IMDonehere

The original question was about culture, but 75% of the responses saw a culture through the narrowest of prisms, how they view the world, rather than how the world may be.

And it takes a very special eye to make definitive statements about a culture after two weeks, especially when you do not know the language, or its history, or its art, or its religion, or its celebrations and customs and rely solely on one's ability to immerse oneself in a culture. Whatever that means.

Stu Tower was witness to an event by someone who was a dissident and intellectual who prevented any bloodshed and future animosity, because he knew his history, his culture, and its moment in history.

tower

<<<What has the above to do with culture, political or not? Especially since you didn't understand a word?>>>

I knew exactly what was going on after being informed by the lady reporter. Knowing the Czech language was hardly a factor here...just being there to witness the proceedings chaired by President Havel were more than enough and I wanted to share this with the forum. So sue me!

Snarky, in my 86 years I've been personally part of and forgotten more about world history and culture than you'll ever know.

Sue_xx_yy

Stu what a great story! I'd never have had the chutzpah your wife (and you) had.

I looked up a definition of culture:

"The totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought. Culture is learned and shared within social groups and is transmitted by nongenetic means."

A lot of socially transmitted behaviour patterns aren't the sort of things one would want to experience. To traveller1959's category list I add the culture of violence, the culture of war, of fear. I don't want to be present at a violent demonstration by one culture against another, for example - anything from skinheads in Berlin, to xenophobic violence in the townships of Johannesburg, to the eternal Middle Eastern conflicts (and sadly, much of that hate is transmitted culturally.) Some culture is anything from mildly eccentric to disturbing - I'm not sure I would want to visit a paramilitary survivalist training camp in the US, for example, simply because they see things differently from me. Or chat with a Shining Path guerilla or an Isil thug (hey, it's part of the culture...) There are beliefs, and there are beliefs, and some cultural beliefs aren't worth celebrating or even witnessing. And yet, those beliefs are a culture nonetheless.

ImDoneHere pointed out that we often equate culture with nationalistic culture, as if that were the only 'authentic' or, heaven forbid, desirable kind of culture. Too often we protest we want to see differences, and rat on "fast food" even though many, many cultures have 'fast food' because cooking fuel is expensive. I also wonder if our love affair with distinctiveness isn't a sign of people who have come to take peaceful co-existence for granted, perhaps because our generation never experienced the hell that was Europe when it underwent its nationalistic cultural showdown back in the first half of the 20th century. We want to see tribalism as colourful, and overlook that blood is very colourful. I've been in many a museum where weapons were displayed, some of them very beautiful, so long as one could forget how they were used. I admire the skill of Goya

https://www.khanacademy.org/humaniti...rd-of-may-1808

but I don't ever forget that that really happened, those were real people, their deaths not just a thing for museums and art galleries.

And yet when people express contempt for cultural institutions, what do they pick - the violent aspects of culture? No, they pick MacDonald's. As if six million people died from eating Big Macs while imprisoned.

tower

wow, Sue...beautifully said...and so very true. Thank you for taking the time! Your last sentence was a classic!! IDH, your thoughts on Havel's contribution to society were right on! Thank you, too!

IMDonehere

What has the above to do with culture, political or not? Especially since you didn't understand a word?
___________________
This supercilious comment show a complete lack of understanding what culture is and can be.

As an intellectual, dissident, well-regarded writer, and a Czech, Havel understood the differences and similarities between the Czechs and the Slovaks. As you might know the subtle differences between McDonald's and Burger King.

Thus he created two separate countries which are both peaceful and thriving countries. That is from knowledge of the past and the present, which is an integral part of any culture.

Culture, done well, is applying what you know, not just regurgitating what you have learned or learned incorrectly.

latedaytraveler

"What's less understandable is why the question's being asked by some troll in a New Jersey garret who pretends she visits Europe (indeed Britain) frequently."

FLANNER, I have said it before and I will say it again - you are a mean mother! Particularly when it comes to Americans on this board. Too bad - because you have much to contribute, but then there is that inevitable nasty streak!!!

Hi NIKKI - glad you were able to join in during your treatment.

sandralist

Would anyone like to guess whose Fodor's profile volunteers this information about themselves:

All-time best travel moment
Late afternoon sitting with a campari and soda at the cafe in front of the Pantheon, listening to music from a nearby church and watching Romans make their way home - perfect relaxation



Some people spend hours and hours and hours on Fodor's looking for ways to shore up their belief that they, personally, are the BEST and everyone else ought to be mocked.

If a new poster shows up to ask for help scheduling a visit to the Vatican, the Borghese, the Forum, and a day trip to Tivoli, the same nose wrinkles and posts a nasty (and repetitively boring) put-down about travel plans that "sound like you're planning an invasion".

If a new poster shows up to ask for help enjoying Rome away from the museums, churches, guidebooks and looking for ideas about where best to enhnce the experience of Rome with people watching and participating in the local life style, not driven by the clock, the exact same poster will sneer about how pleased they are with themselves that they are that they are not one of "those people" who travels and doesn't care about culture but would rather just hang out and drink.

Fodor's offers up a near-endless supply of innocent people looking for advice you can make yourself feel superior to -- and when that supply dries up, you can start your own thread talking about how much better you are than other people, and attract a crowd of the like-minded.

november_moon

"I know someone mentioned that a having a beer in a beer hall is the culture of Munich - and granted that is very typical of the city - but only a minute part of the city's culture"

It's not as though I said beer gardens were the sum total of culture in Munich. Just an example of culture that doesn't have to do with museums.

Odin

I didn't learn anything about other cultures by going to museums, I learned a lot about culture being integrated into a family and society belonging to a different culture than my own one.