30 replies to this topic

[TRiPPY]

Every place in the world has its own local customs and I figured it would be neat to talk about them since the internet often makes us all deregionised and samey.

Lets talk about your crazy traditions. It can be your town, your country, your city, even your family.

The first few that spring to my mind from my home in Scotland is that in Edinburgh (the capital) there is a stone heart on the pavement at the city center. It marks the exact center of the city apparently. Anyway, if you visit and see people walking AROUND avoiding stepping on the heart you instantly know they are a local. Why? Well you're supposed to proper SPIT on the heart for good luck each year. It's often covered in goop and looks disgusting. But tourists never notice and walk right over it. Eew.

Just about 10ft away there's a keyhole in the tarmac and nobody knows what it's for.... maybe i should google it.

Also at newyear in Scotland it's called 'Hogmanay' and lasts for like 3 days or something which includes stuff like the burning of a giant viking ship on a hill and a torchlight procession down the streets.
But yeah DiGi found this part funny, after the bells ring we do what's called 'first footing' That means you go to someones house and you're the first person to step over their threshold in the new coming year. You are supposed to be an omen of good luck so you are SUPPOSED TO take a bottle of whiskey and a lump of coal. The alchohol is obvious but the coal is because there's a saying in Scotland 'May yer lums reek'. Which basicly means, 'i hope your chimney is always .... uh .... smoking?' Basicly meaning 'i hope you have a fortune filled newyear'. It's traditionaly supposed to be a man who crosses your door first.

Scotland has tons of traditions.... lets hear yours

[JaxTH]

I don't think California has any actually...

[Zero-Shift]

Not really a custom so much as a funny quirk. At the beginning of spring or during winter months Minnesota residents go to warmer places, we tend to wear light clothing (t-shirt, shorts, etc.) when the temperature is around the 60's in Fahrenheit. Non residents seem to think we're out of our mind and amazed we aren't freezing.

There were some things I picked up from Alaska too, but I'll tell those later.

[Dex la Cabra]

stare at people who aren't even doing anything remotely interesting a custom i dont particularly enjoy emm scotland also has homecoming. which is this year! this is when all the people around the world of scottish heritage come back at some point in the year to their home country of scotland it means that scotland is a constant party for an entire year also, some of the irn bru can packs have their first ever design on it to celebrate homecoming

[LUCiD]

Customs, customs, let's see... Does obsesvily (sp?) hanging out in the basement count as a custom? (I'm the only one that I know of who actually does that, though...) *Light comes in.* AUGH!!!!!! IT BURNS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Loufren]

Well, this isn't so much a 'custom' as a tradition in my family, we have a few. The first is for every female in the family to recieve Ella, a porcelain doll that came over with the family from South Africa, when they turn six. Only blood females, however. The second is at Christmas, no matter how ugly, ratty, or just plain silly it is, everyone in the family can pick whatever ornament they want from the selection at the store. It will stay on the tree for about two years before being 'retired'.

A local custom here in Utah seems to be obsessing over the Temple and visiting Temple Square a lot. Another seems to be constant construction projects. But I think all of America is like that.

[Sierra]

Not really a custom so much as a funny quirk. At the beginning of spring or during winter months Minnesota residents go to warmer places, we tend to wear light clothing (t-shirt, shorts, etc.) when the temperature is around the 60's in Fahrenheit. Non residents seem to think we're out of our mind and amazed we aren't freezing.

There were some things I picked up from Alaska too, but I'll tell those later.

Damn, you got mine.... It is hilarious when it's 40 degrees here and we all consider that 'good' weather..

There's also how every winter we all commandeer every lake we see for public ice skating, broom-ball, and hockey games... not to mention all the ice fishing. Hm... what else...

Making fun of our own accent. We do that. FER SHURE DONCHA KNOW. YASSIR YOU BECHA.

[SmashQueen]

Chicken Plop Bingo (step-father's family....party game).

You take a chicken, a board with random numbers on it, and enclose it in chicken wire. Where the chicken's scat lands, the person who bet on that number wins. Winnings will be divided if more than one person wins.

Weird......... Seriously, it's not an all-the-time-at-parties thing, but still. Yuck.

