fandomhigh | Comparative Culture, Tuesday, Period One

Bond had his class meet him in an ordinary classroom, with various pastries and hot drink set up near the door.

"Good morning, class," he greeted them once they'd arrived. "For those of you who haven't had a class with me before, I'm Professor Bond and this is Comparative Culture. Over the course of the semester we'll be looking at some of the similarities and differences between different human cultures. Now if we were at an ordinary school where we could make assumptions that we all came from the same culture, we'd begin by examining and deconstructing that own culture before moving on to other, but as that's not the case, we'll instead be looking at how dominant cultural norms might be conveyed through cultural artefacts. Translation: we're going to be watching a lot of films, looking at a lot of art, and eating a lot of food, with some theory sprinkled in as garnish."

"But all that is for later in the semester. This is the first week of class, which means we all get to do introductions. Which we can also use to start shaking loose some bollocks about cultural assumptions. Often different cultures will have different cultural norms, that is to say ideas of what's considered normal, expected, or polite behaviour, often to the point that a member of that culture will not even consciously think about those behaviours until presented with another culture's norms, which is one way that stereotypes are created, but cultures are also made up of individuals, and how closely a given individual adheres to any given norm will depend on any number of factors."

"So for your introductions, I would like your name, class, and two cultural norms from your home culture, large or small, one you feel you adhere to closely and one you don't. For example, and while as as a former member of Her Majesty's Navy I feel a connection to our naval tradition, I tend to prefer coffee over tea."

[Class Roster]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Cultured!

Travis Coates

Kira Yukimura

Evangeline Greene

Vider Bearskin

Soren Bearstar

Not as short as some, but still fairly concise!

Evie was nodding to herself as she took a few short notes. She'd been worried about the kind of education she'd get in a school where she didn't even had class everyday, but this seemed both intelligent and delightfully normal.

Cultural whats?

"Uh, I'm Travis," he started, trying to think of cultural norms while he said his name. "I guess...I think Chicago deep dish pizza is better than New York style pizza. And girls are pretty."

That was the best he could do.

"Welcome to the class, Travis," Bond said. "And indeed they are."

Toss up whether he was agreeing about the girls or the pizza.

"My name is Kira Yukimura, and I'm a sophomore," she said. "I'm half-Japanese and half-Korean, so I've got a lot of cultural stuff to pick from, I guess. I'm going to say that I like Japanese art, but I prefer American food, and things I can eat with a fork and knife."

"There'll definitely be some of the latter in some classes," Bond said. "As well as food which requires different cutlery altogether."

"I'm Evangeline Greene and I'm a junior," Evie said when it was her turn. "Though I go by Evie. I'm from Louisiana, so hospitality is a big deal for me, but I'm not very religious. We're strictly Easter-and-Christmas churchgoers."

"Good to have you in the class, Evie," Bond told her. "Starndards of hospitality are one of the big things in many cultures, so how would you define good hospitality."

"Well, first you invite them in and offer them the best seat in the house, though they won't take it if there's somebody older present. Then you have to offer them something to eat and to drink. A good guest generally accepts, even if they don't want anything, unless it'll be a right bother for the host to whip it up. Like, you can just sip a glass of sweet tea for the whole visit, but if they wanna bake a pie or something, you can convince them not to. And then you're just supposed to be polite and nice and smiling until the visit is over and then you usually conclude it by asking them to come around again, unless you actually fought. Even if you're both pretending to be polite by the skin of your teeth, you ask them to come back around and they agree, even though you both know they never will."

"Soren Bearstar," he introduced himself. "I'm a senior, and a berserker- a type of warrior- it's against the law for me to conceal this mark," he gestured to his cheek. "I am also the only berserker sworn to the service of the god Baldur."

"So most berserkers are dedicated to other gods?" Bond asked.

"Most serve Odin," Soren confirmed, with a nod in Vider's direction, "although Idunn also has a band under her command to guard the orchard where the apples that bestow a god's immortality are kept."

"I am Vider Bearskin," Vider said ~~upon the realization her comment didn't post yesterday~~, "and I'm a berserker, like Soren, so unlike Soren," this rather teasingly, "I serve Odin, but I chose to be a berserker, which isn't usual."

He's here!

...

Comparative Culture, Tuesday, Period One

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