Turkey and The Ramadan

Few days ago, I was doing my Cross Cultural Communication assignment and one of my team partners is from Turkey, so when she was explaining the turkish culture I was taking note of every detail not only because it was part of the assignment but also because it is a very interesting culture and most of the things that she was telling us, were new for me.

One of the most interesting things turkish culture has is Ramadan. I had already heard about this muslim tradition but never from a turkish person, so it was quite interesting the way she was telling us how it worked.

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, which lasts 29 or 30 days. During this month, muslim people do not eat and drink during daylight hours and is intended to teach Muslims about patience, spirituality and humility  to God (Allah), and they also pray more than usual. 

The most similar thing that the catholics as me have is the "Lent" which last 40 days and consists of a period of reflection, where many of the faithful commit to fasting and giving up to ceratin types of luxuries or things that we like a lot. Even though this could be similar to the turkish tradition, the Lent is not practiced by everyone as in the muslim religion, I mean is not so rigorous.

For Muslim people is the most normal and common thing in their lives and for sure It's something that must be done, of course there are some exceptions, but it is a tradition that families always practice. It's not like in catholicism, where the rules are allowed  to break, I mean, if one day out of 40 I eat in the morning, it's fine. Actually, I'm catholic and I don't usually do anything especial for these days, I just stop eating meat every Friday.

As you can see, every country has its own particular things, which is amazing but also kind of weird. I always think about how other people would see my culture. I guess they also might see many differences.

Being an Erasmus = Being independent?

The first time that I heard the word Erasmus I was like what? So, one of my friends explained to me that Erasmus is the name of the student exchange programme, which consists on studying in another part of the European Union.  He also explained that the government supports the students by giving them an scholarship. 

I was amazed because in Mexico we do not have anything similar to this. If you want to study abroad, you have to pay for everything. Of course you can look for a scholarship given by the government or some institutions, but it's kind of difficult to get it because the offer is smaller than the demand. 

But my surprise doesn't finish here. Some days ago, when I was travelling with my spanish friends, they started to say that sometimes they have money difficulties and that they have to be very careful with the way they spent the money because they don't receive anything from their parents. This was like the biggest shock for me, because I started to think about many things and that I was feeling very indpendent because I was living alone and I had to cook and everything, but now I don't know if I am independent because I receive everything from m parents, for sure I couldn´t afford my life in Europe. Eventhough my friends receive money, some of them receive less than the others and I am not sure if that quantity is enough for living here, but at least they are sure they cannot ask for money to their parents. I even remeber that one of them told me that he had a loan. I think that in Mexico, nobody of my age has a loan, that would be very weird and probably most of the loan companies, wouldn't say NO to the request.

For sure this conversation made me think about many things and now I think that I am not independent at all, just because I am studing abroad doesn't mena that I am doing it by myself. Without my parents I wouldn't be here, and eventhough I have learnt a lot and I always have to figure things out by myself it's very different from the situation that the rest of my european friends. 

Looking for a paradise

When I was in Paris I thought that I had already seen the most luxurious places, shops and cars. I still remember when I was walking in Champs Elysees and everything that I saw was fashion, luxury and of course expensive. Actually I remember telling my parents that I was amazed to see such things.

But when I went to Monaco I realized that I was completely wrong. What I saw in Paris in just a few avenues  it was everywhere in Monaco. Monaco is an amazing place, eventhough it is a very expensive place, it's worth it. It has an incredible view and a beautiful beach. 

There are no words that can describe this different experience, because I was very suprised for everything and I couldn't believe what I was seeing. There were only Mercedes, Porches, Ferraris and cars that I didn't even recognize. 

For sure the lifestyle in Monaco is different from many places in the world. You see men in suites, women wearing very nice dresses and high heels. Me and my friends went to the Casino Montecarlo and we were amazed by the architecture. It is a very big place and it is very well decorated. The dress code is very rigorous, you can't enter this place if you are wearing shorts or even jeans. That's also one of the main reasons why people is very well dressed, even if they are tourists. 

I loved Monaco, it is an amazing place, but you have to go with a lot of money because it is quite expensive, but I think is worth it, at least to go and see the great views.

Cold Austria

As part of my easter holidays I went to Vienna and then to Budapest. I just stayed 2 nights there, so we didn't have enough time to visit all the interesting places that the city has.

