Finland, to most people here in Venezuela (and I'm sure in Latin America) means Mika Hakkinnen, your flag (thanks to the Formula 1 fans), a lot of snow and a vodka called 'Finlandia' (Finland in Spanish). Most people, though, make the mistake of thinking you are Viking-type Norsemen (along with the people of Sweden, Denmark, etc). I recently heard you are not the same people and that your ethnic mix extends very far back to the slavs, far-wandering Mongols and others (I haven't checked that yet, though).
User Detail :
Name : Nelson A., Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 30, City : Caracas, State : NA Country : Venezuela, Occupation : Lawyer/Business, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, Chicana or Chicano, in a strict sense, is a Mexican American, a son of Mexicans born in the United States. A Latina or Latino is a person born in a Latin American country (from México to Argentina) or born anywhere in the world but having Latin parents or ascendants in general. I'm of European descent, born in Venezuela and therefore Latin, but I'm not Chicano.
User Detail :
Name : Nelson A., Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 30, City : Caracas, State : NA Country : Venezuela, Occupation : Lawyer/Business, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, I am one of those non-practicing Catholics you mention. There are many kinds of Catholics, some orthodox and some not, like myself. In my case, being Catholic is like belonging to this great, big worldwide Catholic club. Yep, it's like a country club where you inherit your membership, and changing clubs would be downright disrespectful socially. It's respecting tradition. The truth is, I have no need to change religion to have a good relationship with God; He knows I'm a good guy. Now, if I fell in love with a Jewish girl and wanted to marry her, I would most likely convert to Judaism. Anyway, we are not hypocrites, the Church knows we are not the church-going type, we don't lie to anyone saying we are devout Catholics. If you compare, we are as 'devout' as the majority of American New York City or Los Angeles Protestants. And last but not least, remember that Catholicism is the dominating religion in many family-oriented societies (American society in general is NOT family-oriented, except on Thanksgiving), so out of mere respect to your family and its traditions, you stick with the church.
User Detail :
Name : Nelson A., Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 30, City : Caracas, State : NA Country : Venezuela, Occupation : Lawyer/Business, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, There's a reason not known by most for having long nails on one hand, besides drugs and ethnicity. It's being a musician of certain string instruments. Although the population of guitar or harp players is minimal, it still counts. I used to play guitar (spanish & classical), having longer than average nails on my right hand. My wife thought it was disgusting when she met me, of course until she heard me play. So I use this forum in the name of string instrument players worldwide. Please world, spare our nails!
User Detail :
Name : Nelson A., Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 30, City : Caracas, State : NA Country : Venezuela, Occupation : Lawyer/Business, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, Your question is extremely general, but here goes: Here in Venezuela, as in much of Latin America, products in general need 'Hollywoood'-style marketing (selling dreams, with flair and beautiful people), while adding a small touch of local customs, showing usefulness (we generally don't buy stupid novelty items), and a good price-quality relation without saying 'cheap' bluntly. Usually you go for the A and B, because the C and D will just follow along, and sometimes even the E (the F only buys basic necessities, booze and bets). Customer loyalty here is very high; once you've completely converted your target, or even made it to their top of mind, it's hard for them to switch. Coca-Cola spent DECADES trying to convert people here from Pepsi (who got here first), and they only made it after the Pepsi plants temporarily closed (a grave mistake). There are plenty of books on marketing in Latin America. I suggest you simply look through the net and you will find a lot of information.
User Detail :
Name : Nelson A., Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 30, City : Caracas, State : NA Country : Venezuela, Occupation : Lawyer/Business, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, Your question is extremely general, but here goes. Here in Venezuela, as in much of Latinamerica, products in general need 'hollywoood' style marketing (selling dreams, with flair and beautiful people), while adding a small touch of local customs, showing usefulness (we generaly don't buy stupid novelty items), and a good price-quality relation without saying 'cheap' bluntly. Usually you go for the A and B, because the C and D will just follow along, and sometimes even the E (the F only buys basic necessities, booze and bets). Customer loyalty here is very high, once you've completely converted your target, or even made it to their top of mind, it's hard for them to switch. Coca-Cola spent DECADES trying to convert people here from Pepsi (who got here first), and they only made it after the Pepsi plants temporarily closed (a grave mistake). There are plenty of books on marketing in LatAm. I suggest you simply look through the net and you will find a lot of info.
