Tag: history

Sister Cities and the Arts: How Cultural Partnerships Inspire Creativity

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One of the most joyful aspects of Sister Cities is their partnership in championing cultural expression through artistic exchanges.

These global partnerships celebrate local traditions, foster creativity, and bring communities together in unforgettable ways. 

From slow food in Portland and Bologna to mural exchanges between Chicago and Casablanca, these collaborations highlight the power of international cultural diplomacy.

Portland, Oregon & Bologna, Italy: A Love for “Slow” Food

Portland and Bologna share a deep passion for food culture. 

Bologna has earned its nickname “La Grassa” (The Fat) for its indulgent cuisine, while Portland has carved out its own identity with a thriving Northwest-inspired food scene. 

In both cities, meals are more than just sustenance – they’re a chance to slow down, savor, and connect. 

Whether strolling through Portland’s bustling Farmers Market or Bologna’s Mercato della Terra, you’ll find a shared appreciation for fresh, locally sourced ingredients. 

And, of course, great food requires great drinks to match. 

Bologna and Portland both take their beverages seriously – Italy has been perfecting wine for centuries, while the Portland region has gained international recognition for its Pinot Noir. 

And while Portland’s craft beer culture is well known, Bologna also embraces the art of brewing, even hosting the annual “Heretical Brewers Fest” each spring.

These loves come together through events celebrating each other’s cuisine, like Sagra in Portland which serves up lasagna, festive music, and a silent auction with Italian goodies.

Chicago, USA & Casablanca, Morocco: A Street Art Connection

Chicago and Casablanca have been sister cities for decades and share a love of public art.

In 2018, they marked 35 years of their sister city relationship with a mural art exchange, strengthening cultural ties between the two cities. 

The project featured Chicago-based muralist Sam Kirk and Casablanca artist Abedellatif Farhate, known as “Kalamour.”

Kirk traveled to Casablanca to create a mural during the city’s CasaMouja Festival, becoming the first female artist to participate. 

She also led an art workshop for local students. 

In return, Kalamour visited Chicago to install a mural as part of WAC’s public art initiative, which has transformed the city’s South Loop with over 60 large-scale artworks. 

The pair also share a digital art museum, known as STEAMuseum, created through a collaboration between high school students from Chicago and Casablanca, using virtual tools to explore science, technology, engineering, and art. 

Launched in 2016, it fosters cross-cultural understanding through digital diplomacy and provides a unique, interactive space for a new generation of digital learners.

Both of these collaborations show that sister city relationships aren’t just boring ol’ diplomacy – they’re about bringing cultures to life in the most dynamic ways. 

So next time your city hosts an international arts event, check to see if it’s part of a sister city exchange. You might just find you share more than a simple bond; you share culture.

“It’s All Greek to Me”: The Origin Story of Language Confusion

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You’re traveling with your friends in a foreign country.

You stop at a restaurant for lunch.

The menu is in the local language.

When one of your friends asks you to translate, at a loss, you flit through the menu and mutter, “It’s all Greek to me.”

No, you’re not in Greece, but the phrase still stands.

“It’s all Greek to me” found its way into the vernacular of many English speakers, often used to express bewilderment when encountering something incomprehensible. 

But where did this curious expression originate, and how has it permeated popular culture?

Greek Origin Story

No, it did not emerge from the skull of Zeus.

The earliest recorded usage of “It’s all Greek to me” can be traced back to Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar, written in 1599. 

In Act 1, Scene 2, Casca says,

“Those that understood him smiled at one another and shook their heads; but, for mine own part, it was Greek to me.” 

Here, the phrase is employed to convey Casca’s inability to comprehend a speech delivered in Greek by a Roman senator.

The usage likely stems from the perception of Greek as a complex and unfamiliar language to English speakers of that time. 

This association between Greek and incomprehensibility persisted over the centuries, solidifying the phrase’s place in the English lexicon.

