Social "International Interview" Thread--All Are Welcome!

I found this one from Norway rather funny

 

Do you know anything about Norwedge/Iranian RPG:s*? If you do what can you tell us?
* as in pen and paper RPG:s

Elk hunting is beginning soon over here, how big is elk hunting in Norway?

 

I know nothing about any of those questions.

I know that hunting is a thing, and that's about it. In addition to elk, it's also popular to hunt Lagopus.

 

Below is the first text I started to write as a response to the initial Iran question. I decided against it and wrote the text about the miniatures instead, but decided to keep this text in a notepad text file just in case someone asks something related. So, here are my "outtakes", my deleted scenes, if you will:


I don't watch a lot of Iranian cinema, but I highly recommend the films of internationally acclaimed directors Abbas Kiarostami (died last summer), Jafar Panahi (in house arrest) and two-time Oscar winner Asghar Farhadi. Farhadi's most acclaimed trio of films, About Elly, A Separation and The Salesman are all highly recommended. These are regular dramas depicting ordinary problems and interpersonal conflicts, but well made. Especially About Elly, which didn't create as much international buzz as his next two films, is tense and captivating. It's about a girl who is lost when a group of couples in their 30s go vacationing together in the north coast. For films that have more of a quality of social commentary and critique, look up Panahi's filmography, particularly Taxi Tehran (or just Taxi, depending on territory), Offside and Crimson Gold. Abbas Kiarostami is more for the lovers of art film. His pictures always have an open ending and are more philosophical, like musings on life itself. In fact, he doesn't believe in endings, because life doesn't have neat concise endings. It just continues. He also typically stays away from the cities and likes to shoot in rural areas. He and Panahi frequently collaborated on each other's projects, and they have in common that they like to end their films open, but their movies are still stylistically distinct. Kiarostami's most high profile project is probably the French/Italian production Copie Conforme with Juliette Binoche about a couple that have grown tired of each other. He also made a Japanese drama called Like Someone in Love, which I have not seen. But this shows that his appeal reaches far. Some of his internationally acclaimed domestic films are The Taste of Cherry, The Wind Will Carry Us and Where is the Friend's House. I have seen the former two, and his films are such that you really have to be in the mood to watch one.


And below is a short travel vlog by a couple traveling to Isfahan. I think they're Russian or from somewhere in the Eastern Bloc, judging by the name of the YouTube account that posted it. The music they have put on it is a little overdramatic, but the notable part that I want to show is the middle section with footage from inside the Armenian Holy Saviour Cathedral. The architecture and tilework is distinctly mediaeval Persianate, yet the imagery on the tiles leaves no doubt that you are inside a church.

 

I love that this round has "deleted scenes" Perhaps that means it's time to let Violent Violet Menace wrap up his round with many thanks for all his thoughtful responses over the past many weeks?

Not sure if Anakin.Skywalker has returned from his away time yet...if not, he can just PM when he returns and we can start his round. If VVM has questions for AS about Texas, he can send those to me as well.

Until we start the new round, anyone is welcome to just generally chat on anything related to "international" topics of interest

 

I'm here. I'll be back at 8:30

 

Ok, folks, I've sent Anakin.Skywalker his questions (some from VVM, some from me). He'll post them with his answers here when he's ready (no pressure to rush, of course, AS...this is a slow-moving thread and I think the "regulars" here are all fine with that)

Also, I just want to say a big THANK YOU again to @Violent Violent Menace for being so generous and thoughtful with his time in giving us such great responses in his round!

Looking further ahead, I haven't yet had a "check-in" from our two last interviewees under the current formal, Cowgirl Jedi 1701 and Ando123. If I haven't heard from either of them by the time we wrap up AS's round, this thread will be closed and a new thread with a different format will be launched. This new format should allow for less participant (and reader!) time commitment, easier movement "in and out" of the thread, and just generally better opportunities for easier/broader participation! ( I have consulted with Skiara and she has approved a re-launch with a new format.)

I might be away from the boards until at least sometime later into next week. Until then...carry on, thread!

 

Here's a very nice introduction to the French language that was just uploaded a few days ago. Boy, does French grammar seem daunting.

