Sep

Beep Baseball: A Totally Different Ball Game

by Janine Boylan on September 23, 2013

Aqil Sajjad of the Boston Renegades, showing how beep baseball builds self-esteem (Photo © Bill Le)

Aqil Sajjad of the Boston Renegades
Photo © Bill Le

Building Self-Esteem On and Off the Field

The metal bat pings as it squarely contacts the baseball. Within a split second, the batter is sprinting, arms pumping. He intently charges over and past the base while the fielders scramble for the ball and nearly collide in their haste.

In less than six seconds, the play is over.

Oh, did I mention that the batter and fielders can’t see?

Janine Boylan Comments

Secrets to Life

Sep

10 Words to Borrow from Different Cultures

by Janine Boylan on September 16, 2013

Two men standing on opposite cliffs with overlapping speech balloons sharing borrowed words from different cultures. (Image © Thinkstock)

Pardon me. Can I borrow that word?

Better Than Translation

Language makes us who we are. It’s how we share opinions, feelings, directions, knowledge. The complex spoken language that we have is uniquely human.

UC San Diego Professor Jeff Elman told NPR, “The Earth would not be the way it is if humankind didn’t have the ability to communicate, to organize itself, to pass knowledge down from generation to generation.”

It’s also the way we pass ideas into different cultures.

In fact, sometimes a word in one language is so perfect, people speaking another language have that “Oh, I see” moment and incorporate the word, as is, into their language.

Here are some great words from different cultures that are worth borrowing.

Two people huddled together on a sofa to get warm to illustrate the use of "friolero," a Spanish word that should become a borrowed word in other languages and used across different cultures. (Image © Thinkstock)

Brrrrr.

1. friolero

(free-oh-le-roh) someone who gets cold easily; caluroso (ca-loo-roh-soh) someone who gets hot easily (Spanish)

Possible use: I am a friolero so I’ve learned to always wear lots of layers—and still pack an extra jacket.

2. tocayo

(toh-kay-yo) a person who has the same name as you (Spanish)

Possible use: I have a friend with the same name as mine. He’s my tocayo.

3. fare il ponte

(fa-ray eel pon-tay) taking a Monday or Friday off when a holiday falls on a Tuesday or Thursday so that you have a four day weekend. Literally means “make a bridge.” (Italian) Also fenstertag (fen-stur-tog) is the Monday or Friday between a holiday and a weekend (German)

Possible use: I’m planning to fare il ponte next fourth of July since it falls on a Thursday. I’ll sleep the entire fenstertag.

4. schilderwald

(shee-der-vald) a massive amount of traffic signs (German)

Possible use: The street had such a schilderwald that I didn’t see the “no parking” sign, and I got a ticket.

Two teens greeting each other to illustrate the meaning of "tartle," a Scottish word that should become a borrowed word and used across different cultures. (Image © Thinkstock)

If only I could remember your name…

5. tartle

(tar-tl) hesitation when introducing someone because you have forgotten his or her name (Scottish)

Possible use: Sorry for my tartle! or I tartled for a moment there. This is my friend, Sasha.

6. treppenwitz

(tre-pen-vits) the clever comeback you think of after you’ve left an argument that you lost. Literally means “staircase joke.” (German)

Possible use: Now I have my treppenwitz! If I had only said . . .

7. tsundoku

(tsoon-doh-koo) the habit of buying a book and then not reading it (Japanese)

Possible use: My tsundoku has gotten so out of control that I had to move books from on top of my nightstand to the floor. Now the pile is nearly as high as the nightstand!

8. verschlimmbesserung

(fair-shleem-bess-er-oonk) an improvement that makes things worse (German)

Possible use: The app update is a verschlimmbesserung! It’s full of bugs.

9. yaourter

(ya-or-tay) speaking or singing in a language that you don’t know very well by adding nonsensical sounds or words that you think are correct, but aren’t (French)

Possible use: At the restaurant in Mexico, I yaourtered in Spanish, but they still managed to understand me.

10. yoisho

(yo-ee-sho) the expression you say while or after doing something difficult, such as lifting or pulling something heavy (Japanese)

Possible use (as you collapse in a chair after a long day of work): Yoisho! That was a tough day!

Oh, I see!

So many great words out there ready to borrow from different cultures!

Pronunciations via Forvo. Images courtesy of Thinkstock.

Comment on this post below.