Pop Culture

The phrase has made numerous appearances in literature, film, and media, often serving as a humorous or ironic expression of confusion. 

In Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the character Ford Prefect remarks, “It’s all Greek to me,” when confronted with the Vogon poetry, known for its excruciating awfulness.

Similarly, in the film My Big Fat Greek Wedding, the character Gus Portokalos frequently uses the phrase to dismiss anything he finds perplexing or foreign, despite his own Greek heritage. 

This comedic use underscores the universality of the expression.

Beyond its literary and cinematic appearances, the phrase has also found a place in everyday conversation, often invoked with a hint of self-deprecation or resignation when faced with complex or obscure subject matter.

“It’s All Greek to Me”

Whether it’s Greek or not, this fun expression continues to capture the universal experience of grappling with the incomprehensible. 

Its longevity speaks to the enduring power of language to illustrate shared human experiences, even across cultures and centuries. 

So, the next time you find yourself confronted with something utterly perplexing, find your inner Casca and suggest, “It’s all Greek to me.”

History of the World Cup: How the Game Became Ingrained in World Culture

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The World Cup, the most-watched sporting event in the world, draws billions of viewers.

More than half of the global population tunes into the World Cup final.

How did this sporting event capture the imaginations of the international community?

It all began with the Olympic Games.

The End & The Beginning

After debuting at the 1900 Olympics in Paris, football was dropped from the Olympics’ program in 1932, after a dispute between FIFA and the International Olympic Committee.

The FIFA committee decided to put on their own global event and chose Uruguay as the World Cup’s first host, after the nation won back-to-back gold medals at the 1924 and 1928 Olympics.

This put a crunch on European teams, as Europe was experiencing a depression, and many players did not want to risk losing their jobs (unlike today, players weren’t awarded hundreds of thousands+ then) to attend the tournament.

This resulted in many favored European teams (England, Spain, Italy, Germany, Holland, etc.) opting out of the world’s first-ever World Cup.

To appeal to European teams to participate, Uruguay offered to assist in travel expenses, which drew France, Belgium, Yugoslavia, and Romania.

Some leaders seemed to know that this was the beginning of something big.

Romanian King Carol, for example, provided players (whom he chose personally) a three-month vacation from their work and guaranteed employment upon their return.

With the roster set, the 1930 World Cup kicked off in Montevideo on July 13.

Yesterday & Today

In 2018, more than half of the global population – some 3.57 billion viewers – watched the World Cup final.

The first world cup final was viewed by 93,000 spectators.

93,000 football fans watched the competition’s two favorites, Uruguay and Argentina, battle it out to a 4–2 win for the host country.

Today, five-time World Cup winner, Brazil, is favored to win the 2022 World Cup.

But the games are not yet over…

Cultural Time Orientation: How Past-Oriented Cultures View Time

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How do you make life decisions?

Do you anchor your reasoning in the past, basing logic on tradition and precedence?

Or do you look toward the future, anchoring decisions on what could be?

In the same vein, think about your culture.

Does your culture go back millennia or a mere few centuries?

Or maybe it was born yesterday?

The answers to these questions can tell us about our culture’s concept of time orientation.

We’ve talked a bit about time orientation and perception in a past blog.

But let’s dig a little deeper into each of the 4 Types of Cultural Time Orientation and Time Perception.

Past-Oriented Values

“The past is the beginning of the beginning and all that is and has been is but the twilight of the dawn.” – H.G. Wells

In past-oriented cultures, the past is honored and revered and heavily nostalgic, and it plays a large part in how present society is run and how decisions are made.

Past-oriented societies include China, Japan, Britain, and many Spanish-speaking Latin American countries.

They often follow formalities when it comes to working relationships and tend toward conservatism, meaning they are not often progressive in business matters.

Work culture is thoroughly grounded in ways of management that are tied to the past.

They also hold traditional values because feeding a collective memory is key to their cultural identity.

