[FrancesHinden]

On Tuesday I went out for lunch with 8 colleagues from work as a (slightly early) celebration of Chinese New Year. Their nationalities were:

Chinese
Chinese
Portuguese
French
Turkish
Kazakh
Russian
.......and
German

The Canadian, Australian, Lithuanian and New Zealander weren't able to come.

On Tuesday evening I made pancakes to 'celebrate' Shrove Tuesday for my husband and mother-in-law (both English).

What other food should I be eating this week?

[Gerben42]

Last week we had a little office celebration because a Mexican colleague got a German passport. In my group we have other than the Germans who are of course the majority:

Other than German (50%) in my group we have:

Mexican
American
Thai
English
French
Polish
Austrian
Dutch (me)

No Chinese (yet) but since we are now going to build two NPP in China, that'll change VERY soon.

I think it's very nice

[Al_U_Card]

Were they all people? Were they NICE people?

The more we see that "strangers" are neither strange nor bad but just culturally and linguistically different, the more we can appreciate that they are just like us.

The logic and the sense of treating others as if they were similar to us is the only hope for humanity.

[pclayton]

I miss this about living in LA County. In Orange County, the population is a lot more homogeneous.

I have to travel a long way to get good real Mexican, Chinese or Thai food

I expect Dubai (fingers crossed) will be very multi-cultural.

[mycroft]

I love living in Canada for a number of reasons (-30C, -45 with the windchill isn't one of them, but I put up with it); the fact that neither Frances' nor Gerben's story would even be noticeable is one of them.

Our company has a habit of putting "country of interest" flags on our cubicles; my row of three are all Canadian, but I think it's the only such row in the company. When I started, we had:

Canadian, but Aussie at heart (and moved later)
Croatian
Azerbaijani
Canadian, but had lived in Japan and Korea for most of the previous 10 years
Romanian
Russian
Scot
A couple of Token Canadians,
and an Alien. He claimed to be Canadian, but we didn't believe him.

[mycroft]

Oh, and I miss potato pancake tuesday in Waterloo, ON. Good "Dutch" (Deutsch) cooking is a lot harder to find here than in the middle of Old Order Mennonite Country.

[luke warm]

you can try an american institution (or institutional heh)... roast, mashed taters, green beans... ice tea and dinner rolls

[han]

On Tuesday I went to dinner with Bart, who is Dutch. This is only remarkable because I live in the US.

[jdonn]

The Vegas version. I have seen the following outfits being worn by adults in public today:

Elvis costume
Marriage gown
Tuxedo
Suit and tie
Swim suit
Traditional Chinese dress
Giant diaper and nothing else (ok that wasn't today)

I love diversity

[matmat]

i'm sick and tired of multiculturalism.

[Al_U_Card]

I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired.

[Gerben42]

Quote

"Dutch" (Deutsch)

Make up your mind please. Dutch (Netherlands) is not Deutsch (Germany)...

Normally we make pancakes out of flour and eggs, not potatoes.

"Kartoffelpuffer" are probably what you mean, but they are a bit small to be called pancakes (at least from a Dutch point of view, where a pancake's size is only limited by the size of the pan, and should be otherwise as large as possible)

[sceptic]

If you are adventrurous, try Spinich how the Nigerians make it with chilli and alsorts of weird stuff in it (possibly find a recipe in google somewhere), it is pretty spectacular, assuming you like the stuff in the first place.

I have woeked with loads of Africans and they are quite generous people when it comes to sharing thier food, and there are some dishes they make that would not be out of place in a top resaraunt.

mind you I would avoid elephants testicles, they get stuck in your throat and are very chewy

[rona_]

sceptic, on Feb 8 2008, 10:57 AM, said:

mind you I would avoid elephants testicles, they get stuck in your throat and are very chewy

Wayne, you are supposed to cook them before you eat them!

[paulg]

Two weeks ago I went to my first Burns Supper up here. Aside from the Scottish majority, there were English and Irish present.

No-one seemed to understand a word of it!

Paul

[sceptic]

cardsharp, on Feb 8 2008, 11:22 AM, said:

Two weeks ago I went to my first Burns Supper up here. Aside from the Scottish majority, there were English and Irish present.

No-one seemed to understand a word of it!

Paul

I could never understand why he is such a poetic genius, he does not make sense to me either

[Al_U_Card]

Ach! Yer ken gang aft aglay! Hoot mon!

[y66]

Are you taking orders? Could we have something with saffron for Vasant Panchami please?

[jtfanclub]

rona_, on Feb 8 2008, 05:29 AM, said:

sceptic, on Feb 8 2008, 10:57 AM, said:

mind you I would avoid elephants testicles, they get stuck in your throat and are very chewy

Wayne, you are supposed to cook them before you eat them!

How do you make the elephant stand still while you cook his testicles?

[han]

Gerben42, on Feb 8 2008, 02:47 AM, said:

Quote

"Dutch" (Deutsch)

Make up your mind please. Dutch (Netherlands) is not Deutsch (Germany)...

Normally we make pancakes out of flour and eggs, not potatoes.

"Kartoffelpuffer" are probably what you mean, but they are a bit small to be called pancakes (at least from a Dutch point of view, where a pancake's size is only limited by the size of the pan, and should be otherwise as large as possible)

Have you ever been to Pennsylvania?

BTW, I think "crepe" is a better translation of a Dutch pancake than "pancake".