Ok. It's a new year and I want to start a discussion on a friendly terms. Here's a short introduction that I want you to read before proceeding…

Tell me about your country, people, culture. Tell me something that you think is a unique custom among yourself. How do you greet? What do you find insulting? Are your people considered “cold and closed” or “warm and open” and, more importantly, do you agree? Has your culture gone through radical changes lately and if so, what triggered it? What are your superstitions and common beliefs(I'm not asking about religion but you can include it if relevant). Tell me a little about your history and how it defines you. Finally if you notice a previous post about a country with customs similar to yours, you're free to comment and discus what's similar and different.

Here's what I do NOT want to see. Don't say you're better then anyone else. If there's a history of rivalry between two countries here(for example US vs Russia cold war), you are free to mention it and tell us about it but we are not looking for “you bastards robbed our land!” type of stuff. Bottom line: We are here to explain about what WE think about OUR culture. Not arguing what you think of theirs. Also, try to balance it out a bit. Include your dark history or something you are ashamed of. We know you think that your country is the best in the world but blatant self promoting will be annoying and could cause a “my country's better then yours” flame war.

So, with that in mind, do you guys think that we can have a civilized and a fun discussion and *gasp* maybe learn something about one and other?

EDIT!

A good idea that's come up is that if your country is taken you're still free to participate by adding onto additional information like regional differences.

Finally, if you have a question to someone about their country or wish to hear about someplace that hasn't been covered, feel free to ask. Just don't word the question in a offensive way. If you've heard that some country eats dog meat, don't ask something like if its true that all people there eat their pets.


-ozone edit.
This can be a sticky for a while ^_^

I suppose I have to go first.

Well. I'm an Icelander and we call all of you people outlanders.

My people live in a harsh environment and have done so for over 1000 years. Winters are hard. Summers are short. Earthquakes are common and we have a major eruption on a five year average. The country has shaped us and as of result we're a generally healthy people. Naturally since the country was settled by vikings there's also a remnant of that viking spirit where you're required to be hardy and rough.

From the age of settlement til about the beginning of the twentieth century, our population never exceeded 40-50 thousand. This tiny population was spread out around a country that's the size of England (without Scotland) or about the size of Kentucky USA. Today we're over 300.000. Still not much but I'd call it a huge increase.

Between January and February we celebrate a midwinter festival where we eat food like putrefied shark, dried sheep head, something that's eerily similar to haggis and other gourmet meals that's sure to make any other person doubt our sanity as well as presence of taste buds. This is done because back in the days, people had to eat food like this in order to survive. While it's not necessary today, people come together to feast on this food to honor the memory of those who had to.

Only the coastal line is considered habitable. We call the rest of the land the Highlands and traveling through it is dangerous. Because of that it became a breeding ground of tales about trolls and other dangerous beasts that roam the land where mortal man are forbidden.

We're consider closed people and by closed I mean enclosed in a shell. We don't like being greeted by people we don't know unless we're in some social situations where it's required. However during interesting situation that shell comes flying of and we become the friendliest bunch in the world. One of those situations is when we become drunk. Another is hot tubs. Wait Hot tubs? Isn't that a little…. No I'm not talking about those tiny tubs in someones back yard where “experiments” occur. We have large communal tubs in almost every village where people sit down to relax and in those places, stranger talk about the weather, news or have heated argument about politics.

We also become unusually helpful whenever someone is in need of help. This is a double edge sword because whenever we are in need of help we expect other to drop their things and come over to help in return. Failure to respond is considered an insult. This is of course a remnant from more difficult times when outside help was needed in order to survive.

This helpfulness has transferred quite nicely into the tourist industry because whenever we see an outsider bungling with a map 3-4 locals normally rush over to offer guidance. This has branded us a friendly people among travel industries even though people who get to know us better knows that that's not the case. We're not that friendly unless you need the help.

And so I come to immigration. We are borderline racist when it comes to immigrants but it's not because we hate them. We are suspicious of them. We have a hard time understanding their intentions to move to our country and often we shun them. It is notoriously hard for a immigrant to adapt to Iceland and they're normally considered outsiders even if they've lived here for over a decade and have learned to speak our language. One of the very few acts to shed the outsider skin is to marry into a Icelandic family. That act causes that family to welcome the outsider who then is welcomed into the community.

And that brings me to family ties. We have incredibly close family ties. My immediate family consists of over 100 people and that's ONLY the close family members. Since the age of settlement marriage and births have been closely monitored and as of result most natives, including me can easily map out his family tree until the original settlers. One thing that makes us different from most others is that we use what's called patronymic naming system. We name our children after our father. Basically Jon has two children, Magnus and Elsa. Their full names would be Magnus Jonsson and Elsa Jonsdottir (son and daughter of Jon) Additionally, although not practiced, you could include the family title at the end of the name. Thus the full title of the boy could be Magnus Jonsson of the XYZ.

Ok. So much more to say….. Getting ridiculously long…

Around 900 most of the biggest landowners united together to form a parliament. It was a commonwealth system where the title and chair passed on to the next of kin. The system survived until today which makes it the oldest functioning parliament today except that now the system is representative which means that people are voted in.

The commonwealth system was far from flawless. While the parliamentary seat was hereditary position, it could also be sold to someone else. No rules banned one person from owning more the one seat. Around the 13 century many powerful families started hording the seats in a attempt to gain majority and declare himself absolute ruler. This resulted in a civil war. The Norwegian king took advantage of the situation and, with expert power play, gained support from the heads of many of the great families. They gained titles and the king gained the country.

At some point, the ownership of Iceland passed over to Denmark. They remained in power until 1944 when Iceland declared independence. Prior to that Iceland had received a constitution in 1918 which made Iceland a independent country with a foreign king. That allowed us to govern ourselves but we were still required to pay taxes to the king. There's still some bad blood between Iceland and Denmark. We accuse the Danes of deteriorating our country and the Danes in return resent our declaration of independence while they themselves were occupied by the Germans.

During Second World War, Iceland was considered a third world country. It was invaded by the British. They used the land to set up air patrols around the north Atlantic. This was critically helpful in keeping the supply train between Britain and America running. Eventually America took over the British troops as they got more involved.

This was a critical moment for our culture. We could have chosen to remain isolated after the war like we had been in the centuries past but it was decided that we should be more involved. Maybe it was because of curiosity of what lay beyond our shores but after our encounter with the modern world, Iceland took a huge leap and modernized at a ridiculously fast pace.

Recently we were reminded that we're still a small piece in a much bigger puzzle. The international credit crunch, that has everyone worrying about whether or not it will develop into a full blown depression, came and hit us hard. Our banks made the mistake of overexceeding their operation far beyond Icelandic capabilities and now that the bill is due and all assets are considered worthless we stand with the possibility of being the first country that has to declare bankruptcy as a nation… ever!

