Wanderings in Rotterdam

On Friday, our whole class went to 'the cave' a virtual reality center that was part of SARA the Netherlands computing and networking center. We also got a tour to see the supercomputers. So sad to hear that the supercomputers are just a waste after they become outdated. Later on in the day we had a lecture on sex work by Petra and later visited the sex worker information center and went on a guided tour across the different regions of the red light district and what kind of sex workers you would find in each area. During the day, I got calls from Selma but due to low cellphone minutes I called Selma later during the day and arranged for an interview on Monday @ 2:00 pm in Dappermarkt.

Yesterday, went out to Rotterdam by train and just did some self exploration. Irina and I bought tickets together and then we headed over to Rotterdam and explored independently. I came off and bought a frikandel from the automatic machine but somehow even putting in 2 euros, the machine didn't give me change but the lady was kind enough to tell me to come inside and get 80 cents. So it wasn't 100% automatic experience but it was cool using the machine. Later, I came out the back side of the central station and went into a small foods store and the owner pointed me to a map outside on the side of the building I was looking for places where I had listed from the web of interesting places to visit but failed to see any so I just decided to walk. I took a right and then right again and came onto a large car-filled street so I kept walking down that road by making a left and then went towards a big zoo but the entrance fee was extremely high and no discounts for students so I turned left and went under tunnel until I saw a nice park. I took a right and went into an immigrant filled neighborhood. I went and did some shopping and then came upon an Islamic Cultural Center. It turned out to be primarily a store, similar to the Moroccan store we had visited in Amsterdam West but larger and more roomy. I talked to the shop-keeper who couldn't speak English well so I ended up speaking to a customer who really wanted to talk to me about Islam - probably at first thinking I wanted to convert but later just providing me with an English tranlation of Koran and said I could ask for further help if needed. He had mentioned there was a mosque nearby I could visit at 6:00 when they did daily prayer.

I went an had Tagine at a Moroccan Eet-cafe and it was DELICIOUS. I totally would have it again! The prices was better than at Paloma Blanca and the server was really kind and helped answer my question of what Tagine was etc. After I was full I went and started walking backwards to the store area and continued walking in hopes of finding the mosque that the costumer had directed me to but apparently I crossed the street when I shouldn't have and ended up having to go back. The small building with a mosque sign on it that I had passed earlier with curiosity turned out to be the right mosque. I stayed outside and just observed until the customer came & approached me and told me I could go in without a problem - I just had to take off my shoes.

While inside he mentioned the following points:

* The mosque has several prayer times a day, we were at 6:00 there was another at 9:00 - they try to make it easy for people who are at work to come in but some people who are to busy to come at all can pray at home too

* There are about 5 mosques in the area

* Women and men pray separately at the mosque to keep from temptation - he said it's not discrimination (some mosques women pray behind the men) - therefore the period where I was observing was supposed to be women-free so I got constant looks

* You must clean yourself before praying so there's a shower room I saw quite a few men use - you are also supposed to be sober & drug free

* There is a predominant Jewish population North, South more Surinamese and Antilles, West more Moroccan and Turks

* He doesn't feel like he's accepted in Dutch culture. He made pretty strong points that he feels Dutch on the outside appear nice and friendly but on the inside it's a different story - they don't want to get to know you and want you to keep from becoming 'smart' because it's threatening.

Things I noticed:

* Very diverse immigrant population

* Quieter than Amsterdam, less crowded

* Sky-rises on one side with very modern buildings & then a side of more traditional Dutch homes on the other side of Central Station itself (it was like a divider)

Full Experience of Amsterdam West

This morning got up and did some online research and I came upon this picture that I had taken last weekend in Amsterdam West. It was a closed fashion exhibit which I recollect displayed a plethora of ladies' wear. I had luckily taken a picture of the sign and it had the title and address on it. When I looked it up it was part of a website that held fashion exhibits so I tried emailing - which got a bounce back. Then I called them and what sounded like an Indian man picked up and apparently the showroom had moved over to Dappermarkt (thus I suspect it was originally a showroom/business in the first place) - this is Amsterdam West market we frequent which apparently is a famous tourist attraction via Internet searching . He's agreed to having a talk on Monday, I might head over at around 4:00 pm just to have a brief chat & see what it is like to sell fashion to a large Muslim customer pool and the culture around Dappermarkt.

Afterwards, I headed around 12:00 to Dappermarkt to interview Selma, whose mother owns a head scarf store, but apparently her shop was closed and I called her but her sister picked up and let me know Selma would be coming later around 2-3 but then later informed me after I went around to do some exploring and tasting of frites & loempia, that she wouldn't be there at 2 and would have to reschedule. I'm going to try calling tomorrow and seeing if there is any time tomorrow evening or Saturday to interview.

I returned back to the dorms and did some internet research and found out some background on Köken Ergun, the Turkish artist we saw yesterday at the exhibit. The idea behind his Untitled headscarf piece according to an interview which really did fit into what I had thought of yesterday - was that women are faced with all sorts of pressures on the head scarf, and particularly in Turkey there's the Islamic history that has been covered & being smothered/repressed by the nationalistic government that wants to westernize and secularize - so there's the desire to wear the headscarf by religious reasons, the stigma that is attached due to current political moods, and the nationalistic pressure against it - which is a struggle for many Muslim women in Turkey which I think Ergun portrayed through the comparison with various headscarfs and finally the distinctive Turkish flag headscarf.