Janine Boylan 4 Comments

Crossing Cultures/Language & Culture/Worldwide Sites

Sep

Daily Cultural Encounters at Conflict Kitchen

by Janine Boylan on September 9, 2013

A cultural encounter with Venezuela at Conflict Kitchen. (Image © Conflict Kitchen)

Venezuelan takeout
© Conflict Kitchen

Sharing a Meal with Our “Enemies”

What do you really know about the people in Cuba? Iran? Afghanistan? Venezuela? North Korea?

Jon Rubin and Dawn Weleski expect that you will be a lot more informed after lunch at their restaurant.

Conflict Kitchen, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is dedicated to encouraging cultural encounters and promoting dialog about countries with which the United States is in conflict.

Every few months, the restaurant completely changes its storefront and its menu, featuring one country at a time. It has served foods from Afghanistan, Iran, Venezuela, and Cuba and is planning to feature North Korean cuisine next. The menu is simple, often only offering a handful of items, but the conversation that accompanies the food is meant to be full of “Oh, I see” moments.

A cultural encounter with Afghanistan: takeout menu. (Image © Conflict Kitchen)

Starting the Conversation

Rubin and Weleski co-founded Conflict Kitchen about three years ago as an art project. They chose food as their medium because, Rubin told the Los Angeles Times, “. . . we use it to get people to open up and talk to strangers.”

They have found that their customers often don’t know much about the country they are featuring. But they are eager to learn more.

Conflict Kitchen hosts a cultural encounter with Tehran through a webcam dinner. (Image © Conflict Kitchen)

Beyond its daily takeout service, the restaurant also hosts performances and events, such as a live, webcam-connected dinner party between people in Tehran and customers in Pittsburgh. For this meal, the same menu was prepared in both countries so the guests enjoyed the same conversation and food. The result was a comfortable, but eye-opening, cultural encounter for everyone with conversation that meandered from dating to politics to, of course, food.

The Wrappers

On a typical day at Conflict Kitchen, customers receive their takeout food wrapped in colorful paper printed with interviews from people of the featured culture.

“We need to create conversations that are much more first person, and more direct, and more humane.” Jon Rubin told the BBC.

Conflict Kitchen's Cuban wrapper, showing a cultural encounter. (Image © Conflict Kitchen)

The wrappers are direct messages from people about their culture. The quotes give insight about their lives, values, and beliefs.

From an Afghan: Hospitality is the ultimate equalizer, and that’s how Afghans define themselves culturally. Even now. They live through this hardship of war and being tormented with poverty. Still, when you go to the market, you say hi to the guy who is just a small store owner. If it’s lunchtime, he has a little plate of potatoes and beans with a piece of naan in front of him. And he will say, “Come on. Have some food with me.” He sincerely wants you to have the food. That’s a characteristic that’s been there for generations and still exists.

A cultural encounter with Afghanistan through Conflict Kitchen. (Image © Conflict Kitchen)

From an Iranian: All Persians are poets. They memorize poetry and quote it often. They consult Hafez every day to see what their fortune is. Sometimes it takes the form of a bird being released and a poetic fragment being given in exchange for some money. Many poems have turned into idioms, so every day an Iranian uses a number of [phrases from poems] even if they are not aware.

A cultural encounter with Iran at Conflict Kitchen. (Image © Conflict Kitchen)

From a Venezuelan: People in Venezuela are very warm with a great sense of humor. They can make lemonade out of a lemon storm. Venezuelans would consider the noise of the falling lemons as a song and would invent a lyric for it while dancing to the rhythm.

From a Cuban: I’m the only one of my friends that stayed in Cuba. I stayed because I fell in love; for my family; because I found a sense of purpose here. This is my country. My kids are 12 and 5 and, when they are adults, they’ll do the best they can whether it’s here in Cuba or wherever.

A cultural encounter with Cuba at Conflict Kitchen. (Image © Conflict Kitchen)

Breaking Stereotypes

Researcher Margo Monteith explains that media, society, and family all play a role in shaping how we think about others. Negative stereotypes run deeper than we might think and changing them can be hard. But recognizing the wrong perceptions we have and gradually changing the habit of the prejudiced response can help reduce and reverse our thinking.

Eating a meal and sharing an enlightening conversation about a culture is a positive step toward changing our views.

As Abraham Lincoln said, “The best way to destroy your enemy is to make him your friend.” Conflict Kitchen is helping its customers do just that.

Bring a little or a lot of Conflict Kitchen to your table with our free download of their Cuban recipes!

Visit Conflict Kitchen’s Facebook page for recent photos and upcoming events.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Janine Boylan 2 Comments

Cultural Encounters/Making a Difference

World Views:

Topics

Author Archives: Janine Boylan