But that's fine. We've survived worse. We've battled volcanoes and won. We've been trough famine and plagues that both times managed to wipe out over 25% of our population and we're still standing. We'll get over this like all the other obstacles. Because that what's being Icelandic is all about.



P.S. You don't need to write such a huge article if you don't want to. I just had a lot to say apparently.

U.S.A;
Almost every one of our states has a distinct dialect/accent to their speech patterns if you listen,
we have a ‘no child left behind’ policy in our education which drags our schooling down considerably,
the ‘common’ or middle class person lives considerably well- even carpenters and maids can afford expensive luxury's,
we have a hat,
our houses are excessively large,
the world is always watching us like we're their soap opera,
family guy,
we're the country with the highest success rate of ‘rags to riches’,
we are no longer subject to religious wars that continue to divide and tear apart other countries,
We saved the world from Nazis with explosive results,


people;
mostly white, brown/blonde haired, and blue/brown eyed
not as fat as the jokes make it seem,
we tend to have very nice teeth,
racism and xenophobia are still a problem but we've come a long way,
you are allowed to come out as a homosexual and even be accepted for it,
it's all about ‘you’- you are a unique snowflake and you damn well know it- it also makes us selfish and greedy but that's good old american spirit,
women are allowed to wear string thin bikini's and if the beach allows it-nothing at all and isn't beaten to death by the village men,
no nudity or words like ‘fuck, bitch, cunt, and shit’ are allowed on tv before 10.pm.,
people in the cities tend to be very open while suburbans are withdrawn- people from the city stand closer to you and are more social,

history,
blah blah blah british people, blah blah blah war, blah blah blah got their pansy asses kicked, blah blah slavery, blah blah corn, blah blah civil rights, blah blah i have a dream, blah blah blah,

We drink tea.

Every hour.

crocty
We drink tea.

Every hour.

Come one Crocty. We're being serious now. Tell us more than just tea.

what kind of tea?

Australia has no (open) class distinction… There's the sort of “classes” that are always bestowed by education, earnings (to a lessor extent), and heritage. But if you acknowledge it, take it for granted, or basically just openly act as if you're better than someone else (because of class), you get chopped right down. We call it “the tall poppy syndrome”. It's our way of coping with wankers and dickheads.

i.e. If Paris Hilton had been Australian, she'd have ended up crying in the back of that police car a lot sooner…

Australians become tend to become MORE Australian, obnoxious, and cliche the less other Australians are around them. But they eventually grow out of it.

Australians ideologically dislike Britain and British people, and yet British people make up one of the biggest “ethnic” groups. In some cities, including Sydney and Perth, there are more native born British people than any other group, including those born in Australia.

Australian are extremely self concious about their place in the world and hope someone notices them and knows they're Australian. Most of our culture (but not all), has been devoted to creating an image of ourselves meant to be seen by non-Australians.

In reality we are very boring, ordinary and much like British, Americans and other English speaking peoples. All those people have their differences, as do we, but essentially we're the same.

We are mostly a left leaning country, even our conservative groups have been traditionally slightly left of what's considered the right in most places… Except for Queensland which was a corrupt police state in the 70's and 80s.

Oh, and a lot of Australians like to appear open and friendly, but aren't as open or friendly as they seem really. lol!

———————
Nice to be self critical. ^_^

Skullbie already talked about us Americans, so I guess I can add to that and talk about my specific region of the US since we treat ourselves like an independent country there.

I'm pretty sure the world knows about the American capacity to create friendships out of enemies with how close a tie we now have with the British who were once our main enemy for almost a hundred years and are now classified as “cousins”. How that relationship got created is generally considered one of the many results of World War 2 and the US entry into the war. Other results most people attribute to the war are the salvation of the US economy from the war effort, and the continued dislike of Japanese things which has only recently begun to wear off people. It was only after the war that America began to rise to the forefront of the world's nations. Prior to the world wars, we were considered a threat to nobody and were often ignored in the political workings of other nations.

American people tend to be exceptionally outgoing, whether that means they will help you or yell at you. It's generally considered unacceptable to simply ignore a problem in most places. We are trained to be highly independent and self-motivated, despite what many say about us being lazy. In addition, in the lower classes, Americans are taught to be tough and self-sufficient, which is a feature oft lost on our upper and middle classes. And while we like to think that we are a classless society, we still divide ourselves along other lines such as “white collar” and “blue collar”. However, the class lines in America are generally slippery and fuzzy things and it's easier to move from one class into another than a lot of other countries. Americans also tend to be a very nationalistic group who are proud of their country for what it does and who we are. As a general rule, we take the basic premises of our government fairly loosely and in a relaxed way. That fact has helped us keep our government running as pretty much the only constitutional republic to make it for 200 years without having to redraft and restructure it's government.

Americans are generally credited with the creation of what is called modern urban culture. As a nation, our culture is our biggest export. That fact makes us a sort of anomaly in international trade since almost all other nations primarily export tangible goods. Our main skill seems to be in coming up with new technologies and ideas for other nations like Japan to fine tune and perfect. At the same time, we are also exceptionally good at creating perfected technologies for our own use like agricultural equipment.


In my local home of Detroit, we tend to embody the working class vision of America. Detroit has an exceptionally large working populace due to the auto industry. It's one of the largest sectors of the Us economy despite the budget cuts in recent years. As a result, Detroit tends to be a barometer for future changes in the US economy.

The city has a huge black population, which is a result of the period after our civil war when the black slave population of the south began moving searching for jobs. As Detroit was already a explosively expanding industrial center in our nation, a huge portion of them migrated to the city. Ever since, Detroit and the entire state of Michigan have struggled with issues of racism. The most notable instance would probably be the 1970's Detroit riots in which the city became a literal war zone. Since, we have had groups like “the brown paper bag society”, a group of African Americans who discriminated against anyone with skin lighter than the colour of a brown paper bag. Thus, the southern portions of Michigan are one of the few places in the US where racism is reversed.

Overall, the population of Detroit and southern Michigan is seen as being exceptionally tough and aggressive. There is a very can do attitude and the people of the area do have a affectation of being a bit self-sufficient than other Americans. The general view of the people from the area is that they are uniformly working class and of urban origins and that they are hence more “ghetto” than most other people. Telling someone you're from Detroit gets an automatic reaction of caution and awe almost all the time. Despite that, the city is an epicenter for the arts, music and culture due to it's international access from being a major port city.


That's a bit long, but I hope it kind of gets across how we are as a nation and as local cultures.

Hey, that regional idea is good too :)
———
Ok, on my part of the country here; Perth, in the state of Western Australia, we're really quite isolated from the rest of our country. We call most other Australians “Eastern staters”, and they often think of us as being from a slightly different country.

It's often said that Perth is the most isolated capital city in the world. Looking at Russia I find that tricky to believe, but Singapore is as close to us as our other capital cities cities, which are thousands of kilometres away.

