[Culturechat] Re: Culturechat digest, Vol 1 #24 - 8 msgs

Bob Miller rwm1029@chartertn.net
Sat, 23 Mar 2002 20:03:38 -0500


Hi, Vance, I see that your ramblings continue even back in the old US of A.
Keep it up.

Sometime when you have a few minutes, I have another topic for your
continuing lessons in Swiss civics.  Who owns the land a- in the cities and
villages, b- out in the countryside, c- in the high mountains?  And another
question- how are taxes charged to support the contonal government and the
federal government?

Thanks.

Bob Miller
----- Original Message -----
From: <culturechat-request@untours.com>
To: <culturechat@untours.com>
Sent: Wednesday, March 13, 2002 4:14 PM
Subject: Culturechat digest, Vol 1 #24 - 8 msgs


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> Today's Topics:
>
>    1. Re: A foreigner in his own country (Anita Killen)
>    2. Re: A foreigner in his own country (Vance Roy)
>    3. RE: A foreigner in his own country (oosterman@cableone.net)
>    4. A Comment on Muslim Rage (WesTexas@aol.com)
>    5. Re: A foreigner in his own country (Boris Sojka)
>    6. (no subject) (Kraut907@aol.com)
>    7. Garden Gnomes (Vance Roy)
>    8. Re: Garden Gnomes (Joan Herriges)
>
> --__--__--
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002 05:07:05 -0600
> From: Anita Killen <soul25@worldnet.att.net>
> To: Vance Roy <giglisaw@aiconnect.com>
> CC: culturechat <culturechat@untours.com>
> Subject: Re: [Culturechat] A foreigner in his own country
>
> Yes, a lot of people are nicer since 9/11, but there are still a lot of
crazies
> running around out there - especially drivers who can't stand to have a
> car in
> front of them and so they weave in and out of traffic and refuse to
> yield.  And
> the kidnappings and theft and murders and things like that are the same
> as they
> always were - I don't think 9/11 has changed that.  But I hardly read
> the paper
> anymore because my fragile mind just can't deal with the horrid stuff
> going on
> all over the world.  I'm doing well to do what I can to improve things
> in my
> own little world.
>
> People you meet in the grocery store and other places do seem to be more
polite
> and considerate.
>
> Can't comment on Boston.
>
> In my part of the world the plastic bags are just as recyclable as paper
bags.
> All paper, including newspapers and junk mail get picked up at the curb.
>  So do
> glass and plastic #1 and #2 containers and broken down corrugated boxes.
> Plastic bags go back to the grocery store and put in a recycle bin.
>
> But the fact remains that the USA is probably the leading country in
> being a
> throw-away society - each generation seems to want more material
goods -more
> toys when they're little and bigger and better houses and cars when
they're
> older.
>
> Like you say, different cultural differences.
>
> Anita
>
>
>
> Vance Roy wrote:
>
> > OK, first the disclaimer. If you think me a traitor, don't bore anyone
about
> > it but me. You can send what you like as a private message. Some of you
know
> > how I like to wear my asbestos underwear.
> >
> > I have been in USA four days now. Am I mistaken or are people a bit
nicer to
> > each other since 9/11? It hit me between the eyes in Boston as I entered
MY
> > country again after many months. You may know that in the late 60's, I
was a
> > prisoner of war in Boston. Almost never left.
> >
> > Our country has become a multi language country since I left in 1994.
There
> > have been a lot of voices in the USA for a long time. I knew that
already,
> > but it is more apparent each time I return. What the Heck! I live in a
3/4/5
> > language country anyway.
> >
> > Folks in RI have always been a cut above the New England "brusqueness",
so
> > Newport is still Newport. Mansions, great accents, wonderful traffic
> > courtesy, lousy streets and sidewalks, beautiful trees and  beaches,
what I
> > call Rhode Island "lick and promise work", overpriced places to eat and
play
> > (not so bad in the off season), and I especially like it because I don't
> > have to get my "Boston personality" on before I walk in somewhere.
> >
> > Funny though. I know folks over the whole USA that recycle. As some of
you
> > know, the Swiss are big on this. Today, we went to the grocery and asked
for
> > paper instead of plastic bags. What did we get? We got paper bags filled
> > with groceries AND STUFFED INTO PLASTIC BAGS!! We just laughed.
> >
> > I still run around turning off lights, wonder at the amazing number of
cars
> > with only one person on the roads, am amazed at the great variety of
goods
> > in places like Walmart (One of my favorite places to waste time), don't
want
> > to be here if gasoline gets to be 10$ a gallon, but I cannot find a
bakery
> > in the whole town comparable to those Swiss places.