Then afterwards, I headed out to Albert Heijn to get some lovely stoopwafels & met up with Anne & Julia then later Irina, Ray, and Sunil! We wandered into Kruidvat and eventually came back to dorms. Afterwards, May-Brit from UvA crash course arrived by bike & Irina and I, all three of us, headed over towards Dappermarkt. We met up with Hassan (the owner of the Moroccan Islamic store) and greeted & chatted. He was very friendly and warm towards us asking how we are - and then Jaoul and his native Dutch friend who converted to Islam met up with us & we headed over the corner cafe where we chatted for about 2 hours! They gave great insight some of the most interesting things I remember are as follows:

* How there is a lack of internal motivation to do better in school or climb the social ladder amongst the 2nd and particularly 3rd generation Muslim immigrants - oftentimes boys will be completely lost on the social 'radar' not at school or at work - which is what Jaoul's friend is working on at the mosque - trying to create organizations and activities to inspire academic motivation in the younger generation

* There is a wide gap between the high performing Muslim students and the poor performers - there really isn't many middle level performers

* Women wear the headscarf because of direct expectations of the religion/text/etc, cultural and family traditions, a way to communicate their muslim status, as well as rebelling and being proud of their beliefs/background and to make a statement (that it is their own personal free choice to wear the headscarf) - there isn't one way

* There is level of flexibility and bending in the headscarf wearing rules here in the Netherlands

* Segregation in the Netherlands can be helped if try to modify some aspects of social presentation as well as social customs to be more fitting into Dutch society, as well as understand that you must 'accept' certain practices/beliefs of others - not that you have to follow - but you must accept & understand/respect there are neighbors believing in certain concepts & living certain lifestyles (two way? this idea of pragmatic tolerance)

* In the Netherlands it's not really the term 'integration' which has the connotation that you are absorbed into the culture - but more 'assimilation' where you are accepted

Bijlmermeer + Exploration + Lectures

Biljmermeer on Monday was a fantastic experience. Taking the metro in a nice sunny weather was refreshing! It was very interesting to see a suburban area of Amsterdam. I had this image that Amsterdam that only included the dams, canals, and a combination of historical and unique modern houses that you see around the central area. Biljmermeer seemed to me to a whole new city to me at first but now I'm thankful to have visited what's considered 'suburban' Amsterdam. It was very interesting to learn about the history - in which it was meant supposed to be a middle class neighborhood but instead became a 'black' neighborhood due to the independence of Suriname around 1975. The video we saw really stressed the multi-ethnicity of the region which I feel could possibly be even more so than Amsterdam Oost or West - but I would be interested to find out how much segregation/ghettofication exists and if anything is changing in this area. I get the feeling it's very widespread in this suburban area - we saw whole areas where 90%+ of the by-passers were immigrants and almost specifically Surinamese.



Important Observations:
- Lot's of satellite dishes

(indicating high density of immigrants)

- Rising middle class Surinamese neighborhoods - clean & 'privatized' (made into one's own space) & really luxurious inside

(evidence of social mobility - but to what extent? segregation question still persists)

- There are also many churches along with mosques because Surinamese

(Surinamese main religions include Christian, Hindu, and Muslim)

On Tuesday, Ray was wonderful and decided to join me in my exploration of Amsterdam West. She truly was a savior and helped me navigate places that would have otherwise taken me 2-3 times as long. We took bus 22 over to an Islamic school which happened to be closed but we took a few pictures. The school was a regular sized elementary school and doesn't stand out much at all. It is located underneath an apartment complex (I assume it serves surrounding neighborhood). Rooms inside were a little messy with chairs stacked onto the tables & askew but chairs & desks looked pretty new and the inside floors/walls looked clean. The sign on the building is a picture of a mosque, which is the school's logo/mascot. Nearby on the corner was a daycare room with mostly Muslim and immigrant women running it. The children were of various ethnicities including white (assuming native Dutch). We then walked over to try and find the Netherlands Islamic Society and on our way came across the Zeeburg area market and walked through it. We were starting to get low on time and coupled with rainy weather we decided to try to get as far as we could to the society via instructions I had gotten by Google Map but after knowing it was close to Amstel Station and not finding intermediate streets we chose to head on back.

Important Observations:
- A bit of trash being picked up by the wind

(I've noticed higher levels of trash traces in immigrant neighborhoods - possibly not a common understanding to pick up or have set standards for cleanliness)

- Muslim/immigrant women running daycare center with all sorts of nationalities of babies present

(Immigrants clearly seem to hold a lower average socioeconomic standing)

- Islamic school simple & small scale but relatively clean

(A level of legal autonomy is clearly given to minorities)

Today, Wednesday, we had a series of lectures. In the morning we listened to the processes of publication editing - the steps from peer reviewing, to editor response, to rewriting and resubmission, to final publication and promotion. The interesting thing is how common plagiarism and double submission occurs. Also the idea of a shifting/changing Dutch education system is very fascinating. I had no clue medical school could ever be decided by lottery but Amsterdam has proven me wrong!

In the afternoon, Jessica took us to a portion of the Stedelijk Museum which had an amazing exhibition by 3 artists. One work by Turkish artist Köken Ergun, was particularly interesting. I felt his act of putting on a headscarf which embodies a lot of the political and social pressures Islam has received over the past few years. In that way putting on the headscarf to eventually come to the Turkish flag, from my personal reading felt as if he was speaking to the common memories of how religion was tied to the national identity and by wearing the headscarf with the Turkish flag eventually comes to say 'mourning for what it has come to - where the religious backbone is being neglected/deliberately pushed away by the government.' I'm really curious to know how a guy wearing a headscarf would be viewed by members of the Islamic community!

Interview + Exploration Wonders

Today started out fresh and optimistic. I had an interview scheduled with a mother Zoubida and her daughter Hanan at 10:00 am. I took the tram 1 line by Julie's wonderful suggestion and ended up going a bit too far but took the opposite tram 1 back to Surinameplein. Along the way I talked to both immigrants as well as native Dutch and they were very helpful in pointing me to the right direction. I'm truly thankful.



Upon arriving at Zoubida and Hanan's home on the second floor, Hanan waved at me through the window and I went up. They are a middle class Moroccan family currently in the second generation here in Amsterdam with a really beautiful and bright home. They were incredibly kind and helpful and served me waffle cookies while I was there! The interview was friendly, relaxed, and incredibly insightful for me. I learned so many things and they were so honest about everything. I tried my best to ask questions and probe into all corners that I had some misconceptions or had need of clarification. Some of the major findings I got today was the following:

*The choice to wear head scarves is supposed to be based solely on one's religion or relationship with God. However, because the head scarf is undoubtedly tied into other social meanings, there will be social pressures against wearing it (especially when getting a job) as well as individuals who abuse the purpose of wearing a headscarf by using it create an 'good' or 'holy' image for themselves. The headscarf does not however designate a woman as a good muslim - that has to consider multiple factors including how well she follows the five tenants of Islam (including giving to poor, etc)

*The headscarf is often viewed as one of the final/closing performances a Muslim woman should do - it is a symbol for having chosen a certain lifestyle for most women (but there are exceptions)