Lastly, it's very easy to become one of us. You get accepted and assimilated pretty quickly, if that's what you want, and a surprising amount of people always seem too. It's funny when “Eastern staters” become Perth people and start calling other people from the Eastern states “Eastern staters” and feeling mildly distrustful of them . :)

————–
One last thing that i find extremely funny and not a little bit sad:
We have this fixation on “Bush culture” and “the outback”. We mythologise this strange idea of a rural, honest, Aussie ideal, when in reality most Aussies live in the cities and it's been like that for over 100 years.

And as for the few that DO really and truly honestly live and work in rural areas, they gave up their true-blue-Aussiness decades ago and traded that in for a copy of the American cowboy ideal, complete with huge metal long horn belt buckles, Stetsons, cowboy boots, plaid shirts, and country music.

Yeah, some countries are large enough to contain multiple cultures.

I grew up in Idaho. I was raised on meat and potatoes, taken hunting as a teenager, and attended a small high school. My dad wasn't a farmer, unless you count the orchard he runs. Otherwise, he works for Hewlett-Packard. But both of my grandparents were farmers. One of them ran a dairy until he retired.

South Idaho is a relatively boring desert and North Idaho is covered with some nice coniferous forests and lakes. Boise happens to rest right between the two areas.

Adding to the rules are we?

It's a good idea to include regional differences. Gives more people a chance to speak up. No more worrying about your country being taken.

My country really only has two regions. Reykjavik and… not Reykjavik.

The rural country itself is pretty much the description I gave before except maybe more extreme. Not in a bad way though. By that I mean they tend to take more care in following their cultural heritage and they're more aware who they're related to.

Reykjavik however is different. Around 60% of the entire population lives there give or take. People who live there are more metropolitan and absorb both American and European cultures like a sponge. We go through all your shows, music and fashions, decide what we like and then steal or copy it. We are also big into new technology and fight to get the newest gadgets into our country as soon as possible. We tend to get European culture/tech/media before Americans get it and vice versa.

We are militaristically patriotic when it comes to our language. We fight to keep our language pure in this age constant foreign exposure. We have a special comity that monitors new words coming from abroad who then creates a proper Icelandic term for it. To us English is considered a corrupt language for it's heavy Latin influence.

I guess I'll add my two cents about my region.

I just moved to rural southwestern Virginia. Everyone is really friendly here, which initially triggered my cynicism and suspicion, but they are all pretty genuine around here. The big crop and long-time economic staple is tobacco. It's everywhere. I've not seen many smokers around here, but lots of fields. There's also much more ethnic diversity here than the West Virginia (the state, not “western Virginia” ) town where I grew up or even the WV city where I went to college and graduate school. People here also seem to value an education far more than they did in WV. (I moved due to lack of jobs.) I don't know much about VA or southern US history and culture. I know civil war history is relevant around here, but I'm still getting used to the different “spin” on things. (WV, where I grew up, is also heavy on the civil war – but with a mostly “union” slant, as WV was formed because of it's severe economic differences from VA and because of WV's union affiliations). I volunteer in the local museum, so I know a bit of the very local history, but that is really of no interest to the general world population. People seem generally very into history around here, which might be because VA is a much older state than WV or most other US states.

I'm from Az, we have no natural disasters, mountains of old people, dialect like california, sexy girls in scottsdale, tons of turquoise sellers, little ethnic diversity besides white and hispanic, education system is awful in middle school and below, weather is bipolar ranging from snowing one day to sunny the next, our senator was john mccain, john mccain has a hot wife, our state capital phoenix is one of the fastest growing cities in the u.s., there was this one hot-topicbarf chick at my old high school that called herself a vegetarian but ate fish all the time- said they weren't really ‘alive’.
She dropped out.

I'm a Brit, born in the United Kingdom, although Scotland, Wales, Ireland and Cornwall all seem to be trying to gain independence so it's a pretty pointless name.

The weather here is normally fairly grey, with some precipitation. Regions near the south coast are warmer and sometimes like the mediterranean, so holiday programs would have you believe (it's not true. At all).

With my poor knowledge of history, England has been invaded since before Roman times by everybody with a boat, so we're all bred from immigrants. Chief among the invaders are the French, who have ruled the country periodically (Normans, Georgians… and some others) and England still shares a healthy amniosity with them, for some reason or another.
England was also one of the pioneers of the Industrial Revolution and created Her Majesty's Empire by invading pretty much every where without a fence and ransacking anything not nailed down. Nowadays most of the artifacts are being returned and the countries given their independence back.

We're ruled over by the royal family, who were originally called Saxon-Berg (I think) but changed the name to Windsor during World War 2 so they'd lose the German connection. The Royal family spend most of their time shooting endangered birds and being wheeled out once a year to do the Queen's speech.
Politics is lots of boring saggy faced men making pointless claims of what they will and won't do in power to try and make British people side with them without the intention of ever doing them. There are three main parties (Liberal Democrats, Conservative and New Labour)and many other smaller ones like the Monster Raving Loony Party and British National Party. It also involves a lot of sucking up to America because Britain is a lot smaller and knows this. Actually, the best example is to watch the New Statesman on Youtube and age everyone involved by 30 years.

I live in Cornwall( not from here originally), which is the pointy place at the bottom of the UK. Everybody raves about how the tourist industry is creating so many jobs and generally creating ambrosia for Cornish people but forget that it only works for two months a year, and completely forget about the areas inland of the beaches, which are either rural or former mining towns.

Much of Cornwalls history revolves around tin mining and since the mines have closed a lot of towns inland have suffered from the lack of jobs. For about 20 years. How can you spend that long unemployed just complaining about losing your job? I digress. There's also this horrible little pastry thing called a pasty that the pride of the county, as Tin Miners could eat it without getting the filling dirty.

Most of Cornwall is white, although the forms list it as “Cornish” because they want independence from the rest of the UK. Which is pointless, as the county has no way of sustaining itself. There's more diversity in the larger cities.

Ummmm…. can't think of anything else.

crocty
We drink tea.

Every hour.

Along with hot crumpets while watching cricket.

Well, people have already covered America, and Hawk's already talked about Idaho, haha. :) To Idaho I'll add that people there seem to be more private and aware of their own space than in other places I've lived, and less selfconscious about what they looked like, did, or wanted. I'm not sure if it's a thing about being more independent, but I've never met a native Idahoan who wasn't willing to work hard. Also, Boiseans are for the most part sensible and logical people, but there's a huge rift in the city between the more progressive folks and the religious right. Most of the state is conservative, but some real battles go on in Boise from time to time. The result is a lot of progressive stuff on the surface with no real ‘meaning’ and a lot of conservatively-based stuff going on under the surface.

