Global identities- filoxenia or xenophobia?

CHRISTIAN LORE. Second origin:

Christ took refuge in .......  Egypt,
 instant coffee ground in.............,
car make designed in ..........,
scribbling signs  from ...........,
 vacancies spent in ..............,
 counting figures are ... 
Do NOT  refrain to have a neighbour 'cos she is foreigner ?!?

Your ID and these 4 words:
IDentity, 
IDiosincrasy, 
IDiom, 
IDiot!


Between our Philoxenic and Xenophobic axis. 

Can you accept these old changeable sentences?

1. If it has tradition, it will also have future (with variations!)
2. A good tradition and a good people will definitely embrace progress (= change).
3. Change is the essence of life.
4. Tradition means giving votes again to the most obscure of all classes, our past ancestors. It is the new democracy of the dead.  by G.K. Chesterton
5. Changes will be hardly implemented if people have this strong tradition.
6. You should also consider that we are trapped in creating tradition. No matter how we try to alter it, we end up creating a new one.

This reminds me of a joke I heard once to my friend Mike.. 

the question: what is it to be British nowadays?

Answer:

•  to work for an American  company, 
• finish work for the day and get in your German  car, 
• pick up an Indian  takeaway, 
• eat your dinner off a plate made in China , 
• sat on Swedish  IKEA furniture, 
• watching an American programme on a  Korean  TV set, 
• support an Arab  owned football club 
• paying  Latinamerican footballers to kick a ball made in Taiwan, 
• etc etc....  
•                .... I could go on

HAVE A GO yourself.....

Your holiday is ........................,

Your car is ........................,

Your pizza is ........................,

Your coffee is ........................,

Your numbers are ........................,

Your democracy is ........................,

Your goalie is ........................,

Your nurse is ........................,

Your Christ is a ........................,

Your dentist is ........................

Your Doctor is ........................

Your Taxi driver is ........................

Your take away is ........................

Your plumber is ........................

Your nanny is ........................

Your TV is ........................

Your computer is ........................

Your shoes are ........................

Your suit is .........................

Your spell check is ........................

Your beer is ........................

Your wine is ........................

Your Roses are ........................

Your French beans ........................

Your Whiskey is ........................

Your malt is ........................

Your girlfriend ........................

Your soap opera ........................

Your Chocolate ........................

My friend Mike got these anwwers. Check yours:

• Your holiday is Spanish,
• Your car is German,
• Your pizza is Italian,
• Your coffee is Brazilian,
• Your numbers are Arabic,
• Your democracy is Greek,
• Your goalie is Albanian,
• Your nurse is Portuguese,
• Your Christ is a Jew,
• Your dentist is Chinese
• Your Doctor is Indian
• Your Taxi driver is Pakistani
• Your take away is Bangladeshi
• Your plumber is Polish
• Your nanny is Lithuanian
• Your TV is Japanese
• Your computer is Taiwanese
• Your shoes are Italian
• Your suit is Romanian
• Your spell check is f*%^ing American
• Your beer is Catalan
• Your wine is South African
• Your Roses are Israeli
• Your French beans Zimbabwean
• Your Whiskey is Irish
• Your malt is Scottish
• Your girlfriend Russian
• Your soap opera Australian
• Your Chocolate Swiss

a German paper



map on stereotypes/prejudices

Like a rolling stone- Robert Dylan visits hermano lobo -1975

At the time of La Codorniz, Hermano Lobo,

  with Chummy Chummez, Andrés Rabago, EL ROTO; etc, 



Some said  the times are NOT  a-changin'. 
Dylan said otherwise in 1963!

As a foreword, 3 quotes: Cornaro, Brenan and Orwell:

1) The Government of Spain is the most perfect that ancient legislators could devise, but the corruption of the times has filled it with abuses. From the poor to the rich everyone consumes (...), some taking little bites, the nobility large ones and the grandees enormous portions. Many think it a miracle that the Monarchy is still in existence, 

             Giovanni Cornaro, 

Venetian Ambassador at Madrid in 1681-1682. 