*Muslim men probably also have misconceptions or jump to conclusions about women who wear and don't wear the headscarf. Generally, Muslim men prefer the idea of the head-scarved woman because they assume she is very religious, etc and may even become fixated on this 'ideal' but the headscarf again is not a tell all end all

After the interview, I walked towards the Islamic Relief Organization but found out that it was closed. I asked a bypasser who said it might be open Monday. It seems this place is more for providing relief in Islamic nations so it probably doesn't connect much to our research on Muslim women's fashion but it was interesting to visit the surrounding Amsterdam West neighborhood. I took quite a few pictures, it was fairly mixed (with significant native Dutch around) but was a predominantly immigrant area. As I walked around I talked to a Muslim mother with a stroller but unfortunately she didn't speak much English. She asked a Dutch woman over who was very nice and helped translate my intentions to her (for an interview). The Dutch lady seemed to have a bit of background knowledge on the topic and helped explain that generally the headscarf is by personal choice. She also had the attitude that was very friendly toward the Islamic woman which I found pleasant. After confirming with the Muslim woman that she wasn't proficient enough for an interview I bid them farewell since they had business to do.



I went into a small department store and asked the head-scarfed young woman cashier if she would be interested in interviewing but she kindly declined. I also went into another blokker store on Jan Evertsenstraat and got email addresses for two Muslim girls there who were not wearing a headscarf in case I had any questions to pose to them. They didn't have enough time for a 20 minute interview so I respected that.

Along the way walking back to Surinameplein, I came across an area with school children. They were Moroccan and were playing outside of their school actually. They told me the school was mixed and that a lot of Moroccan, Surinamese, and Turks lived in their area as well as English people and Dutch people. They were a friendly bunch and brightened my day significantly :) I also saw two immigrant (seemed to be either Moroccan or Turkish) girls sitting outside a small grocery store that was actually located inwards (near residential area which I found interesting) eating icecream and they waved hello at me. I greeted them back and asked if they spoke English which they replied 'Nay'. I waved good-bye and had to continue on my way.

I got on Tram 1 again and headed back towards Centraal Station. I stopped at Jan Pieter Heyenstraat to visit the Moroccan restaurant Paloma Blanca which we had found earlier by searching but was also recommended by Hanan. It was empty except for a Dutchman (presumed friend of owner) and owner himself. It probably wasn't dinner time yet as the owner said Friday and Saturdays are good days to come when people are around. I mentioned Irina and I are interested in coming in and doing some observation/research and he said we are welcome anytime :) Also a great chance to get Moroccan food!

I got back on Tram 1 and this time went all the way back to Centraal Station, got a falafel sandwich, and headed on over to Albert Heijn. I asked the counter workers if I could have an interview with the manager sometime regarding uniforms and Muslim women's dress. The owners were busy but the counter worker gave me the names and number to contact them so I will try to schedule that for next week. All and all a great experience today! Fun navigating around too - I absolutely love the tram system now so efficient - just had to figure out some aspects of the system but after that it was smooth sailing from there.

Sit Down With UvA Students

Just wanted to make a brief update about a chat with UvA students today which was very eye opening. Two girls approached me who were interested in Irina and I's research about Muslim women's fashion. One girl was a Christian Georgian who happened to know a lot of Islamic culture and had friends who were Muslim. The other girl was Bolivian who had once lived and studied in Florida. They are now both pursuing masters study here in Amsterdam.

From both girls I learned that it has been mentioned in a publication that Muslim girls often wear the head scarf after they move into a Western nation like Holland because they feel it gives them feelings of protection as well as unique cultural identity. This will be a good question to ask future interviewees - when did you start wearing a hijab?

Also both girls adamantly stated that Dutch people are not as open or friendly as they seem to be (Bolivian girl said less so than Americans) and not to believe Holland as an "open country." Trying to approach them, they will always want to create some distance. Moroccans for example you will never find in a cafe where predominantly Dutch visit. They are confined to their neighborhoods and there is severe segregation between immigrants and the Dutch - especially outside of Amsterdam. You cannot take Amsterdam to be representative of all of Holland. This is really an interesting point.

The girls also affirmed the idea that if young women wear head scarves it appeases family and allows them more freedom as they are viewed as "good girls." Georgian girl said she knows for sure that the burqa is actually not banned in Netherlands currently, though just this morning news reported that idea to 'ban the Koran' was presented to the parliament, which she finds ridiculous.

Asking the Bolivian girl for her opinion after living in Netherlands for 1 year, she feels for younger generation who have been born or raised here there could be more of a desire to integrate (since there are Muslim girls who dress very trendy & use lots of makeup) while on the other hand women who might have immigrated later in their lives might be more prone to cover up as a means of protection and maintaining cultural identity. She also mentioned that for Islamic societies, the culture and religion are highly intertwined so trying to distinguish there wouldn't be really appropriate.

Small Setback Countered By Amazing Leap

This morning Irina and I sat down with Julie to discuss where we currently are in our projects. We haven't been able to get from MAMA's showroom & UvA professors but we hope to have better luck with graduate students and Atef Hamdi to whom Julie has kindly directed us. We plan to visit Rotterdam next week (from our current schedule it looks like it will be Thursday) as well.

From here, Irina and Julie went to go with Clifford to present brief research proposals to UvA students. In the meantime I started heading over to the Amsterdam Historical Museum to check out the fashion exhibition by foot. On the way there I saw a Moroccan restaurant which I took note of. Luckily, both Irina and I arrived simultaneously and we entered into the fashion exhibit. The exhibit was focused on Amsterdam fashion houses which was a wonderful topic but was distant from our research so Irina asked staff about where in the museum we could find info on Muslim history. We were directed to the top floor where there was a small section on Turkish immigrant construction laborers and a bit on their resistance. We then headed back and on the way checked out the Moroccan restaurant which was unfortunately closed.

Irina and I split up, she took her bike down to Amsterdam West while I returned to Amsterdam Oost to do more observation and wait to interview the girl at 5:00 pm (who ended up turning down the interview for today & said I could come tomorrow). As I observed I went into a blokker store and managed to ask an employee if she was Muslim, which she replied yes. She was busy at the moment but let me know she ends work at 6:00 pm and said I could come in Saturday at 6:00 pm to interview her. I also went into a Turkish bakery where I saw a girl wearing hijab but she spoke little english and directed me to a male worker who was very kind and willing to talk to me. I did a mini interview with him and he said I was welcome to come again. I then went back to Manzana, a Muslim trendy clothing store. I actually went next door to a travels service and the hong-kong young woman there led me to the Manzana store and conversed with them in Dutch and explained my situation. We got one headscarved employee who spoke good english but she apologized she (and her peers) were all too busy. So I had to let it be, but the woman from hong-kong was very kind and mentioned I could try a Muslim Community Center (which we will plan to go to).

