Diversity

Tagged

2011-12-21T21:29:00.001+01:00

I seriously love graffiti! I consider it one of the most elemental aspects of urban living. I know that it does not belong everywhere, but that's no reason to try banning it in general. Just imagine the Berlin Wall without any graffiti at all...
I took this picture on my way to college and I was surprised to see something like this on a not-abandoned car (I mean we live in Germany, they normally avoid putting this to the public).

Forget Photoshop

2011-11-20T12:38:00.001+01:00

It's Mother Nature who blesses us with the most beautiful and breathtaking impressions. Not that I dislike digital art, but sometimes I just have the impression that people forget how to appreciate our surrounding nature.
This new found form of clouds is called Undulatus Asperatus and just have a look at this amazing view:

7 Billion!

2011-10-31T16:42:00.001+01:00

It just took us 12 years to go from 6 to 7 billion people.
This is just insane, considering that our known resources and current technology only allow for about 10 billion, which is expected around the year 2050, according to this infographic: "Population of the Dead"

Breaking Habits

2011-09-04T08:14:00.000+02:00

About two weeks ago, I bought a Samsung Galaxy Tab. Not the newest one, which I cannot afford that easily but also because I like the original much better.
So, I know for myself that I did not bought this particular gadget because of a hype or a trend or something. But I would have bought some gadget for sure, even if I may not necessarily need it... and that's the worst part!
Our habits, especially concerning comsumption and convenience, are what will drive this world to an early end... and I'm part of reason, so is everyone of us.
The consumer's responsibility is obvious. But on the other hand, many gagdets and computer or all other electronics just won't last too long. That for itself generates enough demand for new products which the industry hopes for in order to increase the profit and all that stuff that comes with the money. And that's the main point: it's not about making money anymore... it's about making even more money while employees of independent contracters hardly gain enough money to feed a family.
And I'm saying all this being fully aware of how fast technology gets obsolete these days. But then again: if we're all would be honest about it, we hardly need most of the stuff we buy so frequently, at least not with such little time in between.
Let's just try a bit harder and break a few habit for good!

Communicating (with a Handicap)

2011-08-18T07:12:00.000+02:00

I was helping out in my parents' bakery the other day when a customer came in and pointed to a certain type of bread role and raised three fingers with the other hand. I then asked "Three pieces of this one?"
But then I realized that I would not get an answer... this particular customer was deaf-mute. I suddenly felt so guilty not being able to grasp her handicap, even worse: I would continue to talk to her even though I was fully aware of it by now... that just shows me how stupid normal people actually can be, not being able to adapt to individual needs and even being overstrained with the situation.
I just think that this could teach all of us how lucky we are and that we should appreciate the simple things in life.

What's actually worse is when people without such a handicap are just not able to communicate with each other... be it due to a lack of interest or just the lack of social skills. This might be the cause for most of our problems concerning our extended family, our circle of friends and our coworkers as well, and maybe even greater society.
Maybe I'm not even making sense...

Ramadan

2011-08-01T18:24:00.000+02:00

Today is the first day of Ramadan, which means that millions of people all over the world will refrain not only from any food or water, but from any worldly pleasure, too. That makes it pretty much like Lent. But it's not only about starving oneself or about any perverted pleasure of torturing oneself like that. It's about raising awareness for how lucky we actually are, for how spoiled we are considering how much time we spend whining. And especially when we think about the endless people worldwide living through a horrible situation just like in east Africa.
I'll be honest: I feel like starving now and I don't like it. I love food and I often eat quite something.
And even though I could eat a whole cow, knowing that I will end up eating in the evening makes so much more bearable.
BUT: What about people who just don't know? What about all the people who do not even have a proper meal to complain about? Muslim or not, Ramadan or Lent or whatever, we all should consider ourselves a bit more lucky. But more importantly: We all should help others feeling lucky, too.
Happy Ramadan.

Donation

2011-07-29T18:35:00.001+02:00

I'm a potential organ donor. I carry the card allowing the removal of my organs in the case of my death with me every day. Oddly, I received a lot of criticism for it. The reason for this is mistrust and mostly everyone is mistrusted.
Especially aid organisations. These certain people always claim to be willing to donate in order to help the needy, the victims of natural catastrophes in particular. But that's mostly it, just that. No real donation happens, nothing more than sympathy is the result. And they justify this by questioning how much of their donation actually goes to the needy, which is a totally understandable concern.
BUT: By not donating at all, the needy eventually won't receive any help. So even if only 1% of your donation is actually donated, you will have made a difference!
That's why I beg you to help the people of Africa, living through a horrible famine these days.