When I told my parents that I was going to Vienna, they told me that it was a very beatiful city and that probably I would love it. My father also told me that I should observe carefully the pople, their attitude, their way of thinking and that kind of things,so I tried to follow his advice.

Well, I can say that people from Vienna are very cold, they always seem to be angry or stressed. Of course this doesn't mean they are not good people, but I am used to live together with people that is always very nice. I remember one day that we were in the train station and we went to buy some coffee. The lady that was in charge of the cafeteria was very rude and actually one of my friends bought only one coffee and she was charging him 4 coffees and she didn`t want to accept that she had made a mistake, and she was arguing and arguing, until another girl in the shop checked the tockets and found out that the one who was wrong was this girl. 

This is only one example, but everywhere we found people like this. I can only remember one nice person which was in a souvenir shop and I guess that she was nice just because she has to sell. 

I did like Vienna, but I just remember the people and I don't feel like I want to come back and the same hapenned with the rest of my friends. So we only remember Vienna as a cold city with the coldest people we have ever met.

Du you need a fork? No thank you, I can HANDle it!

The second week of easter holidays I went to Budapest. I can say that it is a beautiful city, full of history and many things to do and to know. Thank God we had an hungarian guide who showed us all the amazing things that Budapest has; including restaurants with typical hungarian food, supermarkets, cafeterias, etc.

The first day we went to an hungarian restaurant, where we asked for many different menus so everybody could try different food. For example, I asked for one of the most famous, which is langos. Langos is like a deep fried flat bread that has garlic, cream and cheese. It tasted very good, but it is very big and it also has a lor of garlic, so it is better to share with one or two more people. 

You must be asking yourself why did I put that title. Well, here comes the explanation. One of my friends asked for a menu that included rice and when he started to eat all of us were amazed by the way he was eating. He was eating rice with his hand!!! I must say that he is from India, so for him is the most normal in the world, but for the rest of the group (spanish, mexican and hungarian people) it was not only weird, but dirty and rude. I remember one of of my spanish friends telling him: "Radja my mom used to tell me that eating with the hands it's not ok, that it is rude" and he told us that in his house, his family always eat like this. 

Let me share you the experience with a video:

Once upon a time in Barcelona

One week ago I went to Barcelona for holidays. I had heard many things about this city, about how amazing it was and also some things about the people, so I had many different ideas, but I thought that I had to discover everything by myself and create my own opinion.

Well, I can easily say that Barcelona is one of the most amazing cities I have visited. I don't know if it has to do with the fact that spanish people is the most similar that I have found to mexicans but I can say that this city has everything: good food, good places, amazing people and besides it has a beach and sea. 

The food is very different from the mexican, but we wanted to tried it as much as possible, so we went to many typical places to try some spanish food. We had tapas, gambas (shrimps), spanish tortilla, etc. 

What I liked the most is a place called Champagnería where there are different kind of sandwiches made of chicken, jam, vegetables, etc, and they are very cheap. The place is very typical and it always very crowded, so you can just buy your food and go to the beach to eat it.

As I was told, the people is kind of different to the rest of the spanish, why? Because they do not speak spanish. Their mother tongue is catalan, which is a weird combination of mmm...spanish, french and I don´t know, it sounded to me like these languages but I know that it comes from latin. As I was saying, many people told me that people in Barcelona were not very nice and when you spoke in spanish they would always speak in catalan even when they do speak spanish, but the truth is that I felt the opposite. The catalans were always very nice with us, actually one day when we took a cab the driver was very excited because we were from Mexico and he made us a disscount.

Even though everything is written in catalan and everyone speaks that language, I had a very good time and it was very good to be in a different place but I felt as if I were in home, so we must not judge before we really get to know what is going on.

Go to Barcelona!

Little kids in Ghent

Something that has called my attention since I arrived to Ghent is that I have seen many kids alone walking in the street, especially in the morning when they are goint to school. Why is is weird for me? Because in Mexico is not common to see kids that are alone in the tram or in the bus, not only because its is not safe but also because they are always with their moms.

I think here in Ghent the kids can go to school without any adult because is safe and also because sometimes it is impossible to walk them because their parents are working. In Belgium both mother and father have importants jobs and have the same responsibilities.

In Mexico is very different. The head of the family is the man and he is the one in charge of bringing money to the house and most of the women only have the responsibility of the house; cooking, taking the kids to the school, and things like these, so this is why most of the kids do not ever go alone. In my case, my mom always took me to the school and my father only did it like 3 times in 6 years, weird right? 