In the next few hours I kept trying to approach Muslim women workers or shoppers. I got one woman's email address so I can email her dutch questions so she can respond as well as a woman who spoke decent english's phone number which I will call tomorrow. Unfortunately, the girl I wanted to interview @ 5:00 pm said she was busy until 6 and had to go home because she was tired so she suggested coming tomorrow at 3:00 pm.





The best development we had today was from 4:30 to 6:30 when we went back to visit the young Muslim man who ran a Moroccan fashion & Islamic book store. Inside today there were two sisters, one who wore a headscarf and one who didn't. We interviewed them briefly with the helpful introduction by the Moroccan young man. Another older man who was a regular costumer was also there and he was very willing to talk and told us he was happy we were coming to do research by talking to Muslim women directly. Transcriptions of what was said will be up asap. The Moroccan young man gave us contacts to a Dutch woman who is very knowledgeable in Islam as well as a man who recently converted to Islam. We also got to try on head scarves!





Basic summary of findings:
-Saw one Muslim girl with a non Muslim friend, wearing jeans and a trendy fashion top

(seemed completely western - besides ethnicity couldn't tell Muslim)

-Saw a couple Muslim girls dressed with white/light headscarf and colorful baby doll dresses + white paints

(body dress looked very western style which contrasted sharply with headscarf, looked surprisingly trendy & attractive, seemed to go against the 'cover up' idea. Since I couldn't see the hair I was drawn naturally to their body which showed quite a lot of chest/upper figure)

-Lots of head-scarved young women (20s - 30s) have children & strollers or are pregnant.

(Not sure if it's cultural to have children & perhaps relatively early for Muslim women? Or maybe just once married / becoming mothers they start wearing head scarves?)

-Young girls do not wear head scarves that often, saw a 14-15 year old girl wear one though today while her young sister age 5 or so didn't

(Perhaps culturally there is a certain age to start wearing head scarves - appears to be age 10 from interviews today)

-Saw a woman wearing full burqa in the Oost market

(Apparently Netherlands have banned burqa in public, so I'm not sure how this woman is wearing it - could be that it is not tightly enforced)

Major points:
*Only small percentage of Muslim women here in Amsterdam wear head-scarves. Therefore the population we notice is definitely going to be biased. We understand that our focus will be on why they choose to wear one even when not majority/popular so this is not a detractor, only something to keep in consideration that we are dealing with a unique group.

*According to Muslim men we have talked to as well as girls themselves, the hijab is worn by personal choice (at least by principal). The idea is for a woman to wear the head scarf for herself when she feels ready

*Head scarf is worn around possible marriage candidates (thus pertaining to public in general as well) - so at home in front of mom, dad, sisters & brothers women can take it off but interestingly in front of cousins must put it back on. Woman with girl friends it is ok to have it off.

Will be interesting from here to investigate Muslim men and whether they feel anything negative towards women who don't wear head scarves - do they have a bias against them? (as some online sources claim) What is the range of freedom to choose head scarf wearing across different Muslim nationalities? How much of the 'free choice' is really free choice? How does growing up in Dutch culture combined with family/nationality (this dynamic) impact the choice?

Belgium + Back

During the trip to Belgium, Haley and I spent quite some time exploring the city and using our maps to navigate. One thing we realized was that the roads were often split into section names so although streets may be mostly linear and seem like one long road it was named in parts making it extra difficult since we would be walking along one road and realize the road name we were following had now been given a totally new one, not to mention the intersecting alleys were often small and not listed on the free map we used.

We ended up having to turn back several times after we realized we had gone too far, and circumnavigated back to our desired destination. However, by the second day we realized a major mistake we made which was that there was a short cut from the Sleep Well Hostile a ways and then up a flight of stairs which would take us to the church/fetus decoration area. A trip that had cost us over half an hour yesterday had now become 10-15 minutes - great stuff! I'm really happy to have had a chance to learn navigating skills. Haley was a great mate :) We ended up touring around, taking pictures, eating ice cream and waffles, and visiting the comics museum (though sadly it was closed when we got there).

For research, I was paying attention to see the prevalence of Muslim women. The concentration was probably lower than Amsterdam by a little but I noticed a woman and her son on the streets asking for money which I didn't see in Amsterdam as of yet. Also I noticed a lot more full black garments worn with a black hijab than in Amsterdam. Which leads me to wonder if the Dutch ban of burqa has anything to do with Amsterdam's women trying to dress less traditionally and more colorfully to avoid legal consequences. Or on the other hand, Dutch Muslims dress more colorfully as a result of local culture or fashion trends. I saw quite a few in communities walking around. I took a few pictures of this as follows:

First Excursion! To Amsterdam Oost

First entrance into the world of ethnic Amsterdam was a mix of savory tastes, bustling colors, and anxiety from a personal perspective. First things I noticed was that sellers at the open air stands were predominantly of Middle Eastern descent. Some of the stands were run by native Dutch but mostly by immigrants. Many sold Middle Eastern style clothes, jewelry, and textiles. There were also quite a few food stands. Apparently, it is during vacation time and therefore many of the non-Muslims are on holiday. There are much more Muslim vendors during this month. Other times it is very ethnically diverse, according to a native Dutchman who runs an indoor fashion store - 'it has everyone.'

Looking like a tourist leads to quite a bit of awkward introductions but also a dash of instant humor! I took a few pictures as I was walking along. I first saw an indoor fashion store on the sides of the street that lined the open air market. The clothes seemed to be popular/fashionable Muslim dress and the two young (early 20s) women at the counter were wearing hijabs. They were conversing and reading a book at the counter. I approached them but they replied they don't speak English so I asked for permission to take pictures and left quickly afterwards.

