EU 27
Us Europeans - 1989 testimonials
Love and marriage
Pardubice, CZ (View on map)
Posted 27 May 2008:Whether for romantic, affectionate, legal, financial, traditional, status-related or possibly even medical reasons - thousands of people get married every day. Lenka (30) and Pavel (29) from the Czech city of Pardubice have been engaged for five years and will get married on Friday 13 June 2008. This is their story:... Read more
Easter, no Easter
Timisoara, RO (View on map)
Posted 23 Mar 2008:Major parts of the Christian world are celebrating Easter today. The Christian Orthodox countries will only follow suit in April. They commemorate the same events, but use a different calendar to decide on the appropriate dates. Taking the calendar issue out of the equasion, I am approaching some inhabitants of Timisoara to ask them how they will be celebrating Easter.... Read more
Health and happiness
Varna, BG (View on map)
Posted 14 Mar 2008:While Easter is approaching in Western Europe, it is still more than a month away in Bulgaria. Like the Western Christian religions, the Orthodox Church calculates the day for Easter based on the position of the moon. References to the Gregorian and the Julian calendar are responsible for the difference in dates. Here`s a short story about Easter and some of the major other celebrations that Bulgarians observe throughout the year.... Read more
Happy Woman`s Day
Posted 8 Mar 2008:It`s a sunny spring day in Plovdiv. The sun is out, temperatures are close to reaching 20 degrees and the streets in the centre are full of people. Most of whom walking around with flowers in their hands. It`s Woman`s Day, which is a big thing in Bulgaria and all of the Slavic world. ... Read more
Ancient soap operas
Hydra, GR (View on map)
Posted 26 Feb 2008:Put twelve Gods on top of a mountain in Greece and see what happens. What nowadays sounds like a boring scenario for yet another real-life soap was an everyday reality for many Greeks in ancient times. Before Christianity was imposed and all the ancient temples were burnt, a small cast of twelve managed to keep a whole civilisation busy. Welcome to Greek mythology, where every single story seems to have 1001 different versions.... Read more
Patron Saints
Catania, IT (View on map)
Posted 5 Feb 2008:Every self-respecting village and city in Italy has its own Patron Saint Celebration. With at least one daily celebration taking place somewhere in Italy, it couldn`t possibly take long before I walked into one. Here I am, in Catania, Sicily. The 5th of February is dedicated to the local patron saint, known as Santa Agatha.... Read more
Cypriot celebrations
Larnaca, CY (View on map)
Posted 25 Jan 2008:All social events in Ireland relate in some way or another to a visit to the local pub. Cyprus has more of a food tradition. Celebrating and eating could easily be considered synonyms, since any possible official event would be wasted without everlasting family meals. Today`s question to people in Larnaca: which events are celebrated in Cyprus and how are they different from one another.... Read more
Below the rivers
Den Bosch, NL (View on map)
Posted 5 Jan 2008:Apart from the border between Friesland and the rest of The Netherlands, there`s another dividing line that crosses The Netherlands. The `big rivers` separate the traditionally catholic provinces Noord-Brabant and Zuid-Limburg in the South from the protestant ones in the North. Over the last 40 years, the influence of both religions has decreased, but differences remain. The three-day celebration of Carnival is one of the ways for the southern provinces to honour their distinctively different mentality.... Read more
Fresh start
Posted 1 Jan 2008:A fresh start of the new year.. A few thousand Dutch people are taking that phrase literally. Today, on the first day of 2008, they gather for a collective dive into the North Sea. The summer beach resort of Scheveningen used to be the only official location for the New Year`s Dive. A number of alternative dives have been approved by sponsor Unox, but I selected the original Scheveningen one to ask people how they made it through the change of years.... Read more
Christmas 2007
Posted 24 Dec 2007:In many European countries, the celebration of Christmas is spread out over two days. Some countries choose to include Christmas Eve (24 December) or Boxing Day (26 December). The Netherlands has some midway alternative. Read on and learn more about this year`s Christmas trends in The Netherlands.... Read more
Joining the Scouts
Antwerpen, BE (View on map)
Posted 21 Dec 2007:Finland is one of the few European countries that stick to strict military conscription. Other countries struggle to find alternative constructions to force different layers of society to interact during at least one period in their lives. In Belgium, compulsory military service was abolished in 1994, but they have an interesting alternative to it. On a voluntary basis and without any aggressive undertone to it. Resembling Donald Ducks` cousins as `The Junior Woodchucks`, many Belgians spend at least one year of their life as members of the Scouting.... Read more
