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Culture Shock in Jordan
I enter the café in hopes of finding some good wi-fi to skype my parents with. I ask if there is wireless internet, I am informed by the waiter there is indeed wifi at this particular establishment. Then I am asked how many guests are with me. Just me, I answer. The maître’d overhears my response and mutters something and I am abruptly informed by the same waiter that there is no more room at this café. I can see empty tables; there is plenty of room.
It is clear what has just happened. The host of this establishment doesn’t want to have a lone American use up his wi-fi and buy essentially nothing (I would have probably bought an overpriced bottle of water). Or maybe this particular café is “couples only.” Either way, after this experience I came to a realization. I came to Jordan with a particular mindset; I’ve studied abroad before, I’ve learned a considerable amount about Arab culture from my friends back home, cultural shock couldn’t possibly happen to me. But the truth is that I have been affected by it—I have been culturally shocked. I’m shocked when the above scenario plays out. I am shocked by the ubiquitous impatience of Amman, as well as the tardiness (ironically enough) which all events here subscribe to. Or by the difficulty of making new friends here, and the impossibility of meeting Jordanian women. By the lack of nightlife and recreational activities for youths life myself, and by the often hollow mimicry of American customs I see every day in malls, on TV, brand names, and fast food.
I’m not entirely sure how best to cope with this ‘shock.’ I experienced it a little when I studied in Haifa, and significantly less so while in South Korea. I realize that I’ve been handling it pretty poorly—spending too much time with Americans, perhaps for the comfort of familiarity, and not making enough time for experiencing Ammanian culture with Jordanians.
On the other hand, I do feel that I’ve learned a considerable amount of conversational Arabic, which was my main goal in coming here. While it will be important to regain familiarity from time to time (sealing myself off in my ipod or Minecraft), that needs to not take up the bulk of my time here if I am to pursue my goals of coming close to mastering conversational Arabic, making lasting friends here, and becoming deeply familiar with Arab culture as well as the politics and worldviews of the region.
So, hopefully things start looking up!
Investing in the Middle East during the Arab Spring
These past three months in Amman I have spent my Mondays at an internship at the Jordan Investment Board, a semi-government organization tasked with enticing foreign investors to bring their business to Jordan, through publishing flashy literature on the vital economic statistics in Jordan and researching and meeting with potential investors around the world. My interest in the economics of the region led me to this organization, and I have been doing research on companies that the Jordan Investment Board deems potential investors.
As a student of political science and economics, one issue that is particularly interesting to me is the effects of the recent revolutions in the Middle East and North Africa on investment in Jordan’s developing economy. I first considered this issue when a coworker told me of his frustrations with a potential investor he had spoken with over the phone. In his view, this particular businessman showed his political ignorance in assuming all Arab countries are now politically unstable. In short, the company was scared off.
But was my coworker correct—is it wrong to assume that any and all Arab countries could be susceptible to revolt?
I decided to discuss this problem with my coworkers and supervisor at the JIB. I learned that investors were initially scared away in January by the Arab Spring revolutions and the prospect of instability and possible revolution in Jordan. Investors observed the movement that began in Tunisia and moved its way into Egypt, Libya, and Syria and feared revolution could occur in Jordan, as well, I was told. Their apprehension was certainly understandable—these regimes all appeared stable before they collapsed (though the situation in Syria remains unresolved), so why should Jordan be any different? Protests in Jordan at that time stemming from increasing inflation and unemployment as well as political tensions between the Palestinian and Jordanian populations served to further exacerbate these fears.
The King of Jordan subsequently enacted a series of reforms, made visits with European leaders to ease fears of instability, and overturned parliament—twice. My supervisor, in charge of the business processes outsourcing and information technology department says these things have made Jordan appear more stable. In the year that has passed since the Arab revolutions began the King was able to avert the protests from going the way of revolt, Jordan has remained calm and in September Jordan was invited to join the Gulf Cooperation Council—you can think of it as an EU for gulf nations. Resulting from these developments, Jordan is seeing investment slowly pick up again. One further consequence of the revolutions is that companies who had committed to investing in Egypt before the overthrow of Mubarak are now looking elsewhere in the region to open factories and branches. For some of them, Jordan is a brighter alternative, and I was told that at least three major companies have committed to investing in Jordan through this route.
