Awesome, Cruel and OK - Global Signs of Approval

This is a picture from a recent seminar. In the background is a list of three words voted by Swedish radio listeners as the words that best describe 'Swedishness'.

Belarus -- "reflect, then act…"

I was recently in touch with Ludmilla a translator/interpretor from Belarus, just a few days before I was to meet a group of some 50 researchers from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. I was curious about the emerging cultural identities of especially Ukraine and Belarus, and how different words might help explain some of the cultural differences.

Danisha - 'Please sit…'

As a reminder that a culture can never be summarised in a single word, there have come in some contributions of different words explaining the complexity of different cultures. Linda, from Sweden, working for a time in Kurdistan, writes:

Gol o bolbol - Persian Roses and Nightingales

I met an Iranian researcher at a conference recently. He said that for many Iranian people Persian culture is associated with the beautifully sounding expression 'gol o bolbol'.