Cultural Competency

For the first part of class we briefly reflected on our study tour this past week. Overall it was a great experience, but there were a few follow up questions we had about the influence of religion on the schools and resources we visited. Maja revealed some interesting information that we did not necessarily catch onto during our visit. In the Fatih Municipality center, they were teaching a class on the prophecy of Muhammad. The center is advertised as a secular resources, but in reality there are still religious classes offered to the students. In addition, when we visited the human resources center, there were two blond women there to greet us along with all the other women in head scarves. Maja suspected that these women were hired in order to give us the impression that it wasn't a strictly Muslim resources. Maja even entertained the thought that the two women might have been Russian prostitutes hired for the day. I was surprised at the lengths Fatih Municipality went to hide the religious undertones from our class. Although Turkey is a secular country, I think it is more appropriate to be honest about the functioning of an organization rather than lying and hiding the truth.

Relocating to the park, we finished the last hour of class in the sunshine by the water. We had a discussion using the same forum that people in Turky are using during the protests. It is a very deomcratic means of protesting and sharing information. Each person is allotted roughly two minutes to speak thier mind and present changes they woulld like to see or ideas of how to improve the current situation. People would wave thir hands over their heads if they agree instead of clapping, and they would shake thier head and use their hands to show a cutting motion by their neck if they disagree. For the majority of the time we engaged in an interesting debate about women wearing burkas and choice versus compulsory action.

I began getting riled up during this conversation because it seemed as though people weren't recognizing their own internal biases. Peple would talk about these Muslim woman as though they have no decision and are being forced into a religion and culture in which they don't want to be part of. This may be the case for some women, but as Koray mentioned while in Istanbul, it is the choice for many of these women to wear headscarves and burkas. Just as their society dictates what these women in burkas wear, our society dictates what we wear. I'll admit that I buy clothes or accessories that are deemed socially acceptable. I don't wear bellbottom jeans because I feel like I'm in the 70s, I don't wear too much eye liner to avoid looking gothic. How I dress and present myself is a direct representation and influence of my culture. I don't want to discount women who don't have a choice and who are very much part of a male dominated culture unable able to escape, but women in the United States are arguably stuck just as deep in a male dominated culture, restricted from the clothes we wear to how much money we make in comparison to men. Even that we spent the majority of the hour talking about a lifestyle and culture based on a certain style of dress speaks volumes for our own culture and what we consider important.

I would have liked to continue the conversation in regards to funding of technological equiptment and resources versus libraries and traditioal means of learning. In addition, it would have been interesting to introduce the idea of censorship and who gets to dictate what students can and can't look at while using the internet or on tablets, but the conversation seemed to take a different turn. This will just have to be a conversation for a different day.

Cami and I had an interesting conversation about accepting other cultures and observing without judgement. She said, "It is interesting to look back at the way I though before going to Turkey. The thing about ignorance is that you can't tell if you are until you learn otherwise." My response to her was, "It really forces you to reflect on your own life and be thankful for what you do have or fight for what you think needs to be changed." It was nice to have a conversation about self awareness and how to be more culturally competent with someone who was just as willing to accept their flaws. I sure have made some smart friends! 

My afternoons in Copenhagen are starting to turn into a routine. Hannah, Cami, and I went to get our usual salads for lunch at Smag before heading to the Living Room to get some work done. We had a brief shopping detour at a store called Tiger. It is Copenhagen's version of a dollar store, that is if you consider $5 close enough to $1. Quite honestly, this is the most inexpensive shopping I've been able to find in Copenhagen. I got two penguin hooks for my friends to hang clothes, towels, or coats from.

After shopping, I met with Judith and some other students from our class in the first session. I absolutely adore Judith, and I feel so privileged to have the opportunity to connect with her and have her as a resources. We spent the first few minutes sharing and reflecting on our study tours. Most of us went to different places, so it was nice to hear about some varying experiences. For the second half of our meeting we talked about further involvement in OMEP and how we can move forward with our class chapter or initiatives we can bring to our campus in the States. Once I'm back in Vermont I'm considering communicating with Judith to start a film series where OMEP provides the films and I simply provide a space for viewing and facilitate the conversation following the film. With my previous experience on the University Program Board where I planned large scale events like hosting Jay Pharoah or Seth Meyers, I'm might be able to manage a film series. Also having a connection with the social work department, I could advertise to the College of Education and Social Services and draw in a crowd through this resources. I may find that I'm too busy once I start classes and work again in the fall, but a film series seems like a reasonable and feasible way to bring what I learned in Denmark back to the United States.

It was back to the Living Room to work on my blog, like always. We have a paper due Wednesday for class that is a reflection on something we learned in Turkey. Maja invited us to explore other mediums for the paper including a powerpoint, travel journal, or blog. This made my life much easy and I decided to use my blog as a supplement to the paper, but that means I better get caught up. I'm practically writing a book, so I'm sure Maja will find some critical thinking of my reflections in Istanbul that could be the basis of a 4 to 6 page paper. Perhaps mine might even be a little too long.


It was a fajitas kind of night, so after we exhausted our writing capabilities, Cami, Hannah, Lindsay, and I went to our building to make dinner. I had such a great day with these girls, and I couldn't help but have a pang of sadness remembering that we were approaching the last week of our journey together in Copenhagen.