Think bubbles
As America goes Superbowl crazy this weekend, it's worth thinking that even in a supremely-interconnected world, what cultural bubbles still exist.
Take sport. Yesterday, the Five Nations rugby tournament kicked off with huge matches between England and France and Wales and Italy. Here in Germany...nothing. Tumble weed. Same for the recent Ashes series in cricket.
Last week the European Handball champs came to a climax- a huge deal across Continental Europe, Scandanavia and several other areas. In Britain...not a blip on the radar.
It just made me think that although the Net has brought us all a lot closer, we still very much live in certain cultural bubbles. As long as Americans use the term 'World Series' for a game hardly played outside America or there exists a cricket and rugby 'World Cup' with similar narrow levels of participation, maybe we'll stay that way.
Perhaps THE World Cup this summer will bring us all a bit closer, even if Americans insist on calling it 'saaaakuur' and even if this new-found sense of global camaraderie is based on common hatred of the Pitbull/Lopez theme song.
Take sport. Yesterday, the Five Nations rugby tournament kicked off with huge matches between England and France and Wales and Italy. Here in Germany...nothing. Tumble weed. Same for the recent Ashes series in cricket.
Last week the European Handball champs came to a climax- a huge deal across Continental Europe, Scandanavia and several other areas. In Britain...not a blip on the radar.
It just made me think that although the Net has brought us all a lot closer, we still very much live in certain cultural bubbles. As long as Americans use the term 'World Series' for a game hardly played outside America or there exists a cricket and rugby 'World Cup' with similar narrow levels of participation, maybe we'll stay that way.
Perhaps THE World Cup this summer will bring us all a bit closer, even if Americans insist on calling it 'saaaakuur' and even if this new-found sense of global camaraderie is based on common hatred of the Pitbull/Lopez theme song.
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