Due to the importance of tradition in these countries, their societies are slow to change. 

If you try to intervene in tradition, you are not to be trusted.

As individuals, too, ancestral worship and family traditions are highly valued.

The Past Guides Us

Past-oriented societies don’t just make decisions based on past experience; they see their hope and inspiration in what has already been.

History, tradition, and precedence inspire them and direct their future.

They invest in businesses and other organizations that already exist.

All resources and efforts are put toward what has been established, and the past is used to evaluate the present.

Past-oriented cultures also tend to be risk-averse, and hiring is done with loyalty of company in mind.

Staff is expected to adhere to policies and procedures, as well as established norms.

Moreover, when planning for important changes that might also require a change in mentality, long time frames accommodate for resistance to said changes.

Change for change’s sake is not appreciated, and the past is led into the future, remaining very much alive in the present.

Visionary leaders of such cultures are able to balance their concept of time enough to ensure change is not too jarring and that the past is not left behind. 

Celebratory Food: How Dishes are Tied to History & Religion Through Sacred Stories

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A soup of unleavened bread.

A crescent-shaped pastry.

A turnip harvested in the prairie.

What do these three foods have in common?

They’re celebratory foods made important through tradition and the stories we weave.

History, religion, and spirituality play a part in creating the lore and sacred stories behind our favorite holiday meals and treats, as well as our everyday gruel.

From Jewish passover to Viennese Christmas, let’s take a trip around the world with these celebratory dishes.

Jewish Matzo Ball Soup

Image: SoulSkorpion, CC BY-SA 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/, via Wikimedia Commons

Enjoyed during Passover, Matzo Ball Soup is presented at Seder supper.

In celebrating a holiday where the Hebrew slaves were freed from Egypt, the symbolic meal represents this tale in the Biblical Exodus.

The Jews ate unleavened bread when fleeing, which is represented in the Matzo.

The dash of bitter horseradish symbolizes slavery’s bitterness.

Austrian Vanillekipferl

Image: Weihnachtskekserl, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Vanillekipferl is a pastry that’s shaped like a “kipferl” – or crescent moon.

Originating in Vienna around four centuries ago, the pastry’s lore says that the kipferl was developed by Austrians to symbolize their victory over the Ottoman Turks, whose banner held a crescent moon.

Funnily enough, the Vanillekipferl’s shape was developed into other pastries – specifically, the croissant which found its way to France.

The French adapted it with puffed pastry, creating a whole new spin on the tasty treat.

Blackfeet Indian Prairie Turnips

Image: Justin Meissen from St Paul, United States, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Various native tribes in America viewed certain foods as sacred and tied them to important lore.

Prairie turnips, for instance, were believed to come from the “Sky realm” by the Blackfeet Indians.

Feather Woman (Soatsaki) learned how to harvest prairie turnips from her mother-in-law, the Moon (Ko’komiki’somm).

She then returned to Earth to spread the word, making the prairie turnip a staple in Blackfeet cuisine.

Food + Stories = Tradition

Each of these foods has its lore, and its lore is what makes eat bite special.

From the symbolic nature of the Matzo Ball Soup to the celebratory nature of the crescent-shaped Vanillekipferl to sacred staples like maize to the Mayans or prairie turnips to the Blackfeet Indians, the rich stories that accompany such foods keep the oven hot.

And they keep our traditions cooking.

9/11 Interpreted: Discovering Culture Through History’s Depiction in World Textbooks

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From the North and South’s view of the Civil War to those of China versus Japan of WWII, interpretations of history differ wildly across the world.

When you enter your host country, knowing their historical perspective can help you better understand myriad aspects of their culture.

It can also help you avoid stepping on any landmines that might lead to a Monkey Moment.

History is in the eye of the beholder, and everyone wants to be the hero of their own story.

So, what “truth” do we choose to believe?

And what does it say about us?

Recent History in Textbooks

While distant history can still smart a bit, recent history often stings more.

