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Trada Culture Test:
If you're Traditarian...
-You get two weeks vacation if you're lucky. Labor day, shmabor day.
-You probably don't have a religion, and you think those people who follow the Ultimate Goal are pretty weird, even if you agree with their ideas.
-If you own an illustrator (Sekuun for computer), and you most likely don't, you use it often to show off.
-You know the most of the Trade Decrees from last two centuries and understand their importance.
-You probably have relatives living in North Trada, and even if you don't, you will probably go to Trada City at least two times in your life.
-You are familiar with great poets of your time including Khezerd and Ymar.
Sit-down restaurants, where?
-You think MegaBurger take-out is cheap, but you try to avoid it.
-You don't kill your own food.
-You eat at a table sitting down. Your don't have a dirt floor. Your house has a bathroom that definitly does not have a toilet in it. If you're over 70, you might remember a time when baths were communal. Ugh.
-You don't consider insects or pets to be food. You probably don't eat meat that often, and you might think that people who eat a lot of meat are unhealthy.
-Instead, you probably eat a lot of grains and green vegetables with heavy spices and additives.
-You think that utilities are too complicated. After all, they're run by a joint government/guild concill in rural areas, and owned privately in the cities.
-You like that bus systems are privately owned because of all the cool new technologies there are out there and because you think they are useful and efficient.
-You expect the phones to work and get pretty angry if they are not.
-Trada has a mild climate, and you're fine without air conditioning in the summer.
Governmental Loneliness
-You think that even if your government is the only one of its kind, it is the best type of government as well as arguably the first.
-You most likely hold a volunteer government office if you're over 14. It seems to reflect adulthood and bolsters your reputation. However, it is very rare that you will make government into a career.
-You despise politicians and are glad there is little place for them in the government.
-You think that any long-term nationwide tax other than the customary one is unjust. That's why you are in volunteer government office.
-You are aware that guilds and some major companies play a large part in politics. You probably agree with it, too.
-You think that if people just would make compromises and the "best of both worlds", they would be able to solve their problems.
-You probably speak Sekuun, but you are aware that many people speak Traader or Simplex.
-If you speak Sekuun as a first language, you probably will learn some Traader and Simplex, but you will won't really find these that useful unless you are in manufacturing (Simplex) or are part of a guild (Traader).
-If you speak Traader or Simplex as a first language, you will probably learn and use Sekuun fluently at a relatively early age.
-You can tell where people are very accurately from by their slang, accent and expressions.
-You don't really want to take disputes to the Trade Courts. You think that they have better things to do. You'd rather settle your dispute with small favors and gestures of kindness.
-You know what a lawyer is and you are pretty sure that you don't like them, but you are mildly intrigued by them because you've probably never seen one.
Beaches of Leony
-You've had a few years of Trade School and probably went on to either a guild school or a private school afterwards. It's still relatively unheard of to attend Trade School past ten years of age, and your grandparents had the same view when they were younger. It's actually been this way since the 1300's YDY.
-You have an inherent mistrust in doctors, lawyers, and other highly educated people but are still respectful of all that time they spent in school.
-Films, if they are in another language, are given subtitles.
-Day-month-year: 3|6|1431YDY (you know what happened on this date).
-You've seen hotels before, but when you go somewhere, you usually stay with friends or family.
-You think that if a governmental figure or company leader has "cheated" on his wife or has a mistress, it doesn't affect his judgement in these occupations.
-You have most likely not heard of gay or lesbian people.
-Women do not go to the beach topless. You probably go to Leony, to the east, for the beach anyways.
-Companies fire employees very reluctantly. Usually, the employers trust their judgement to hire the right people. If you are a guilder, you have no chance of being exiled unless you do something absolutely stupid.
-You call anyone significantly older than you by their surnames with a title, and you give special respect to your employer.
-If you are a member of a guild, you follow a complicated system of titles for other guilders and your guildmasters.
