Emily - CP#3

CP: Cultural Workshop

Date/Time: Saturday, January 21st, 1:00-1:50pm

Location: CIES Lounge

Topic discussed: Expected student behavior, expected teacher behavior, religion, modesty, acceptable and unacceptable clothing, food, customs, being on time

Cultural and/or linguistic topics you and your partner learned: 

Today I learned that people in Vietnam do not generally discuss religion. The people of Vietnam all abide by this unspoken rule. When asked why this is a thing, the Vietnamese student claimed she did not know. I also learned that Kuwait has the most emancipated women in the middle east. They are also free to choose whether they want to work or not (they get about $2,000 every month from the government regardless), and they can wear whatever they wish. The abaya and niqab are not required in Kuwait. If a woman does wear these clothes, it just means they are very religious. I also learned that Vietnamese people and Kuwaiti people will typically arrive a little late to events and not-so-important meetings (much like us Latinos/Hispanics). My partners learned about the "Reyes Magos" tradition and certain facts about Costa Rica. Something we all discovered is that in each of our countries, rice is an important food.