I'd disagree with America not being a fore-running country until until WW2. I think America mostly kept to itself until the Spanish-American war (around 1900) at which point it started its aggressive international policies. Blame Teddy Roosevelt. :) At that point, the country started its rather questionable expansionist campaigns, invading and overthrowing places (notably in latin america and the reopening of Japan), actively seeking key gains like the panama canal etc. America wasn't ever a threat to its fellow first-world countries or anyone in the Eastern hemisphere, but look out everywhere else. Those territorial and ideological policies are what placed America in such a strong position to influence WWII so heavily, when it finally did get involved.

Also a comment about Americans being fat- having lived in England and traveled some in Europe, I can say that compared to Europe, even an average American weighs more than an average European. :) England is having obesity problems too, but it's nowhere near the scale of America. So I think ‘fat American’ isn't too unfair of a stereotype.


Ive found that most British people like Americans although they dislike aspects of the country as a whole. America as a country is seen as kind of a big lumbering idiot that is usually pretty genial but can also be mean. It doesn't help that Bush used up all the goodwill people felt for the US after 9-11. (Everyone here is very hopeful about Obama.) Every UK person I've met has said that they didn't like/didn't think much about America until they either met an American or traveled in America. IE, they enjoy the people and the place but not the government. The feeling is that America does things to excess, thinks it's better than other countries (or is willfully ignorant), and doesn't need to cooperate with them if it doesn't want to, yet is constantly trying to export its culture and ideologies. Understandably enough that pisses people off a bit. I've also had a few people say to me that ‘the redeeming feature of Americans is that they don’t take themselves seriously' whatever that means. T_T

When I tell English people what the standard is for American worker's benefits and things like health insurance, they're all horrified because it seems inhumane to them. Despite their low opinion of US politics most British see America as a powerful and progressive country where people are pretty well off- hearing about the reality of ‘right to work’ states, insurance and pension rules, benefits/welfare, etc. can be a big surprise to them.

I have to admit that Americans as a whole are pretty ignorant about the rest of the world (although I wouldn't have said so when I lived there), probably because there's no need for international relations in most people's everyday lives. Whereas in England there's a lot of world news every day, and I'm reminded how close other countries are when I go to work with people from Switzerland and Nigeria and there are Polish and Indian newspapers in the shops.


I'm also told I can't make tea properly and that I talk a lot more freely than other people, I'm exceedingly friendly and polite, I drive too much, and I have strange expectations about things like ‘normal working hours’ and what a business should be able to do for its customers.

Want to go regional?

I live in the Northeast near New York City. The world revolves around NYC and nothing quite exists past it. Then there is that corrupt land of the ignorant people who wish they were as good as someone from New York or was from New York and couldn't wait to get out: New Jersey.

The land of the NJ Turnpike where all you see is the most dangerous 12 miles in the world (the land of Oil refineries and chemical plants near Elizabeth), the Sopranos (who are really refugees from New York and not from NJ), the most corrupt government in the USA (where else can a politician collect multiple offices, hold them all at the same time, collect multiple pensions at the same time and no one ever cares.) Where if you have a “D” next to your name you can be a convicted felon and still be re-elected and the rules can be changed at any time to ensure that a Democrat wins the office. Your location in the state is defined by what exit you're off of on the Parkway. I'm exit 117. I used to be 92.

I've lived at the NJ shore since High School. Seasonally we are invaded by uncouth, money waving, guidos or bennies who clog up our highways, are loud obnoxious and make Neanderthals look like the height of human culture. No one is nice to anyone at any time and is instantly suspicious of anyone who smiles or is nice unless that person is trying to increase their tip.

The NJ salute is an extended middle finger. We're also considered a cess pool of toxic waste. However NJ has given birth to more celebrities with talent than most other states combined. New Jersey is like the Soviet Union of the USA. Whatever was invented anywhere in the USA has a connection to New Jersey and was invented here first. And we're also a one party state and a socialist state with some of the highest taxes in the US and in the world.

So what's your exit?

Another standing joke in NJ: would the last person to move out of the state please turn off the lights.

Product Placement
My people live in a harsh environment and have done so for over 1000 years. Winters are hard. Summers are short. Earthquakes are common and we have a major eruption on a five year average.

Really? I've always heard of Iceland as this sort of arctic paradise where it's temperate and never gets too cold. Regardless I'd still like to visit one day.

How superstitious are Icelanders? I read an interesting essay a while ago about how most Icelanders say they are modern and practical etc, but still hold out a kind of ‘well there’s no harm in believing it' mythology involving small people that live in rocks, and things like house elves.

How are tourists viewed in Iceland? You mentioned if they need help they're given it, but kept at distance otherwise. Is there an active dislike of them, or is it more of a ‘to each their own’ thing?

confusedsoul
many other smaller ones like the Monster Raving Loony Party and British National Party.

Don't be silly, those are the same party.

I live in Cornwall( not from here originally), which is the pointy place at the bottom of the UK.

I thought Cornwall was fantastic, I loved all those narrow roads and tiny 20-building villages dotted around with names I couldn't say. If I could live anywhere in England it would be in a little country house out there, probably shunned by all my neighbors for being foreign…. (The moors and places like the Eden Project were interesting too… I had a terribly hard time finding the dog-friendly beaches so I gave up on them.)

I live in Cornwall( not from here originally), which is the pointy place at the bottom of the UK.

I thought Cornwall was fantastic, I loved all those narrow roads and tiny 20-building villages dotted around with names I couldn't say. If I could live anywhere in England it would be in a little country house out there, probably shunned by all my neighbors for being foreign…. (The moors and places like the Eden Project were interesting too… I had a terribly hard time finding the dog-friendly beaches so I gave up on them.)


Areas popular with tourists are richer economically, so they're the nicer places you can visit and, I'll admit, Cornwall does pretty damn well with the beach side of things. Most of the mining towns, though, are dumps. Take the town I live in. Half the population are either over retirement age or are pregnant before school leaving age. Not all places mind, just the old industrial places, but people don't normally know they exist and stick to the coasts.

Yeah, that's a problem down here. Most of it is unjustified ignorance of people “not from around here” but there are some cases when it's justified. A lot of Londoner's by holiday homes in the seaside towns and live in them once a month, so locals can't afford to live in their home towns. Not that you wouldn't be welcome, skoolmunkee *grovel*.

Most beaches are for surfing or sun bathing, so you'd be better off making your dog a sand pit.

Why do my posts keep getting topical issues from the county put in them?

skoolmunkee
I'd disagree with America not being a fore-running country until until WW2.

That's my screw up with clarity. I meant we didn't become anything like the #1 country till after WW2. Before that we were building up to it, but WW2 seems to be the generally consented point at which America started to become the major power.

Tell me about your country, people, culture.
- Philippines

Tell me something that you think is a unique custom among yourself.
- When speaking to someone older or of senior rank (doesnt matter if its in school or military or office) one must use “po” and “opo” in the language.