User Detail :
Name : Nelson A., Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 30, City : Caracas, State : NA Country : Venezuela, Occupation : Lawyer/Business, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, How curious - the same thing happens here in Venezuela, and I'm sure it's a worldwide thing. Here, from the middle class on down (darker-skinned and less-educated), most people carry old 'English' names like Wilmer, Winston and Engelbert for boys and recently made-up names like Yuleisy, Yulimar and Milady for girls. From the middle-class up (mostly white and well-educated) you hear traditional names like Alejandro, Daniel and Eduardo for boys and Monica, Veronica and Carolina for girls. So who is normal and who isn't? No one is, of course. Names are usually inspired by the kind of names you hear around you. But as someone mentioned before, your name is like a birthmark, a tag of your upbringing. It's a sad thing, but if you want your kid to have a fair chance in the corporate world, don't brand him forever with his under-educated origin.
User Detail :
Name : Nelson A., Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 30, City : Caracas, State : NA Country : Venezuela, Occupation : Lawyer/Business, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, The world in general considers Americans to be one of the most efficient, productive and ignorant of people. Ignorant? Notice how Marilyn from France asks about educational 'standards'. High School Education in the USA is working-market oriented. It's standard is lower than that of many underdeveloped countries. This is because it seeks to produce an efficient and goal-concentrated working force. The reasoning is: If you're going to be a blue-collar worker, why know anything about andeanone civilization, deuteron usage in neptunium or the works of Niccolò Machiavelli? If any student proves to be above this working force standard, he will be encouraged to continue studying at a higher level (college). Of course this is the minority. Now, those that do go to college will receive the most complete education in their field, in the undisputed world's most competent Universities, all of them American (Harvard, Yale, Stanford, etc). This is the reason for productive succes. The bad part, Americans are the best at what they do but they know nothing about anything else, worse, they don't care. The entertainement industry doesn't help either. The exceptional Discovery Channel was created precisely to fight the uncultural Mtv, Wrestling, the Malls, Nintendo, football, etc. While there are teen 'mall rats' in the USA, in France there are teen 'museum rats', get the picture? Agreed, Americans in general are undercultured and ignorant according to world standards, but are the best in their respective fields. Undisputed.
User Detail :
Name : Nelson A., Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 30, City : Caracas, State : NA Country : Venezuela, Occupation : Lawyer/Business, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, You think it's white people? The world in general thinks it's Americans. When you talk about crazy, ask anyone from Argentina to Zaire and they will tell you that Americans in general (no matter what race), and those raised or living in American society (like that Latino serial killer), are the wackiest of people. A good standard of living (when you don't worry about having food to eat) plus racial hatred, plus a stressing rat race and dog-eat-dog materialism creat a society in which the weak (no matter what race or social status) simply crack up and lose it, being absorbed into abnormal practices and conducts. The conducts that you all mention (souped-up cars that hop, the dirty keg contest, gang violence, serial killers, etc.) are not black or white things, they are American things.
User Detail :
Name : Nelson A., Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 30, City : Caracas, State : NA Country : Venezuela, Occupation : Lawyer/Business, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, The term Caucasian is applied to a broad and increasingly vague subdivision of the human species with a predominance of light skin color, and higher percentages of light-colored eyes and hair than are found in other segments of the population. The designation Caucasian was first used in the 19th and early 20th centuries by scholars who believed that this subdivision originated in Caucasia, a region of southeastern Europe (where the Caucasus Mountains are). Caucasians are now more commonly known as the white race, or as people of European extraction. The Caucasian race spread throughout the world through colonization (that's how it reached America, the continent) growing to be what it is today. If you wish to know more, just pick up any encyclopedia and check out the term, it's there.
User Detail :
Name : Nelson A., Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 30, City : Caracas, State : NA Country : Venezuela, Occupation : Lawyer/Business, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, I lived in Taipei for half a year and have two brothers there married to Taiwanese women. The Taiwanese girls I went out with told me many things, but I never heard the one about the bald guys. I know they like Westerners because it's fashionable to have an "American" boyfriend (any English-speaking white is American to them, no matter how many times you tell them you're from Venezuela) and they also told me that Westerners were "bigger." In general, they tend to like dark-haired white Westerners. Maybe what you say goes for women over 40 or something, but to the 20-35 range, the more you look like Al Pacino, Andy Garcia or Ricky Martin, the better.
