Fengshui or other superstition...

On the feng shui note I try and not do anything too obvious that would turn off buyers of any culture.

 

Even within China there are differences in pronunciation.

Our guide taught us quite a few words, but warned us that she came from Xi'an and people in other cities may not recognise the accent.
Marg

 

Not joking. Right up there with walking into a restauran in China and asking if they serve "chop suey" or into a restaurant in Japan and asking if they serve a "California roll", or doing a "wai" inappropriately in Thailand.

The cringeworthy commonality in all examples being that the western person believes that "understand a bit about Asian culture" but actually are embarrassing themselves.

Good to see most people here care about getting the pronunciation right

 

Sigh. I thought we had gone beyond the 'cultural cringe'!

There is nothing wrong with asking if a restaurant does a particular dish, apart from perhaps asking for meat in a vegetarian restaurant...

Would you feel the same way about a Japanese person in Australia asking for a hamburger with rice patties instead of bread? (Yep, that was on offer at my local joint when I lived in Nara.)

Asking. It's how we learn. Nothing cringeworthy about it.

 

At first I thought that you meant Claude Monet who was French but didn’t own a vineyard.

 

I think he might have visited a few though. I mean he was so forgetful that he kept painting the same subject over and over.

 

Lol. Yes let's let Chinese neuveau riche drink their Bordeaux with mixed with Sprite I say. All good with me

To be clear though yes nothing cringeworthy about asking (at least if asking appropriately and in the right moment). We learn by asking, and perhaps more importantly by observing. It's the doing not the asking which can be cringeworthy.

 

And last comment from me. The term "cultural cringe" refers to an internalized inferiority complex that causes people in a country to dismiss their own culture as inferior to the culture of other countries. This is not what the discussion is actually about. We should be proud of our Ozzie culture, but being proud of Ozzie culture is something quite different from being ignorant of other cultues are two different things.

 

Hands up anybody whose wedding cake was a lamington...

 

www.smh.com.au/national/education/the-australians-lining-up-for-hong-kong-university-of-science-and-technology-20161202-gt2qev.html

 

Nope; only where the Sun travels as it pertains to falling on the pool, and the bedrooms etc in the AM and the PM.

 

Speaking of pools and sunshine - is it better to have the pool in the sun all day, or is it better that it is in shade in the afternoon?

 

Fang Shoe wise? Or what? Where is the pool?

 

I was just thinking in terms of sun all day = more chance of algae (and therefore chemicals to treat it)???? Shade in the PM = less chance to swim in winter as it would be cold faster?

I must admit I have no idea - I don't own a pool. But I am fascinated by the locations that people use for their pools.

 

Melbourne - full sun. Brisbane - part shade?