How do you greet? What do you find insulting?
- It depends.
Kamusta - Hi or Hello
Magandang Umaga - Good Morning
Magandang Gabi - Good Evening

- Its insulting to wear shoes while entering the house of another person. Its insulting not to eat if invited to a party or offered food (generally speaking). Its insulting if you do not “bless” (grab his/her hand and put in in your forehead as your body is in a bowing position) to the elderly. Its also considered rude if you eat soup noisily (but in Japan, I heard that's polite if you drink your soup noisily and its rude if you eat soup quietly).

Are your people considered “cold and closed” or “warm and open” and, more importantly, do you agree?
- Generally speaking, the Filipino is “warm and open”. I've seen many instances where white people tell me that they really enjoy being invited to a party hosted by a Filipino because there's always lots of food and the atmosphere is “unlike anything I've seen before.”

A few white friends of mine even told me that he's jealous of how Filipinos have close family ties and how Filipino women are more loving and caring than white women. I find it shocking because normally, people tend to be attracted to their own kind in terms of race.

- But if you were to ask me, that is just the “stereotype” if you wanna call it that. As there are also Filipino families who end up in a broken shape. Typical story of Filipino immigrants who end up in dead end low paying jobs. To them its like a SHOCK AND AWE to their psyche. Because back in the Philippines, the government (IMO is globalist-NWO-scum-hijacked) loves to pump out propaganda of how great it is to immigrate. The Philippine govt (who is mostly infested by New World Order TRAITORS) loves to promote globalization and send its greatest minds abroad to become dead end workers. It doesnt benefit the Filipino people but rather the globalist scum who want the country to remain the way it is instead of rising to the top.

If you listen to that propaganda, you would have an image of America/Canada as a place where you'd be swimming in wads of cash. A land of milk and money.

But then, it becomes a rude awakening to those who kept that delusion in their minds. And then it ends up as a break up of the family. (As illustrated in chapter 3 of my comic MAG-ISA).


Has your culture gone through radical changes lately and if so, what triggered it?
- The Spanish occupation totally fucked up our language. If you write Tagalog using the same lettering system as English, you'd end up with longer words that are hard to spell. And its only the scholars in University of the Philippines who can read and write the original alibata system (instead of letters or symbols, its syllables that dictate the spelling) that existed before the Spanish. Also, the Spanish forced conversion and submission using a weaponized version of Catholicism. I'm not saying Catholicism is a bad religion. But if its weaponized, it becomes bad. Just like saying that a rock is not a weapon unless its thrown to hit someone in the head.

- The Americans changed our culture even more. No wonder in the Philippine movies, the actors/actresses with whiter skin are the “good guys” or the smart, calculating bad guys. Its always the brown skinned Filipinos who aren't given the attention. So much for criticizing the white man for racism. They even gone as far as changing the curriculum in alot of schools into making English as the medium of instruction. I'm not saying that English is bad. But then again, what is bad is forgetting the culture. As the great Filipino patriot, Dr. Jose Rizal said:
“While a people preserves its language; it preserves the marks of liberty.”

- The Japanese only stayed in the country for a few years before they lost in WW2. Thats why they havent really affected our culture… until the 1990s as they bombarded us with anime and electronics and such. However, it was more of a willful acceptance rather than by force. I'm not apologizing for the Japanese though. Yes they did atrocities in the Philippines like bayonetting babies in front of their parents. As well as read about the “Death March”.


What are your superstitions and common beliefs(I'm not asking about religion but you can include it if relevant). Tell me a little about your history and how it defines you. Finally if you notice a previous post about a country with customs similar to yours, you're free to comment and discus what's similar and different.
- The Filipino culture has alot of superstitious beliefs. Mythical beings like dewendes, diwatas, kapres, aswangs, etc. are believed to exist especially in the rural areas. Its also not uncommon to find the local albularyo or mankukulam (they're like the witch doctors). Also in the rural markets, they sell agimats (charms believed to ward off evil spirits). The old spirituality of the country didn't completely die out even as the Spanish launched campaigns similar to the Inquisition.

In the rural areas, the religion is a hybrid of Roman Catholicism and ancient spirituality. They believe in Jesus, Mary, Joseph, God, everything in the Bible, etc… but at the same time, they believe in ancestral worship, channeling, chakra centers, third eye, etc.

And to be frank, the Philippines is a hotbed for what you call paranormal activity. Its even covered in the nightly news!!! Like stories of aswangs (ironically described as having reptilian features… while David Icke isn't really well known over there) sucking out a baby of a pregnant woman through a hole in the roof using its long tongue!!!

I think though that all that “magic” is actually ancient high technology (which combines the spiritual and mechanical) that was suppressed and hidden by certain clans.

All the kapres and aswangs are probably ancient Lemurian (Philippines is believed by some to be formerly known as Maharloka, the ancient capital of “Lemuria”) genetic experiments.

The diwatas, dewendes, etc. are probably beings from other dimensions or maybe beings from the future who have time warps or something. I dunno.

skoolmunkee
Really? I've always heard of Iceland as this sort of arctic paradise where it's temperate and never gets too cold. Regardless I'd still like to visit one day.

How superstitious are Icelanders? I read an interesting essay a while ago about how most Icelanders say they are modern and practical etc, but still hold out a kind of ‘well there’s no harm in believing it' mythology involving small people that live in rocks, and things like house elves.

How are tourists viewed in Iceland? You mentioned if they need help they're given it, but kept at distance otherwise. Is there an active dislike of them, or is it more of a ‘to each their own’ thing?

Well…. I said it was harsh. I never said it wasn't scenic. We have allot of unspoiled nature which is a huge selling point when it comes to promoting Iceland. And yes it's true our winters are mild…. compared to Russia but that's because we are aided by what is called the Gulf stream. It's an oceanic current that starts all the way over at the Indian ocean, travels around Africa, through the south and the north Atlantic ocean and conveniently loops all around our country. This also makes our waters a thriving breading ground for many fish species which never spoils things.

But boy I'm not kidding with the volcanic activity. In the past 500 years Iceland has produced 1/3 of all lava in the world. Still. There's one good thing that comes from it. All that geological activity has turned us into masters in geothermal power. We heat all our houses (and hot tubs) with this and we have all the electricity we need. This makes us one of the greenest countries in the world and people predict that this knowledge is going to become our major export in the near future.

When it comes to helping tourist we're a strange kind of bunch. As I said if a person needs help we're there to provide it. And we go the extra mile. I've ended up taking strangers on tours and helped them to accommodate places to stay and even offered my place when none was available. Here's a picture of me showing tourists around. I suppose we sense the need to help these strange people who bothered to visit us. It's only when those foreigners decide to stay that we raise an eyebrow. However immigrants have easier time settling in Reykjavik but they normally have much harder time doing so anywhere else in the country. Finally, as I mentioned, this is a double edge sword. We give service but expect it in return. We are excellent hosts but lousy guests.

