At 14:21 28/11/98 -0800, Andreas Ramos wrote:
>Well, relax. Turkey Day is coming soon to a country near you.
We already have Turkey Day. It's called 'Christmas'.
>
>Valentine's Day, which used to be "only in America," is going global. I know
>it's in Germany, Denmark, and India. It's probably in many other countries
>too. The marketing people for the florists, chocolate makers, and restaurant
>associations are marketing it, to literally create a new tradition.
>Halloween Night, which was only for kids twenty years ago, is being heavily
>promoted across Europe. It's the second largest American holiday, in terms
>of revenues, and European marketing people aren't stupid. There's gold in
>them hills. Mother's Day and Father's Day are turning into global holidays,
>again heavily promoted by marketing.
I'm terribly afraid you're right. However, Halloween has, in fact, been
long an event throughout Christendom, extending back at least into the dark
ages. All Hallow's Eve was the night of the witches' sabbat. So while it
has in modern times been commercialised (what hasn't?) it does have a long
history of participation. Much easier to corrupt an existing event that
create a new one.
>
>I did Turkey Day last week (yep, a week early). Nahuatl (that's Mexican to
>you) turkey in Mole sauce (three kinds of chilies, Mexican chocolate, and
>sherry), accompanied with Persian rice, Turkish rose water, five kinds of
>French white wines, Chilean and Australian red wines, and Central American
>sweets. Guests included French, Germans, Chinese, Japanese, and Indians.
>Only a few were born in the USA.
Sounds great. I've cooked chicken in Mole sauce, but never turkey. Have to
give it a try. There's no doubt the world is becoming smaller and more
cosmopolitan. Unfortunately, cosmopolitan tends to equal American rather
than its true meaning of a multitude of influences. The fact is that many
local cultures are being swamped by the mass-media driven,
western-industrialised culture. That's not the fault of the US; plenty of
other countries had the opportunity to take the economic lead in the world,
but blew it through ancient rivalries. The US's strength was in being a new
country, free from those old rivalries. That's why it emerged at the end of
the last century as the economic heavyweight it is today.
>
>Thanksgiving is a very American holiday, in fact, probably the
>quintessential American holiday. Every other holiday can be held elsewhere:
>nationalist holidays, religious days, famous people, etc., but not
>Thanksgiving. Thirty years ago, it was a holiday for mainstream whites, but
>it's changed. So many people have emigrated to the US in the last few
>decades. They are very thankful for the opportunity to live in peace and be
>prosperous. Nearly all of my friends here in Silicon Valley are immigrants
>and they come from everywhere in the world. In their own countries, they
>simply wouldn't have the opportunities for jobs, advancement, training, or
>the spectacular salaries. Many are women: we can barely imagine how awful it
>is for women in nearly all of Asia. Here, they become managers and get great
>salaries. But still, Turkey Day is popular outside the USA.
Turkey Day is; Thanksgiving isn't. Sorry, but I've lived in Europe, the
Middle East and Asia, but I've never celebrated Thanksgiving anywhere. Of
course, that may change - probably will change for reasons you've enunciated.
One couldn't get turkey in
>Europe (it's an American bird). They'd often seen this in movies, and they
>wanted it. I happen to be a rather good cook, so I made Thanksgiving Dinner;
>I'd buy a turkey from the American soliders at the base; I'd make all of the
>other things, incl. pecan pie and other things.
Sorry, you're wrong here. Turkey may originally be an American bird
(although I'm not sure even that's true) but Turkey has always been the
traditional Christmas dish in the British Isles and many other parts of
Europe. It's just that we ate it at Christmas, not Thanksgiving
(traditionally served with chestnut and sausage stuffing, ham and, often,
roast pork. Occasionally a goose would be thrown in for good measure).
>It was very popular, so popular in fact that we'd do Thanksgiving several
>times every year in Germany. The date didn't mean much to them, and so what
>if one does Thanksgiving in May and again a few months later? It's a great
>dinner.
Hmmm....if by Thanksgiving you mean eating turkey, then I guess you're
right. But people today eat turkey at any time (had it on sandwiches for
lunch today, for example). Thanksgiving surely has to mean more than a
simply meal, or it's doomed. An example, how many people only eat pancakes
on Shrove Tuesday, which as originally when they were originally eaten (and
the day was known as Pancake Day) in Europe.
franko
_________Frank Lee, Interactive Strategist, Writer & Developer_________
Interactive Strategist, IBM Australia Ltd & Managing Director, Wired World
Consulting.
http://www.wiredworld.com.au
'Always live your life with one more dream, because when you stop dreaming,
life becomes mundane.' -- Sara Henderson
____________________________________________________________________
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Join The Web Consultants Association : Register on our web site Now
Web Consultants Web Site : http://just4u.com/webconsultants
If you lose the instructions All subscription/unsubscribing can be done
directly from our website for all our lists.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
