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Ask for help > Questions concerning some customs
Questions concerning some customs
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Sonn
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Questions concerning some customs
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Dear teachers,
I would like to ask you some questions concerning some customs in different parts of the world, and I´ll be very appreciated to see your answers:
1) Do you give odd or even number of flowers for example on birthday/wedding?
2) Is it the same with funerals (sorry for asking)?
3) When you kiss someone �s eyes what does it mean?
I am asking because I noticed that on some birthday cards there is even number of flowers and in my country we usually give odd number of flowers. And even number of flowers is for funerals.
I know that in some cultures kissing eyes means a great affection and love, but in my country it is a sign of parting for a long time. I wonder is it the same in your countries, especially in English and French speaking ones. And of course I �m interested to see the messages from people from other countries.
Thank you very much in advance for all the messages,
Best wishes,
Natalia
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14 May 2011
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Naoom
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Dear Sonn,
I am a palestinian. I follow the Arab culture.It is very normal to give flowers in case of birthdays and weddings. Flowers here express and show happy feelings to those whom you are posting your flowers to.By the means of happiness, so it is not acceptable to be given in case of funerals and sorry.
Kissing eyes means a huge amount of love , love and sometimes respect. |
14 May 2011
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maryse pey�
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Dear Natalia,
I �ll try to give some answers, as I am feeling them as a French woman and with my humble knowledge of our customs.
I will say that for the birthday or for the wedding itself it is not a question of number of flowers. It is a question of colors. For example white flowers are ok for a wedding, not red because it is for funerals.
The bride should wear something blue, something old, something borrowed (I hope I have forgotten nothing) to know a happy married life.
Then the 1st wedding anniversary will be the cotton year, the 2nd.... and you can offer your companion a flower of cotton, then... when it is possible of course... Give an oak as a present is rather difficult !
To come back to the flowers each flower means something, according to the people the meanings are really different. And even the colors have got their importance : white lilly for purity, red roses for true love...
And when I kiss someone in one �s eye that means I want to show him that I �m not afraid and that I want to know if he is trustul...
Hope you like this dear.
Plenty of hugs ! And a very good Sunday ! |
14 May 2011
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almaz
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Maryse,
I think the little rhyme you �re looking for is: something old, something new/something borrowed, something blue.
What �s all this eye-kissing about, by the way? Is it a peck on the closed eyelid, two eyelids touching or (and I apologise to those of a sensitive nature for this) lips and tongue over the eyeball and straight into the cornea? An attempt to suck out the aqueous humour (thank you, Luis Bu�uel)? Think I need a wee lie-down....
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14 May 2011
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yanogator
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Alex, I �d suggest that you not lie down, because I �m afraid of the dreams you might have! Bruce |
14 May 2011
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almaz
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Eye, Bruce, there �s the rub. |
14 May 2011
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maryse pey�
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hi Alex,
thank for the rhyme I was looking for.
and I am afraid Luis Bunuel, as big as his talent and fame are, is not my favorite film maker. So my kissing one �s eyes is much more ordinary .... just a very inquiring look deep inside your hidden thought with scrutinizing eyes... but I have not Sherlock Holmes � intuition or experience... just a well known female curiosity...
Very good dreams ! in spite of some images of Bunuel �s nightmares... and very bloody fictions...
Friendly yours and good night to all of you !
Maryse.  |
14 May 2011
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MapleLeaf
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The odd number of flowers is, right, a Russian tradition since the even number only goes with the funeral. In Canada, I would say, may be because of the many cultures or the busy lifestyle, people wouldn �t really care about the number of the flowers. They are just happy to get them...
Apart from kissing, the number of flowers, funerals what is most visible and I would say cultural in Canada is service with a smile ( people say �thank you, you �re welcome, see you later � just non-stop, which is amazing), paper chase ( if you dropped the folder with papers, out of nowhere you �ll get many vollunteers to pick them up) and holding the door ( if someone just didn �t manage to do that, tragically says "sorry" but mostly Canadians hold the door for a stranger- male or female...)
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15 May 2011
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