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)