Both Catalonia and Castilla-León have as their regional days the anniversary of defeats; in Catalonia, Barcelona did eventually surrender before getting razed but in Castille the heads of the Comunero leaders who surrendered after the battle got chopped off.
Those of us who celebrate a local boy who did good (Euskadi St. Ignatius Loyola, Navarre St. Francis Xavier…), a non-local boy who did us good (Galicia St. James aka Santiago) or the anniversary of something which did not send anybody to a grave (Andalusia, anniversary of the approval of their current ‘regional constitution’) think they’re strange.
There’s many places which are as proud of themselves as the Texans, but not as jingoistic. The same applies to Americans in general, though, although when it comes to putting flags in memorabilia the Brits may take the cake. And the plate for the cake, the spoons and forks for the cake, the mugs, the paper plates…
New Yorkers think New York is better than anyplace else, but they’ll also tell you how crappy it is too. In fact, they’re proud of how crappy it is. (I’m a New Yorker.)
I don’t know about that, but we’ve got real reasons to feel superior here compared to the US: universal health care, gun control, cheaper prescription medication, less racism, less religion, a somewhat stable political system, nowhere near the global military presence, plenty of technology and natural resources.
Are you jealous?
Actually, with our large Asian population, we tend to ‘humble brag’. We may not outright claim to be the best, but “Lucky you live Hawaii!”
Edit: An example of a humble brag. When someone calls from the mainland during the winter and asks what temp it is here, I’ll say “Oh…80 plus or minus 10” and usually get a groan from the caller!
Another humble brag…“Yep, Texas is great…but how many people’s dream vacation is to go there!”
Texas has nothing over historical Japan. Japan closed it doors to almost everyone for over 200 years, invaded and occupied parts of China and launched an attack on the “Sleeping Giant” in 1941. Name any other state or country that had such brass balls!
Edit: Forgot about this. Japan also occupied Korea and tried to abolish Hangul (Korean language), both written and spoken!
I grew up in Texas, but haven’t lived there since the late 1970s. On the rare occasions that I go back there to visit relatives, the whole “Texas pride” syndrome is very jarring. As soon as I leave the airport (or cross the state line, if I’m driving there) I immediately notice businesses with names like Lone Star Carpet Cleaning and Texas Pride Body Shop. You see Texas flags flying everywhere and Texas imagery incorporated into everything. It’s far beyond what I’ve seen in any other state I’ve visited or lived in.
No. They can’t back it up.
They love to bluster about how Texas was once an independent nation and they just might do that again. Yeah, right. :rolleyes:
I mean really, the whole of the 1800’s and basically no Canadian versions of Wild Bill Hickock or Dodge City ever emerged.
Also no real fighting between indians and white settlers (discounting the small Metis rebellion). Which was also about the closest thing Canada ever had to a Civil War.
But you do have the mounties in there cool red uniforms.
Also if one calls in the summer its about the same temperature.
I’d give anything to be able to afford to live in Hawaii. Heck who hasnt visited and thought about moving there. But house prices and the cost of living vs the wages make it darn near impossible.
I guess various places such as (the ex-) Yugoslavia with what I consider tribal mentalities are good comparisons. And probably Israel - tho they add a whole different angle…
To hijack my own thread - it was fine. We went there for a nephew’s wedding. IMO they chose a RIDICULOUS venue - very inconvenient. And it was HORRIBLY hot.
Austin itself seems just like a big city. Nice river/riverwalk. We aren’t big on nightlife, so a lot of that was lost on us. Downtown Sunday morning there were TONS of homeless - maintenance crews washing off human feces and such. Yuck.
What a huge and growing metropolis! I questioned how the roads and infrastructure will serve the influx of people.
Was confused as to how THE Colorado River made its way all the way over to Texas! Spent a nice day hiking/swimming at Pace Bend Park. Really enjoyed seeing some different birds (I’m a casual birder.)
Didn’t see the bats, but my sister did. Said it was very underwhelming.