McDonald´s Mexico Vs. Mc Donald´s Belgium

Everyone has been in McDonald's, I think at least more than five times. I have been in McDonalds from different countries but I had never realised the differences that exist. I have read in Business books that many resturants, such as this one, have to make some changes even though they follow the same kind of line everywhere in the world and Belgium is not the exception.

While I was waiting in the row I started to look carefully at everything that was in front of me and then my eyes stopped when they saw something red in the refrigerator that said "Jupiler" and I was like: "It can´t be possible, I am must be confused or looking something different", but then, when I was closer, I read again Jupiler, so I was not wrong, what I was looking was real beer.

For me it was very strange because in Mexico there's any McDonald's or any similar restaurant, such as Burger King, that sells beer but I guess everything has to due with the fact that in Belgium beer is like drinking water, I mean, is very usual and it would not be strange to have a hamburguer with a beer. In Mexico the only think you drink while you eat in McDonald's is soda, water or ice tea, but never beer and not because mexican people do not like it, but because it would be very weird to mix the flavors. 

How would you grade the service?

First of all I would like to start by answering the question of this title. I would grade the service in pubs and restaurants as bad, at least if I were in Mexico it would be like this. Why? 

When you enter a pub or a restaurant in Mexico, commonly there is a hostess that receives you in the entrance and gives you a table. After that, a waiter or a waitress comes to your table and gives you the menu so you can select whatever you want, five minutes later comes back and asks you if you are ready to order, so you order and he or she bring you your drinks or dishes. 

Now I want to tell you my first experience in a Pub in Belgium. We decided to sit in the second floor because the first one was very crowded and we were a lot of people so we needed a big space. We waited like 15 minutes and no one arrived, so one of my spanish friends went down to see what was going on and one of the employees told him that we had to go down, order, pay and then we had to take our drinks upstairs by ourselves and also when we finished we had to take the empty glasses downstairs. Of course I was like: what are you telling me? I could not believe it, for a moment I also thought that they were going to ask us to wash the dishes!

 

I have gone to other places too and it is more or less the same and actually I have not seen a lot of waiters in a place. Usually there is just one person inside the bar and one waiter, but it is definetely very different from Mexico but I am getting used to.

As I was telling you, it's different in Mexico but I don't mind. It is just about culture and it is good to know how it works in other places in the world, at least for me it is very interesting. Maybe this difference could be seen as disrespectful or sometimes a little bit rude but I guess they do not see it this way and it is very normal.

International Dinner

The last week we had an International Dinner in our studenthome. Actually, we try to make these dinners every week, but sometimes there are some complications because of the different schedules and other things. But that doesn´t matter. Anyways, as I was telling you, we had this international dinner and the host country was Spain.

As you should know, spanish people are everywhere and here in our home there are about 10 students from different regions and cities so they cooked also very different dishes.

When it was time for the dinner I was very vey impressed because when I entered the living room I saw that the place was decorated and all seemed to be perfect. It was like this:

Of course everything looked very tasty and I was telling all the spanish people: "Oh I hope that the food is as tasty as it seems" or "Espero que la comida esté tan buena como se ve".  Well I can say that it was very good. I tried all dished and I gotta say that I tried them twice or even more.

Some people asked that if the mexican food was similar to the spanish, but it is not and the example (at least for me) was the international dinner. The dishes were very different. Almost every dish has eggs and in Mexico we eat eggs, but in a very different way.

There was something called "salmoreja" that is a regional dish from Cordoba that even some other spanish people had never tried. It is something made with tomatoe and you can see it in the picture in the small glasses. They also cooked many "tortillas esoañolas" and many "empanadas".

Just half and hour had passed and all the dishes were empy so this means that the food was very good, at least I liked it a lot and I also liked the experience of trying different food!!!

Gentlemen or is it just culture???

Some days ago we were in a pub having some beers and talking about many different things, but nothing serious. Suddenly the conversation turned into a very good comparison between the boys from Mexico and the boys from Spain.

We, mexican girls, were talking to the spanish girls and telling them that in Mexico is very common that when you have a boyfriend he pays everything for you. For example, if you go to the cinema or to a restaurant or any other place he always is in charged of the check. Actually, even if he is not your boyfriend and it is only a date or even a friend, he pays. Of course the spanish girls were very surprised and impressed and they were like: Oh my God I am moving to Mexico!!! 

