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| Sep 28, 2006 6:55 am |
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re: Been thinking about an introductions thread, so here it is |
Jean Ackle
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Hi Dave! Great idea! This network is huge already and growing...
Who:
My full name is Jean-Dominique Ackle in Switzerland where I was born and Jean Dominique Ackle in Portugal where I live since I was 2. I have double nationality and Portuguese naming conventions don''t allow for hyphens. Which is kinda fair I think, 'cause if I had been born in Portugal I would have been called João Domingos Pereira Ackle - i.e. my first names translated to Portuguese, my mother's maiden name *included* and then my father's... Naming conventions... now isn't that interesting? LOL
What:
What am I doing here?... Where do I come from and where am I going? That great twisted pre-romantic Portuguese poet would have said: "My name is Bocage, I come from the Nicola cafe and will be going to the afterlife if you shoot the gun you're pointing at me." Bocage was kinda of a free soul (and free lover!) with a nack for upsetting people of his time.
I am here for two reasons I find hard to part: the network and the moderator. I feel and alwyas have since I joined this network IS Dani's playground. I like her rules. :)
The discussions hold the flame of passion. And fun. And intelligence.
And to quote another Portuguese poet, José Régio, "I am going where my feet shal take me".
Why:
I had a Catholic education (who didn't in Portugal?!) and like most who didn''t break down under it, became atheist. Later turned into a somewhat moderate agnostic - i.e. I don't believe any religion can speak higher than any other, be closer to God than any other if you will. And as they don't say the same, I am left with the thought they either are just human fiction or merely different ways of some higher being to talk to different persons.
It is more intricate than just this, and I haven't been completely acurate about my beliefs, but it will have to do for now.
I am pretty moderate ("middle of the road") when it comes to right-left politics. Basically I believe you can do well (at all levels) in any case. I also believe it is as hard/dangerous to trust a government or the big corporations. I also think the relations between those two are a lot closer than the relations of any "regular" individual with any of them...
Currently I would be more right-wingish regarding Portugal and maybe a bit more left-wingish regarding the USA. This is because left/right is mainly an economic system issue, more than a political one. And the political and social implications of each system varies from country to country.
I have voted for each of the five political parties currently seated in teh Portuguese parliament on one occasion or the other... No, wait! I never actually voted for the Social-Democrat Center (CDS) party! Probably 'cause I wans't so moderate before they went so right-wing-close-to-fascist as they were in the last ellections! LOL
To wrap up this "why" thing, I value Truth and know it is not an easy "goal" this network aims at. ;)
That was a big "why"!!! And you should feel lucky I didn't mix it with the "what" and then came up with something else here! Or maybe I just put it the other way around...?
Where:
"Where" indeed... Bocage pops in my mind again...
I was born in Bern, the capital of Switzerland where my father was chief-translator for the government. A very beautiful town... Ok, I could call it a city, but you're mostly americans and Switzerland is even smaller than Portugal! :P Bern should have a few hundred thousand inhabitants. It's true... I don't know exactly how many hundred inhabitants! Fewer than 5 for sure. They speak German in Bern. I don't speak German. Well... not much anyways... BTW "Bern" is short for "Bären" which means "Bears". There is a pit with live bears right in the middle of the city!
My father was from the canton of Aargau which by Swiss law pretty much makes me come from Aargau as well! "Aargau" means "Region of the Aar", being the Aar a river which, incidentally also goes through Bern. Aargau (and specially the Fricktal where yes, me and my father come from!)is the region where "Kirsch" is produced - Kirsch being a strong alcohol (in Portuguese it would be called "Aguardente" (burning water) and in French "Eau-de-vie" (Water of life)) made from cherries.
Switzerland borders four big countries in Europe, all of which were at some time in history an "empire", or at least "empirialist" (France, Germany, Austria and Italy) and Liechtenstein (a country about the size of the Vatican). It has always been a federation of cantons and one of the most democratic (as in "real democracy") countries I know of. :)
I came to Braga, a less than 100,000 inhabitants town in the north of Portugal, when I was 2 (where my mother is from). About 2000 years old a town. But the Bracarii settled here before the romans some 5000-6000 years ago. It's also called the City or Archbishops... :rolling eyes:. Nation-wide if you want to say that something is very old you might say "It's older than the Cathedral in Braga!" (about 900 years old).
The city is situated in the "Green Minho" region and that's great! Hills all around give it a sort of micro-climat. Portugues food is the greatest! Unfortuantely I myself can't do that many dishes, just simple things. But have received compliments on them! Cooking is more a question of joy than of good technique... ;) Be thoughtful of your feelings when cooking, because that's how the food will feel on you! ;)
Portugal, bordering with Spain and the Atlantic was under a fascist dicatatorship for 46 years til the "Revolution of Carnations" in 1974 (when it finally gave the independence to its former African colonies after a long war period, since 1961). It was also then it mostly ignored the invasion of its also former-colony East Timor by Indonesia. And that was a bad thing. In many ways Portugal is still trying to catch up with that lost period of time.
It is a Republic and there are two autonomous regions made of the two groups of islands off-shore (Madeira and Azores). Macao (formerly also an autonomous region) was given back to China in 1999.
Enough about me already!
NEXT PLEASE!Private Reply to Jean Ackle (new win) |
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