Out of hijab wearers roaming the open air market, I saw a much higher ratio of middle-aged Muslim women than young Muslim women. I came upon a middle-aged woman who was wearing a hijab as I continued to walk along the sides to have a chat but realized she didn't speak English either. I went to speak to a native Dutchman who was running a bread stand, who luckily spoke English, but addressed me as if I was a Chinese tourist with a 'Ni Hao' - quite amused! After clearing up that I was a student here from the US, he reaffirmed my observation that young Muslims dress less traditionally by far than their first generation parents. Even those that do dress traditionally like the hijab, he said do so more as a 'cultural performance than out of belief' - exactly like Buruma! After this talk, it might be interesting to interview a native Dutch shop owner as well to see how the view of Muslim immigrants from non-Muslim perspective.

The most interesting talk came from walking in and chatting with a Surinamese young woman who worked at a purse & shoe store. She explained that differing ethnic, religious, and social groups get along well in Amsterdam - reason for this she felt was their willingness to respect each other. People don't feel any necessity to hide themselves because they weren't being judged. Her family is part of a religious organization but she herself 'believed in God' but was not religiously affiliated and didn't attend church or mosque. She has Muslim friends of whom none wear the hijab. She explained that 1st generation Muslim parents usually expect 2nd generation to attend school and be a good Muslim but for the new generation, living in a society that doesn't expect them to dress traditionally coupled with personal motivations/reasons is largely responsible for the turn down of traditional garb in the younger Muslims.

Important Ziesel Format Notes:

1) Late 20s early 30s middle eastern woman dressed in designer bag, high heel sandals no hijab walking down the marketplace. She was walking with and conversing with a senior middle eastern woman wearing hijab and thick overcoat. The two looked like relatives.

(clear contrast between younger trendy fashion for Muslims & older generation traditional wear)

2) Two young Muslim women conversing outside of cafe both wore hijabs but instead of loose pants or dark overcoat they were wearing light-colored fashion coats

(distinct style difference visible between 1st and 2nd generation)

Ethnography Reaction & Questions

I also apologize I hadn't realized this assignment was due last week but here are my thoughts on interviewing challenges:

I agree with Clark said in terms of the barrier that exists when you act as the interviewer and another person is the interviewee. Studying people from a scientific standpoint whether that be social science or natural science will always present that barrier. Like Irina said, we are both interested in psychological elements of fashion choice and what fashion choice shows about the individual. By finding out what fashion means to an individual, we can start to paint a picture about cultural/moral forces which shape the individuals thoughts and perspectives.

Some questions I have so far:
1. How do we establish rapport with our interviewees despite being from a different country and different ethnicity than they are? To help them understand our goals as non -intrusive and exploratory?
2. I think personal every day experiences will still differ significantly from the way media portrays a certain issue (such as banning a religious type of dress) how do we reconcile public news or literature with what participants say if they happen to be going in different directions? A good thing is our question itself is rather open ended so there isn't be a "prove" or "disprove" goal at least.
4. And as Irina said, we would like to include both meet up & spontaneous interviews as well as observations but at which locations and how often? How do we juggle this?

Reactions to Murder in Amsterdam

Murder in Amsterdam really helped me put into the history of the Netherlands as well as the current political turmoil. I really liked how Buruma came from a position that clearly had some bias, being an acquaintance of van Gogh, but at the same time held a pretty neutral view and showed multiple sides of the debate over Muslim assimilation. There were times when I felt he leaned towards sympathy with one side (for example Hirsi Ali) but he often says something right afterwards that looks at her actions/personality in another light. Throughout the reading I felt I couldn't put my feet onto any ground where I "supported" but that is what I appreciate. I also appreciate that I could follow along and discover the country's history and social setting instead of being thrust into the story without any backing.

I personally think alienation or "other"-fying of Muslims truly exists in Europe right now. From the historical description of the Netherlands, I also think tolerance may have become an embedded word in national identity. However, this doesn't cover up for natural human instincts to distrust those of difference or to be uncomfortable with certain differences. There is also the need for a unity - thus any factors that can threaten a Dutch "mentality" may be seen as dangerous. Ironically, the presence of one group whose ideals/background culture may not be deemed "tolerant" enough to belong to the native community is being in a way discriminated against which goes to show the native community's "intolerance." So it seems like to protect a national ideal, the nation has to go against the ideal.

Interview Exercise: Stranger's Fashion Choice

I had originally planned to find a Moroccan or Muslim individual but came across difficulties in time constraints and non-response. I emailed the Muslim Students Association asking for volunteers who would be willing to sit down for an interview but got no response so I decided to instead to do the 'casual sitdown' method.

I went to Odegaard's By George cafe and found an individual sitting at one of the tables on Friday afternoon (May 18th) around 4:00 pm. It was pretty shaded in the building like most days and there were almost nobody there so I talked to the person who was available and conducted the interview and got permission to digitally record the conversation.

My interviewee's name is Yunlin Zheng (who was eating some snacks and waiting to meet up with a friend at the time) and she happened to be a 20 year old undergraduate student here at UW who was born in China and currently lives in Issaquah. She's Christian and holds a moderate political position. She's currently a fulltime student but she works a side job at a cafe in downtown Bellevue.

The introductory question I posed was where she situated herself in youth culture here in the US. She responded, "I'm not a party-er. I work hard. I do activities with my church."

The main questions I asked focused on choice in fashion, because I wanted to do some modeling for interviews in Amsterdam. Second question was what clothes she was wearing and why she was wearing them. She responded, "I'm very casual. I'm not trendy, I wish I was (here I laughed lightheartedly and she smiled) I'm wearing a t-shirt and a zip-up because it's comfortable and clean. It's what I usually wear. I wear the same kinds of clothes - jeans, t-shirt with something over it. Because it was warm this morning I wore something lighter."

Third question was whether any of the items worn had personal value or religious/cultural value. Her green sandals that she pointed to underneath the table were from her dad. Her dad had recently passed away. This came as a shock and surprise so I offered my condolences and she thanked me for them. I took a brief tangent and asked about how it happened and she replied it was due to liver cancer a year ago. An interesting quote is she said, "It's different than when I get my own things."

I was curious and asked where she bought her clothes. Her zip-up was from China, her t-shirt was from Nordstrom Rack, and her jeans were from GAP. I found that to be a very ecclectic collection of sources - which may reflect upon her cultural background as well as attitude towards fashion. Here I hope next time when I ask questions like this to do more probing and asking what each place she buys clothes means to her. This will be helpful for making inferences.