Spanish girls told us that in Spain it doesn't work like in Mexico. They tolds us that when they go out they pay 50% and 50%, which means that everyone pays for his/her consumption, actually they said that sometimes women pay everything!!! I could not believe that.

Of course when the boys overhead our conversation they were arguing that is not their responsibilty to pay for everything because they are still studyng and they do not have an income and they are right, but in Mexico being a student is not an obstacle. 

Anyways, it was very interesting to share our traditions and see how culture is very different from one place and another. I mean it is not bad how spanish people think I think it is right but of course in Mexico is not like that so when I date someone I always expect him to pay for everything. It is just about culture!

Women can do it too

It was 23:30 or something like that when my friends and me were running to get the tram, but...TOO late, the tram was gone!!! Definetely we were not walking because it was too cold and our home was not near so we decided to look for a taxi.

To my suprise when we found an available cab the driver was a woman, which is not very common in Mexico. Actually I recently watched a documentary film that was about women drivers in my city and from a population of 412, 537 women, there are just about 10 women drivers and I am talking only about the ones that drive cabs because the buses are only driven by men. Can you belive that? 

 

I think here we can mention something about Hofstede's dimensions. Eventhough it has nothing to do with men vs women, it has something to do with the way women are seen in my country. I want to share the comparison between Belgium and Mexico, the ranking is at follows: Mexico 69 vs Belgium 54, so make your conclusions!

I think that driving a taxi or a bus is not about women or men. It is only a job that can be donde by anyone!

The Top Business Game: Belgium 4 - Mexico 1

It was a cold thursday morning but it was not as the other days. I usually wake up and go to school, but this day instead of going to school to take classes I went to play a game: The Top Business Game. I gotta say that I was kind of angry because on thursday I only have one class but because of the game I had to spend almost all the day in Mercator.

I actualy did not know what I was supossed to do there so I was not expecting too much. When I found out that I had to be with belgian people I was feeling unconmfortable and not very happy with the situation but let me tell you how I changed my mind!

When I sit with my partners they didn't say a word so I thought that maybe they were feeling just like me, but then when one of them spoke and asked me where I was from, everything changed. Why?  Because since the first moment I told him I was from Mexico he sarted speaking in Spanish!!! Of course just a few words, such as hello and how are you? But I thought it was very nice from him and since that moment everyone started participating so I felt very comfortable and happy for being in that team, besides we were first place and I think it was also thanks to the good communication we had.

But this doesn't end here, after the game we went to one of my team partner's apartment to make the presentation and I gotta say that it was very fun. These guys were very nice to me, actually one of them just offered to take me to Brugge or the most interesting places here in Belgium. 

As you can see the outcome of all this situation was very good so I just learned that it is not good to judge people or some situations just because you have heard some things or because you do not feel like being there. In the end, the most unexpected things are the best!

My first day in Ghent, Belgium!

Almost two weeks ago, I arrived to one of the most beatiful cities I have ever met: Ghent. Ghent is a city in Belgium, close to almost everything so I could say that this is one of the reasons of coming here.

Since I come from Mexico, 12 hours away from here (or more), I thought that I would find many differences about culture, language, places, etc. The first thing that I could say it was very different from Mexico and here in Belgium is the way in which we say hello or goodbye. So let me tell you my story.

When I arrived to the train station someone was already waiting for me: Margot. Margot is a girl from the same school where I am studying so she offered herself to pick me up. She was very nice to me, she took me to her apartment so I could send a mail to my parents telling them I was fine. While we were there she offerered to me some food and she also told me that we could go to the supermarket to make some shopping of the most importants things that I needed at the moment.

After we finished shopping we went to my Student home so I could unpack all my stuff and finally rest. When Margot and me say good bye it was kind of weird because I hugged her thinking that it would be a nice gesture from me since she helped me a lot and because for me and all mexican people that would be very normal, but I felt that she was like:"What are you doing?". Of course she didn´t tell me anything but I think it was kinf of weird for he that a girl that she barely knew hugged her.

As I was saying, in Mexico is very common that people, even if it is the first time that they say hello to each other, hug and kiss as best friends, but here in Belgium I found out that people do not usually do that. The just say hello, but the do not kiss or hug. I guess it`s all bout culture!