Blogpost #6: The Online Culture.

It is much more different dating online. It is much easier to have a chat with a girl. Everything is easy via internet. I have read an article entitled The end of courtship by Alex Williams on the site www.nytimes.com. He stated that:

"Instead of dinner-and-a-movie, which seems as obsolete as a rotary phone, they rendezvous over phone texts, Facebook posts, instant messages and other “non-dates” that are leaving a generation confused about how to land a boyfriend or girlfriend."

They just court over cellphones and social networking sites what do you expect? A great relationship? A long lasting one? This culture destroys the culture of every country. Technology has disadvantages when it comes to courtship.

I have read another article by Mary entitled How Technology is influencing traditional Courtship Roles on www.girlfriendslockerroom.com. She stated that:

"One of the unfortunate disadvantages of how technology is influencing traditional courtship roles is that women and men been more aggressive in their dating and courtship activities, which has accelerated the dating process with ill effects. There have been countless cases of online romances being develop through Facebook, smart phones and now traditional texting at such a fast pace, such couples do not have enough time to properly get to know one another. This often leads to relationship break ups at a rate as quickly as they have developed. People today want things to be instant, and that includes dating, unfortunately the pitfalls of these new technologies is that the value of being patient is being lost, along with traditional courtship roles."

Sometimes I'm against a culture if it is not acceptable by the society but if that culture is destroying another culture, that's another thing.

Blogpost #5: Weird but true part 2.

I can't get over on those articles I have read this week especially about the weird courtship cultures. They're are all unbelievable and amazing. I have learn a lot from those articles and I will going to share what I have learned from this week.

The article I have read is entitled Top 10 strange courtship rituals written by Simmi Mankani. This post was posted on www.toptenz.net.

"Welcome to the perfect modern world. You can only yearn for a simple natural way to live your life the way the Dai people of China & Southeast Asia live. Followers of Buddhism, the Dai people are famous for their courting and marriage rituals. Flirting, dating, premarital s
ex, you name it and they've got it! They also have an interesting traditional courtship ritual. Various people gather at one place. You’ll find all the young women sitting around a bonfire, and turning their spinning wheels. The men, clad in red blankets, will be playing a musical instrument. Everyone can approach a woman of their choice and, if it’s a yes from her, she’ll invite him to sit on a stool with her. He will drape his blanket around her, and they can just have all sorts of mushy fun together. Love just blossoms!"

It's so strange. Sitting in others stool is so weird. This tradition is really sucks. Imagine you court a Dai girl and then you sit besides her knowing you are sitting in chair with her stool. Then minutes later, you had been smelling her stool. That's a major Turn-off to the girl you love man. Well we can't help it. It's their tradition not ours. Moving on, On the same article here's another strange courtship tradition. It stated that:

"A very bizarre courtship ritual, practiced in Taiwan up until the 1930s, was discovered through 150-year-old letters of botanical experts at Kew. A tribe called the Atayals was very enthusiastic about head-hunting, literally! The men often used severed heads from their battles to woo the women they coveted. Once accepted, these prized possessions were not promptly removed from sight. They were, instead, kept in open air on a narrow platform, for everyone to see."

I'm glad that this tradition was over way back in the 30's. This is a one bizarre tradition. Why do they need to use cut-off heads to court a girl? It's so gross. And keeping the head in open air on a narrow platform, for every one to see is really disrespectful to the dead and at the same time the other people living there.

Here's my ending quote. Every people in this world has different ways and traditions to court a girl. Some have sweet and amazing ways while others are weird and not pleasing to the eyes.

Blogpost #4: I'm just curious.

I'm just curious on how Brazilians court and what is their culture when it comes to courting. For me, the Brazilian girls are actually more attractive than any other girls. I like the way they speak and the way they dress. I'm curious about how Brazilian guys court them.

I have read an article entitled Brazilian Dating Culture by Gigi Starr on ehow.com. She stated that:

"Brazilian dating culture starts in the teens and is punctuated by friendly fun, casual meetings and a relaxed attitude. As a Brazilian matures, he then moves on to solemnifying the relationship under the watchful eye of his parents, with marriage usually following a long engagement."

Just like here in the Philippines, the fun starts at teenage years. A guy always court a girl when they are teenagers. Also in America, they court girls when they step in the teenage life. And also in Brazil, the guy asks the girl's father if it is okay to pursue a relationship with her.

The Brazilian girls have their own taste when it comes to guys. I have read another article entitled Brazilian Dating Guide for men by Maverick on www.Mavericktraveler.com. He stated that there are several pointers that must be remembered if you are going to Brazil and want to date Brazilian girls. The first one is "The Rule". In this pointer you must remember that there are two types of Brazilian girls, the ones who are exclusively dating Brazilian guys and the ones who dates "Gringos" or foreigners. The second one is yo must know how to speak Portuguese because you can't meet all the Brazilian girls if you only speak English. The third one is the Gringo Factor. Even if Brazilian girls have a negative reputations among foreigners, there's a chance on getting a Brazilian girl's heart. If you want to know the other pointers just go to the site.

I have learned a lot of new things from this. Now I know what are the things to do when I want to court a Brazilian girl. I hope that this will help you too.

Blogpost #3: Weird but true

Have you ever imagined doing weird stuffs to express your feelings to a certain person? Have you did a weird gestures or have you given weird objects to tell him/her that you love him/her? If you did such thing, you're really weird... and a little bit creepy. But don't feel sad, other countries have traditions weirder than you thought. Those traditions are weirder than the thing you did.