Much greener than I expected of Texas. With the ready access to water and electricity, and the lack of winter, I can see the appeal. Seems a shame a place as sunny as that does not invest in solar. Of course, gas was $1.50/gal cheaper than up here in Chicago.
Thing that blew my mind the most was The Oasis. Wedding rehearsal party was held at the brewery there. Driving through what appeared to be unpopulated wasteland, then you come upon crowds suggestive of Disneyland! When we left, the lots were full and there were cars parked 1 mild along the road. I mean, the view was nice, but it wasn’t THAT nice. Suggested a lack of other amenities to compete. Really confusing to see such bustle in the middle of little else. And the $ reflected in the mansions in the hills! :eek:
Funny you should say that, I used to live in Kosovo and Texans remind me of Serbs. I get that their both very proud of where they are from, I just could never figure out why.
I have relatives who moved there. Not wealthy by a Jobs were readily available. They live in a teeny little apartment, but say that all they do there is sleep. Why spend time indoors when you step outside and are in paradise?! So CoL depends on how you want to live.
Not sure why, but for some reason I’m not sure I’d want to live on an island, a 6-hr flight from anyplace else. Would definitely limit the in-person contact w/ my siblings/kids/grandkid.
In Austin? That ship sailed a long time ago. The traffic sucks, and a big part of the reason is that the city/community is opposed to new roads and highways, often for environmental reasons. That’s why Austin has consistently awful traffic, unless you’re traveling late at night or early in the morning.
Who says they’re not? Texas is the nation’s leader in renewable energy in terms of total megawatts generated. Most is wind, but there’s a LOT of solar investment goign on right now.
The Oasis is weird- it’s one of the few venues in that area on that scale, and the lake is pretty much the big draw. The area’s hardly unpopulated- it’s just more of an area that’s been developed fairly recently, and that’s pretty hilly compared to the rest of the Austin area.
As for the heat… it hasn’t been too hot in Texas lately- pretty mild in the DFW area, in fact. But that’s changing- today’s forecast for 99-ish, and no rain in sight. Which unfortunately will be the forecast for the next six weeks or so. Then it’ll cool down little by little until mid-September, when highs will be in the low 90s, and it’ll start raining again.
Wisconson-ites have a pretty decent amount of pride in their state.
Everywhere I’ve ever lived there’s been some kind of Packers fan who’ll be proud to say they braved the winters. And whenever anyone from the state makes it big they’re the first to claim "He’s from Wisconsin, ya know?
The British have a great love for the retreat at Dunkirk.
I recall, when I was a teen, seeing the David Niven, Alberto Sordi movie Best of Enemies. Niven’s Major Richardson was being questioned by his captor Captain Blasi :
“That’s the trouble with you English. You have so little imagination that you underestimate everyone. That is what you lacked at Dunkirk”
“Dunkirk was one of the finest achievements in British history.”
“But it was a defeat major, a terrible defeat!”
“Yes, and it takes considerable imagination to think of it as a victory.”
Yeah - was surprised when heading west out of town towards Lakeway, how quickly the expressway ended and became what - around these parts - is a medium-sized suburban thoroughfare. Definitely not sufficient to handle the amount of traffic expected in a metropolis that big.
The hills and curves on the main drags was quite different for this flat-lander from a street grid. Also thought the apparent sign restrictions curious. The signs were all quite low - which was nice in not distracting from the scenery, but did make it tougher to find some things.
With the hills and trees, it was often difficult to tell how much development lay how close to the roads.
Good to hear!
Yeah, it was just weird to come upon such a bustling venue. It was nice, but IMO not so incredibly nice as to warrant the throngs.
There’s a big difference between having pride and boasting. The city where I live now is great for community pride: people are always working to make this a nice place to live, but there’s little boasting. Texas basically wears a giant foam finger, and I find the constant bragging tiresome. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you came in as an independent nation, but with $10 million dollars of debt the rest of the country had to pay for.