> >
> > I'll probably write more about this. I am still learning a lot about "my
> > country". If you read this as unpatriotic, so be it. I don't see it that
> > way. I just realize how different things can be. It is a "culture
thing", I
> > suppose. After all, we are still all together on the same ball.
> >
> > Vance Roy
> > gigli.saw@dplanet.ch
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > This message was sent by Culturechat.
> > To reply or send a new message, email to:
> > Culturechat@untours.com
> >
> > Visit the CultureChat archives:
> > http://mailman.dca.net/pipermail/culturechat/
> >
> > To unsubscribe, change to digest delivery, or
> > temporarily pause delivery, visit:
> > http://mailman.dca.net/mailman/listinfo/culturechat
>
> --__--__--
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002 15:11:33 +0100
> Subject: Re: [Culturechat] A foreigner in his own country
> From: Vance Roy <giglisaw@aiconnect.com>
> To: <Laeink@aol.com>
> CC: culturechat <culturechat@untours.com>
>
> Vance Roy at gigli.saw@dplanet.ch wrote:
>
> I spent my time in BOS in 1969-71. The U. S. Navy "asked" for my
assistance,
> and I spent two years developing my Boston personality and living amongst
> the natives. It was a rewarding experience and had opportunities been
right,
> I would have stayed in NH or VT close by the city.
>
> My first Boston experience was in a cab on the way from logan to the
> Children's hospital. On Storrow drive, we got into a jam (isn't there
always
> one there?). My driver got and beat the daylights out of another cab
driver,
> got back in the cab, and drove me onward. I wondered if I should have
upped
> the tip because he came out on top in the fight. Now, remember, I was
> directly out of a residency in Memphis, TN. (you know, that Mississippi
> River backwater town?). Where I came from Bostonese brusqueness was called
> bad manners at best. Cabbies didn't try to kill each other.
>
> Then there was the time that I asked a drugstore clerk where the
toothpaste
> was. I interrupted an obviously important conversation she was having with
> another employee leaning on a counter with her. She acted like I had
crawled
> from under a rock, and her language wasn't very nice. I wasn't sure where
> she was going to put the toothpaste when she gave it to me.
>
> Of course, with Tennessee plates on my car (military did not have to have
MA
> registration), I was fair game for the daily game of dodge em cars to and
> from work. I learned downtown Boston by going in on Sunday AMs and driving
> around. I realized that a native Bostonian had been correct when he told
me
> that the streets had been laid out by a maddened dogcatcher. This was when
> The Big Dig was yet a gleam in the politician's eyes. Now, traffic is just
a
> real chinese fire drill.
>
> Then there was the time that I went into a sub shop. This was long before
> subs were known in the South (always capitalized). The guy treated me like
I
> had just arrived from another planet and had left my fly open.
>
> The final blow came one morning when a woman (hesitate to use lady here)
cut
> me off at an intersection, flipped the universal sign at me, and then
> laughed. I resolved that the very next so and so I could find was going to
> taste the bumper of my car. I spent the rest of my two years there trying
to
> hit someone. I concluded that Bostonese have 360 degree peripheral vision
> and can escape any assault.
>
> I also found out that the same drugstore clerk, mentioned above, responded
> very well to abuse. If I walked in and said, "I need nothing that would be
> found in this &^%(* dump" (you are welcome chat Gestapo), she would break
> her neck trying to make me happy. That was how I started to develop my
> Boston personality and vastly improved my cussing vocabulary.
>
> Those were the days of Vietnam, the Bruins, Bobby Orr, Stanley Cups two
> years in a row, and the old Boston Gaaaaden. "The family" lived in Revere,
> MA so every so often a house would mysteriously blown up while the family
> was away for the weekend. This was the Mafioso way of saying, "straighten
> up". We were one of two Gentile families in our building, so I gained
> insight into wonderful Jewish feasts and recipes. My two toddlers
developed
> such great Yankee accents that they had to have elocution sessions when we
> returned to Alabama. They were the hit of the kindergarten when they
showed
> up to show the little Yanks a stalk of real cotton from West Tennessee.
The
> other little apes thought cotton came ready made as cloth. Cultural
> interchange was underwy.
>
> Now, I am in a real quandary. I tried my Boston tactics on someone at
Logan
> last week, and I thought he was going to cry. Can it be that the old
Boston
> has gone soft?? In my previous life there, hostility meant you cared
enough
> to be one of them.