[LUCiD]

Alright, now to get serious, everytime my little sister and I have a birthday, the sister that doesn't have a birthday that day gets a gift as well. (I know, we're spoiled rotten.)

[Noctourne Wonderland]

As for temperature, it's funny to see people saying how warm winter is when there's a day above freezing.

I don't know of any other funny local customs, but that must come from living in the middle of nowhere.

[andersam]

Our state fairs.
Close to the capital city theres a complex the size of a small city, has it's own police department, AND ANYTHING YOU COULD EVER IMAGINE ON A STICK.
Seriously, you name it, they got it: alligator, deep fried s'mores, corndogs, coupons, pancakes, cookies, walleye, twinkies.....

Making fun of our own accent. We do that. FER SHURE DONCHA KNOW. YASSIR YOU BECHA.

YA YOUBETCHA

(I LOVE doing that)

[Nemoide]

Alligator on a stick? Oh man, that sounds AWESOME.

[Sierra]

Our state fairs.
Close to the capital city theres a complex the size of a small city, has it's own police department, AND ANYTHING YOU COULD EVER IMAGINE ON A STICK.
Seriously, you name it, they got it: alligator, deep fried s'mores, corndogs, coupons, pancakes, cookies, walleye, twinkies.....


YA YOUBETCHA

(I LOVE doing that)

OH YAH AN DEN WE GO EAT SOME HOT DISH, DONCHA KNOW.

You can even see how much I love mocking the accent by how I spelled my location. XD

Don't forget the teriyaki ostrich on a stick, andersam! Never had it but I always point it out to my family. XD And the deep fried candy bars on a stick...

[Dex la Cabra]

ooh, also, although not really a custom, apparently the UK has the best sugary substances and chocolate around we have a particularly sweet tooth here, or so it would seem

[Zero-Shift]

Making fun of our own accent. We do that. FER SHURE DONCHA KNOW. YASSIR YOU BECHA.

The funny thing is the only residents I've ever met to have that accent live way in the north. Most Twin City residents don't seem to really have much of an accent.

[Sierra]

Mhm, I've noticed that too. It's cuz we're METRO. We're too awesome to have cool accents. Which is why we make fun of them all the time. We want some.

[TORiAS_the_fallen]

Making fun of the Wisconsin cows in the California Cheese comercials because they sound like UPers. (UPers = Upper Pennisula of Michigan People)
Making fun of the Dairy King Ghost in Danny Phantom because they gave him a N.Minn. accent.
Vikings v Packers (NFL)
Cubs v Brewers (MLB)
Saying our lakes are better than Minn, lakes ever though they have more
Our general rivalry with Minn.
Eating Cheese, Making Chesse, Sculpting Cheese
Hiding the fact that we're intellegent behind beer and brats
Cheese Curds
Wearing tees in 30 degree wheather (I know this has been mentioned)
Using every holiday as an excuse to drink our booze
I bet you any money our towns have more bars than yours (I live in a town of a little over 10,000 and we have like, 34 + bars. No lie)
WE'RE NOT WISCONSINERS! WE'RE WISCONSINITES
We talk faster than you. Gaurenteed.
If I think of more I'll let you know.

[Loufren]

Hah! I doubt that bar thing. I used to live in Florida. MIAMI Florida. I'd walk down the beach and there were at least fifteen bars there alone.

[TORiAS_the_fallen]

Ah, but Big Cities always have plenty of bars. That's a given. This is a small town. There's a bar on pretty much every street.

[iLLViLLAiN]

I can't think of many for Baltimore. Every year we eat crabs and have crab eating celebrations. That's all I can think of. I don't get out much.

WAIT! Just thought about another one. Every year we have the Otakon convention. Then again almost every city has some kind of convention so does that even count? Anyway, it's something I've been going to every since 2005 or 2004. Can't remember exactly.

[LUCiD]

@Torias, bet I could talk faster than you, people can't even tell what I'm saying half the time!

[TORiAS_the_fallen]

Maybe.

It's not just me, though, everyone in WI talks quickly.

Did you know most American Voice Actors are from the Midwest?

