Every where you go in Hàromszék you hear music.   From an orchestra whistling "The Yommany Rover" to Uncle Izstan belting out the tenor line from the opera "Toujours l'Amour Vrai" in the shower, we love to make music, to listen to music, even to talk about music.. . . . >

A coat of paint preserves all sorts of things that would rust away if left bare.   The Hàromszéki spirit would rust as well, without the liberal application of paint we cover walls with.   Murals outdoors, framed paintings indoors, even gaudily daubed cars and buses -- these all express the colorful spirit of Hàromszék.
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Hàromszék's multilingual society makes for a broad literary life.   The array of cultures which make up Hz are distinct yet interrelated, lending a rich backdrop for stories and verse.   People who are deeply fluent in a number of tongues can see shadings of meaning in words that monolingualists miss out on.   Our literature is not only convoluted multilanguage puns.   But that is part of the appeal of Hàromszéki wordsmiths -- they frequently spin pathos, humor, lecture, and dogma, all in the same set of words -- and each reader takes away something different. . . . . >

Etienne d'Orsunais, Alpàrd Poet Laureate 1485-1494

Hàromszék has traditional dances galore.   A knowlegable spectator can make a fair guess at what kind of dance is about to begin by seeing the instruments on hand and listening to the players' language.   Hàromszék likewise has classical dance (again easy to guess - the lady in a tutu isn't fixing to start a polka). And there are also less easily classifiable dances each in vogue among one or more of our peoples: jazz, Szeptka (akin to gymnastics), ballroom.   And finally, as if we did not have enough of "our own" dance forms, a number of foreign national forms are popular - highland strathspeys, fling, and reels among those with Albanaudhan interests, Cymraec reels, jigs, and stepdancing, Niveskan kickdancing, even occasional Vendan SunSpinning.   That spectator, though ...   she's not going to sit out this next dance...
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Hàromszéki society has some constants across all the varied tribal, language, religious, and regional cultures.   We each pick our own path through life, even to the extent of changing official tribe or language if desired.   For Hàromszék, this self-direction is not licentious libertine wildness, rather a serious pairing of freedoms with responsibility.   We expect actions to have consequences, and we behave accordingly.   Look past the linguistic chaos, and you'll see an orderly society, with the order self-driven, not externally imposed.   You'll also notice families everywhere -- family life is a main focus of the Hàromszéki.   You'll see us all over the landscape, because we do love Hàromszék's outdoors. . . . . >

Education is not something the Hàromszéki limit to a few years of lectures and homework, sequestered in institutional classrooms.   Learning goes on from birth to death, and is a constant normal part of our life.   This is a central tenet of our national culture: that education is not something which is done TO someone, rather is something folks seek and do on their own.   Even students in (what foreigners would call) a typical institutional school setting are expected to seek out what they want and need to know.   Options for learning in Hàromszék are broad and varied.
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Hàromszék is basically a Cruisian society, with the majority of our citizens claiming some form of Cruisianity as our religion.   Not all Hàromszéki who espouse Cruisianity truly live by its precepts or have a personal relationship with Cruis, but that is true of any group.   The Iudeans or Mounists among us also have "members" whose identity is more cultural than doctrinal.   As important as individuals' status is that our nation was organized by real, practicing Cruisians, and the resulting decency, order, and individual responsibility shows. . . . . >

Much as we take responsibility for ourselves, we also look out for our surroundings.   Hàromszéki are well aware that this is the only world we currently have, so we'd better keep it in good shape.   Our laws and customs allow for use of the resources of the land, just not abuse and waste.   You will see folks picking up trash from a sidewalk, or maintaining a mountainside trail, or tracking down the offender when a petrol sheen shows up on some waterway.   These people will seldom be paid public servants -- instead we all regard ourselves as one anothers' servants, and keepers of the countryside and cityscape alike.
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In any discussion of Hàromszék, families will come up repeatedly.   Culturally, they are the base of our lives - at once our support system and our reason for work and play.   The Hàromszéki work ethic is that everybody pulls his own weight, but our families add to that an understanding that some can't pull their own weight yet, or any more.   So we determine to pull our own, and then some more.   There's not much of a civil welfare system in place in Hz, because families take care of their own.   And in Hàromszék, that's not a matter of four or five people -- almost any ten-year-old can reel off a list of a hundred kin, and detail how they're all related.   That widespread interrelation makes for a powerful sense of accountability too -- one's troubles may be helped with, but at the same time any trouble one makes is watched by dozens. . . . . >

Hàromszéki tastes run to hot, spicy, and strong.   With so many distinct peoples you would expect distinct cuisines -- and you'd be right.   Alpàrds show their Loirisian heritage with complex dishes elegantly presented.    Those with a bit of Taeroçese influence use more eggplant, squash, and herbs like rosemary and basil.   Some of the Àlmosi tribes' areas are famed for their goulashes, spicy stews of a thousand different recipes.   Backyard gardens supply fresh vegetables, as do city markets - melons, corn, and beans are favorites.   If each cuisine is different, each also has something special they do with mutton.   And an obvious Hàromszéki element: our 307 registered varieties of peppers come in mild, hot, and volcanic.
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Hàromszéki may work hard, but we play harder.   Name a sport, and we've tried it.   We do team sports and individual competition, and plenty that are just pure play.   We fly and swim, ride and run, throw and catch, shoot and dodge ... and that's just in cross-country pentathlon paintball tournaments!   We've turned board games into athletics (attack chess, with armor and weapons), we've turned backbreaking work into play (berg-herding and timbersplitting), and we've turned games into big business (check the ad rates during Scandia Cup Soccer coverage). . . . . >

There are activities that are physical, in which we pit ourselves against our environment, but which aren't really sports.   Hàromszéki are always ready for a hike or bike, skiing on snow or water, or just a romp with the kids, a dog, and a frisbee.   It is just as well our land is large, since on any sunny weekend a large number of us head off for some outdoor destination; to camp, or trek, or just to swim in a clear stream.   We've taken a means of industrial transport past its prime -- canals -- and made them into popular recreational destinations, whether for a cruise, or just a walk along the towpath.
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Many of the jobs that supported our grandparents continue on as our crafts today.   Folk crafts are our inherited activities where we play at making things that do have some use.   Thus we have blacksmiths in an era of machinists.   We have weavers in an era of computer-controlled textile plants.   We spin pots on a wheel when the factories of Orosto:zer turn out fine china in boxcar lots.   We make tiny planes, trains, and ships just like the ones our grandparents flew, stoked, and sailed, all with the aid of computer design, microelectronics, and space-age composite materials.   Most of the activities of the Hàromszéki workforce have folks who pursue equivalent activities for fun instead of profit. . . . . >

Horses are beyond an obsession for the Hàromszéki.   They are transport and sport, fellow-workers and family.   We race them, work them, ride them, and talk to them as if they spoke Ris or Loirisian.   We raise a number of breeds unique to Hàromszék, many others that are found Scandia-wide, and import yet others normally found in exotic outland stables.   Horses saved our identity in the distant past, and they help shape it to this day.
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