute details and grandiose observations. My biggest grandiose observation of D.C. thus far? Despite being the nation’s capital, abounding with stereotypes of out-of-touch politicians and grinding, inefficient bureaucracy, much of D.C. is actually quite locally- and community-oriented. “

Sandra, our contributor from Portugal, wrote a post about the Dutch city of Almere, where she currently lives. The photographs are stunning!

“Almere is the youngest city of The Netherlands. Situated in Flevoland, the most recent province of the country, its first house was finished in 1976. Named after the early medieval name of the Zuiderzee, this garden-city is now the 7th largest municipality in The Netherlands with 191,495 citizens (9 May 2011). Almere offers contemporary architecture, several parks, woods and lakes, an exciting cultural environment and a relaxing and balanced life.”

Read more
First blog roundup of the year
The etiquette of visiting around the world
A taste of the Middle East in Sydney’s Lakemba

The etiquette of visiting around the world

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 Rica, United Sates, England,

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Ana’s Multicultural Household: Argentine and British Couple Living in Dallas, Texas

Meet Ana from Argentina! Ana, shown below at the historic train station of the town of Capilla del Señor in the province of Buenos Aires, is from Argentina but currently lives in Dallas, Texas with her British husband. Talk about lots of very different cultural experiences! Ana is a contributing editor here at Pocket Cultures, and also writes her own blog too, Ana Travels.

Where do you live? Where are you from? If those are different, can you tell us a little about what inspired your move?

I’m currently living in Dallas, Texas, which is very different from where I grew up, Argentina. We moved to the US because of my husband’s job in the fields of telecommunications.
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