[Noctourne Wonderland]

ooh, also, although not really a custom, apparently the UK has the best sugary substances and chocolate around we have a particularly sweet tooth here, or so it would seem

That is absolutely true. The Galaxy Ripple will always be my favourite chocolate bar. *nods*

Did you know most American Voice Actors are from the Midwest?

It because the Midwestern accect isn't corrupt. In the Northeast, you have the folks from Bahston who pahk the cah in Havahd Yahd, the Southern and Texas accects are too recognisable, y'all, and the only real California accent would like, totally be that of a valley girl.

[viperxmns]

I live in Brooklyn. Everything anyone does happens here

[sapphire]

Pittsburgh Traditions... hmm...

-Stillers football
-Polish food. (Pierogies, kielbasi, haluski, etc.)
-Sandwiches with coleslaw and french fries ON them. (yum)
-Ahr accent. It's preddy innerestin, even though Ah don't sahnd like iss in ril life. ("Pittsburghese" is hard to explain... sounds like you talk with a slight slur, and an emphasis on "ah" sounding words, etc., like "house" is "hahse" http://www.virtualto...burgh-BR-1.html .)
-Anything sports related. Not baseball though. The Pirates suck. Mleh.
-River city chicken. Yum.
-Loving everything about the city. Basically.


OK, some family traditions...

-On New Years, we all HAVE to get together and just eat a whole bunch of food, then drink beer til you're drunk. (Not me though! I'm not old enough)
-At weddings, for the bride and groom's first dance, the groom must wear a huge ball-chain made of aluminum foil around his leg. Pretty hysterical.

[Key-Chan]

My Christmas tradition is driving to California for the holiday to visit my family and eat tamalies on Christmas Day that my grandma and sometimes my mom helps make the night before.

So far no local traditions unless you want to count staying indoors in the summer due to the 90-113 degree weather in Arizona.

[Dex la Cabra]

That is absolutely true. The Galaxy Ripple will always be my favourite chocolate bar. *nods*

do you get them where you're from or have you visited here before?

[TORiAS_the_fallen]

Now I want chocolate! Curse you all!

Sauer Kraut. That's big here, with our German heritage....

Family Traditions:
Sending cards for every Holiday, whether it's major or not.

Just Between Friends:
Writing alot of self inserts into series (particullarly games and anime) and assigning each other character nicknames.

Ex: I am "Rip Van Winkle" from Hellsing and "Rude" from FFVII.

[Noctourne Wonderland]

do you get them where you're from or have you visited here before?

I can get them at a shop near me. That and the Cadbury Flake, which is more or less the same thing. Yum~

Tourist spotting, while not strictly a local thing per-say, is always fun. The only people who visit the local attractions in summer are madmen and tourists. I blame all of you people on vacation for the awful traffic!

[Penelopi]

Hmm...traditions...
*Well, in DC there's the Cherry Blossom Festival. We usually go take a look at those pretty cherry trees in the spring.
*Every high school student around here has been to the Baltimore Aquarium on a field trip (or two) in middle school.
*There's an annual festival celebrating our small, very young town. I don't go anymore because the only thing they have for people my age is the arcade.
*4th of July fireworks go off in our town/village and in DC.
For my family specifically, we have a few:
*My mom's side gathers at Grannie and Granddaddy's house in Florida for Christmas. Dad's side gravitates towards Grandma and Grandpa in Kentucky. We take turns going to one each year.
*Whichever place we go to for Christmas, we open presents on the night of Christmas Eve, because the adults figured out that if we saved them for Christmas morning, us kids' presents would be gone before they woke up and they wouldn't get to see us open them.
*When we visit Grandma and Grandpa's, we have to go on a tractor ride through the woods before we leave.
*At Grannie and Granddaddy's, everyone gathers in the living room at the end of the day, where we all watch the gigantic tv and talk. It's not a rule or anything; we just instinctively migrate over there.

[Huruyami]

Lol I'm the first person I've seen in this thread to live in the deep south XD I guess here all we do is start playing xmas music on the radio the week after halloween and end it on dec 26, but we also have things like the lobster races, horse races (I live near Aiken, a real horse-centric place in the south), a LOT of fairs (with tons of fattening foods) flea markets, craft festivals, tractor and car shows, and spending ungodly amounts of time on the beach. (I love living in SC, the coastline here is amazing.)