9/11 is but one of those events.

The case of how 9/11 is presented in various textbooks across the globe shows how history isn’t necessarily skewed with time; it’s biased even in the moment, as originally reported by historical textbooks.

Graduate student, Elizabeth Herman, returned to her old high school about a decade after the tragic event had unfolded and discovered the school’s new history textbooks already detailed 9/11 and its aftermath.

She was curious how these events appeared in other school history textbooks around the world.

Interpreting 9/11

For her university thesis project, and later for research under a Fulbright scholarship, Herman analyzed textbooks from thirteen different countries to examine the differences in how this attack was being taught.

What she found:

  • American textbooks highlight the tragedy using volatile language and emphasize how the country came together after the attack
  • Pakistani textbooks call the assailants “unidentified terrorists,” omitting their identity
  • Turkish textbooks omit their extremist Islamic faith
  • Chinese, Brazilian, and Indian textbooks emphasize the “reckless” actions taken by the U.S. post-9/11 in their illegal war in Iraq
  • Chinese textbooks also interpret 9/11 as a sign of the decline of American authority on the world stage

So, considering all these selective details and interpretations of history, what exactly is “the truth”?

The Truth

As we’ve previously discussed, from a cultural context, there is no One Truth – at least none that we’ll ever know, as bias will always exist, in the writing of history and in the reading of it.

But what these interpretations can teach us is how different cultures view the world, how they view themselves, and how they hope to shape future readers’ perceptions of it all.

You might say, “If no one’s telling The Truth, then history is useless.”

But that’s not the case. A country’s interpretation of history allows us to understand their rationale, to seek the “why,” and that’s the whole point when you’re trying to accept and adapt to a foreign culture.

As Herman said on the results of her thesis:

“If you hand a student thirteen different ways of looking at 9/11 from thirteen different countries and ask them, […] Why do you think it’s different? Why do you think that Pakistan tells this story one way and Brazil speaks about it a different way? I think that that’s the only way that we can actually reach a new understanding of this event.”

The Heroes of Our Own Story: How Cultural Bias Enters into the Teaching of History

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We all want to be the heroes of our own story.

And with this desire comes bias.

When entering a new culture, learning to read between the lines of what is taught about the culture’s history will help you better understand their cultural perspective. 

You may still agree with and believe in the historical interpretation of your own culture, but getting to the roots of another culture means getting to know their view of themselves, which is never more apparent than in their teaching of history.

This knowledge will give you insight into the “why” of cultural norms, values, and traditions in your host country.

To gain this knowledge, learning what is taught is important; but, sometimes, learning what is expressly not taught is even more so.

Russia and North America

“Back in the USSR…”

While it’s obvious that Russian and Western cultures view things differently, what may not be so obvious is their extraordinarily different interpretations of history.

North Americans often view their liberal values of freedom and individualism with pride, and that is reflective in their teaching of history.

They view Marxist ideals and communist values as restrictive on individual liberties and enterprise.

Russian history, however, is taught from a Marxist viewpoint.

It teaches that the American working class – and overseas labor from American corporations – is exploitative.

Like Americans, their view of their own history is also one of pride.

They present their communist system as more egalitarian, distributing wealth more fairly amongst the working class.

While American historians present Russia as oppressive, so do Russian historians present America.

And from an outsider’s perspective, if you’re being honest with yourself and viewing these arguments and their history objectively, you can see truth in both…however, you’re probably more biased toward the history that aligns with your own values and norms.

Japan and China

Japan and China are two other examples of nationalist takes on history.

The Japanese take pride in their long and glorious empire. However, the tragic recent history of WWII and the events surrounding it is often deemphasized in classrooms.

Mariko Oi, a Japanese teacher who studied abroad in Australia, puts this into perspective:

“Japanese people often fail to understand why neighboring countries harbor a grudge over events that happened in the 1930s and ‘40s. The reason, in many cases, is that they barely learned any 20th century history. I myself only got a full picture when I left Japan…” 

According to Oi, only 5 percent of her Japanese textbook (19 out of 357 pages) dealt with the recent history of WWII and the events that led up to it from 1931 to 1945.

