An Article by Nber Medici
I have been so pleased with the international character of sailing in SL (as well in RL…but that is another story). If you look at USS-SL, you see that we have a Japanese Yacht Club (thanks to the efforts of Taku Raymaker), a French Yacht Club (thanks to the tireless Bea Woodget), and now an Italian Sailing Association (thanks to the efforts of Oddissey Rossini and others). In addition, we have had a German group use the Starboards Yacht Club for meetings and lessons. It is so marvelous to see the cooperation and friendliness in the international sailing community. As I have posted here , the Italian SL Sailing Association is holding its inaugural Regatta in the USS-SL at Starboards Yacht Club on Monday, May 26th. In the United States (my home), this is a holiday - Memorial Day. That is why I am available at 1 pm SL time (during my normal work day) to help with this Regatta.
When I was in college, one of the things that I enjoyed about having international students as friends was that I was able to learn about their culture. With that in mind, I would like to share with my international SL friends what Memorial Day means to me. Memorial Day (formerly called Decoration Day) began to be celebrated after the American Civil War to honor soldiers who had died in that conflict. After World War I, it was expanded to include honoring those who had died in any war in military service to their country. How do we honor them? In a variety of ways, but principally by “decorating” their graves. In many cemeteries, the graves of all known veterans will have flags placed on them. In some parts of the country, this practice has been expanded even further and people “decorate” the graves of family and loved ones even though they have not served in the military. I have many memories from my childhood of going with my parents to cemeteries around the area and placing wreaths on the graves of family. You would think that this might be a sad memory, but it isn’t. Many times these visits to grave sites provided my parents the chance to tell me about these deceased relatives. Sometime this weekend, I will go to the cemetery and place an American Flag and a wreath of flowers on my father’s grave. It is a time to reflect on my love for him, my memories of him, and to honor him and his service to his country. He did not die in service to his country (for which I am glad since I was born after his return), but it is still an opportunity to honor him.
5 responses so far ↓
1 M1sha Dallin // May 25, 2008 at 10:07 am
May 26th (last Monday in May this year) is also a bank (public) holiday in the UK. At one time the Spring holiday occurred on Whit Monday, but is not now associated with any occasion.
A comment on the image associated with the article if I may - the (United Kingdom) Union Flag is flying upside down (or the breeze for that one flag is blowing right to left)
2 Delinda Dyrssen // May 25, 2008 at 3:48 pm
Oh Nber thank you for posting that..just last night I was explaining a Aussie friend about Memorial Day. It’s so true we do get to share cultures here in SL and I would love to hear more about the Holidays of you sailors in other parts of the world. Now if we could just get rid of these darn time zones!
3 Orca Flotta // May 26, 2008 at 8:28 am
Hi, my name is Orca, I’m from SL land. We have some cultural things here but nothing you can really call a tradition.
What I love is the fact that you can decide to leave your RL home and your patriotism (plz remind me, what was that good for again?) out of the game. Sorry, I’d love to tell you more about my home but - like most countries - it’s not very interesting.
Every person who ever sees me sporting german colours or the german flag may slap me
4 MarkTwain White // May 26, 2008 at 10:56 am
Hi my name is MarkTwain White. I love SL because is such an open society. If I want to keep RL out, I can. If I want to share some of my RL self I can. And because it is an open society I can be criticized for my actions or praised. That’s because it is OPEN. I like hearing people’s RL experiences as well as their SL ones. Thank’s Nber for sharing. I thought it was a nice gesture to the community.
5 Surfwidow Beaumont // Jun 1, 2008 at 1:50 am
Yeah - amongst all this the Brits - especially the English - are left behind. In part due to our own apathy over St Georges Day - yet we quite happily celebrate St Patricks Day
I suppose any Empire makes a lot of enemies over time as the US is finding out now
and the Chinese and Indians will later as they grow
The UK is a melting pot of cultures - but in most of the UK it is not it is still ‘pub grub’, morris men, cider, cream teas and sandy beaches
Our culture is such that it is almost invisible and perhaps thats why so many take it for granted - it doesnt shout at you - WE ARE BRITS - sadly it has taken a long time to reclaim that from the extreme right wing types in th UK now at least all ehtnic minorities can wave a flag with native brits together so i think thats whats stopping the UK still from celebrating its identity properly - and the same applies in SL
in the UK where every year there is tabloid news headlines that christmas is now going to be Wintervall (so not to upset others) those very same others who when asked adore the christmas feeling - those councillors pay at the next elections
its very hard in the UK to keepwhat we have sacred and celebrate flag waving away from the football (soccer) pitch without bing labeled a NAZI - i cant imagine that in the USA where their flag is everything to them
oh well maybe next year
google St. Georges Day, St. Davids Day and St Andrews Day
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