Another Monday filled with clashes

2009-12-07

It's Monday afternoon and I had my last session in one course earlier today. The only thing left is a home exam due next week.

This course has been interesting in many ways. It has focused on cross cultural management and issues related to this subject. I am glad to finally be done with it (at least in terms of attendance). Despite its interesting content, it has been a difficult course to take due to several reasons. The most prominent are to the clash and confrontational demeanor that they invite the attendants to adopt. Each session felt like a heated debate regarding influx of refugees, the degree of emancipation around the world or immoral elements in foreign cultures (just to mention a few). Don't get me wrong, I think it is brilliant when a class or course can be something else than just monologues by the lecturer(s). I appraise the idea of different opinions and debating. But unfortunately, I have always had the feeling that the majority of the presumptions and debates in the classroom have been based on inaccurate and sometimes completely incorrect ideas of different cultures and mentalities.

This whole theme of the confrontation of cultures and ethnicities is something that I sense very strongly on a daily basis, and it is something that I have felt for some time now. I have the feeling that it is increasing, and it disappoints me. The general trends around Europe in this area are demoralizing and disappointing altogether. A lot of nations are turning more towards xenophobia, and I conclude that on the recent results in various elections around our continent.

A very schematic example of my observations is an article about the Swedish (originally Bosnian/Croat) football player Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Regarded by professionals and journalists as one of the best football players in the world right now. The content of this article is not interesting, but the commentators' field below the article is truly disappointing and disgusting in many ways. Xenophobic comments represent a significant fraction of all comments left by readers. These comments are directed towards the player himself but also fans of him that in many cases are presumed to hail from foreign cultures and countries.

Anyway, a few weeks ago I had a very unpleasant experience when an Austrian girl in this cross cultural course attacked me with insulting and outrageous questions/comments about my origin and my family! This asswipe is just one of many who despise anything that differs from the domestic and traditional values. Like I've said in previous posts, it has to do with fear fundamentally. Fear of being attacked or polluted by something unknown and alien.

This is not all of it (naturally). There are a lot of issues related to segregation as well. As a reason for people to become more segregating (and vote for right-wing extremists with hostile views one immigrants and foreigners). I won't go into that topic in this post, but it is clearly something that is current and disturbing.

I learned a lot during this course in cross cultural management. I really feel that I gained something from it, even though it still is not over. But I am also disappointed in how insular and narrow minded people tend to be. How unwilling many people seem to be about seeing things from other perspectives and not always assuming that one is right oneself.
I'm glad that I won't have to spend more hours in that classroom, discussing these things back and forth with people who only see things in black and white. But I am fully aware of the fact that these confrontations won't end with this class, it is probably something that I will have to live with for the rest of my life.

Thank you for reading.

Update from Linz

2009-11-30
It is the last day of November 2009, this year is slowly coming to an end. I have soon spent three months in Austria and I am feeling slightly homesick. The last weeks before the Christmas break usually means a lot of stress, exams, deadlines etc. Hopefully it will blow over soon.

Ever since I arrived here, I have had the opportunity to confront new cultures that I have interacted with. I have been forced to deal with my own prejudice and stereotyping, and I have been forced to lead others into dealing with theirs. I have been exposed to xenophobia in its purest form, to justify my right to exist and to live in "their" country - and I have had to prove to people that I am not a terrorist, nor in possession of highly enriched Uranium (or kryptonite as one moron believed). However, I have had positive experiences as well. I have had the chance to attend a prom in southern Austria, and I have seen locals fanatically enjoying the polka music while dancing to it. It was an interesting experience, far from anything I have ever seen before. To me it looked like as if dressed up people were wrestling to the tunes of circus music, but it was of course more than that ;).

After having seen Assyrian weddings (and danced their traditional dances), I feel that there are many similarities between these experiences. I remember that I felt the same (as an outsider, far away from home) when I attended my first (and until now only) Assyrian wedding.

In other words, I had a nice time while learning something new.

Anyway, despite my enhanced cultural sensitivity and anticipation, I still miss things from home (as well as despising things in my presence here). I am pretty disgusted by the absence of AC. I hate that the water temperature shifts when I am taking shower. I hate the cleaning lady. Today she (and her self righteous colleagues) managed to collectively cause more mess than usual. To make a long story short, they like moving stuff around (I fucking hate that!!!), and they have a strange predilection for putting dirty furniture/objects on my bed. This is called sadism. May they burn in hell!

I spent a couple of hours at the local IKEA store a few days ago. I took the chance to have some Swedish food while being there. It's nothing fancy, rather simple - but still brilliant.

I promised to post a "review" of my room soon, and I will, I promise. I just need to get a few tasks out of the way and then I can dedicate myself more into posting updates of my life in Austria.

Thank you for reading!