And it's true we are a superstitious bunch. I briefly mentioned with those highland stories and I was gonna go further into it but I felt my article was already way too long. We have this believe in hidden people which are in fact partially based on those classic elves that J.R.R Tolkien wrote about not so long ago, later to portrayed by Orlando Bloom. Hidden people are supposed to be friendly and mischievous but also highly dangerous if trifled with. They're known to take people into their world where they're never seen again. I saw a statistic once where around 20% of all Icelanders fully believed in their existence, 20% did not and the rest were in the uncertain isle.

I guess many of those inside the positive 20% must work in the department of transportation. They once changed midway these plans for a new road when it was discovered that the road would go through a stone where hidden people where believed to reside. Now get this. Apparently before the plans were changed the construction of the road went horribly as it was plagued with accidents and malfunctions. After the plans were altered the problems stopped. Coincidence?

Oh! Another thing. We used to believe in this polytheistic system which included Thor the thundergod and Odin the all knowing. And many other crazy deities that had flaws and issues just like us pathetic humans. Anyways we took up Christianity in the year 1000 and the old faith slowly and gradually died out. Before that happened however all of the knowledge that survived the transition was collected into a book called The Edda. It preserved the faith and in the 70ties a group came together and revoke the old faith. Today it has over 1000 followers and is recognized by the Icelandic parliament as an official religion. I guess I should also mention that Church and State is not fully separate here. A fraction of a percent of our taxes goes to the church you're registered in. If you are registered as an atheist, the money goes to the university of Iceland instead.

bravo1102
So what's your exit?

Heh he he. I was taught that joke once.

long. We have this believe in hidden people which are in fact partially based on those classic elves that J.R.R Tolkien wrote about not so long ago, later to portrayed by Orlando Bloom. Hidden people are supposed to be friendly and mischievous but also highly dangerous if trifled with. They're known to take people into their world where they're never seen again. I saw a statistic once where around 20% of all Icelanders fully believed in their existence, 20% did not and the rest were in the uncertain isle.

How big are these “hidden people” in relation to human height?

Why are they called hidden? Can they be seen by the naked eye?

What do you mean “trifled with”? Does it mean offending them with full consent and full knowledge or accidentally running em over with your car cuz you couldn't see them cuz they're hidden people?

And if you offend em, how do they retaliate?

I'm also going to toot off a little more about NJ, having lived there all my life and probably in similar places as Bravo1102 has. Be advised, this is a kamehameha blast of well founded negativity.

Everything said so far about NJ is correct. It's a living hellhole with lots of pretty lights and whistles all over it. The government is wildly corrupt and fond of pay-to-play projects. People here are often overweight and frequently belligerent. The amount of toxins around here is shocking. The smell is never clean and sometimes outright rank. You're not supposed to eat much of the local fish supply since the waterways are contaminated with mercury thanks to earlier and ongoing industrial abuses. We have a large number of Superfund sites, which are basically government clean ups of buildings/lots containing dangerous amounts of chemicals, ranging from arsenic to radium. One town even needed to be partially torn down and rebuilt.

They call it the Garden State, but it's largely suburbs at this point, with a gradual edging to slum-like urbanization. Only more of the southern counties have actual farmland. Otherwise, you can expect the occasional college or privately sponsored horse farm here and there.

NJ is very expensive to live in, in terms of rent, services, and items. Most people my age seem to want nothing to do with this state, but the expense of leaving is also prohibitive, so it's like a financial prison. The state budget is forever trying to catch up with itself, so taxes are high, particularly property taxes. The only thing we get off light on is gas prices due to our vicinity to refineries. This shouldn't be taken as a large benefit, since NJ is very much a commuter state. You will frequently have to travel afar from your home in heavy traffic to work. This is further compounded by our high state population density. Largely, a lot of people live here so they can commute to NY.

NJ is actually fairly diverse in regards to its populace. The rich and poor don't live terribly far from another, we have numerous ethnicities present in large numbers (as well as stores/services catering to them), many different religions (Xianist faiths are the most notable, but its not uncommon to see Wicca, Unitarism, Muslim, etc about), and a pretty solid gay/lesbian population. The results are sometimes uneasy, but I've seen worse social friction. That said, there really isn't much of a state minority, only more by individual region.

Patriotism runs relatively high in NJ, or at least, the appearance of it. NJ prides itself on its history with the colonial era and anything to do with George Washington passing through the state. You will often find marks, plaques, and stones detailing a snippet of history for a given area.

Another problem we face is over-development. It's simply too crowded and occupied. Developers ravage this place, woodlands constantly being annihilated for luxury homes, over and over again. Rather than take advantage of the frequent numbers of hollowed out empty stores and buildings, developers always want to start from scratch. In a way, NJ has long stretches of Walmart-like houses. As such, the suburbian sprawl continues out like an infected wound with no real attention paid to the maintenance of the town's individual status.

That said, you'll find a lot of abandoned areas out here, developed and ignored after people were done with them. Burned down houses stand for years, abandoned lots in the middle of nowhere, and so on. Makes for good exploration.

As Bravo described, in the summer, our shores are pummeled with out of towners, whom we call Bennies. Although such tourism is absolutely essential for the shore towns (prepare to be garroted for every last coin you have, btw), these tourists tend to cause trouble and trash the place. I remember one year when a power outage occurred in my shore town, and a swarm of drunks from the boardwalk bar went around town throwing glass bottles at people's houses. Something about this place makes people unstable, belligerent, and cruel. Heck, as a child I've personally participated in a riot that took place at a little league game over a claim of nepotism of the officiant favoring his cousin's team.

You can also expect to see a lot of chavs and wannabe vanilla gangsta types here. NJ doesn't really have much culture to it so expect people to do whatever they want in a typical sense of selfishness and impulse.

Frankly, burn the place to the ground by igniting the water and I'll thank you.

I live in North Dakota.

It's not eternally cold like the north pole as people outside of North Dakota would have you believe. :p

In fact, the summers here can be very intensely hot at times (reaching 100 degrees sometimes!)… but the springs and falls are pleasantly in between.
one thing is true about North Dakota though… the winters here can be very harsh, and there's always so much snow that after the first snowfall you're already sick of it.

Some people also mistakenly believe that all of North Dakota is flat, especially if they've only visited Fargo (which is a city on the very edge of the eastern part of the state). or worse, they've only driven though a small part of north Dakota in the countryside and think that it's nothing but farmland. so as an result, their negative lasting impression was from one part of ND yet they've never really visited the rest of the state.