A single line was dedicated to the Rape of Nanjing (also known as the Nanjing Massacre) which occurred during the Sino-Japanese war of 1937 when Japan invaded China. That war too was given but a single page.

On the other side of the East China Sea, Chinese students are taught in detail about Japanese war crimes and about the Rape of Nanjing in particular.

And as for other WWII enemies, the subject receives different treatment in American textbooks versus Japanese textbooks. 

The Manhattan Project is often heroically emphasized by American historians who detail the justifications for dropping the atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

In Mariko Oi’s Japanese textbook again, a single sentence is dedicated to this event.

Cultural Bias in Ourselves

The point of all this is that a nation tends to have a specific view of itself. 

And, in doing so, that nation will cast itself and its history in the best light while deemphasizing certain aspects that today bring shame. 

Cultural bias is difficult to recognize within ourselves. We’d like to think we’re “above” it.

But in the end, we all want to be “right”; we want our values to be right, our norms to be right, and our version of history to be right.

We want to be the heroes of our own story.

History is in the Eye of the Beholder: Why There Is No “One Truth” When It Comes to Culture

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“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” – or so the saying goes.

And so is history.

History may be “written by the victors,” but in most cases, the “victors” don’t permanently wipe out all other perspectives (thankfully).

Opposing views of history co-exist and, if you’re doing business in a new culture – or living in it – an awareness of that culture’s perspective of history, particularly its own, will help you succeed…and avoid some serious cultural faux pas.

How?

UPS in Germany

Consider this: when UPS tried to introduce new business in West Germany in 1976, the company didn’t consider the historical roots of brown uniforms there.

UPS’s recognizable “brown shirts” were reminiscent of Hitler Youth uniforms to locals.

Tensions arose due to this serious oversight, and UPS was forced to introduce green employee uniforms instead. 

But cultural insensitivity was their first impression.

This could have all been avoided with a little bit of historical knowledge and common sense.

Moreover, another important thing to remember about history is that, when it comes to cultural understanding, it’s open to interpretation.

Interpreting History

Although there may be one truth, no one will ever know it.

Historical events can be perceived differently by opposing cultures and are subject to interpretation.

Knowing that, when introduced to your host culture, look at their history not only through the lens of your own culture, but through their own.

If you look at another’s history only through the framework of your culture’s historical perspective of it, that singular interpretation of the facts likely won’t provide the same view.

In the sense that you’re trying to understand the perspective of another culture, that interpretation is pretty useless to you.

While we hope for objectivity in history-telling, the reality is that subjectivity colors history writing a great deal.

Historians often write within the biased framework of their culture’s own national and political interests.

Cultural bias is difficult to recognize, particularly coming from academics or historians, whom we’d like to believe are “above” bias.

But nationalist tradition often enters into historical interpretation, and cultural preconceptions and stereotypes are extremely resistant to facts.

Only when faced with foreign opposition of said facts may any sort of bias be detected.

We’ll illustrate this contrast of opposing historical views next week.

When Religion Meets History: Confucian & Communism in Chinese Culture

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“If you can revive the ancient and use it to understand the modern, then you are worthy to be a teacher.” – Confucius

History. Religion. Language.

We’ve been talking about these cornerstones of culture the past few weeks, taking them one at a time.

But what happens when they meet?

And how can you, as Confucius says, understand the modern by reviving the ancient?

Welcome to the Beijing Olympics

It was 2008. Beijing, China. Olympic Opening Ceremony.

“Friends have come from afar, how happy we are.”

A quote by the Chinese philosopher, Confucius, was presented at the fore.

Later, the Bird’s Nest was invaded by 3,000 Confucian disciples. The performers held bamboo slips, upon which some read the ancient Chinese character, “He,” which means harmony.