-You probably own a car, but you might not use it that much depending on where you live.
-You seriously expect to conduct government business without paying bribes, but making good deals or giving gifts never hurt anybody.
-You country has not been involved in a major war for about three centuries when your country was created from the Trada City Protectorate, the West Empire, and the Unified Land of the Trade Guilds and all the Middle City-states (hey... it's a long story).
-Bacon is a delicacy.
The mountains in our way
-You know Traditarian history and the history of the area that Trada occupies which includes the first civilizations ever known (one of which was Trada-town, the namesake of Trada). You probably trace your heritage back to the Central Empire and are proud of this.
-There is little reason for you to know about eastern history, but you might be aware of the great trade networks they participated in in ancient times. You might also be aware of the great effect that Commercialism had on the eastern countries.
-If you're from a family that's been in a guild for a long time, you might even trace your heritage back to the age of Trada-Town, or if you're lucky, Cu Trada himself.
-You probably also know alot about your northern neighbor, Darfordsmoth, as it was part of the old Central Empire too.
-Your country has never been defeated in a war.
-You might be a farmer, even if you live in a large city.
-You count on decent medical care, but you mistrust most prescription drugs and herbal remedies.
-You drive on the right side of the road and stop at red lights even when nobody's around. If you are a pedestrian you will wait for a red light or lull in traffic and fearlessly cross the road.
-The races in Trada are the Traaders and the Sekuuns. There used to be some discrimination against Sekuuns, but this has faded into the past (especially when they started the Second Industrial Revolution).
-You don't have a standing military, you have the EAS (Emergency Army Service). You might see them every ten years or so and are convinced that the EAS has good intentions. You don't want them to get involved in politics, though.
-You had to sign up for the semi-formal militia maintained by the Public Concill when you were 16 years old.
-You think that Darfordsmons are just those other people out there. They didn't really mess with you and you didn't really mess with them either. You might think they went just a bit too far with the whole Commercialism thing.
-You have mixed feelings about SPOL Union. You see their inhabitants as stupid farmers. They have a mysterious form of government that you are not sure you like. You might be slightly wary of their large landmass and population and enormous standing army that is often demonstrated in parades.
-Your other neighbor, Leony, is just a bunch of desert with no-one living there. You might go there for the beach if you have a lot of money, but for no other reason.
-You see Forsythe and Forsythia, the eastern countries, as unnecessarily aggressive towards each other. While we're on the topic, who believes your ancestors control your destiny anyway?
-People assure you that Maken has good business in the
with its colonies. Its been able to adapt Commercialism to a colonial
society, so what's not to like?
-You are not generally used to seeing foreigners in your country. You are probably mistrusting of them.
Are you sure you love me?
-If a woman is plumper than average, it doesn't improve her looks.
-The biggest meal of the day is in the evening.
-Unless you're in Yardsville and especially so if you're in Modalia, there's parts of the city you want to avoid at night.
-Marriages are kind of a loose agreement that proves to be predominantly about wealth. Adultery is not a very serious offense and sometimes tolerated.
-What family someone came from doesn't matter too much except when you're getting married.
-The police are armed, but not with anything like submachine guns.
-The people you most often hear jokes about are the Sekuuns.
-The normal thing when a couple dies is to give each of their children an equal share of the estate.
-You feel that your kind of people aren't being listened to enough in Knigston, the capital.
-You are used to a large amount of choices when you go to the store.
Space and time
-If you have an appointment, you'll mutter an excuse if you're five minutes late and apologize profusely if it's ten minutes. An hour past is almost inexcusable.
-If you're talking to someone, you get uncomfortable if they approach closer than about two feet.
-Haggling for any products outside of stores is customary and is not simply a search for the seller's minimum.
-When you negotiate, you are polite, of course, but it's only good business to "play hardball". Some foreigners pay excessive attention to status, or don't say what they mean, and that's exasperating.
-If you have a business appointment or interview with someone, you expect to have that person to yourself, and the business shouldn't take more than an hour or so.