Sacrifice Day
Posted 19 Dec 2007:Today is just another ordinary day for most Belgians. They may be looking forward to Christmas, but they have nothing to celebrate on this 19th of December. For the Muslim community in Belgium and across the world, today is `Eid al-Adha`: Sacrifice Day.... Read more
Belgians partying
Posted 14 Dec 2007:Yesterday`s interviews revealed that Belgians are fond of laughing. It turns out that they are also big fans of partying, especially students. Their `party season` starts at the beginning of the academic year and ends.. at the end of it. The time between the end of the party season marks the beginning of a summer season, which is again full of festivals and local activities. A quick round up of the entire Belgian partying year:... Read more
French fiesta
Le Mans, FR (View on map)
Posted 28 Nov 2007:The French are known for being food-loving philosophers. While the Spanish spend their weekend evenings drinking and dancing, the French eat and converse. Apart from participating in a French soir?e myself today, I have been asking a few people what a regular night out looks like. Well, here you go:... Read more
Giving and taking
Barcelona, ES (View on map)
Posted 19 Nov 2007:Giving and receiving presents is a global way of expressing sympathy for family and friends. While most of the Western world exchanges presents for Christmas and for birthdays, Spain has some additional days that are used as an excuse to buy your friends or family a treat.... Read more
!Viva la Fiesta!
Posted 16 Nov 2007:Although Spanish people love the sun, they do not like it everywhere and all the time. Whenever possible, they try to keep the sunlight from entering into their houses or offices. Every house is equipped with blinds, and people are happy to keep them closed to spend their days and nights in the dark. Somehow, all activities seem to take place in the dark, while the sun just invites people to be lazy. Spanish nights are famous around the world ? a good reason to ask around and see what happens after the sun sets.... Read more
Scottish partying
Edinburgh, UK (View on map)
Posted 21 Oct 2007:Partying is an essential part of growing up in Scotland. Apart from the many pub-quizzes, karaoke, board game or darts competitions, there are quite a few events that lead to celebrations all over Scotland. Here`s a a quick selection of the most appealing ones:... Read more
Celebrations
Stockholm, SE (View on map)
Posted 13 Oct 2007:Every country has its special days of celebration. Some are know internationally, like the Octoberfest in Munich or Queen`s Day in The Netherlands. Others may he smaller in scale, but they still have the power to mobilise the country for collective celebrations. Which days in Sweden qualify as such? I am trying to find out what day of the year people like most.... Read more
Traditions and Events
Viljandi, EE (View on map)
Posted 7 Sep 2007:My one-day stop in Viljandi, in the centre of Estonia, is a perfect one to report about Estonian folklore. Viljandi is home to Estonia`s only Cultural Academy: a place where people can study all sorts of Performing Arts, including dance, theatre and even handicraft. It is also in the building of this academy that one of Estonia`s main folklore festivals is organised. It`s the one here in Viljandi, the city of Ancient Beat.... Read more
Loyalist Northern Ireland
Posted 11 Aug 2007:I`m in Northern Ireland and if it was not clear to me yet, it becomes clear to me today. I`m in the United Kingdom. Today, the loyalist community of Northern Ireland celebrates the Relief of Londonderry, that took place on a summer day in August more than 300 years to go. The traditional marches are on the agenda and there is no way of escaping them if you happen to be in Derry`s city centre today.... Read more
Republicans in N. Ireland
Posted 9 Aug 2007:Today marked my first border crossing since I left the Netherlands just over a week ago. It`s a border some wish didn`t even exist: the one between the Republic of Ireland and the UK province of Northern Ireland. The border is hardly mentioned and if it weren`t for the different traffic signs, it would be very hard to determine where the border actually runs. It is obvious that today`s article will discuss the troublesome relation between the Irish and the Brits, particularly in the north of the island. British troops withdrew from Northern Ireland two weeks ago. A sign of progress, but Northern Ireland still has a long way to go on the road to reconciliation.... Read more
Going to church
Killarney, IE (View on map)
Posted 5 Aug 2007:Ireland legalised divorce only as short as 10 years ago. Religious leaders oftentimes make headlines through controversial statements about equally controversial topics: abortion, same-sex marriages and contraception. It`s Sunday in Ireland and I`m interested to find out about the role of the church in people`s daily lives.... Read more
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