He HAS a point there though festive1

(November 13, 2012 at 3:19 am)KichigaiNeko Wrote: He HAS a point there though festive1

Like i said in another post America bashing is sooo easy because such a huge country will get a lot of attention, like my granny always said " high trees catch a lot of wind " but these days i like to focus more on the very nice and sane people i meet from the other side of the pond.
And i see that festive1 can still laugh about it so it means she has a good head on her shoulders.
There is still hope for the lost continent.

(November 13, 2012 at 3:19 am)KichigaiNeko Wrote: He HAS a point there though festive1

I know. That's what made me laugh! Imagine a first grader standing up in front of the class, that's been doing cultural reports on their various heritages. There's kids in his class that are Italian, Irish, African, Asian, and a good helping of Americans, who, in all likelihood, are giving grand patriotic presentations. And the kid gets up and goes off on all the atrocities that America has committed. Rather disillusioning for a six year old, no?
I'm not saying it's not correct. I'm saying it's inappropriate to disillusion a six-year old, let alone an entire classroom of 1st graders. Though there is a lot of truth in what Jon posted, I'm not going to contribute to my son's difficulty interacting with his peers. It's hard to give a 6 year-old a balanced view. They gravitate to black and white thinking (especially my 6 year-old).
I've always been a very skeptical person, and I thought that was caused by my upbringing. But since I've had my oldest, who is also just naturally skeptical of everything (dear god, the "WHY's" this boy asks, about EVERYTHING!), I'm now leaning towards that being a natural personality trait. My mom wanted to get his picture taken with the Easter Bunny at the mall when he was 4. He turned to her and said, "But that's just a man in a suit!" He's going to have a hard enough time holding onto his childlike innocence regarding the world around him. Childlike innocence is precious, his is already cracking, I'm not going to open the floodgates for him quite yet.

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(November 13, 2012 at 8:21 am)Kousbroek Wrote: Like i said in another post America bashing is sooo easy because such a huge country will get a lot of attention, like my granny always said " high trees catch a lot of wind " but these days i like to focus more on the very nice and sane people i meet from the other side of the pond.
And i see that festive1 can still laugh about it so it means she has a good head on her shoulders.
There is still hope for the lost continent.

Oh me too... I really hope we can turn the ship around, Kous... It's not about me anymore, it's about my kids.

It's true, that is why it is also funny, I heard on the BBC world service, last week in a programme called the forum, (which I recommend highly) one of the speakers saying the most powerful stop on becoming a fanatic is the ability to laugh at yourself. This for me is the true mark of an advanced society. Not what technology that society has.
There is no society in the world that has no produced harm, yet still there are only a few which are strong enough to admit it. If I put up a similar set of pictures for China there is no joke, just images of guilt. Yes I can take the piss out of America that is why she is strong. I cannot take the piss out of Japan because the Japanese still do not admit they ever did anything wrong, all I can do is accuse them. The difference might seem slight, but it is for me all important.

(November 13, 2012 at 9:48 am)jonb Wrote: It's true, that is why it is also funny, I heard on the BBC world service, last week in a programme called the forum, (which I recommend highly) one of the speakers saying the most powerful stop on becoming a fanatic is the ability to laugh at yourself. This for me is the true mark of an advanced society. Not what technology that society has.
There is no society in the world that has no produced harm, yet still there are only a few which are strong enough to admit it. If I put up a similar set of pictures for China there is no joke, just images of guilt. Yes I can take the piss out of America that is why she is strong. I cannot take the piss out of Japan because the Japanese still do not admit they ever did anything wrong, all I can do is accuse them. The difference might seem slight, but it is for me all important.

So Australia is doing ok then?? This is good ...I think, except for the drop bears...Oh and our PM.

And our victorian gaming minister, there are laws against being mean to him, the poor didums.

the whole point is to introduce the OTHER children into new cultures, just pick the weirdest thing your related too, and do that, seeing as how that's the entire point....................

I think doing a cultural project on alcoholics, drug addicts, and religious wing-nuts is a little beyond the intended scope of this particular homework project. I could do something related to my Southern upbringing, but I'm not really fond of that either, too much discrimination, racism, and hate for 1st graders... Hubby was raised in Kansas and Idaho... We're just white-bread, liberal, Americans. I fucking hate projects like this.

I'm feeling sorry for you now

Flag from your country
Stars and stripes/Jolly Roger

Food enjoyed in your culture
Blueberries, cranberries, sweet potato, papaw./The barbecue

Traditions of your culture
elections/walking the plank

Holidays celebrated
Halloween/Pirate day

Special dress worn
cowboys, Southern bells/eye patches, wooden legs

just put all the nationalities in a hat, and make the kid pick it out himself