QUEENSDAY in Amsterdam..

In my journey in "understanding" the concept of cultures..Please join me in "Queensday"..Netherlands..30 April so "today"..
If you did not know where would you had "landed"..what would you think this is?? Brasil maybe??
Yet it is just my hometown Amsterdam.. Right downstairs where I live...(forget the windmills and cloggies)..

Every second inhabitant of my hometown Amsterdam (so 50%) can be considered "not originally Dutch".

Some of our festivals or holidays might leave our new "co-country folks"..untouched..like Christmas or Easter having little meaning to a Muslim.. or a Hindu..apart from "the day off"..

But "Queensday"..the most Dutch holiday of all, leaves nobody out or "untouched"..and we seem all "one"..all of a sudden. Queensday means "free market' so everybody can go out, sell what they like on the streets.. make music.. organize games... sell "home-food"..All this without the licenses otherwise needed for any street sales or performance at all..

The 3 boys I asked to "pose for me"..as "multicultural pals"enjoying the day..The colorful grandma in wheelchair I asked..Her, not her pushing daughter, telling her she looked beautiful, if I could take a picture and she smiled and agreed....All the rest "represent"my neighbourhood just as it is..

Fancy to join me next year???

ME....

Well.. this is me...

Understanding each other starts with knowledge..??

The way people from different cultures and backgrounds behave at times and in some situations puzzle me...And quite often - if questions are asked, or worse.. an opinion is expressed already, the standard answer or excuse is limited to either "if you do not understand we have to explain it better..(or explain it again)"or..."if only you knew more about it you would feel differently"..And my journey will be to try and find out...
Sometimes...when we act in the way we are brought up with, we CAN explain "the why" over and over again but mostly we can not..And what if...after being explained.. and after "knowing a lot about "it".. whatever "it" is I would still - with all knowledge at hand.."disagree"??
I learned to look at cultural aspects ages ago.. but a good example would be the rare human societies where "canabalism".. is just part of the culture..I might be explained.. I might learn lots about where it came from..as far as culture is concerned BUT I still "disagree" and my "acceptance"of this phenomena as "just and aspect of a certain culture".. is not likely to occur...
This seems pretty clear but what about less clear "signs of culture".."are we - when somewhere else.."better off "accepting" that things are the way they are due to it or can we still "fully disagree"..
It's an open "journey" to find out...