I have read an article entitled "5 strange courting rituals from around the world" by Natalie Wolchover on www.livescience.com. She said that during valentines day, many people are giving chocolates, flowers and asking the question "will you be my valentine?". But other countries have different traditions to express your love for him/her. Here is an example given by her:

"In rural Austria, it's not chocolate bon-bons that are the way to a lover's heart; it's apples soaked in armpit sweat. Young women do a ritual dance with apple slices lodged in their armpits. After the dance, each gives her slice to the man of her choice, and he then eats it."

Imagine eating a slice of apple soaking in salty armpit sweat. It's gross right? But it's their tradition. In my opinion I think I'm blessed because I was born here in the Philippines and not in Austria. No offense Austrians but you're culture is really weird. Moving on, here's another example came from the same blog:

" Among the Kreung tribe in a remote region of Cambodia, parents build a "love hut" for their daughter when she reaches her mid-teens. Different boys spend the night in the hut with the girl sometimes more than one in the same night until she finds the one she wants to marry. Divorce is unheard of among the Kreung, so couples need to know what they're getting into."

Believe it or not, parents build the love hut if the girl reaches 9-13 years old. Imagine a girl having intercourse with the opposite sex in a very young age. But the kreung tribe girls decides if they want to have intercourse or not. Many people are against it but it's the kreung tribe's tradition, you can't just change it by your own. It's their decision if they want to prolong it or not.

As I've said on my previous blog, It's a tradition alright but not all traditions are meant to be kept.

Blogpost #2: The Filipino culture

Believe it or not, I've courted a girl with the famous Filipino courtship tradition, the Harana or serenading. Take note that I did the traditional serenading where I sing underneath her window in the night. It was a challenging but a great experience because after several minutes of singing at the same time playing the guitar, I don't know if she'll invite you to go inside her house or not but fortunately, she let me in. There are several traditions around the Philippines and each region has their own tradition when it comes to courtship.

I have read an article by Ramond Ople, a blogger, entitled "The Harana and other filipino courtship/marriage traditions" on tpculture.wordpress.com. It stated that:

"Basically a harana is when a man attempts to woo a woman by singing underneath her window during nighttime. The man continues to sing until the woman (if she so chooses) decides to let the man (and whatever company he has) inside her house for refreshments etc. When this happens, it becomes a impromptu mini-soiree of sorts"

Wooing a woman is hard but wooing a woman with harana is even harder. back in the days you really need to be good at music when you want to serenade a woman. You need to compose your own song and give the song a tune. And you really need to have a good voice in order to impress the woman. Besides harana, there are several more traditions around the Philippines.

I have read another article by Shaina Sanchez entitled "Sweeping a Filipina off her feet - Filipino courtship practices" on magandafilipino.com. It stated that:

"In some areas in Mindanao (bottom part of the Philippines), Muslim traditions thrive even in the matters of the heart. Courting is a lot more expensive here because before you can marry a girl, a dowry is required by the girl’s family. The value shall depend on the status of the family and to the educational accomplishment of the girl. A maiden holding a Master’s degree will have a higher price than a girl who did not finish her studies. The maiden have no freedom to love whoever she like since she is regarded as a family property. Pre-arranged marriage is the custom and families of high status reward their children to wealthy men so as to preserve and even to enrich their wealth."

In Mindanao, money matters more than love. If you're just an ordinary guy with just enough money to support yourself, then don't even bother court a woman. Literally, the man is buying the woman in order to be his wife. And the sad part is the woman has no freedom. They can't even pick the man they love to be their husbands. I know it's the tradition but not all traditions are meant to be kept.

Courting a woman is one of the major task a man need to do in order to express his feelings for her. If you really love the girl then court her. Even if we have different traditions of courtship, we men have different ways to court a girl. Just be ourselves and be confident on what you are doing. 

Blogpost #1: Courtship

Honestly speaking, I've courted many girls back when I was a highschool student but only few of my attempts succeeded. I did a lot of different "styles" of courtship. I did the famous serenading or also known as "harana" and also the giving of love letters to confess your love for her. And when I started using social networking sites and the cellular phone, I also did the most commonly used "Text" or "Chat" courting. But I'm just curious about when did it all started. How do men court back in the days. But let's discuss what is courtship first.

                According to David Steele in his article entitled Wooing vs. Courtship on the website www.articles3k.com: 

"Courtship takes the long view, respecting your potential life partner as someone to get to know and determine mutual fit over time. In our culture being patient and delaying gratification is undervalued."

It is definitely true. If you want to court a girl, make sure that you are willing to wait for her answer. It could take weeks, months, years but if you really love the girl, you will wait until she becomes your girlfriend.

Let's discuss now the history behind it. I have read an article entitled The History of Courtship on www.ehow.com by Christina Hamlett. She stated that:
"females had a lot less choice about the males with whom they'd exchange vows. Brides were often abducted by neighboring tribes, betrothed to foreign nobles as part of a package deal to increase their kingdom's power and net worth, or presented by their parents at lavish debutante balls to which a select number of eligible--and socially appropriate--suitors had been invited. An unwed daughter in earlier centuries was considered a liability to her family as opposed to an asset in a husband's household where she could either add to the coffers with a generous dowry or do a full share of the work. The emergence of chivalry during the Middle Ages brought forth the courtly practice of wooing one's intended with love poems, music and acts of bravery to prove one's desirability as a mate. Not until World War I did women come to realize they had more options available. Courtship gifts aside, it was the new-found freedom to be able to choose someone for love instead of necessity that made the ritual priceless."

Back in the days, all it matters is money. The ladies have no choice at all when it comes to love. Their parents are trying to sell them to various rich gentlemen but in the Middle Ages, all it matters is love. They court through peoms, music, and acts of bravery to prove that they love the girl.

In our generation, men court with an ease. Men court women via technologies. Men court via computer, cellphones and other communicating devices. They've modernized courtship. The girl can't easily determined if the boy is sincere on her and that's why most of the relationships nowadays last only for a few months.