Sokokan cultural norms and traditions

It is difficult to define typical Sokokan cultural norms and traditions since Sokoku is a patchwork of ethnicities across several member states, differences in natural landscape, language and historical background, as well as large differences between coastal and inland ways of life, as well as the ruban-rural divide. The following generalisation are however generally accepted to be trademarks of cultural norms in Sokoku.

How to tell if you're a citizen of Sokoku

• Your extended family is your first social and economic circle: you live together, you work together and you earn income together. This collective also provides your health insurance, sick leave compensation and pension fund.
• You're most probably living in a communal or shared house with different generations. In most cases, it's combined with your family business, if it's a bicycle repair shop, law firm, restaurant, health clinic, wood workshop, corner store etc.
• You have your own room or quarters because you value privacy. Individuality is appreciated within the collective. Self development is an important part of being able to contribute to the collective.
• There will be a shrine in one of the common rooms with images from or items related to your ancestors. In case you're Guso, the shrine will have memorabilia from the individual soul keepers that ensure contact with these ancestors as well, often small pictures, polaroids, trading cards, etc. You're supposed to find your soul keeper and build up a spiritual relation through him or her.
• You're allergic or oversensitive to most dairy products. Unless you're from the mainland or have colonial roots. Still, dairy products are not widely spread and seen as a luxury item for those who tolerate lactose.
• You're home schooled by a relative or a neighbour up to age 9. At age 12 it is decided which type of further education will benefit the pupil, the family and society as a whole the most. Most often, you will get your vocational training within your own extended family, combined with general education at school.
• You're socially bilingual, you speak a different language, language variation or dialect at home and switch to Bahasa Sokoku as soon as you leave the house, even when talking with your own family members. Unless you're Kakuri, then you only use Bahaso when you absolutely have to. But you're proud of your own language, dialect or just accent, it's part of your character and cultural heritage.
• Your sense of justice is highly associated with equal opportunities. Not equality, there's definitely stratification in the form of seniority, also reflected in the meritocratic nature of Sokokan public office.
• Values that are common in Sokokan culture are efficiency and quality of life, especially in combination with each other. Resourcefulness, ingenuity and innovation are aiming at improving living conditions. Sokokans are living the life, regardless of wealth.
• Balance is another important value, between labor and free time, between group mentality and self realization.
• You're completely used to ID checks when crossing state borders within Sokoku. Originally introduced to separate illegal immigrants coming from the mainland, it was only applied to travel to and from Shaaniaah and Diyin Tsidii, biased towards mainlander ethnicities at first. But Sokokans think it should be applied to everyone at every state border crossing. Except for Keadaan Matang, which has a land border with Nelyasyat & Ayatawantin. Everybody agrees that that's just impracticle.
• Ferry or boat travel is the standard idea about a longer journey. Even on the same island, in most cases it's more comfortable to travel by coastal ferry services. It takes more time, but it is considered time well spent and a part of the experience.
• People love sports, but only as a pass time for social bonding. Competetive sports are frowned upon. Sporting games are events for families and groups of friends to socialize. Games tend to be team sports with improvised, temporary teams.
• You identify with the colors yellow and black. You will be able to quote Chika Mirei's main teachings at a relatively young age. Most probably a picture of the president of Sokoku is present somewhere in your family's shrine.
• There's a close relation to nature, in a sense that nature is a bigger force than human culture. Humanity has to move with it, not try to fight it. The changing of the seasons, like the equinox twice a year and the start of the raining season twice a year, are celebrated within the larger community. It is common to seek higher ground with an open view in order to experience the confined shadow of the arc (ring system) across the landscape or open sea. These vantage points gather hundreds or thousands of people and one is supposed to attend at least once a year. On the other hand, Sokokans are hardly impressed by minor earthquakes, they occur so often that they're almost a part of the weather, albeit a bit more difficult to predict.
• Only in some sectors like healthcare, construction, education or larger shopping facilities and restaurants, people will work in shifts with scheduled starting and ending times. But in general, Sokoku has let go of the fixed working hours associated with the industrial assembly line of the 7500's and early 7600's. Working hours are flexible, people will work 3-4 hour shifts, usually two, sometimes three shifts a day, for a total of 60-70 hours per week. Longer working days result in more days off, which can be spent for raising the children, community work, leisure sports, education and other personal development. Shorter working days will give less days off, but more free time every day. While some communities and families have similar free days in the week, the majority of people will decide individually after agreement with the employer or patron. The term "inconvenient working hours" is largely unknown, some people prefer to start early, others avoid working during the midst of day while others prefer to work evenings instead.
• Your sense of humor is absurd. Wordplay doesn't work well in Sokoku. Jokes about certain ethnic or regional groups are perfectly OK, as long as you make them yourself. A sign of a good friendship is the ability to share innuendo and dirty jokes, you do not apply these in just any company.
• Being on time is defined by a margin, in rural Sokoku it's up to 15 minutes ahead or late, in small town Sokoku it's usually within 15 minutes late but hardly ever too early.

How to tell if you're a Sokokan urbanite

• You travel by bus, light rail or a shared bicycle. There's no real need to own your means of transportation since it's readily available.
• No matter how cramped your housing is, there will be a small space dedicated to growing your own vegetables or herbs.
• Urban citizens will know exactly what to do in case of an earthquake thanks to years of education, training and drills. The hazards of earthquakes in urban areas are known to all, so that a reflex-like response will be triggered quickly.
• There's no real reason to be late, so people arrive just before the set time to be sure. This is where you can spot the rural Sokokan, who takes the "15 minute margin" with him everywhere.

Everybody knows that...

• ... Sokoku is not an Orderist nation. Suggesting such a thing is considered highly inappropriate. When asked for a political connection or association, Chaska and Arvor are mentioned by the general public.
• ... Livarians can not be trusted. Dating back to the bloody decolonization of Garis Hati Gelap, this sentiment is affirmed by the free market capitalism Livaria is promoting. From a Sokokan point of view, capitalism is just as dehumanizing as Orderism, or maybe even worse, putting profit above people.
• ... whatever the question is, the answer most probably is bamboo, or involves bamboo: used as building material, fuel, fertilizer, raw material for flooring, furniture, paper, textiles as well as kitchen utensils but even as a source of food. Bamboo dishes include fresh shoots sliced thin and then boiled with thick coconut milk and spice like sayur lodeh and fried wrapped bamboo shoots with vegetables called lun pia. Pickled bamboo is used as a condiment. The sap of young stalks tapped during the rainy season may be fermented to make a sweet wine or simply made into soft drinks. More fringe applications include musical instruments, weapons, fishing rods and jewelry.
• ... the Kakuri languages are the sole cultural property of the Kakuri people and can not be speaken freely. Surely, there are a lot of Kakuri loanwords in Bahasa Sokoku, but hardly anyone would feel the urge to learn and speak the language. Unless you're identified as bearer of The Gift and thus a potential Guso soul keeper, then you will be initiated in liturgical Kakuri by your congregation.
• ... it's unnatural for a man to have sex with a man, or a woman with a woman. So is growing rice in a field or living in an apartment building, it's just human nature to do unnatural things. For most, this is not really an issue at all.

Sokokan rituals surrounding death:

• TBA
• Due to the high degree of urbanisation, cremation has become the most common burial rite in Sokoku, even though traditional burial still will be commonplace in more rural regions. Most often, the ashes of the deceased will be blended into glass to make beads or small sculptures, giving the closest relatives a way to have a small token of their deceased loved ones nearby.