The video speaks of French and English having a large number of "false friends" - French or Latin loanwords taken into English that are identical to a French word, but have quite divergent meanings in the two languages. A funny example from the comments section:

Preservative: something that allows longer storage
Préservatif: a condom

 

Okay, so here are my answers

1. (from VVM) I know that Texas used to be part of Mexico at some point. To what degree is that heritage felt in the overall culture of Texas today?
Good question, and a tough one to answer. I think, to a small degree there is a bit of that "heritage" still felt in the overall culture of Texas. I'm almost tempted to say we've "usurped" it, and now we just call it Texan, lol, even when we know where it came from. It's a hard call, though. You see, one side of the family came from a little town in Texas and most of its occupants were of German descent, so they didn't really feel the Mexican influence. But now, I live in an area where there's a lot of Hispanics (well, now. It used to be mainly Caucasian), so it's very common to hear Mexican music playing and see taco stations in parking lots. Like I said, though, I think -- overall -- it's worked in and has become "Texan."

The main problem with saying that, though, is there's such a divide between the brown and the white people here...at least where I am where there's so many Hispanics in a previously White area. I don't mean to be offensive when I say this, but so many of them look like they just crossed the border and can't speak English worth a darn, and it can feel like they're encroaching with their culture -- from personal experience I can say they can be quite pushy and abusive when it comes to culture and language. I'm a firm believer of the "when in Rome" adage, and I think a lot of whites feel that they should be American if they want to stay in America. They're not doing that, and I think there is a strong pull of the whites away from "Mexican" things. Plus, they're just not interested in Spanish Rock. Go figure.


I do hope all that made sense.

2. (from Pensivia) What are a couple of what you think are the prettiest natural places in Texas? (links to pics encouraged! )
I think I can narrow it down to two things, though not specific places.

1) The trees
I must say, we have awesome trees. I mean, just driving around town and seeing these huge blocks of deep, lush forest is just the greatest thing sometimes. It kills me to see them cut, as is increasingly happening. You go from a dense mass of trees to a barren parking lot in a few months. It's absolutely terrible to see. They don't keep the trees in the parking lots...they just strip it bare. There's this one massive tree in my yard that loses its leaves in the winter (it's a sweetgum), and in the dead of winter on a clear night, if you look up into its branches from directly underneath, you can see the stars peek around its craggy branches. It was quite beautiful, and I need to remember to take a picture this winter, lol.



2. The sunrises and sunsets
In the more barren parts of Texas where the trees are shorter and fewer, the sunsets are absolutely gorgeous. My grandfather lives in the San Antonio area and when I visited a few years back, my mom got me up early to see the sunrise. It was incredible. It looked a lot like this:



3A. (from Pensivia): This question is somewhat dependent on the extent to which you may have lived elsewhere outside of Texas, but: What do you enjoy most about living in Texas (as opposed to somewhere else in the US)? Are there any aspects you're less fond of? (again as compared to elsewhere in the US)
I've lived here for 15 of my 19 years..I might as well have been born here. Still, my Mom lived in Virginia for a while so I've known an outsider's perspective.

Perhaps my favorite thing about living here is


and



and



lol. I love the food.

I suppose the general "we'll do it ourselves" attitude appeals to me, because I'm a lot like that myself. It's not the most efficient or productive way to function, but that doesn't stop us.

I'd say my least favorite thing is living so close to Mexico. I mean, we have a lot of illegal immigrants and I swear they make the worst drivers (not that Texans are great drivers lol...). I can't count the number of times I've almost been hit because they can't stay in their lane or pull out of a parking lot too soon. It would perhaps help if they wouldn't expect other people to speak their language or adopt their culture. It just feels like they want to bring Mexico here but reap the benefits of being in the United States. I don't know. I try hard not to be biased, but it makes me angry when people want to open the borders because they don't have to live it. I've had complete strangers walk up to me and start speaking in spanish without even asking...I guess the brown hair gave it away (I have the same basic coloring as Carrie Fisher) . It bothers some more than others....depends on how much you have to deal with them.

AND/OR

3B. (from Pensivia): What period or particular event in Texan history do you find most interesting? Is the history of the state of Texas (as compared to just general US history) emphasized in school that much?
I'm not sure if I have a favorite event...but when I visited one of the smaller missions in San Antonio, my ten-year-old self just thought it was the best thing ever. You can still see paint on some of the walls, and it's crazy to imagine that people actually lived there. It is a very different experience seeing in it a book and actually being there, though it's not exactly a pleasing thought to know they were trying to convert the Native American right where you're standing, lol.