In fact, depending on where you go, the scenery can change very quickly.
Examples–
East ND, as it looks in the countryside: http://west.redneckromanceranch.com/north_dakota.jpg
http://flickr.com/photos/ellipsis_abuser/15662206/

Middle of North Dakota, countryside:http://findjohnwallace.com/images/north_dakota_prairie_land.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3052/2608175373_5295388ef2.jpg?v=0

West North Dakota is basically pretty much what everyone calls the “badlands”:
http://findjohnwallace.com/images/the_badlands_of_north_dakota.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/67/161840424_e684f2fa07_b.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1429/565648833_657d2964b7_o.jpg

And at times, even though it's very rare, we can see northern lights here sometimes…
http://flickr.com/photos/jgardner/433032096/

Pictures of City life–
http://flickr.com/photos/furryscalyman/389912203/sizes/l/ Bismarck at night. Yes, people do live here, dammit!

http://www.delsjourney.com/images/news/news_01-09-30/1-6737-North_Dakota-State-Capitol.jpg the capitol building.

Okay, enough about the scenery. What about the people, you ask?

from wiki:

Bismarck is the capital of the U.S. state of North Dakota, the county seat of Burleigh County, and the second most populous city in North Dakota after Fargo. Its population was 55,532 at the 2000 census. Its metropolitan population was 94,719 in 2000, but was estimated in 2006 to have grown to 103,242. Bismarck was founded in 1872. Bismarck has been North Dakota's capital since it gained statehood in 1889.

Bismarck sits on the Missouri Plateau directly across the Missouri River from Mandan. The two cities make up the core urban area of the Bismarck-Mandan Metropolitan Statistical Area

The North Dakota State Capitol, the tallest building in the state, towers over the central part of Bismarck. The state government employs many people within the city. As a hub of manufacturing, retail trade, and health care, Bismarck is the economic center of a large portion of south-central North Dakota.

North Dakota (en-us-North Dakota.ogg /nr dkot/ (help·info)) is a state located in the Midwestern and Western regions of the United States of America. North Dakota is the 19th largest state by area in the US; it is the 48th most populous, with just over 640,000 residents as of 2006. North Dakota was carved out of the northern half of the Dakota Territory and admitted to the Union as the 39th state on November 2, 1889.

The Missouri River flows through the western part of the state and forms Lake Sakakawea behind the Garrison Dam. The western half of the state is hilly and contains lignite coal and oil. In the east, the Red River forms the Red River Valley, holding fertile farmland. Agriculture has long dominated the economy and culture of North Dakota.

The state capital is Bismarck and the largest city is Fargo. The primary public universities are located in Grand Forks, Bismarck and Fargo. The United States Air Force operates bases at both Minot and Grand Forks.

Most North Dakotans are of Northern European descent. The six largest ancestry groups in North Dakota are: German (43.9%), Norwegian (30.1%), Irish (7.7%), Native American (5%), Swedish (5%) and French 4%.

2.47% of the population aged 5 and over speak German at home, while 1.37% speak Spanish, according to the 2000 U.S. Census.

The state's racial composition in 2005 was:

* 92.3% White (non-Hispanic);
* 5.3% Native American/Alaskan Native;
* 1.6% Hispanic, a category that includes people of many races;
* 0.1% Asian/Pacific Islander;
* 0.1% Black (non-Hispanic);
* 0.1% mixed race.

Culture

Fine and performing arts

North Dakota's major fine art museums and venues include the Chester Fritz Auditorium, Empire Arts Center, the Fargo Theatre, North Dakota Museum of Art, and the Plains Art Museum. The Bismarck-Mandan Symphony Orchestra, Fargo-Moorhead Symphony Orchestra, Greater Grand Forks Symphony Orchestra and Minot Symphony Orchestra are full-time professional and semi-professional musical ensembles that perform concerts and offer educational programs to the community.

Entertainment,Music of North Dakota

North Dakotan musicians of many genres include blues guitarist Jonny Lang, country music singer Lynn Anderson, jazz and traditional pop singer and songwriter Peggy Lee, big band leader Lawrence Welk, and pop singer Bobby Vee. The state is also home to two groups of the Indie rock genre that have become known on a national scale: GodheadSilo (originally from Fargo, but later relocated to Olympia, Washington and became signed to the Kill Rock Stars label) and June Panic (also of Fargo, signed to Secretly Canadian).

Ed Schultz is known around the country as the host of progressive talk radio show The Ed Schultz Show, and Shadoe Stevens hosted American Top 40 from 1988 to 1995. Josh Duhamel is an Emmy Award-winning actor known for his roles in All My Children and Las Vegas.[ Nicole Linkletter and CariDee English were winning contestants of Cycles 5 and 7, respectively, of America's Next Top Model. Kellan Lutz has appeared in movies such as Stick It, Accepted, Prom Night, and Twilight.

Popular culture, Cuisine of North Dakota

North Dakota cuisine includes Knoephla soup: a thick, stew-like chicken soup with dumplings, lutefisk: lye-treated fish, Kuchen: a pie-like pastry, lefse: a flat bread made from mashed potatoes that is eaten with butter and sugar, Fleischkuekle, a deep fried entree of ground beef covered in dough, and served with chips and a pickle in most restaurants; strudel: a dough-and-filling item that can either be made as a pastry, or a savory dish with onions or meat; and other traditional German and Norwegian dishes. North Dakota also shares concepts such as hot dishes along with other Midwestern states.

Along with having the most churches per capita of any state, North Dakota has the highest percentage of church-going population of any state.

Native American traditions are practiced by the Native American population of North Dakota, especially on Indian reservations. Pow-wows and traditional Native American dancing are found across the state.

Outdoor activities such as hunting and fishing are hobbies for many North Dakotans. Ice fishing and snowmobiling are also popular during the winter months. Residents of North Dakota may own or visit a cabin along a lake. Popular sport fish include walleye, perch, and northern pike.

Notable North Dakotans

For a more comprehensive list, see List of people from North Dakota

* Dick Armey former U.S. Representative.
* James F. Buchli former NASA astronaut.
* Warren Christopher former U.S. Secretary of State, diplomat and lawyer.
* Angie Dickinson Golden Globe-winning television and film actress.
* Josh Duhamel Emmy Award-winning actor and former male fashion model
* Carl Ben Eielson was an aviator, bush pilot and explorer.
* Louise Erdrich a Native American author of novels, poetry, and children's books.
* Monica Hannan KFYR-TV news anchor.
* Virgil Hill former WBA World Cruiserweight champion and Olympic boxer.
* Phil Jackson championship-winning NBA coach, formerly of the Chicago Bulls, now with the L.A. Lakers.
* Chuck Klosterman a writer, journalist, critic, humorist, and essayist whose work often focuses on pop culture.
* Louis L'Amour an author of primarily Western fiction.
* Jonny Lang a Grammy-winning blues guitarist and singer.
* Peggy Lee a jazz and traditional pop singer and songwriter.
* Roger Maris a right fielder in Major League Baseball and former single season home run record holder
* Thomas McGrath, who was a poet and political activist.
* Alan Ritchson American Idol-3rd season participant singer, model, actor
* Sakakawea a Shoshone woman of Lewis and Clark fame
* Eric Sevareid a CBS news journalist.
* Ed Schultz the host of The Ed Schultz Show.
* Ann Sothern an Oscar nominated film and television actress
* Shadoe Stevens was the host of American Top 40.
* Lawrence Welk a musician, accordion player, bandleader, and television impresario.
* Bobby Vee an American pop music singer.

kyupol
How big are these “hidden people” in relation to human height?