Trada Culture Test:
If you're Traditarian...
-You get two weeks vacation if you're lucky. Labor day, shmabor day.
-You probably don't have a religion, and you think those people who follow the Ultimate Goal are pretty weird, even if you agree with their ideas.
-If you own an illustrator (Sekuun for computer), and you most likely don't, you use it often to show off.
-You know the most of the Trade Decrees from last two centuries and understand their importance.
-You probably have relatives living in North Trada, and even if you don't, you will probably go to Trada City at least two times in your life.
-You are familiar with great poets of your time including Khezerd and Ymar.
Sit-down restaurants, where?
-You think MegaBurger take-out is cheap, but you try to avoid it.
-You don't kill your own food.
-You eat at a table sitting down. Your don't have a dirt floor. Your house has a bathroom that definitly does not have a toilet in it. If you're over 70, you might remember a time when baths were communal. Ugh.
-You don't consider insects or pets to be food. You probably don't eat meat that often, and you might think that people who eat a lot of meat are unhealthy.
-Instead, you probably eat a lot of grains and green vegetables with heavy spices and additives.
-You think that utilities are too complicated. After all, they're run by a joint government/guild concill in rural areas, and owned privately in the cities.
-You like that bus systems are privately owned because of all the cool new technologies there are out there and because you think they are useful and efficient.
-You expect the phones to work and get pretty angry if they are not.
-Trada has a mild climate, and you're fine without air conditioning in the summer.
Governmental Loneliness
-You think that even if your government is the only one of its kind, it is the best type of government as well as arguably the first.
-You most likely hold a volunteer government office if you're over 14. It seems to reflect adulthood and bolsters your reputation. However, it is very rare that you will make government into a career.
-You despise politicians and are glad there is little place for them in the government.
-You think that any long-term nationwide tax other than the customary one is unjust. That's why you are in volunteer government office.
-You are aware that guilds and some major companies play a large part in politics. You probably agree with it, too.
-You think that if people just would make compromises and the "best of both worlds", they would be able to solve their problems.
-You probably speak Sekuun, but you are aware that many people speak Traader or Simplex.
-If you speak Sekuun as a first language, you probably will learn some Traader and Simplex, but you will won't really find these that useful unless you are in manufacturing (Simplex) or are part of a guild (Traader).
-If you speak Traader or Simplex as a first language, you will probably learn and use Sekuun fluently at a relatively early age.
-You can tell where people are very accurately from by their slang, accent and expressions.
-You don't really want to take disputes to the Trade Courts. You think that they have better things to do. You'd rather settle your dispute with small favors and gestures of kindness.
-You know what a lawyer is and you are pretty sure that you don't like them, but you are mildly intrigued by them because you've probably never seen one.
Beaches of Leony
-You've had a few years of Trade School and probably went on to either a guild school or a private school afterwards. It's still relatively unheard of to attend Trade School past ten years of age, and your grandparents had the same view when they were younger. It's actually been this way since the 1300's YDY.
-You have an inherent mistrust in doctors, lawyers, and other highly educated people but are still respectful of all that time they spent in school.
-Films, if they are in another language, are given subtitles.
-Day-month-year: 3|6|1431YDY (you know what happened on this date).
-You've seen hotels before, but when you go somewhere, you usually stay with friends or family.
-You think that if a governmental figure or company leader has "cheated" on his wife or has a mistress, it doesn't affect his judgement in these occupations.
-You have most likely not heard of gay or lesbian people.
-Women do not go to the beach topless. You probably go to Leony, to the east, for the beach anyways.
-Companies fire employees very reluctantly. Usually, the employers trust their judgement to hire the right people. If you are a guilder, you have no chance of being exiled unless you do something absolutely stupid.
-You call anyone significantly older than you by their surnames with a title, and you give special respect to your employer.
-If you are a member of a guild, you follow a complicated system of titles for other guilders and your guildmasters.