My fourth and final question related to Buruma's quote where I asked my interviewee her reaction to the statement that religious attire is often worn more for a personal statement than for religious purposes. She replied, "I think you can wear whatever you want as long as you believe in it. I know some people who wear crosses just because it is trendy not because they actually believe in their religion. Like the Muslim hijab for example, people who wear it and are Muslim that's fine but if I wore one that would be wrong."

Overall I found that answer to be particularly interesting. To her, it seems that the meaning religious attire worn for individuality is more along the lines of trend and is separate from religious affiliation. Recently, the response that Irina got from her friend Zak sheds some light that trend is definitely a big aspect. A main difference it is people of the Muslim faith wearing it as a trend. So I hope to continue defining our research focus, and see how much of the dress is making a statement about their own religion/cultural identity within society and how much is more for trends or associations that are largely commercial. And who knows maybe those two categories turn out to be really not all that different.

e-Research Reflection

I think e-research is both a combination of using digital media to collect information, approach one's research question, and facilitate easier dynamic communication whether that be within a research team or between a researcher and his/her subject(s). It's a combination of studying the world with tools in our digital age but at the same time it involves reflecting upon one's own integration into this world. Being able to see and step back and forth across that boundary is to me key to e-research. Involving oneself purely in studying development of e-research tools for example in a removed position or simply passively living in a digital world is not enough to be called e-research. E-research is a balancing act in which "E" in this case means "engaging." The extreme ends are either completely detached or completely submerged in digital medium. There isn't a level of engagement between both sides of the boundary to see how e-research can probe into areas previously inaccessible or difficult to access and value this new information, but at the same time reflect on how the world of mass communication and internet can in turn shape researchers and their goals. Intervention becomes a two way force.

In terms of our group's research on second generation Moroccan immigrants and their choice in fashion I find it promising that we can use the internet to find background information and establish a setting before going in to conduct research. We will be using the internet in the way many e-researchers are looking at today - seeing what new ways of data collection and analysis can be performed with new tools. We will also be using e-tools to communicate with our research subjects and ensuring that we can set up a time and place to interact with them that would be most comfortable for them. This will help us to understand what it is like to be a "part-time participator" in the digitalized world. It's like having 3 eyes. One eye focused on our study of immigrants. Another eye focused on how the internet shapes our research question and process. And the third eye keeps an active tab on the times when our 'distanced researcher' position shift towards 'closeup participant' and at those moments whether there any special developments. This will help guide a better course of research in the future - forever fine tuning the boundaries between research and participant that is increasingly relevant with the rise of e-tool based research.

Irony: Buruma & Wouters and Beaulieu

The way Buruma describes Dutch actions in Murder in Amsterdam makes the level of irony very clear. One example is how anyone who speaks a word that might be biased against another ethnic group is deemed to be racist or called a Nazi supporter. There's incredible vigil against this kind of behavior but it is clear that in Dutch history, their actions did not speak as loud as words do today. From another angle, the rapper's violent words is also a very Dutch expression. There are unspoken rules against certain kinds of conduct but alternatively citizens are very open and direct vocally. However, verbal expression can contradict the speaker's true intentions or express intentions that cannot actually be followed through.

I think in a similar way in 'Critical Accountability' society hypes up expectations and promises that can't be fulfilled and thus waste effort and resources. In this case, there is too much spent on the technicalities and not really the mechanisms or methods actually used in the research. It is also interesting that it's becoming common in e-research to include various fields of study. While this is important in our current world in that there isn't any real way to isolate science and avoid the political or social implications, there is also undoubtedly disagreements and information overflow that results. There often isn't one solution to cure all.

The quote about dress as an expression of difference just as much as an expression of religion is ironic in the sense that it could very well be that the dress no longer holds much of the same meaning had someone been living in their native country. To the Muslim women who wear a head-covering in Amsterdam, this action could be an expression of their personal take on their family values which may vary from person to person. The meaning has changed from its original context as clothing often carry cultural value (from both the indigenous side as well as the 'outside' foreign side) - to the natives the clothing carries a set of codes and to the outsider it carries another set of codes. These codes can be the nearly the same or very different.

Reflection on Clothing: Sartorial Exercise

Part I:

I hereby describe a female student of Asian descent who sat on the side of the classroom near the front during the period. Age seemed to be in within range of late teens and did not seem to have any visible markers of religion. In fact she lacked of any kind of jewelry or “aesthetic” adornment.

Her clothes consisted of an orange Adidas sweater that was fully zipped up so it was hard to discern the number of layers she was wearing but it appeared there was a robin egg blue t-shirt underneath the outer sweater – a clear contrast of colors of blue and orange which definitely is striking to the eye. This may be a personal choice that expresses individuality or favorite color schemes or it could just be a coincidence. It could also indicate a) a lack of color coordination or b) blasé attitude towards picking clothes. She wore gray sports pants and basketball shoes. The shoes seemed pretty worn and the laces were not tightly tied indicating she probably wears these on a regular basis. She had a blue outer jacket hanging on her chair.

Besides these articles, the only other accessories on her body specifically were her turquoise Armitron analog watch which would most likely be classified as being of the diving watch style. The watch is very minimalistic in style however and stands out as particularly interesting especially in conjunction with the orange sweater. Overall you get a sense from these items that the individual is sports oriented and active and likes simplicity albeit the sports aspect is countered by the student’s facial décor which tells an entirely different story.
The other item she wears besides the diving watch is her own glasses which are a mauve color. A much more subdued hue in comparison to the other colors we see her wear. The glasses are also oval shaped and nothing about them look particularly cutting edge. Her hair is briefly layered but short and jet black. Perhaps this is a stylistic choice, a reflection of her personality, or it could be for easy maintenance, or both. No hints of dye that we see commonly among Asians. Again very simplistic look yet an emphasis on tradition which countered the active element seem in her garments.

Part II:

After reflecting on my own choice of clothing I realized that it was rather dichotomic. It wasn’t really a conscious effort but it turned out that I tend to prefer comfortable and casual clothing which often ends up being a sports article. I also like wearing a coat just in case it rains outside or turns chilly. Seattle weather is pretty cool for the most part so it has become a habit. I guess I also like the feeling of comfort that sweaters or loose clothing give me. I don’t dress for school really any differently than what I dress at home except maybe a few less layers in a heated environment. The interesting element of Monday’s garb was that my orange sweater was a part of my outer navy blue coat so both of them had the Adidas insignia. I didn’t purposefully choose the orange color my mom got the jacket for me. I generally have no real preference for clothing color as I range from bright orange to black quite frequently. Most of my pants are of a darker shade and I think I just find I need a balance with brighter and darker shades. I’m a person who kind of swings in emotions at times and my dress reflects that.