Picture taken by Colin Crowley for Ssave the Children

Save the Children - Umi's Recovery

Thanks for reading this. I hope it helped you to do the right thing.

Prejudice

2011-07-25T09:03:00.000+02:00

Since I'm part of an ethnic AND religious minority, I'm fully aware of how wrong prejudices are. Often I can understand what causes such thinking and sometimes I won't even blame people thinking that way.
BUT: What on earth causes justifies me, a victim of prejudice myself, to have prejudices against others???
That's just not right, it's plain wrong.
I realized it last week. I was about to buy a second hand tablet-pc and I got in touch with one German engineer (I know that from his automatic e-mail signature) and one rather young Russian with a barely any complete sentence and a rather heavy accent on the phone. Even though the price was the same for both, both objects had some pros and some cons for them (be it accessories or the location where to pick it up), I still refused to call the Russian a second time... only for my damn prejudices!
This is just wrong. And that's why I'll call him now.

Trench Work

2011-07-06T14:52:00.000+02:00

Turks are often to be found doing the hard manual labor which is physically exhausting and mostly not too healthy. Reason for this is partly the lag of some major education. But that would apply for many Germans too and you still won't see as many of them doing that kind of work.
It's not that Turks are that dilligent and that Germans are the lazy ones (the degree of education would look much different then), but one thing is for sure: Turks are often not only responsible for themselves but for their family as well. That alone forces them to earn some money somehow. In addition to that they just do whatever needs to be done.
I just think that it's not right to look down on cab drivers, construction workers or on people being self-employed or working for street-cleaning.

Social Status

2011-06-19T20:17:00.000+02:00

This is a tough topic.
Because it's not only about hard facts. It's mainly about the individual perception of the social status of different groups of our society. In this case it's about cars.
The current cliché goes like this: Germans do not care much about aesthetics, the engine should run well and it should be safe to drive that car, that's all.
However for Turks applies this: The car should solely represent how rich they are.
Both clichés are obviously absurd. But like any cliché, I guess there is true aspect to it.
What's more important though, is the reason for such an attitude.
My wild guess is this: The Turks, migrating majorly to Germany since 1961, came here for only one reason: money. And money was the only way to measure how successful they were. Because they mostly came from rural regions of Turkey they had similar levels of education (which was pretty low) and similar skills.
And thinking rationally about it: there might be no better way to show off your well-being through something else than a car. Not everybody gets to see your house, even fewer people get to see it from the inside. Not everybody might notice your watch and only very few could appreciate your choice of fashion.
But a car is something you could be seen with every day. Many peope will notice, especially if it's a new and expensive car. And that's why cars are so popular. It's that easy.

Mercedes-Benz by bihabik.deviantart.com

I would love to own a car like this myself, but I can already say this for sure: it would be such a waste to spend money on something like this. Because even a minor scratch would be horrible! I would not be able to enjoy driving a car like this because I would be just too cautious...

Perception of Art

2011-05-31T23:53:00.000+02:00

Talking art is difficult enough, especially for someone who's not too knowledgeable in this area.
But it's interesting enough that some folks consider even video games as art. Why not though?
Video games were never made exclusively for kids (I actually think that only a rather small part of them were designed for kids, but well).
But either way, with video games maturing over time (Pong is going to celebrate it's 40th anniversary next year) it's only natural to see a few games with more depth from time to time (form my perspective, recent games like that are Heavy Rain, Flower and maybe even L.A. Noire).
What's most important though is to stay open-minded and at least try not to approach such things with biases. It's not that I can fully comprehend someone's view on any given thing, but that does not mean that it's nonsense, so I'll just keep my mouth shut. We all should try that at some point.

Languages

2011-05-10T22:50:00.000+02:00

I speak four languages: 2 of them fluently of which I consider one my native language, one fairly and one rudimentarily. I'm trying to make sure that I'm able to speak all four fluently, especially Turkish which I only speak mediocre.
The reason why I especially want to improve my Turkish skills is because I consider myself Turkish, even though I was born in Berlin, Germany and speak German fluently. In addition to that, I consider Germany my homeland.
I just wonder if and to what extend my native language determins my identity.