-You probably own a car, but you might not use it that much depending on where you live.
-You seriously expect to conduct government business without paying bribes, but making good deals or giving gifts never hurt anybody.
-You country has not been involved in a major war for about three centuries when your country was created from the Trada City Protectorate, the West Empire, and the Unified Land of the Trade Guilds and all the Middle City-states (hey... it's a long story).
-Bacon is a delicacy.
The mountains in our way
-You know Traditarian history and the history of the area that Trada occupies which includes the first civilizations ever known (one of which was Trada-town, the namesake of Trada). You probably trace your heritage back to the Central Empire and are proud of this.
-There is little reason for you to know about eastern history, but you might be aware of the great trade networks they participated in in ancient times. You might also be aware of the great effect that Commercialism had on the eastern countries.
-If you're from a family that's been in a guild for a long time, you might even trace your heritage back to the age of Trada-Town, or if you're lucky, Cu Trada himself.
-You probably also know alot about your northern neighbor, Darfordsmoth, as it was part of the old Central Empire too.
-Your country has never been defeated in a war.
-You might be a farmer, even if you live in a large city.
-You count on decent medical care, but you mistrust most prescription drugs and herbal remedies.
-You drive on the right side of the road and stop at red lights even when nobody's around. If you are a pedestrian you will wait for a red light or lull in traffic and fearlessly cross the road.
-The races in Trada are the Traaders and the Sekuuns. There used to be some discrimination against Sekuuns, but this has faded into the past (especially when they started the Second Industrial Revolution).
-You don't have a standing military, you have the EAS (Emergency Army Service). You might see them every ten years or so and are convinced that the EAS has good intentions. You don't want them to get involved in politics, though.
-You had to sign up for the semi-formal militia maintained by the Public Concill when you were 16 years old.
-You think that Darfordsmons are just those other people out there. They didn't really mess with you and you didn't really mess with them either. You might think they went just a bit too far with the whole Commercialism thing.
-You have mixed feelings about SPOL Union. You see their inhabitants as stupid farmers. They have a mysterious form of government that you are not sure you like. You might be slightly wary of their large landmass and population and enormous standing army that is often demonstrated in parades.
-Your other neighbor, Leony, is just a bunch of desert with no-one living there. You might go there for the beach if you have a lot of money, but for no other reason.
-You see Forsythe and Forsythia, the eastern countries, as unnecessarily aggressive towards each other. While we're on the topic, who believes your ancestors control your destiny anyway?
-People assure you that Maken has good business in the
-You are not generally used to seeing foreigners in your country. You are probably mistrusting of them.
Are you sure you love me?
-If a woman is plumper than average, it doesn't improve her looks.
-The biggest meal of the day is in the evening.
-Unless you're in Yardsville and especially so if you're in Modalia, there's parts of the city you want to avoid at night.
-Marriages are kind of a loose agreement that proves to be predominantly about wealth. Adultery is not a very serious offense and sometimes tolerated.
-What family someone came from doesn't matter too much except when you're getting married.
-The police are armed, but not with anything like submachine guns.
-The people you most often hear jokes about are the Sekuuns.
-The normal thing when a couple dies is to give each of their children an equal share of the estate.
-You feel that your kind of people aren't being listened to enough in Knigston, the capital.
-You are used to a large amount of choices when you go to the store.
Space and time
-If you have an appointment, you'll mutter an excuse if you're five minutes late and apologize profusely if it's ten minutes. An hour past is almost inexcusable.
-If you're talking to someone, you get uncomfortable if they approach closer than about two feet.
-Haggling for any products outside of stores is customary and is not simply a search for the seller's minimum.
-When you negotiate, you are polite, of course, but it's only good business to "play hardball". Some foreigners pay excessive attention to status, or don't say what they mean, and that's exasperating.
-If you have a business appointment or interview with someone, you expect to have that person to yourself, and the business shouldn't take more than an hour or so.