What The Real Irish Eat On Saint Patrick's Day

by Kevin Thomas (edited by Lynne Hand)

During my travels I have always been amazed by the perception that people have of what Irish food is.  I have had numerous conversations with people trying to tell me the foods that myself and my family eat. which is completely contrary to what I know we eat. One of the biggest misconceptions is about "Corned Beef and Cabbage", this is not a common dish in Ireland at all.  In fact it is generally confined to the small restaurants in tourist areas to cater for the hoards expecting everyone living on the island of Ireland to be tucking into this on a daily basis.  We do however have a dish similar to this, it is not eaten very regularly and certainly not on Saint Patrick's Day or any other day of celebration.  It is "Bacon and Cabbage", not the type of bacon that is fried but more like a boiled ham. So what will Irish people in (living in Ireland) eat on Saint Patrick's day?

Functions of Children's Fairy Tales

by Ty Hulse

Fairy tales have been considered children's stories for a long time, yet the original meaning of them was very dark and fairly brutal. These where often stories of cannibalism, wicked parents, and brutal punishments, hardly the types of stories one would want to read to their children. Little Red Ridding Hood is for example a little bit of a horror story building tension before the girl is devoured, Jack in Jack and the Bean Stalk is a conniving greedy thief. Yet these problems only exist in the original telling of the stories. Children's fairy tales, are a new phenomenon and they are quite different from the stories of the past.

New Year Resolutions

by Margaret Watson

Bill Vaughan said ‘An optimist stays up until midnight to see the New Year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.’  Although people have been celebrating New Years since the ancient Babylonians, at least 4,000 years ago, I don’t suppose you have yet thought about New Year 2008 unless you are either Scottish or one of those organised people who have already got a new diary and dates filled in for the next six months.

Christmas is Coming

by Margaret Watson

One year someone bet me that I could not buy all my Christmas presents in one shop in August. It took about three quarters of an hour. My brother in law takes even less time.  For some reason he thinks it appropriate to give everyone, even small children, vouchers from the local "do it yourself" store. These I then have to buy off the children and they make good bargainers.

by Marcus Stout

What are the differences between tea the drink, tea the meal, high tea and afternoon tea?

Korean Wedding Traditions

by Rafi Michael (edited by Lynne Hand)

In the past, the marriage between a man and woman in Korea represented the joining of two families, rather than the joining of two individuals. As such, the event was often called Taerye (Great Ritual), and people from all over participated. Steeped in traditional Confucian values, the ceremonies and events surrounding the actual marriage were long and elaborate, from the pairing of the couple to the rituals performed after the ceremony.