The religious philosophy of Confucianism was present at the international ceremony, as the great philosopher represents the Chinese mind.

Alive from 552 to 479 BC, “The Uncrowned King” remains today, 1,500 years later, Chinese history’s most influential person.

He is so influential that his traditional ideas and teachings remain a part of modern Chinese thought.

A Culture Influenced By Religion and History

Although Confucius was once deemed “The Number One Hooligan Old Kong” by Mao’s Red Guards, the Communist Party realized that the great philosopher might be useful for their agenda.

Only, instead of true harmony in the way Confucian taught, the Communist Party Confucius emphasizes obedience and loyalty. He bucks Western ideals and pushes for authoritarian rule.

“Harmony” – a Confucian concept – is used a lot by Communists; harmony, meaning no dissent.

The true Confucian take on harmony, however, is one in which each person in a society works together toward prosperity. 

A research paper entitled, “The Relevance of Confucian Philosophy to Modern Concepts of Leadership and Followership,” explains Confucius’ views as follows:

“Confucius observed that because society is a weave of relationships between individuals, a healthy community depends upon an attitude of human caring among its members.”

By cherry-picking and restructuring Confucian values, the party is able to create a version of a modern political system that it can say is based on the traditional past.

In this way, Chinese history and religion tell us why a nationalistic central government, guided by moral individuals who have the people’s best interests at heart, is the way China chooses to be led – and to become a major world power.

History and religion tell us why a democratic Western political system does not sit well culturally in China.

This demonstrates that, in the end, to truly understand the ways and mentalities of your host country and its people, you must study its history and religion – and also the ways in which that history and religion might be politicized in the modern world.

Why Learning History is Important to Cultural Integration

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History can tell you a lot about the present reality of a culture’s values and norms.

Understanding the rationale in a culture’s roots – the “why” – is often traced to history’s distant past.

Traditions, customs, and behaviors, as we saw last week, have their roots in language, religion, and, lastly, history.

For instance, due to largely voluntary European immigration and forced African immigration, American culture, for instance, became a “melting pot.”

On the other side of the pond, European history has been shaped by multiple major wars.

Languages were spread worldwide through colonization, with English becoming the primary language of Australia and the U.S., while Spanish and Portuguese were spread through Latin America.

China, Japan, Russia – their societies have all been shaped by influential dynasties.

While this common knowledge is useful to have, it barely scratches the surface in regards to learning and understanding a foreign culture.

Respect and Genuine Interest

A deeper knowledge of your host culture’s history demonstrates your regard and respect for that culture.

National pride is an element of every culture; it is part of a group – and an individual’s – identity.

When I moved to the U.S. in early 2000, I viewed the American Civil War like I did that of the Hundred Years’ War between England and France, in that it was remote and distant, left in the deep realms of the past.

Due to the volume of European wars, that’s how many Europeans view battles and wartime periods that took place prior to the first and second world wars.

From this perspective, I didn’t think it necessary to study up on U.S. history beyond the broad culture and recent past. 

I knew the basics about the American Civil War – that it was fought between the North and South over the abolition of slavery – but beyond that, I knew not much else, nor did I consider the war to carry much direct relevance (beyond racism and prejudice) in present-day America.

When I relocated to Richmond, Virginia, I realized I was mistaken.

Richmond was the southern secessionists’ capital, and the Civil War is still very much a part of the “recent past” there.

Some view Abraham Lincoln – widely considered one of the United States’ greatest presidents – in a negative light and the Civil War, in general, as “when the North attacked America.”

In 2003, when a Lincoln statue was unveiled in the center of Richmond, it was received with protests by the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

You can see why knowledge of the past – and the different perspectives of this shared history by various regions of the United States – would be pertinent to your cultural integration.

Cultural sensitivity about topics that are considered controversial in some areas is necessary to developing and maintaining positive business and personal relationships wherever you set down roots.