(Untitled)

Nov 19, 2008 16:09

so, really, there's not a lot at which to feel culture shock over in the Netherlands. people ride bikes more and there's markedly less obesity. the gedoogbeleid regarding soft drugs feels comfortable and sane compared to the U.S. the buildings are older than I'm used to ( Read more... )

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Comments 11

panmodal November 19 2008, 17:06:17 UTC
My mother-in-law collects vintage Black Peteriana, mostly from his "single demon" period (before he sold out), along with other semi-related Christmas Devil artifacts. I'm not sure if she's aware of contemporary goings-on.

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theophile November 19 2008, 17:11:55 UTC
apparently two years ago there was a movement to replace Black Peter with a rainbow-colored Peter. if I was Dutch I would have totally rejected that change as well-- it seems like, now that Piet has survived through the entire historical period when he would have been genuinely offensive, it would be a waste to change the formula now. a country only gets so many utterly bizarre myths to start with.

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The Dutch aren't racist, they are color blind. flintultrasparc November 19 2008, 17:11:45 UTC

... )

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Re: The Dutch aren't racist, they are color blind. theophile November 19 2008, 17:13:56 UTC
your comment title gently murmurs "no," but your comment itself screams "YES! YES!"

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Re: The Dutch aren't racist, they are color blind. flintultrasparc November 19 2008, 17:17:53 UTC
Santa exploits elvish workers anyway. It is a creepy as Willy Wonka and the Oompa-Loompas.

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Re: The Dutch aren't racist, they are color blind. lapsedmodernist November 19 2008, 22:28:19 UTC
Ha, I used that very image in a "race and gender in advertising" unit with my students last year.

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twotoedsloth November 19 2008, 18:23:26 UTC
You have read or heard the David Sedaris monologue about this, right?

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twotoedsloth November 19 2008, 18:24:24 UTC
Oops... yes, you have. Nevermind...

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theophile November 19 2008, 20:29:38 UTC
thank you for reminding me to link to the audio version, though. I had been unaware of the Zwarte phenomenon until rezendi showed it to us a month or two ago.

I was still totally unprepared when it started, you know, happening, though.

happening all around me.

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lapsedmodernist November 19 2008, 22:19:52 UTC
was it rezendi? I thought it was Alana who introduced us to the joys of Zwarte Piet.

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theophile November 26 2008, 12:53:36 UTC
I defer to what I am sure is your better memory on this issue.

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