My hair length is actually a result of an impromptu hair cut over this past summer in China where I was visiting relatives and found it too hot to deal with lengthy hair and decided to try out short hair for the first time since my elementary years. I found it easy to manage and simplistic so I kept with it. I also find it unnecessary to wear jewelry or other décor unless it has a lot of personal meaning to me or is a gift from someone I hold dear. I feel that I can only fully cherish gifts if I use them and those are good excuses for me to wear accessories but otherwise I find them cumbersome and easily broken so I avoid them.

Narrowing Down Our Research Question

Ditto Irina's Blog:

After much stress and confusion, Shirley and I feel that we have narrowed down our ideas into something that is researchable online before the trip and will be researchable within Amsterdam and surrounding areas. Aside from conducting interviews, we also hope to find locations that are saturated with certain immigrant populations so that we can observe their habits in public locations. Below is our general research question followed by our methods. Enjoy!

Does assimilation in Amsterdam discourage immigrants from openly discussing the issues of oppression and lack of access to equal opportunity while attempting to integrate them into society? It will be an attempt to probe into the views of the “less accepted” surrounding the way society deals with internal issues. Do people of non-Dutch descent feel that they are truly accepted into society or are they made to believe so for the benefit of the society?

The three ethnic groups that we are most interested in studying are: Moroccans, Turks, and Surinamesse. (They may/not be associated with the Islamic religion). We would like to have one group not associated with the religion, or even a family with multiple views. We hope to find them at Ethnic cultural centers, or find them prior to departure through contacts provided by Julie and Clifford. It would be most interesting to find a family that has worked themselves out of the lower class status, integrating into society with less oppression. To narrow the scope of our interests, we are most interested in the interpersonal relationships (psychological, social) between natives and immigrants. We would also have a viewpoint from the immigrants about their struggles and successes in integrating into society. Within the interviews process, we are also interested in seeing what the effect of new immigration policies are having on currently successful immigrants.

Reflections Via "European Cities Information Societies & Global Economy"

Even though this article is focused upon European cities and how they are leading a transformation to the Information Society I really think that some of the same concepts can be compared and contrasted here in Seattle. Both America and Europe are in the "North" which according to the article holds the upper hand in relations because of informational wealth. The center of wealth is now in the suburbs and middle to upper class neighborhoods. In this context, with the development of localization, there is a strong emphasis on the role of immigrant influx into Europe and how the shaking of local identities will present a threat of rising racism and intolerance.

Comparing that to our experiences on Pike Place, I feel here in Seattle, unlike Europe we do have a focus inward on our own community but there isn't as strong of a historical identity attached to it. Immigrants do often work in lower paying jobs and probably live in lower class neighborhoods but there seems to be enough diversity in our city at least that it diffuses against intolerance towards one particular group since no one is singled out in particular. Perhaps that occurs in other US cities. Another possibility is this looming threat in terms of assimilation is largely unique to Europe. These are issues worth looking into.

City Reading

Irina and I decided that we would go the International District in order to be able to catch different ethnicities interacting. Irina came up with a great idea to visit Pike Place because diverse ethnic groups were there, unlike International District which is predominantly Asian. We felt that wouldn't translate very well to our studies in Amsterdam, where Asian populations are comparatively less significant.

We took a stroll along a block in the Pike Place Market area. We acted as Marginal Participants because we could just be visitors/tourists like everyone else. This way we were able to look at which kinds of people were there, what they were doing, what they were shopping for, and their interactions. Because we were on the walk the whole time we decided to use photography to take snapshots and record the urban setting. Our photos are located here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7787602@N04/

We noted that we were very close to the water and could see the bay from our viewpoint. The streets that we visited were pretty crowded and lively. As we walked along one street, there were various small bakeries and shops with signs hanging outside of each one which were uniform in size. It was interesting that various ethnicities were present but a large majority of people there seemed to be native Seattle-lites that were enjoying exotic food in a tourist-like fashion. In other words, the signs were very commercial in purpose.

Most people there were together in families, especially true for immigrants. However, we never saw the groups interact much. They pretty much traveled together, independently. We had to make some assumptions for immigrants - the main one being the language we heard spoken because we couldn't realistically ask people if they were immigrants or not.

We saw people having selling their special crafts in the open air and then we went inside a covered market. We noted that outside, the individuals selling their crafts seemed to be separated culturally and socially despite the fact that they were right next to each other's tables. Inside, the flower selling stands were all working together and talking amongst each other as a community. Despite selling flowers from different sources, there didn't seem to be blatant competition. We hypothesized that flowers are such a universal theme. For the individuals selling their products, they are using their culture as a selling point and by emphasizing one's unique identity, one may end up avoiding interacting and mingling into other cultural circles.

That is a very interesting observation that we plan to take to Amsterdam. Right now we are curious whether the pressure to assimilate in Amsterdam can cause the opposite of what we see here - a feeling of oppression and lack of freedom because immigrant groups cannot stand up and speak out thoughts or complaints. Is forced assimilation detrimental? If it is, is Seattle a kind of alternative? Whether good or bad is debatable too.

We hope that in Amsterdam we can do this kind of urban exploration to get ourselves situated before we go to find particular people to interview. It's a great way to be able to understand how people interact and what reactions to expect out of people before venturing into specific research.

Online Manifestation

The following are a couple links we found:

http://www2.fmg.uva.nl/imes/publications/imesdownloads.html

This is a major one Irina and I found on Monday which belongs to a research group currently undergoing extensive research with various angles of study centered around immigration and ethnic studies. From this page we found a couple articles that gave us some focus and direction.

http://www2.fmg.uva.nl/urbex/resrep/r19_rotterdam.pdf

This article describes integration issues in the Netherlands, which has inspired us to maybe narrow down our topic even further to whether immigrants feel oppression due to integration problems. I found it interesting that influx of migrants, especially from the middle east as this article seemed to emphasize, produce the perception of resource scarcity which leads to negative perceptions of ethnic groups despite the fact it may all be imaginary. So maybe there is difficulty in attaining cultural acceptance stemming from economic and psychological issues.

http://immigrantpolitics.org/?p=51

This is a blog post that I found describing immigration in Europe and specifically mentions the Netherlands. This was found on a blog that was opened by professors in California to discuss immigration in US and abroad. I really think it might be interesting to do some research into what makes life as an immigrant in Europe or specifically Netherlands particularly unique. There are first person accounts that immigrants feel themselves being "ripped apart" by different values and expectations. Is that a feeling of oppression? The inability to be fully integrated? that would be interesting to research.