At least for the present, it would appear that Jordan remains a bastion of stability, and as long as this is the image Jordan projects, investment will continue and the economy will maintain its growth. It is also appears that monarchies in the Middle East and North Africa (including Jordan, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and several other gulf states) are more stable than their dictatorial counterparts—good news for Jordan. Quite a lot hinges on what happens in Syria, however, and remember that the Assad regime was assumed to be stable—and then suddenly it was not. I have discussed with professors and journalists how vitally important Syria is to Jordan—it is a major trading partner, and political tensions are arising from refugees coming through Jordan’s northern border. Jordan petitioned the Arab League to except trade with Jordan from its recent sanctions on Syria (though sanctions with exceptions are not really sanctions at all). The cessation of trade with this key trading partner would have profound short-term effects on Jordan’s already-discontent workforce. A collapse of the Syrian regime could be even worse for Jordan’s stability—though political freedoms are far more lacking in Syria than in Jordan, who is to say that Jordan could remain undemocratic in light of democratic uprisings in neighbors Egypt and Syria?
There remain questions about the Arab Spring, the answers of which are of great import globally but will also have a powerful effect on investment in the Middle East. First and foremost, does a second wave of uprisings lie in wait for the region, perhaps in monarchies and Algeria who have so far been mainly unshaken by the revolutions? Second, most of the revolutions in the Arab Spring states were preceded by periods of growth and economic liberalization; can the moderate Islamic parties that are winning pluralities in Egypt and Tunisia inspire confidence in the economy again?
I would propose that the acquisition of political freedom is not only more pressing than stability and economic continuity, but necessary for Middle Eastern economies to bloom. Indeed research shows that free, democratic governments are more conducive to economic growth than other forms of government. The struggle between sustaining the recent economic booms in the Middle East and North Africa and affording its citizens their desired political rights and dignity is vital for the region’s future.
Practical Waste Management
Upon visiting Japan for the first time, one might notice something peculiar about the streets, might notice the absence of something that it usually so commonplace in other countries, but that one wouldn’t notice the absence of until necessary—in Japan, there are no public trashcans. Save for the occasional plastic bottle receptacle next to vending machines, the streets of Tokyo are completely trashcan-less. There are a number of theories on this, but the most widely accepted seems to be the acquired, newly cultural view that people should throw their garbage away in their own homes. Despite this being true, the streets of Japan are almost unnaturally clean and trash free. This tendency, I think, may be in part due to Japan’s dedication to recycling, a tendency that appears in many places.
In Japan, there are many sorting systems in place in order to facilitate proper recycling. Many fast food restaurants and food courts that I’ve been to around Japan have special sorting systems for depositing trash. Any liquids or ice left over is poured into a special metal funnel inset into the trash receptacle, which filters into a special liquid container. All plastics, straws, lids, stirs, etc. are placed in one side of the trash can, while food and other combustible trash is placed in another. I was impressed upon first noticing this system—it’s such a simple and effective measure for the sake of aiding the process of recycling, especially on an island that certainly has no extra room for landfills. If used in other countries, such an implementation would allow for much easier, practical sorting. It’s a wonder I have seen it nowhere else. My dormitory also has a system like the one at McDonalds, though it is much more complex. On each floor of the building, there are six different receptacles in which to organize trash. There are bins for combustibles, incombustibles, cans & glass bottles, pet (plastic) bottles, plastics, and recyclable paper. There is also a separate container for pet bottle caps, as a student organization on campus collects these for charity. It would seem, rather than allowing citizens to amass their garbage in public trashcans as in the U.S., forcing citizens to throw their garbage away at home heightens accountability, and forces the Japanese to be responsible about their trash.
In terms of energy, Japan has been forced to preserve since the Tohoku Earthquake in March of this year. Because of damage, there has been less in the way of electricity production lately. Therefore, Japan is currently undergoing a period of energy preservation called Setsuden. Many business and government-run buildings are making attempts to cut down on power, often posting signs to deter use of elevators, lighting when not needed, and going so far as to cut all lighting during certain hours. Street lighting in the popular neon sign-lit streets of Tokyo has also been dimmed to an extent. Setsuden is a necessary program that seems to be taken seriously by all Japanese, and has thus far prevented black outs in the much more serious post-March 11th Japan. Japan’s sense of energy conservation is something that I will definitely take away from my stay here. I’ve noticed the change in my habits due to my increasing annoyance with my roommate, who insists on having all lights and air conditioning units on at all times.