And I think Texas history and government is strongly influenced. I had to take a whole course in college for "Texas Government," and all the Texas-based history books devote the first sections to Texas history. I mean, we should learn it, but it seems a bit excessive sometimes, lol.

3C. (from Pensivia): Imagine you had visitors from out of state (or out of the country!) who had never been to Texas and you could take them anywhere/do anything. What are the top two or three places (anywhere in the state) you would show them?
Ohhh...you know that's a great question because I might actually be doing that in a few months, lol.

Well, I know I'd show them the missions. Definitely. They were just too cool. I'd have to catch a sunset or sunrise along the way while we're in cactus land.
Then, we'd have to eat Whataburger because....well, it's Whataburger
I'd have to show them a state park, too....just so they could take in the beautiful glory of the trees.

and here's a bonus one "just for fun" (from VVM): Oh, and do all Texans have the Matthew McConaghey accent?
NO!
lol. It's a mix. In my area, the thick southern drawl is common...."y'all" and "ain't" is fairly common. I had a classmate who responded, with utmost politeness to the professor, "No ma'am, it ain't." I don't have much of an accent, a bit of a drawl comes out sometimes, but it's usually just a basic American accent.


Thanks for the questions thus far! It's been fun.
p.s. I'm a girl, but you couldn't have known.

 

I loved Texas when I passed through on my way to Arizona last winter. I thought it was just gorgeous!

And I'm still interested. I just seem to have been "listening" more than "talking".

 

All European countries have their own comics and similar; Texas is larger than any European country and do you have any comics or similar that is made in Texas and read by Texan s in first hand?

 

That's very interesting.

Not that I am aware of, no. I mean, I'm sure there's plenty of comic book writers from Texas, but I've never heard of as Texas comic book.

Sorry. I wish that answer could have been yes because that would have been really cool.

 

Anakin.Skywalker--ever been to a rodeo?

 

Once, briefly...lol.

Not exactly my cup of tea.

 

Do you know how populare are other horse sports are in Texas?

 

Not very, from what I have seen.

Honestly, in my area, quite a few people have horses because they're pretty cheap and most people have at least enough land for a barn. Horses here are one of those things where it's like everyone has a horse, maybe they ride it sometimes, and it's just sort of there like a very large prop, lol.

So, no, I can't really say that other horse sports are popular here (at least not anywhere near me) because people don't use their horses.

 

That is interesting.

The closest racing part is further in Houston than I am, but honestly, people don't really talk about going to the horse races. They're more apt to say they went to the rodeo than anything else, and people don't much talk about that, as it is.

 

Oh! lol. I'm sorry.

I think the American Quarter Horse....at least that's what they all seem to look like, lol.

 

Anakin.Skywalker One of the very few things I know about Texas is that it's larger than every single European country except Russia (and okay, Russia is a behemoth so it doesn't count). I therefore imagine that there must be big differences in terms of geography, landscapes, climate, population etc between different parts of the state, right? Can you tell us a bit about that?

 

Yes! There are so many differences

I, for example, live in an area with a ton of large, dark green trees. But as you go farther south west, you can actually notice how the trees get shorter and shorter, and you eventually have shrub-land, lol. I imagine it gets even drier as you keep going, and that gets into desert areas. It's always funny because, when you get into shrub-land, you'll find cacti, too, even though you're not quite in the desert. Similarly, we don't snow down here in Houston area but I know there is some more snow up in the Panhandle.

Population differences are more noticeable in smaller regions. I'll be blunt, a lot of blacks live in Houston, and if you've lived near Houston all your life, you'd think they were about 40-50% of the population (in reality, it's only like 13%). Once you get further away from Houston, it's more just white people, and once you get further north, there's even more white people because you don't have the Hispanics as much, lol.

I think the only thing consistent across Texas is the fact that they strip parking lots of their trees and don't replace them. lol

 

Handy:
https://mapfight.appspot.com/texas-vs-fr/texas-france-size-comparison

 

Neat!

 

On the news up here they mention that one of the reason hurricane Harvey become such a catastrophe for Houston was that they had turned so much ground into parking lots and cement building, leaving the water nowhere to go.