Self-Education

2011-04-27T16:21:00.001+02:00

This is what it looks like:

Autodidact by BiHabik

Amazing how people invent methods in order to educate themselves. Seen here is the tradtional Turkish guitar. It belongs to my cousin's son, whom he encouraged to learn this instrument, step by step. He did not even hire a teacher yet, because he first wanted his son to develop a certain interest on his own before getting serious about it. And that's a great way to do so.
Of course, he'll have to be persistent and most importantly creative in encouraging him not to lose his interest. But that's exactly the challenge about it all. That's why self-education can go so wrong, causing frustration and a total loss of interest in whatever one was interest at first.
Everyone knows this struggle. Be it about school, about sports, about a hobby or even about a friendship. But we will never succeed, in anything, if we avoid those challenges, if we are just too comfortable to put in some effort.
I hear a few of my friends and relatives say "Oh no, I can't deal with her now" when they see someone calling them... I mean, are you serious? A friend shouldn't act like that. It's just natural to think it at times, but who said it's going be easy?
All I can say is that it's going to be worth it!

Addiction!

2011-04-14T21:18:00.000+02:00

I hate that word... it's just overused! My mom, my whole family and even some of my former classmates used that word to describe my hobby: being online. On my birthday, this was what I received.
And yes, sometimes all I do is being online watching some tv-shows, killing time on Facebook or MSN and just do some non-productive stuff, even on sunny days.
But that's not all I'm doing. There are now more than 20 blogs that follow regularly, including some partially scientific work about technological developments, experts sharing their ideas and thoughts through recorded speech and also socio-political news covering the controversy about homosexuality and the suffering of many Japanese and Libyans these days. That's why I consider myself not addicted, just really interested.
But it's true, my hobby didn't allow much activity outdoors. But that changed thanks to smartphones and tablet-pcs and yet parents are complaining that we bring our gadgets along. So what? For many young people just being outside without anything to do is just a waste of time, so why not combine it?
To analyze if we are addicted or not the "the world UNPLUGGED" project surveyed 1000 youngsters from 10 different countries what they experienced after just 1 day without any electronics.
"It was a difficult day… a horrible day" a Chilean participant answered. And yes, everyone would agree to that, because it was the first of a major change in one's life. And yet it is interpreted as some sign of addiction... which is just wrong.
I am not going to explain my further thoughts on this survey, that's why I ask you to do that instead? How would you feel if you took part? And do you consider yourself addicted?

Being a "Good Man"

2011-04-05T16:13:00.001+02:00

Omegle is a website I occasionally visit, especially when I'm bored. You'll soon realize what is about: pure conversation with a total stranger. Just try it out if you want to know more about it, because this all is not about Omegle, at least not primarly.
During one of my conversations are teenage girl from Korea asked me what I did today. The first thing she said was "what a good man!" after I told her that I had been cleaning the kitchen. I was really proud for sure, but seriously sad right after. My both parents are working, from time to time me and my sister help out in their shops and we do some of the house work too, because my sister (she is 5 years older than me) made sure at some point that it's just not fair that I'm free to do anything while she is expected to do the cleaning and cooking. And she was right (and still is, of course). But this girl's reaction expresses a total discrepancy bewteen the situations of each of us.
And not olny hers. I know of many friends (both German AND Turkish, despite the common cliché that Turkish boys/men are the worst concerning this) who hardly do anything at home. And I wonder why. Mothers and sisters are complaining all over the world, but they still do not manage to change anything as long as they stay passive and let the stigma control their families and with that the whole society. So what if my friends consider housework as not suitable for men? I'm not ashamed of what I do, especially not of the reason I do it: it's because I love my Mom and my Sister just as I love my Dad, so why not help them out? Most importantly, my Dad encouraged me to do that.
A sociology studying friend of mine once told me that there studies indicate that women in Germany do less housework than before but that German men do not do any more housework. How does that work? The amount of housework stays more or less the same. Therefore it has to be shared among the people living in the same place. It is not shared at all though and the study is still true. The explanation: since people here in Germany got more and more wealthy, many women decided to let women from eastern Europe do the housework instead.
And this is why we lose, all of us. Why we won't get rid of those sweatshops and awful working conditions all over the world. Just think about it.

