Past Poster Answers

2010-2011 Poster Activity Answers & Resources

How did you do on the Carolina Navigators Poster Activity?

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Australia: Soccer Scarf 

Soccer, or as Australians refer to it, football, is a popular recreational and professional sport in Australia. In Australia, football fans where a team’s scarf like we would wear a team’s hat, jersey, or t-shirt. Donning a soccer scarf displays fans’ team allegiance and pride.

This green and gold scarf is the fan uniform for the country’s national soccer team, the Socceroos. The Socceroos are widely followed across Australia and they were especially popular during the 2010 World Cup. Green and gold are the Socceroos’s colors. Local football teams throughout Australia are represented by other colors; and, each team has its own scarf for fans to wear.

>> Click here to look at the Australia #1 Culture Kit!

Argentina: Mate Cup

Mate, pronounced, mah tay, is a strong tea prepared by steeping dried yerba mate leaves in hot water. Yerba mate is a species of holly native to South America. This drink is prepared in special cup, like the wooden one pictured; and, the tea is sipped out of a silver straw that has tiny holes in the bottom. The holes in the straw filter out the tea leaves while people drink, because the yerba mate leaves stay steeping in the bottom of the cup instead of being discarded.

Mate, however, is more than a tea, it is a tradition. Mate is always served in a group setting of two or more people. The people in the group take turns drinking and passing the cup full of mate. The cup gets refilled and passed around again and again until everyone is full. In Argentina, when you are invited to drink mate with someone that means that you are being invited into a friendship.

>> Click here to check out our Argentina #1 Culture Kit!

Jordan: Prayer Mat 

The majority of people who live in Jordan are Muslim, which means that they practice the religion of Islam. Muslims observe five formal prayers each day. During various parts of their prayers, Muslims kneel down with both knees on the ground and they also bow their heads to the ground. It is customary for Muslims to wash before prayer, a process called wudu. Muslims also must pray in a clean space.

A prayer mat or rug is a piece of fabric used to keep the worshipper clean and comfortable during prayer. The design on a prayer mat varies depending on who made it and where that person is from. When praying, a niche at the top of the mat needs to point to the Islamic center for prayer, called Mecca. The prayer mat is traditionally cared for in a holy manner. It is disrespectful for one to place a prayer mat in a dirty location or throw it around in a disrespectful manner.

>> Click here to check out our Jordan #2 Culture Kit!

China: Tea Set

In China, tea is consumed on both casual and formal occasions. Drinking tea is considered a communal practice, meaning that Chinese people sit together and enjoy their tea instead of drinking it alone at their kitchen tables or on the go out of a travel mug. In China, people offer tea to one another in order to show respect, to apologize, to thank elders on a wedding day, and to connect family members on a wedding day. During these occasions, the Chinese people sit down to what is called a Traditional Tea Ceremony or the Chinese Way of Tea. Tea ceremonies are often meant to highlight the tea itself, rather than the occasion being celebrated. Tea ceremonies emphasize the tea preparation, smell, and taste. During the tea ceremony, guests drink of our small cups and tea is poured from unglazed teapots.

>>Click here to check out our China Tea Ceremony Culture Kit!

Senegal: Coffee Kit

The items in the picture are used to make a special Senegalese coffee drink called Café Touba. They put charcoal on top of the figure on the right. The holes are to ensure that the fire burns as efficiently as possible. The make-shift kettle – called Baraada – on the left is placed on top of the charcoal to make the Café Touba.

Café Touba hails from the Holy City of Touba, Senegal; this intricately flavored coffee is the perfect counterpoint to any social or spiritual gathering. Over the years, this custom has transformed into a traditional everyday drink that often substitutes the customary Nescafe at breakfast. This coffee is also known to have some medicinal properties. The unique blend of coffee beans and long pepper (piper longum officinarum) toasted, grounded, and combined together produces what has been served in Africa as a ritual and medicinal beverage since the 13th century.

>> Click here to check out our Senegal Culture Kit!

Germany: Schultüte

Do you remember your first day of school, specifically your first day of Kindergarten or first grade? Did your parents make you a special food for breakfast or document the occasion by taking your picture?

In Germany, when children enter their first day of first grade, their parents and grandparents gift them with Schultüte. Schultüte are big, decorated cardboard cones filled with candy, school supplies, toys, and a variety of other treats. The tops of Schultüte are normally covered allowing children to “unwrap” them like we would unwrap a present. Today, many families gift their children with Schultüte on the first day of school every year. This gift helps alleviate some of the anxiety students feel on the first day of class and it makes school a little bit sweeter.

>> Click here to check out our Germany #2 Culture Kit!

Mexico: Day of the Dead Skeleton

On November 1st and 2nd, Mexicans celebrate a holiday called the Day of the Dead. On the Day of the Dead Mexicans spend their time celebrating and remembering family members and close friends who have passed away.

Although this celebration is associated with death, it is not a morbid time. Instead, it is a time full of color, happiness, and life. Skeletons, or Calaverasin Spanish, are a large part of Mexican culture, particularly featured in Mexican art related to the Day of the Dead. Calaveras are believed to represent death; however, most Mexican artists depict these skeletons in a humorous light. Calaveras are often placed in shrines created for deceased family members during the Day of the Dead celebration. Artwork, sculptures, dolls, and candy also adorn these shrines.

>> Click here to check out our Day of the Dead #7 Culture Kit!

>> Click here to watch “The Creation of Culture in Oaxaca, Mexico” VoiceThread!