Overall, Japan seems to be an extremely conservation-conscious country, a tendency that is facilitated, I believe, by the size and high population of the country. However, Japan sets a good example for practical waste management, no matter how large or small the country.
Seeking home at the bottom of a jar
All I wanted was peanut butter. About a month into my stay in Buenos Aires, I was going crazy for peanut butter and was seriously dedicated to finding some. It’s not the most common thing here, where super-sweet dulce de leche is preferred, though it is definitely available in health food stores called dietéticas. However for some reason I had the hardest time securing a jar of my heavenly, creamy, good-anytime treat; I had heard of some places to find it from people on my program, but either I couldn’t find the store, they would be out of stock (since the American students were all raiding these places around the same time), or I’d find a store to realize it was be closed. For a good two weeks, peanut butter was on my brain. I think my host family found my fanaticism a bit ridiculous, but at that point in my stay, I was feeling the low point of culture shock, and peanut butter represented home to me. I was craving the comfort of something just so American to pull me away from the difficulty of being far away. I was frustrated that something so common in the United States was so difficult to obtain here, frustrated that stores are closed on Sundays when I had the time to go to them, and frustrated that I didn’t have the variety of food here so readily available to me like I do at UMass.
When I finally found peanut butter, it was awesome. I ate it at least once a day and went through two full jars all by myself within the next month. However, I haven’t had it since then. Part of the reason is that I did admittedly go a little overboard with it, but the other part is about adapting to the culture. On the one hand, I have found healthy alternatives that I can pick up at the supermarket instead of running around the city to search for them, and on the other hand, I have become comfortable here and don’t have the desperate need for the comfort of something American. Obviously there is more to the phenomenon of culture shock than the desire for sandwich spreads, but I think it serves as a good analogy for the process. As the semester has progressed, I have learned to adapt myself more to the porteño culture, instead of the other way around, and my ability to do that has made me so happy here. Feeling incorporated into the culture and having settled into my daily life has made Buenos Aires feel much more like home. It is a great comfort that makes me amazingly content and excited to be staying here another semester.
And that is another topic in it of itself. Right now I have been at the peak of the culture shock transformation for a while, and since I am staying in Argentina for the year, the prospect of continuing this experience, getting to explore the city even more, and being able to immerse myself further into the culture is a welcome relief. However, hearing about all of my friends on my program getting ready to go home and see family and friends makes me miss home a lot more than I feel like I would otherwise. I don’t know what it would feel like to be going home soon, if I would be reluctant to leave, if I would have considered extending my study abroad for another semester, if I would have been happy going back to UMass (which I do miss a lot!) after this crazy semester…All I know is that I am staying and I am so happy about it. Being away from home for so long will no doubt be difficult, and I am curious to see how culture shock will manifest itself over a longer period of time, but at least now I know where to get myself some peanut butter if I need it.
Studying sustainability while in the United Kingdom
Studying sustainability while abroad has probably amplified my awareness of how human impact on the environment is dealt with here. In general, the cars are smaller and therefore more fuel-efficient. The only person in my building who has a car drives a mini cooper. Supermarkets here charges extra if you do not have reusable grocery bags. My flat is right next to a nature preserve and near a wind turbine. The public transportation infrastructure is pretty good. There are even more bicycle paths than I original noticed. The cycle share program in London is rather popular. The recycling program at my university is rather through and the administrators support initiative that encourage us to reduce our residences’ carbon footprint. The flat that turns their lights off most often and therefore uses the least energy gets some reward at the end of the semester. I got a pamphlet and pens made of recycled plastic from the Environment Team the first week I was here. Castles, Roman sites, Stonehenge and other similar historic sites are my only experiences of preserved areas though. I signed up to do volunteer restoration work at a near-by park, but the project doesn’t start until December.
Other than the clear difference in car size, I’m still not exactly quite sure how conservation here differs greatly from in the States. Recycling efforts are implemented all over the West nowadays and college campuses in the states also generally have a great presence of environmental awareness development programs. It’s not as if the plants and animals differ much from the variety in New York. The only place I saw an electric car was in Norway. No aspect of environmental conservation seems drastically different yet.