>
> Leslie, I hope you take this in the proper spirit as it is written. I
agree
> with what you say in general. Are you sure we are talking about the same
> Boston? The one in Massachusetts?
>
> Vance Roy
> gigli.saw@dplanet.ch
>
>
>
>
> --__--__--
>
> Message: 3
> From: <oosterman@cableone.net>
> To: <Laeink@aol.com>, "Vance Roy" <giglisaw@aiconnect.com>
> Cc: "culturechat" <culturechat@untours.com>
> Subject: RE: [Culturechat] A foreigner in his own country
> Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002 08:57:43 -0700
>
> Vance et al, we lived in a Boston suburb all our lives until we moved to
this small town in the mountains of Arizona eight years ago, so your stories
and others are a delight to us as we recall a faster paced life.  And yes,
we did have to change our driving habits, especially making left turns in
front of oncoming traffic when the light turns green - that is a definite
no-no in most other parts of the country, with the possible exception of
NYC.  However, my husband did "revert" to his old habits last week and got a
ticket for cutting off a State Trooper.  Oh well, such is life in the slow
lane!  Astrid O.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: "culturechat-admin@untours.com" <culturechat-admin@untours.com> on
behalf of "Vance Roy" <giglisaw@aiconnect.com>
> Sent: Mon, 11 Mar 2002 15:11:33 +0100
> To: "Laeink@aol.com" <Laeink@aol.com>
> Cc: "culturechat" <culturechat@untours.com>
> Subject: Re: [Culturechat] A foreigner in his own country
>
> Vance Roy at gigli.saw@dplanet.ch wrote:
>
> I spent my time in BOS in 1969-71. The U. S. Navy "asked" for my
assistance,
> and I spent two years developing my Boston personality and living amongst
> the natives. It was a rewarding experience and had opportunities been
right,
> I would have stayed in NH or VT close by the city.
>
> My first Boston experience was in a cab on the way from logan to the
> Children's hospital. On Storrow drive, we got into a jam (isn't there
always
> one there?). My driver got and beat the daylights out of another cab
driver,
> got back in the cab, and drove me onward. I wondered if I should have
upped
> the tip because he came out on top in the fight. Now, remember, I was
> directly out of a residency in Memphis, TN. (you know, that Mississippi
> River backwater town?). Where I came from Bostonese brusqueness was called
> bad manners at best. Cabbies didn't try to kill each other.
>
> Then there was the time that I asked a drugstore clerk where the
toothpaste
> was. I interrupted an obviously important conversation she was having with
> another employee leaning on a counter with her. She acted like I had
crawled
> from under a rock, and her language wasn't very nice. I wasn't sure where
> she was going to put the toothpaste when she gave it to me.
>
> Of course, with Tennessee plates on my car (military did not have to have
MA
> registration), I was fair game for the daily game of dodge em cars to and
> from work. I learned downtown Boston by going in on Sunday AMs and driving
> around. I realized that a native Bostonian had been correct when he told
me
> that the streets had been laid out by a maddened dogcatcher. This was when
> The Big Dig was yet a gleam in the politician's eyes. Now, traffic is just
a
> real chinese fire drill.
>
> Then there was the time that I went into a sub shop. This was long before
> subs were known in the South (always capitalized). The guy treated me like
I
> had just arrived from another planet and had left my fly open.
>
> The final blow came one morning when a woman (hesitate to use lady here)
cut
> me off at an intersection, flipped the universal sign at me, and then
> laughed. I resolved that the very next so and so I could find was going to
> taste the bumper of my car. I spent the rest of my two years there trying
to
> hit someone. I concluded that Bostonese have 360 degree peripheral vision
> and can escape any assault.
>
> I also found out that the same drugstore clerk, mentioned above, responded
> very well to abuse. If I walked in and said, "I need nothing that would be
> found in this &^%(* dump" (you are welcome chat Gestapo), she would break
> her neck trying to make me happy. That was how I started to develop my
> Boston personality and vastly improved my cussing vocabulary.
>
> Those were the days of Vietnam, the Bruins, Bobby Orr, Stanley Cups two
> years in a row, and the old Boston Gaaaaden. "The family" lived in Revere,
> MA so every so often a house would mysteriously blown up while the family
> was away for the weekend. This was the Mafioso way of saying, "straighten
> up". We were one of two Gentile families in our building, so I gained
> insight into wonderful Jewish feasts and recipes. My two toddlers
developed
> such great Yankee accents that they had to have elocution sessions when we
> returned to Alabama. They were the hit of the kindergarten when they
showed
> up to show the little Yanks a stalk of real cotton from West Tennessee.
