|
|
Re: Cultural anthropology
Noel Dickover (dickoveR@EROLS.COM)
Tue, 17 Dec 1996 23:34:12 -0500
In article <5942i8$3hv@usenet.srv.cis.pitt.edu>, jesst2+@pitt.edu says...
-snip-
>
> So, anyway, what does gardening mean to people in the US? Is gardening
> here different from "subsistence agriculture" there? Or is it all the
> same?
>
> Julia Smith
> jesst2+@pitt.edu
> University of Pittsburgh
>
Well stated. I certainly look at gardening as a "yuppie" type pleasure
for which I take pride in eating the much better tasting tomatos in my
garden, even if they do all become ripe at the same time.
Here's an interesting twist though. My wife, who is Korean and grew up
on a peasant type farm (they didn't even have elctricity till she was 8,
wever got running water), looks at farming the same way as I do. Yet
her mother, who also now lives here in VA (but doesn't speak english)
still gardens for a different reason: that's what she's supposed to do.
In Korea, My wife's father worked the rice patties (Men's work), while
her mother tended the "garden". Its part of who she is. Its almost an
unquestionable thing, almost as if she doesn't really realize that if
they do not have a garden, there will be no real impact on their well
being.
Best,
Noel Dickover
|