The sustainability class I am in here discusses how society sustains itself, the options society has to effectively use resources and develop agriculture and industry in light of the green movement’s goals. The goals being to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. I was surprised to find that even in a European class rooms, discussions of the development of environmental concerns often references the States, but that is where the green movement and organizations like the Sierra Club first gained ground. Plus, U.S. organization like the Environmental Protection Agency often still are the first to set standards which then are adopted elsewhere in the West. A film screened in one of the workshops actually went over each American Presidents’ approach to environmental issues. The overall issues seem to be the same. Water depletion, fossil fuel use, and pollution all need to be reduced in the States and here, but this has proved easier said than done. The decision of whether it is better to invest in more efficient and environmentally friendly new technological developments or to just cut costs is common to not just the UK and the US, but all people.
Spending extra money and time on evaluating the ways each new construction affects the local ecosystem. Consulting sustainable development firms and securing environmental services cuts into investment capital. However, it is taught that short-term cost cutting can have major long-term consequences. Plenty of examples, such as the British Petroleum oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, demonstrate how clean up costs far exceed the cost of preventative measures. Some new research and theories under the title of “ecological modernization” even suggest that sustainable development investments will actually stimulate the economies by creating a new green collar job sector as well as maintain long-term economic stability and growth by preventing environmental disasters. Also, technological innovations and environment-informed design are leading to more efficient solutions to the need for sustainable development.
It will be interesting to see which country makes the most progress redeveloping sustainably. As of right now the direction is up in the air so future elections will determine which nations either further invest in their environmental agencies or slash their budgets. Who knows, if the EPA gets defunded in the states, my environmental chemistry major could one day have me looking in Europe for a good job.
日本語で未来へ見る Looking into the Future with the Japanese Language
Ever since stepping into my very first class of my very first day in High School I have had a sincere, dedicated interest in learning the Japanese language. I initially pursued learning Japanese with no intention other than to become bilingual (I saw it as a challenge compared to the Spanish, French, and German language classes available); I have always believed that it is a mark of the well-educated to be bi- or multilingual, even though now, after living in Japan, I recognize that it is often also determined by mere circumstance or chance (growing up in a bilingual household, living in different countries, etc.). Ever since my freshman year of high school, even though the classes I was able to take did not offer much in the way of progress, I have made it a major goal to pursue the language to the fullest extent of my abilities. Making progress in the language in Japan has reminded me of how difficult this task is, why learning the language would be valuable to me, as well as how satisfying it would/will be to finally become fluent. All it takes is a stroll through a bookstore in Japan to remind me of what I would gain by learning the language, even when I have so far to go. In all honesty, being completely immersed in a non-English-speaking nation has gotten me a bit weary of studying for the moment, but I plan to relaunch my efforts as soon as possible, in time for my next semester abroad in Japan. I believe that my personal drive and love for learning will take me there some time soon.
In the future, I might like to employ my knowledge of the Japanese language in a creative or professional sense. Though I would not make it a career, interpreting and translation is something that I take much joy in. I’ve always thought the nuance and variability of language to be infinitely interesting, and I would love to explore this through translation. If I am able to find any way to incorporate Japanese in to a Computer Science career, I would surely like to do that as well. Seeing the modern innovation and conveniences that Japan has to offer has inspired in me a want to introduce these kinds of conveniences to the U.S. The simple introduction of convenience store culture as it is in Japan would help many people—especially us University students! Even though the United States might not have cause for some aspects and adaptations of contemporary Japanese culture, there are a great deal of institutions that the U.S. could look to Japan to improve upon: Environmental awareness, cheap public transit, recycling, conservation, etc. Japan has a lot to offer the world, and my study abroad travels to Japan have awoken me to these many differences and similarities: aspects of life that should be shared.