The
> other little apes thought cotton came ready made as cloth. Cultural
> interchange was underwy.
>
> Now, I am in a real quandary. I tried my Boston tactics on someone at
Logan
> last week, and I thought he was going to cry. Can it be that the old
Boston
> has gone soft?? In my previous life there, hostility meant you cared
enough
> to be one of them.
>
> Leslie, I hope you take this in the proper spirit as it is written. I
agree
> with what you say in general. Are you sure we are talking about the same
> Boston? The one in Massachusetts?
>
> Vance Roy
> gigli.saw@dplanet.ch
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> This message was sent by Culturechat.
> To reply or send a new message, email to:
> Culturechat@untours.com
>
> Visit the CultureChat archives:
> http://mailman.dca.net/pipermail/culturechat/
>
> To unsubscribe, change to digest delivery, or
> temporarily pause delivery, visit:
> http://mailman.dca.net/mailman/listinfo/culturechat
>
> --__--__--
>
> Message: 4
> From: WesTexas@aol.com
> Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002 16:00:30 EST
> To: culturechat@untours.com
> Subject: [Culturechat] A Comment on Muslim Rage
>
> The Core of Muslim Rage
> Commentary by Thomas L. Friedman
>
> The latest death toll in the Indian violence between Hindus and Muslims is
> 544 people, many of them Muslims. Why is it that when Hindus kill hundreds
of
> Muslims it elicits an emotionally muted headline in the Arab media, but
when
> Israel kills a dozen Muslims, in a war in which Muslims are also killing
> Jews, it inflames the entire Muslim world?
>
> I raise this point not to make some idiot press critique or engage in
cheap
> Arab-bashing. This is a serious issue. In recent weeks, whenever Arab
Muslims
> told me of their pain at seeing Palestinians brutalized by Israelis on
their
> TV screens every night, I asked back: Why are you so pained about Israelis
> brutalizing Palestinians, but don't say a word about the brutality with
which
> Saddam Hussein has snuffed out two generations of Iraqis using murder,
fear
> and poison gas? I got no good answers.
>
> Because the real answer is rooted in something very deep. It has to do
with
> the contrast between Islam's self-perception as the most ideal and
complete
> expression of the three great monotheistic religions â€" Judaism,
Christianity
> and Islam â€" and the conditions of poverty, repression and
underdevelopment in
> which most Muslims live today.
>
> As a U.S. diplomat in the Middle East said to me, Israel â€" not Iraq, not
> India â€" is "a constant reminder to Muslims of their own powerlessness."
How
> could a tiny Jewish state amass so much military and economic power if the
> Islamic way of life â€" not Christianity or Judaism â€" is God's most
ideal
> religious path?
>
> When Hindus kill Muslims it's not a story, because there are a billion
Hindus
> and they aren't part of the Muslim narrative. When Saddam murders his own
> people it's not a story, because it's in the Arab-Muslim family. But when
a
> small band of Israeli Jews kills Muslims it sparks rage â€" a rage that
must
> come from Muslims having to confront the gap between their self-perception
as
> Muslims and the reality of the Muslim world.
>
> I have long believed that it is this poverty of dignity, not a poverty of
> money, that is behind a lot of Muslim rage today and the reason this rage
is
> sharpest among educated, but frustrated, Muslim youth. It is they who
> perpetrated 9/11 and who slit the throat of the Wall Street Journal
reporter
> Danny Pearl â€" after reportedly forcing him to declare on film, "I am a
Jew
> and my mother is a Jew."
>
> This is not to say that U.S. policy is blameless. We do bad things
sometimes.
> But why is it that only Muslims react to our bad policies with suicidal
> terrorism, not Mexicans or Chinese? Is it because Arab-Muslim conspiracy
> theories state that Jews could not be so strong on their own â€" therefore
the
> only reason Israel could be strong, and Muslims weak, is because the U.S.
> created and supports Israel?
>
> The Muslim world needs to take an honest look at this rage. Look what it
has
> done to Palestinian society â€" where the flower of Palestinian youth now
> celebrate suicide against Jews as a source of dignity. That is so bad.