Why are they called hidden? Can they be seen by the naked eye?

What do you mean “trifled with”? Does it mean offending them with full consent and full knowledge or accidentally running em over with your car cuz you couldn't see them cuz they're hidden people?

And if you offend em, how do they retaliate?

They are supposed to look like slightly smaller versions of humans. Like about a head smaller then the average men. They normally wear dull and gray clothing that look comfortable though. They are however supposed to be able to take on a more human form if they so desire.

You normally don't see them but people with second sight and children can occasionally spot them. Also they can make themselves be seen if they want you to see them. They also appear in peoples dream asking if they could borrow something and if you say yes that item has normally disappeared from your home.

They don't like when people overly trespasses in their territory. A stone that's said to be their home is forbidden to touch. I've never heard of a case where a hidden person was ever involved in hit and run but I'd recon that the driver would be royally screwed.

So what can they do you say? Messing with your mind is their weapon of choice. They can plague your dreams and invoke insanity. They also can alter things to cause accidents, mild ones at first but increasingly perilous if you're not getting the “hint”. They steal newborn babies and leave in return a stillborn of their own kind and they're known to kidnapping adults as well.

On midsummer eve they become very active. It is said that if you sit on a crossroad throughout that night you'll encounter them and they will offer you all kinds of valuables but every time they do, you must stay silent and not accept any of it. If you say nothing they will eventually resort to changing themselves into family members and friends, both living and deceased, trying to get you to talk. If you hang on throughout the night they will eventually move on, leaving behind the riches they offered you. If you at say anything, accept one of their gifts or acknowledge the presence of the family members, they and everything they offered will disappear and you'll end up insane.

i'm from northern illinois and it's really flat here. we're one of the more democratic states of the mid-west and our former senator is now the president-elect. like all states we have a motto and it's “the land of lincoln” becuase this is where president lincoln came form.

We're big rivals with wisconsin. mostly for fun, especialy when it comes to football. bringing up the Packers and the Bears is like re-igniting the civil war. although….i am a born and raised packer fan.

im living about 20 miles form my home town in a place called Woodstock and this town has quite a rep itself. it's where the guy who made Dick Tracey came from and it's where groundhogs day was filmed. as a matter of fact, the bar where they drink to world peace is where i've been working for the past 10 months.

the population here is mostly white and hispanic. the city of Chicago is a great city with losts of color . it's famous for jazz and is called the Windy City, not because of the fact it's located on Lake Michigan which cuases alot of gusts among the buildings, but as a throw back to the mobster activity and produced one of the most infamous mobsters, Al Capone. it's also home to the former tallest building in the world, the Sears Tower which you can ride the elevator to the top and watch great aerial and boat shows in the summer. back in the late 1800's when most of the city was made out of wood, a fire burned about 4 square miles of the city and burned on for 2 days, killing and injuring a lot of people. the disaster was dubbed “The Great Chicago Fire”.

Product Placement
They are supposed to look like slightly smaller versions of humans. Like about a head smaller then the average men. They normally wear dull and gray clothing that look comfortable though. They are however supposed to be able to take on a more human form if they so desire.

You normally don't see them but people with second sight and children can occasionally spot them. Also they can make themselves be seen if they want you to see them. They also appear in peoples dream asking if they could borrow something and if you say yes that item has normally disappeared from your home.

They don't like when people overly trespasses in their territory. A stone that's said to be their home is forbidden to touch. I've never heard of a case where a hidden person was ever involved in hit and run but I'd recon that the driver would be royally screwed.

So what can they do you say? They can mess with your mind that's their weapon of choice. They can plague your dreams and invoke insanity. They also can alter things to cause accidents, mild ones at first but increasingly perilous if you're not getting the “hint”. They steal newborn babies and leave in return a stillborn of their own kind and they're known to kidnapping adults as well.

On midsummer eve they become very active. It is said that if you sit on a crossroad throughout that night you'll encounter them and they will offer you all kinds of valuables but every time they do, you must stay silent and not accept any of it. If you say nothing they will eventually resort to changing themselves into family members and friends, both living and deceased, trying to get you to talk. If you hang on throughout the night they will eventually move on, leaving behind the riches they offered you. If you at say anything, accept one of their gifts or acknowledge the presence of the family members, they and everything they offered will disappear and you'll end up insane.

Interestingly similar to the Dewende in the Filipino myths. The only difference though is that a Dewende is suppose to be small enough to fit in your palm. And if you accidentally step on one (they're invisible unless you got a third eye open), you get cursed. Most likely, its some kind of strange sickness or a string of bad luck.

Thats why if you're crossing an area full of tall grass and you see a mound that looks like a symetrically proportioned anthill, that is the house of a Dewende. And you should say “tabi tabi po” (excuse me, let me pass) as you pass along. So they'd know that you mean no harm.

Though I wonder what happened to the Dewendes during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines? There was alot of guerilla warfare in where Filipino guerillas used the forests and the tall grass areas as cover. And what about today's conflicts with the communist and islamic rebels? Where are the dewendes? If they are out in the forests and are unseen, wouldn't it be likely for them to be hit by a stray bomb or bullet?

Or maybe, they can sense large numbers of human battle formations and they just hide…

Aurora Moon
http://west.redneckromanceranch.com/north_dakota.jpg

Umm…. Am I supposed to be able to see through the house?

kyupol
Interestingly similar to the Dewende in the Filipino myths… if you accidentally step on one, you get cursed. Most likely, its some kind of strange sickness or a string of bad luck.

….

Though I wonder what happened to the Dewendes during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines? … Where are the dewendes? If they are out in the forests and are unseen, wouldn't it be likely for them to be hit by a stray bomb or bullet?

You know… this could be the reason why the Japanese lost.

Product Placement

Aurora Moon
http://west.redneckromanceranch.com/north_dakota.jpg

Umm…. Am I supposed to be able to see through the house?

lol, just a fun optical illusion that old farmhouses tend to have. like some farmhouses here that's been there long before war world II tends to look like it's slanted and about to fall over if you look at them from an certain angle, but when you look at them straight on they're actually straight and very sturdy.

What can I say? some old houses have great character… others apparently just like to fuck around with your eyes. :p