Culture

I always defined "culture" as how a particular group does something or the idiosyncrasies of a particular people. On a Florida vacation over Christmas break we learned that, unlike in Iowa, everything there was open on Christmas Day. It was like the 4th of July in Okoboji. Culture has the Dutch washing their windows every day since they want their neighbors to see what is inside their homes and it has the French closing their shutters so no one can see in. It wasn't until I was in language school in France that I discovered that most of the rest of the world defines culture in a different way. They use the word to refer to the arts. This weekend I was fortunate to participate in a bit of both kinds of culture.

On Saturday I went to an Indian cooking class taught by two women from India. They were delightful women, full of stories of growing up in India where the kitchen is considered the most sacred room in the house. As a little girl, one of the women had to take a bath before an aunt would allow her into her kitchen. Then she would sit on the floor next to her aunt and watch and learn. Indian cooks don't taste their food before it is served. Cooking is a labor of love and to taste the food before the family or guests did would break that spell of love. The way the Indian culture views food oozed out of these women and the food they fixed was very good.

On Sunday afternoon I went to the Minnesota Varsity Showcase concert in St Paul featuring the five best high school musicians in the state. I had heard a couple of these musicians on the radio and knew that it would qualify as "culture" even for my French friends who had looked at me with a blank stare when I had described the high school band and choir concert as the cultural activities in our town. In addition, the price was right for my budget - free. I was not disappointed. All five of them gave excellent performances. You can listen to the top 15 http://minnesota.publicradio.org/radio/services/cms/features/ongoing/minnesota-varsity/player/.