I'm still having trouble finding a locus or web of sources because to find first person accounts would require finding blogs that usually are not in English. Finding research organizations like the first link I posted is very helpful in finding what areas are worth studying but I'm not sure where they connect to the everyday life. However, I think right now I might try to focus on the news articles and research groups because they are more accessible. Later on, once we understand the framework and cultural atmosphere it would be more beneficial to look at individual cases.

Research Outline

Irina and I plan to do an exploration into immigrants on their experiences with adapting to the culture and society of Amsterdam as well as differences on oppression and discrimination felt between natives and immigrant populations. We would particularly like to see if there are changes in attitudes that have changed over time between generations. What we can do is do in-depth interviews with a couple families with 3 generations in Amsterdam. We can also compare that to parallel native families for 3 generations and see if attitude changes are by era or there are unique factors that affect feelings of oppression and attitudes on society that are unique to the immigrant experience.

Our general outline right now consists of doing statistical research before leaving for Amsterdam to find out percentage of immigrants, top 3 or so immigrant populations, the socioeconomic conditions of immigrants, and where they are often concentrated. Once at Amsterdam we hope to go to centers where immigrants frequent and gather information from the immigrant population groups we would like to focus on. We might take note of other groups as well for comparison. One of our major goals we would like to at least try is to find a couple families with 3 generations living in Amsterdam and do in-depth interview sessions with them. We would like to cover Amsterdam and also some rural areas to get a balance.

Some problems we might encounter is the difficulties of narrowing down immigrant populations especially if there are quite a few significant groups in the Netherlands. The most critical problem we might have is finding 3 generation families however, if that doesn't work out we can limit to 2 generations or collect as much data as we can on individual interviews and piece the information together.

Brainstorming For Research Question

What I really wish to focus on is the intriguing idea of how 2nd generation immigrant children and especially teens deal with living in a city like Amsterdam that is considered exceptionally liberal. In what ways do they feel empowered and in what ways do they feel suppressed? Is there both empowerment and suppression in their society as well as cultural heritage or is there more empowerment in one than the other & vice versa? I want to explore how living in the current internet and mass communication era has affected their own thoughts and outlooks on life in particular. Has it helped them stay in touch with family or friends in their parents' home countries? Do they use it as a form of escape? There are so many things I would like to delve into on this subject.

One main goal I hope to get out of this is to also explore some of the psychological factors that influence a level of dichotomy in immigrant personalities that Buruma had cited in his work Murder in Amsterdam. I find the statistics of schizophrenia in 2nd generation immigrants particularly intriguing. I want to test to confirm this as well as to explore it in more qualitative detail. Coming from an immigrant background myself I want to explore the relationship between technological/social environment and cultural upbringing and how those factors ultimately influence personalities and subcultures. I believe strongly that culture has a strong influence on people's views as people have to deal with it on more personal level than government policies for example.

Some methods of gathering evidence would include going out and talking to young adults and teenagers from all sorts of immigrant backgrounds. I would like to pull out commonalities between them as well as particular cultural upbringing factors that may differ amongst ethnicities or may be unique to a few people. Patterns as well as exceptions will be important. I think I will also have to gather some statistics from the web to measure certain tangible aspects of technology and communication but other aspects will be from face to face or group interviews. I think a school environment would be a good place to begin for those or a center where young adults gather - like shopping centers, parks, or performance houses.

Reactions to 'Submission'

Coming from an agnostic perspective, I at first thought this film is one of the many lens in which I can explore the world religion of Islam. However, after finishing this film I realized that I wasn't really just watching a film teaching about a particular religion but instead the society revolving around it and how the international world perceives it. The entire aura of the film which consisted of accentuated artistic scenes, the English that emphasized the European origin, and the medium in which it is presented to me as a viewer (via the internet) all molded the way I perceived this short film - not as fact about Islam or simply how Islam treats women but instead as giving perspective to the level of tolerance and apathy in European countries as well as the type of reactions to expect from both the Muslim community and the international community.

This film is so short that it clearly isn't meant to be released in places with theaters for example. Instead, its length is perfect for spreading across the world via technology and is created primarily to speak to western audiences with the narration and dress (that is artistically revealing) to hit a certain level of intimacy yet confusion mixed with fear within a bystander (which is what I consider myself to be). However, this video calls you in to look outside of your comfort zone and really consider how some Muslim women live. I didn't really form a strong opinion of the religion itself but I was shaken up to become interested which may drive me towards researching up upon the topic. I can't speak for others' reactions, but from a bystander's perspective I can honestly say this film grabbed my attention in 3 ways: artistically, technologically, and linguistically. For some reason, internet always seems such a "free" both idea-wise and cost-wise that I don't view it as large-scale propaganda as I would if it was an bulletin ad or a large-scale movie. Another thing is if this video had a strong foreign feel (considering language, creators' backgrounds, and filming style). I don't think I would feel as a direct audience and the impact on shaking our apathies wouldn't have been so poignant.

Looking at how others have reviewed this film, I have to agree it can easily be taken as an affront to the Islamic tradition and and uproar is to be expected. What we don't want is creating a divide resulting from stereotypic views of a particular social group that become so solidified they can't change. We can't have the veil of tolerance hiding biased views which later erupt. I remember going to Europe a couple years back and a friend of my aunt had mentioned in passing his view of Muslims which was full of wariness. Despite the fact that individuals can be tolerant we can't just let that become synonymous with unspoken thoughts - because the thoughts still exist and have power to become action.

However, from the other side people who feel "affronted" shouldn't jump to conclusions or be too quick to defend. The things that bring the most reaction are controversial so there is usually an element of truth that people can't easy dispel. I think Ali was calling attention to the existence of these kind of treatments towards women. It could be taken as emphasizing misuse of the religion which causes mistreatment of women. As the narrator she questions the audience and expresses character's feelings of betrayal and doubt - as if asking the world to find the answer or uncover the truth.