 2)  Between 1898 and 1931 the main movement is the continued disintegration of the various elements that make up the older Spain administration, Army, Church, the social classes, the links between the provinces, which in the absence of any common plan of life turn on one another and attempt to destroy one another.     Gerald Brenan (CUP 1943) 

The Spanish Laberynth (1873-1936)

3) Have a look at the times of the end of a regime 

         -full of nationalism and patriotism :

By 'patriotism' I mean devotion to a particular place and a particular way of life, which one believes to be the best in the world but has no wish to force on other people. Patriotism is of its nature defensive, both militarily and culturally. Nationalism, on the other hand, is inseparable from the desire for power. The abiding purpose of every nationalist is to secure more power and more prestige, not for himself but for the nation or other unit in which he has chosen to sink his own individuality.

•               George Orwell, Essay: Notes on Nationalism (1945).

There was no reign in Spain (November 1975)

Which of these headlines were current news?

1. Politicians were the chaos of the time
2. The accused citizens had no rights in social issues
3. Politicians were making empty promises
4. ......

Politics and the masses

 

Mere Classes - the caste classes

  

Economics -no words here

 

Futuro

TOUGH on the hardships of learning language - daunting vocabulary journeys on LDOCE

An excursion on the LDOCE

• 3000 most frequent words in spoken and written English highlighted

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Local versions of the Ldoce Online  > In Chinese, www.ldoce-online.cn

daunt‧ing

frightening in a way that makes you feel less confident:

The trip seemed rather daunting for a young girl.

He's got the daunting task of following in Ferguson's footsteps.

the daunting prospect of asking for a loan

DIFFICULT

difficult to do: hard, tough, challenging, dauntingdifficult and needing a lot of physical effort: tough, strenuous, back-breaking, gruelling, arduous, punishingdifficult to deal with or talk about: tricky, awkward, delicate,sensitive, touchywords for describing a difficult person: awkward, tryingwords for describing difficult conditions: adverse, hostile

HARD

hard and not bending: solid, firm, stiff, rigidmeat that is too hard: toughskin that is old and hard: leathery, callousedhard and easily broken: brittle

STRONG

person: tough, muscular, wiry, powerfulthing: tough, sturdy, durable, rugged, heavy-duty, indestructible,well-made, robustcountry/organization: powerful, mighty, influential, dominantstrong

the 11 semantic contexts of TOUGH

tough comparative tougher, superlative toughest

1

difficult

difficult to do or deal with:

It was a tough race.

She' s had a tough life.

The company admitted that it had been a tough year.

Tough decisions will have to be made.

The reporters were asking a lot of tough questions.

have a tough time (of it) (=face a lot of difficult problems)

The family has had a tough time of it these last few months.

it's tough doing something

It's tough being married to a cop.

be tough on somebody (=cause problems for someone or make their life difficult)

Having to stay indoors all day is tough on a kid.

 (=a difficult decision) (=difficult to read)(=something that is difficult to persuade someone about)

when the going gets tough (the tough get going) informal (=used to say that when a situation becomes difficult, strong people take the necessary action to deal with it)

2

strong person

physically or emotionally strong and able to deal with difficult situations:

The men who work on the oil rigs are a tough bunch.

tough cookie/customer informal (=someone who is very determined to do what they want and not what other people want)

as tough as nails/as tough as old boots (=very tough)

He's as tough as nails - a good man to have on the team.

3

strong material

not easily broken or made weaker:

tough, durable plastic

a very tough, hard-wearing cloth

4

strict/firm

very strict or firm

tough on/with

My mother was very tough on my sister.

It's time to get tough with drunk drivers.

The EU is taking a tough line with the UK over this issue.

5

violent area

a tough part of a town has a lot of crime or violence

tough neighborhood/area/part of town etc

a tough area of Chicago

6

 tough!/that's tough!

spoken used when you do not have any sympathy with someone:

'I'm getting wet.' 'Tough! You should've brought your umbrella.'

She didn't tell us she was coming, so if this screws up her plans that's just tough.

7

 tough luck!

spoken

a) used when you do not have any sympathy for someone's problems:

Well, that's just their tough luck! It was their mistake.

b) British English used when you feel sympathy about something bad that has happened to someone:

You didn't get the job? Oh, tough luck!

8

 tough shit!

spoken not polite used when you do not have any sympathy for someone's problems

9

violent person

likely to behave violently and having no gentle qualities:

one of football's most notorious tough guys

tough young thugs looking for trouble

10

food

difficult to cut or eat [≠ tender]:

The meat was tough and hard to chew.

the tough outer leaves of the cabbage

11

 tough love

a way of helping someone to change their behaviour by treating them in a kind but strict way