Found on Cynical-C:
The Iraq Culture Smart Card is published by the Marine Corps as a quick-reference guide for potential communication and cultural issues that may arise during a soldier’s tenure in the Middle East. Some interesting facts about Iraqis:
- Muslim men who have made the Hajj, or the pilgrimage to Mecca, wear a different color of head covering than those who have not.
- A “quick upward head snap with tongue click” is apparently equivalent to our negative head-shake.
- Both the “OK” sign and the thumbs-up gesture are considered obscene in Iraq.
On one hand, I find some of the basic cultural and religious information completely fascinating. On the other hand, I find it almost insulting to reduce an entire culture to a 16-panel how-to pamphlet. Kind of makes you wonder what kind of basic cultural information citizens of other countries would reference before coming to America.
Oh, and by the way? I found the typo. Can you?
i dunno. you can sum up jews in 8 words:
“We were opressed, we broke free, let’s eat!”