Yes,
> there is an Israeli occupation, and that occupation has been hugely
> distorting of Palestinian life. But the fact is this: If Palestinians had
> said, "We are going to oppose the Israeli occupation, with nonviolent
> resistance, as if we had no other options, and we are going to build a
> Palestinian society, schools and economy, as if we had no occupation" â€"
they
> would have had a quality state a long time ago. Instead they have let the
> occupation define their whole movement and become Yasir Arafat's excuse
for
> not building jobs and democracy.
>
> Only Muslims can heal their own rage. But the West, and particularly the
> Jewish world, should help. Because this rage poses an existential threat
to
> Israel. Three broad trends are now converging: (1) The worst killing ever
> between Israelis and Palestinians; (2) a baby boom in the Arab-Muslim
world,
> where about half the population is under 20; (3) an explosion of Arab
> satellite TV and Internet, which are taking the horrific images from the
> intifada and beaming them directly to the new Arab- Muslim generation. If
100
> million Arab-Muslims are brought up with these images, Israel won't
survive.
>
> Some of this hatred will remain no matter what Israel does. But to think
that
> Israel's exiting the occupied territories â€" and abandoning its insane
> settlement land grab there â€" wouldn't reduce this problem is absurd.
>
> Israel cannot do it alone. But it has to do all it can to get this show
off
> the air. It would take away an important card from the worst Muslim anti-
> Semites and it would help strengthen those Muslims, and there are many of
> them, who know that the suicidal rage of their fanatics is dragging down
> their whole civilization.
>
> --__--__--
>
> Message: 5
> From: "Boris Sojka" <borissojka@adelphia.net>
> To: <Laeink@aol.com>, <JoanHerriges@worldnet.att.net>,
>    <giglisaw@aiconnect.com>, <culturechat@untours.com>
> Subject: Re: [Culturechat] A foreigner in his own country
> Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002 16:52:04 -0800
>
> I seem to remember a book written in the 70's or 80's called "Wild in the
> Streets". It had to do with Boston drivers and it's main theme was, "If
you
> don't like my driving, stay off the sidewalks."
> On the positive side, driving in Boston was excellent practice for driving
> in Istanbul.
>
> Boris Sojka
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <Laeink@aol.com>
> To: <JoanHerriges@worldnet.att.net>; <giglisaw@aiconnect.com>;
> <culturechat@untours.com>
> Sent: Sunday, March 10, 2002 4:17 PM
> Subject: Re: [Culturechat] A foreigner in his own country
>
>
> > Now guys is it really necessary to keep complaining about Bostonians.
> Just
> > cuz you can not figure out how to drive our streets does not mean we do
> not
> > like visitors. See I truly believe regardless of where you are, people
> react
> > to you as you react to them.  If you are horrified by the traffic,
noise,
> > etc. that comes through loud and clearand is coneyed more ways than be
> words.
> >  If you are hostile, negative, whatever that also comes through loud and
> > clear.
> > Bostonians are just an independant bunch of people who are caught up in
> the
> > hustle and bustle of working, a lousey commute (big dig generated), and
> > generally just very busy.  We are cross cultural community with many
types
> of
> > backgrounds, economic means, and ways of dealing with working and
livinig
> in
> > a city.
> > stop anyone of us on the street and 9 out of 10  times the person will
> take a
> > moment and help you out.  Pretty much the same percentage you find other
> > places as well.
> > Remember because it is not familiar it does not mean that it is bad or
> > horrible or that the people fit that category either.  Open minds, bring
> open
> > hearts.  Give it a shot
> > afterall that is one of the main reasons we all travel with idyll.
> > Leslie
> > _______________________________________________
> > This message was sent by Culturechat.
> > To reply or send a new message, email to:
> > Culturechat@untours.com
> >
> > Visit the CultureChat archives:
> > http://mailman.dca.net/pipermail/culturechat/
> >
> > To unsubscribe, change to digest delivery, or
> > temporarily pause delivery, visit:
> > http://mailman.dca.net/mailman/listinfo/culturechat
>
>
> --__--__--
>
> Message: 6
> From: Kraut907@aol.com
> Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002 21:12:17 EST
> To: culturechat@untours.com
> Subject: [Culturechat] (no subject)
>
> Hi, Vance, I can't comment on Boston, having been there only once. But I
had
> a friend from there who drove like a maniac and almost got us killed when
we
> , in DC, went to a Washington Capitals/ Boston Bruins hockey game, and he
> stood up and cheered for the Bruins.
> But apropos feeling like a foreigner  -   that I can relate to! I have
been a
> US citizen since 1964 and have lived here since '59, but I guess my soul
will
> always remain German. When I visit Germany every year or so, I feel
somewhat
> disoriented.