User Detail :
Name : Nelson A., Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 30, City : Caracas, State : NA Country : Venezuela, Occupation : Lawyer/Business, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, This is a subject that has been well studied by most government athletic agencies in all multiracial countries, such as mine. Olympic, professional and other athletes are chosen from pools of athletes, the larger the race in the pool, the bigger its predominance in the sport. The pool is formed by all the amateurs who formally or informally practice the sport. To practice a sport, you need access to it. So, what do you need to run? Your feet. What do you need to play football? The ball. What do you need for basketball? The ball and the hoop. Now the good ones: What do you need for swimming? The pool. What do you need for golf? The clubs and the Golf Club share. What do you need for tennis? The racket and the Tennis Club share. But most of all, you need the other people to play with, those who encourage you to join the sport. In most multiracial countries, money is in white hands, so those sports that require money will produce a predominantly white pool. Also, in the United States, for example, a black inner-city child will be more encouraged to "shoot some hoops" than go to the public tennis courts (which exist). Venus Williams and Tiger Woods are not commonplace.
User Detail :
Name : Nelson A., Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 30, City : Caracas, State : NA Country : Venezuela, Occupation : Lawyer/Business, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, I have to defend Y? Shawn, your point of view is lopsided. You insinuate that Y? is Anglo-oriented, but you don't realize that the Y? director is of Italian descent (not white American). You notice "degrading" questions about blacks more because you are from that race. Remember that the most degrading thing a human being can have is ignorance, and white Americans have plenty of it. But it's OK - that's why Y? exists in the first place. I answer stupid questions about Latin/Hispanics all the time, but to the ignorant they are not stupid, they are valid questions. Their ignorance is not their fault. Through us, Y? is doing a great job of helping eradicate ignorance; let's keep up the good work.
User Detail :
Name : Nelson A., Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 30, City : Caracas, State : NA Country : Venezuela, Occupation : Lawyer/Business, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, Amigo Dan, the word Hispanic in ethnic/cultural classification means that you are from, or a descendant of people from, a spanish speaking country or former Spanish colony, such as México. The Iberian penninsula where Spain and Portugal lies was called Hispania, all the names relating to our language come from that word. Remember we speak español (sounds like Hispaniol). Another thing, non-latin American society is less ignorant about us nowdays. Before Nixon, anyone who spoke spanish in the USA was called Mexican even though they were from Venezuela or Guatemala, my parents went through that. So Dan, you are Hispanic. Culturally you and your family, and all Latin America (México tambien) have big cultural/ethnical ties with Spain (Hispania), it's just that you didn't know. For an example of what I'm saying, ask any White-American (WASP type) what ties he and his family have with Anglia and Sachsen, and he'll most probably say: Beg your pardon?
User Detail :
Name : Nelson A., Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 30, City : Caracas, State : NA Country : Venezuela, Occupation : Lawyer/Business, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, My sister in Kansas City encounters the same problem on government forms. The government has it all wrong. They put Latin/Hispanic as a race when it's not. My family is white/Caucasian and we are Venezuelans since six generations ago (ethnically Latin/Hispanics), like 30 percent percent of the population here. My six-year-old niece looks like Snow White, is perfectly bilingual (English/Spanish) and dances Latin rythms like crazy. So what does my sister (her mother) put on government forms? She puts what they ask for, race, in our case white/Caucasian. But when the school district people (for example) hear them speaking in Spanish they ask them to correct that and put Latin/Hispanic. Talk about ignorance! Racial tensions in the United States will decrease when the government stops asking about things like race, or when schools stop teaching racial highlights like so and so was the first "African American" to do such and such, as if they were a separate species. My advice to all Americans and the U.S. Government: Just be that, Americans. It's easier than being White-American, Afro-American, Hispanic-American, Asian-American and all that bull.
User Detail :
Name : Nelson A., Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 30, City : Caracas, State : NA Country : Venezuela, Occupation : Lawyer/Business, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 
Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences 
