#042 Wedding Blessings

Oh, my, how the culture shock turns!

I’m always fascinated by what’s considered rude or taboo from culture to culture. Hand motions that mean nothing to one set of people – or even mean something positive for that matter – can take on a whole different meaning to other people. A rather tame example would be the “Texas Hook ’em Horns” hand sign, from the University of Texas. The sign is a simple motion of holding up the index and pinky fingers, and it’s used as a sign of team spirit for the school’s sports teams. Outsiders, however – even some within the USA – consider this to be a sign of the devil and are appalled to watch as young people and even the former President flash this symbol.

This is the sort of thing I like to think about when designing a culture. It’s definitely not enough to just consider what someone from my culture would find strange going into this place, I also have to think about how these new people would react to things I might do or say. In June’s case here, a very simple phrase from American culture is enough to completely freak Kets out and give him a new, uneasy feeling about what the Na-Rune-Tok do in her world.