Unknown, but refreshingly so
At first when I was thinking about this question, I didn’t feel as though there had been any specific realizations or experiences brought on during this semester abroad which have affected my academic or professional roles. I still feel fairly undecided about where I see myself heading after college, but I will come away from my time in Argentina with some insight on that. For example, one of the things that drew me to my study abroad program was that they offered an internship with a non-profit organization. The people that I worked with were wonderful and did great things, but the experience was not exactly what I had hoped for. Coming out of that reinforced that to work in such an environment is difficult and takes a lot of dedication, but can be so much more rewarding because of that, something I have observed working with other non-profits before. Furthermore, being a part of the Gilman community has opened up other opportunities for me here. In October, a group of us visited the Fulbright Commission in Buenos Aires and got to learn about the various programs that Fulbright offers for students to do research abroad, which is something that I had not known much about and now very much interests me.
However, I think even past the specific things such as those, what will be even more valuable to me in my future academic and professional endeavors will be the skills I take away from my abroad experience. My ability to speak Spanish aside, it’s perseverance, self-reliance, creative problem solving, self-confidence, being able to step out of my comfort zone – all things that I have learned and adopted even unknowingly, just by making my way in a foreign city every day. I might not make it back to America with a newly enlightened vision of my life plan, but indeed, having those sorts of qualities under my belt will help me in the long run to be the best I can be with whatever I end up doing.
From the Bottom to the Top… and Back?
For me, living in Japan has been a mix of continual ups and downs. The highs are often contingent on successes, fun with friends, and being able to experience the things I’ve wanted to do even before coming to Japan. The lows often consist of times of frustration due to the language barrier, when I’ve been unable to do what I want or need to do. Because these ups and downs are often linked to certain circumstances, they come and go sporadically, and are not as predictable as one might think.
The “Everything is new, interesting, and exciting” stage occurs every so often when I find something in Japan that would be unavailable in America. The first instance of this might have been my discovery of the Yodobashi camera stores. They’re one of, if not the biggest chain of department stores in Japan, and they trump every electronics store in America without a sweat. The tech and electronics geek that I am, I’ve spent a great deal of time in these stores. They contain everything from print stations, cell phones, phone accessories, mobile wifi, conputers, drawing tablets, and computers on the first floor to a Tower Records, stationery store, book store, and clothing store on the 6th. In between, they have entire floors devoted to cameras, games, toys and models, home electronics, TVs and entertainment systems, build it yourself computer part, printers, electronic dictionaries, etc. I have never experiences a store like this in the U.S., so I was duly excited. Another instance of this would be a visit to the Studio Ghibli Museum that my friends and I made. It was an exciting experience. Beforehand, me and a friend had some time, so we ate a snack at a cafe near the museum, where the kind owners and workers spoke to us, and we helped a visitor from Hong Kong that couldn’t speak Japanese. Moments like these are pivotal, in my case, for a feeling of acceptance and happiness while abroad.
The “Homesick, depressed, and helpless” stage has occurred more than I would like to admit. This was mostly due to the language barrier, as well as my unfamiliarity with some Japanese practices (like where you need to go to pick up items you might have left on the bus). Just yesterday I had a particularly hard time in one of Tokyo’s biggest cities, Shinjuku, where I got lost trying to find a building I’d been to before, as well as another department store. I tried a different, closer exit from the Shinjuku station, and due to the oddity of Japanese maps (which don’t seem to follow any sort of guide, as the maps don’t follow the top = North or even the top = direction you’re facing standard) and I failed miserably. I lost about a half an hour lost among skyscrapers. Luckily, the second time I was lost, a Japanese 20-something asked if he could help me find the Kinokuniya (which I would never have found on my own) and I eventually made it. These types of events often foster a frustrated and helpless feeling that is hard to dispell, especially when you’re surrounded by a foreign language all day long. I love learning languages, and I have been rather ambitious when trying to learn Japanese, but one can only do so much in a given time. Living in Japan is like living surrounded by the same puzzle that you’re attempting to sort, and you can never escape it. My lack of knowledge is completely my doing, however, so it often causes me to feel rather pathetic.
I wish I could say that I have developed ways in order to cope with all of the difficulties I have personally faced, but for me, traveling and discovering new things with friends is just about the only way to make the experience better. If I’d had a friend with me in Shinjuku, I doubt that we would have gotten lost—or, in the least, not for as long. Two heads are better than one, especially under stressful circumstances. Though friends cannot help you in all situations, this is the best way that I’ve found to cope with misfortunes and cultural oddities.