National character

[Dannyalcatraz]

Re: America's youth as a nation:

When I lived in Germany, we used to travel a lot. I got to see a lot of historical locations and art up close & personal. One thing that struck me was that we could go into a small European town, and find out that the "new" city hall was 450+ years old. Or a particular festival was 800+ years old. Etc.

For many Americans, that's mind boggling.

 

[Morrus]

Re: America's youth as a nation:

When I lived in Germany, we used to travel a lot. I got to see a lot of historical locations and art up close & personal. One thing that struck me was that we could go into a small European town, and find out that the "new" city hall was 450+ years old. Or a particular festival was 800+ years old. Etc.

For many Americans, that's mind boggling.

Want something really weird? Oxford University predates the Aztecs! It opened in 1096, and was a full university by 1249. The Aztec civilization dates back to the 1300s.

 

[nerfherder]

One thing that struck me was that we could go into a small European town, and find out that the "new" city hall was 450+ years old.

Yeah, I work in a city called Newcastle (of Brown Ale fame). It is named after the new castle, that was built in 1080AD. I guess that the main fortifications before that would have been part of Hadrian's wall, 1000 years previous.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Want something really weird? Oxford University predates the Aztecs! It opened in 1096, and was a full university by 1249. The Aztec civilization dates back to the 1300s.

I know!

A buddy of mine has a degree from Oxford (Harvard, too, BTW), and he loves that bit of history.

 

[Umbran]

For many Americans, that's mind boggling.

The one that boggled me: Rome. When I visited, one of the walking tours we went on featured an obelisk near the Parliament building (I think it is now called the Obelisk of Montecitorio). It was brought to Rome in like 10 BC. It later collapsed (probably in an earthquake), was eventually buried as things lying on the ground will be, and was forgotten. Parts of it were rediscovered hundreds of years later while other construction work was going on, and they didn't know what they'd found, as the records of its existence had been lost. Here was a major structure that nobody knew had ever existed. You couldn't even look up that it had existed!

The records were eventually reconstructed, as well as most of the obelisk, and it stands in Rome today.

The point being that Rome is a still-living city old enough to have history that it has forgotten, and could be dug up at any time in the present!

Separate note: a wonderful dichotomy in Rome - the Colosseum, which is something like 1900 years old, in horrible disrepair having been heavily damaged by earthquake and weather. The Pantheon is contemporaneous (being only about 40 years younger, depending how you count), lived through the same earthquakes, and is today in *gorgeous* condition, and is still an active church. The building of death and blood is in ruins, and the building of spirituality is still in use today. That's karma for you!

 

[Morrus]

The Pantheon is contemporaneous (being only about 40 years younger, depending how you count), lived through the same earthquakes, and is today in *gorgeous* condition, and is still an active church.

I adore that building. It is utterly breathtaking. I'm not religious, but man do I admire Catholic religious buildings.

Though I did manage to fall asleep in it last time I visited. Just sat down for a moment...

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Haven't been to Rome in a few decades, but I'm going back in late September. Well, more Vatican City than anything else. Probably NOT going to see the stuff I've seen before- depends in part on the people I'm going with, obvs- but even if I don't, the deep age of that city will be in evidence EVERYWHERE in that city.

One thing my companions are considering doing is very Italian...a cooking class.

 

[Morrus]

Haven't been to Rome in a few decades, but I'm going back in late September. Well, more Vatican City than anything else. Probably NOT going to see the stuff I've seen before- depends in part on the people I'm going with, obvs- but even if I don't, the deep age of that city will be in evidence EVERYWHERE in that city.

I'm jealous. Rome is my favourite city in the world.

 

[I'm A Banana]

There's a pretty sweet Idea Channel video looking at the American character via the road trip:

[video=youtube;wdOkedy02KU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdOkedy02KU[/video]

Mobility, Progress, Escapism, Nomadism, Transience

America.

Un-American is thus halting mobility, being caged, limiting progress...?

Yeah, I'd say this does dovetail at a high level with accusations of being Un-American - of inhibiting progress to some goal, and of thus rebelling against our national agenda in some way (depending on that individual's definition of what our national agenda is, which is not necessarily aligned with reality).

 

[Umbran]

I adore that building. It is utterly breathtaking. I'm not religious, but man do I admire Catholic religious buildings.

Well, the building itself was built under Hadrian (about AD 126), and it didn't become a Christian church until 609 AD. So, it's form and design are distinctly pagan. The name is "Pantheon", not "Monotheon" after all.

And, that makes this another point of historical perspective - the Pantheon was already twice as old as the United States when it became a Christian Church!

Though I did manage to fall asleep in it last time I visited. Just sat down for a moment...

I don't blame you. Rome can be warm. And if yo spent a day walking around, and entered the cool shade of the Pantheon, with maybe some of the sonorous tune of a hymn in Latin echoing gently about the hushed place? Yeah, naptime!