> I have come to believe that being an immigrant is not the easiest thing in
> the world. One is somehow in an in-between state of mind or, as they say
in
> the old country, one "sits between two chairs".      Sigrid.
>
> --__--__--
>
> Message: 7
> Date: Wed, 13 Mar 2002 19:36:14 +0100
> From: Vance Roy <giglisaw@aiconnect.com>
> To: <culturechat@untours.com>
> Subject: [Culturechat] Garden Gnomes
>
> Many visitors to CH in the summer notice the gardens of vegetables and
> flowers. Some comment on the little statues often seen in these gardens.
> These little funny looking things are called "Zwerge". Exactly what their
> function is is a puzzle to me. Anyway, I have a couple of my own. They
range
> in size from 6 inches or so to a couple of feet and are dressed in colored
> garb like one would expect on a minature clown. There are an estimated
> 15,000,000 of these little guys across Europe, mostly in Germany and CH.
>
> It seems that now a german company has decided to produce a female garden
> gnome. I had never noticed them to be all males, but I guess until now,
they
> were. There is a Basel group called the International Association for the
> Protection of the Garden Gnome, and these folks are fit to be tied about
> this gender change in garden gnomes. They got so mad that they fined the
> manufacturer, an outfit called Griebel, the sum of CHF 100. They paid up
but
> defended their choice to make female gnomes. Apparently, these gnomes are
> decorative only. Even if you talk badly to your gnome, he will just sit
> quietly and nothing serious will happen.
>
> So, the next time your are cruising along the garden paths in Germany or
CH,
> tip your cap or wave at the gnomes and look for girls (gnomies that is).
>
> Vance Roy
> gigli.saw@dplanet.ch
>
>
>
>
>
> --__--__--
>
> Message: 8
> From: "Joan Herriges" <JoanHerriges@worldnet.att.net>
> To: "Vance Roy" <giglisaw@aiconnect.com>, <culturechat@untours.com>
> Subject: Re: [Culturechat] Garden Gnomes
> Date: Wed, 13 Mar 2002 13:03:51 -0800
>
> Aha!  These "garten zwergs" have been carry-on's on 5 trips home.  There
are
> 15 lurking in our garden.  Their function is to remind us of happy times
and
> beautiful gardens in Switzerland, Germany and Austriai.  Some have names
> that remind us of specific buying locations, such as "Thuner", "Landi",
> "Vevey".  We have the "Boss" and "Marin Joe" (near Neuchatel).  We have
> actually taken longer rail journeys to a super Migros near Marin-Neuchatel
> to get the best selection.  They are whimsical, and everyone who visits
> whips out the camera.
>
> The best brand are Zehos, made in Austria.  They even ship worldwide.
> Certainly believe in gender equity---but will have to ponder this
situation
> carefully.
>
> By the way, the prestigious U.K. Chelsea Flower Show  bans gnomes in their
> show gardens--can you believe it!
>
> Thanks for the smile!  Cheers.  Joan.
>
> I
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Vance Roy" <giglisaw@aiconnect.com>
> To: <culturechat@untours.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, March 13, 2002 10:36 AM
> Subject: [Culturechat] Garden Gnomes
>
>
> > Many visitors to CH in the summer notice the gardens of vegetables and
> > flowers. Some comment on the little statues often seen in these gardens.
> > These little funny looking things are called "Zwerge". Exactly what
their
> > function is is a puzzle to me. Anyway, I have a couple of my own. They
> range
> > in size from 6 inches or so to a couple of feet and are dressed in
colored
> > garb like one would expect on a minature clown. There are an estimated
> > 15,000,000 of these little guys across Europe, mostly in Germany and CH.
> >
> > It seems that now a german company has decided to produce a female
garden
> > gnome. I had never noticed them to be all males, but I guess until now,
> they
> > were. There is a Basel group called the International Association for
the
> > Protection of the Garden Gnome, and these folks are fit to be tied about
> > this gender change in garden gnomes. They got so mad that they fined the
> > manufacturer, an outfit called Griebel, the sum of CHF 100. They paid up
> but
> > defended their choice to make female gnomes. Apparently, these gnomes
are
> > decorative only. Even if you talk badly to your gnome, he will just sit
> > quietly and nothing serious will happen.
> >
> > So, the next time your are cruising along the garden paths in Germany or
> CH,
> > tip your cap or wave at the gnomes and look for girls (gnomies that is).
> >
> > Vance Roy
> > gigli.saw@dplanet.ch
> >
> >
> >
> >
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>
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