Coming of Age

2011-03-20T16:56:00.001+01:00

As I mentioned in my previous entry, in many Turkish families being adult hardly makes a difference as long as you live with your parents. In this case, it's about my plans to buy a motorcycle or rather my plans to get the motorcycle driving license.
It's definitely not a matter of money, it never really is. It's more about the permission to do it. I just won't be able to move my parents to approve of my plans since they consider it to be way too dangerous (and they have a point of course). But this fear of risks is so typical for so many Turkish parents and grand-parents and aunts and uncles and so on and so on... I certainly feel honored that they care about my well-being and my health, but in some cases life just feels like a golden cage, in which I should not have any reason to complain but which is not fulfilling either.
Of course, I just could do whatever I want to, I mean, who's going to stop me? But it just does not work that way. My parents' approval is very important to me. If I choosed to have it my own way it would make my relation to my parents really weird. I definitely do not want to have that, but let's be honest: No one will always be able to be OK with their parents. Sooner or later it has to happen that one disagrees, no matter who that is.
And I think that one should not allow anyone to interfere in one's life-shaping choices. That'll be a bit different for married people or for parents themselves of course, but you know what I mean.
All this might sound like living through hell, but in most cases I can count on the support of my family and their advice and most importantly their patience regarding my mistakes.
So I guess I can live without riding a motorcycle. Maybe a motor scooter will do... which my parents still consider too dangerous...

Tell me about the topics you disagree with your parents. What does cause some tension in your family?

Babysitting at a Concert

2011-03-04T12:09:00.001+01:00

The title actually says it all: Yesterday I was babysitting my cousins at a concert of Bruno Mars (you might know him, if you have any female teen relatives). The reason why I did that was because their parents only allowed it if an older relative was taking care of them. That's so incredibly typical for the Turkish culture and menatlity! Really! You could be 40 years old (I'm overdoing it of course) and your parents still would remind you to be careful and take care repeatedly. I was told the same yesterday, to drive careful and to maintain a slow speed (I was not only the babysitter but also the driver... I feel used).
So we arrived at 4 pm and waited for 3 hours to finally enter the hall and wait for another 2 hours only to listen his music for about 1 and a half hours... Seriously, that's bold! And I did all this only for my cousins. I had absolutely no interest in Bruno Mars' Music (which wasn't that bad after all). Of course, my cousins loved it.
What I want to say is, that the Turkish way of family is a medal with lots of joyful and big get-togethers and favors to ask on the one side, but on the other side plenty of duties and work as well.
I would never trade this in for anything else, even though it might get annoying from time to time. But that might just be my attitude towards this.

How about you? How does your family work? I guess it gets annoying in every family but in the end we manage to make it work out somehow.

Going Out

2011-02-23T12:08:00.001+01:00

Going out always proves to be hard. At least when you're in group of Turkish youngsters, because we Turks just like to laugh and talk really loudly... it just happens. One of the main reasons might be that the groups are pretty big, counting at least 5 or 6 people every time. So it's rather natural to be loud, isn't it? Because it doesn't happen in smaller groups. But it just might be the Turkish temper after all. That'll be pretty hard to prove though...

Despite all this, I know how disturbing it can be, especially for other costumers. Having such loud group of people really is annoying for the customers and the owner as well. And that's who I feel sorry for the most: because it's the restaurant manager or the waiter who now has to maintain us as costumers, but keep us calm so we don't disturb other costumers either.

I just wanted you to know all this. It definitely does not happen out of disrespect. We just have another idea of having fun, that's all.

Did you ever experienced something similar to this? I guess it just happens when two different cultures get in touch.

Religious Holidays

2011-02-14T15:48:00.001+01:00

Today is the day the Prophet Muhammed (Peace may be upon him!) is born. Celebrating Islamic holidays is already hard enough living in an environment where you do not too much attention on these topics because you're busy with work, school or just usual business. It gets even harder to remember the holidays or even be aware of them because the Islamic calendar is based on the Lunar Months which means that the Islamic calendar is 11 days shorter than the worldwide used Gregorian calendar.

This causes an annual shift for any given holiday or event related to Islam so that it gets even harder to remember them.

Happy holiday for all the Muslims all over the world! And thanks a lot to all those reading this!
I'll gladly answer your questions about this or any other topic. Just let me know about them.

I'm not going to

2011-02-05T14:45:00.002+01:00

I'm not going to use "Lost in Translation" as the title for this entry, since it might cause a wrong assumption, because I never saw this movie, but it's going to be about exactly this: how language, poetry or proverbs are lost in translation.

Joseph Brodsky claims that "Poetry is gained in translation", when we consider translation as a transformative act. He might be right, accounting his profession and that he was able to speak several languages fluently.
But for average person (even though none of us is average) it's a bit different. I just lack the ability to do that. It's nearly impossible to translate a simple Turkish proverb into German, let alone English. The same goes the other way round of course.

That's one thing that really annoys me (and surely others too) living in a multi-cultural place. It's challenging every single time to explain the details of my culture and religion. That does not mean that I'm tired of doing it though. I'll keep on doing it as long as others ask and as long as they want to listen.

So thanks for your attention! Did you ever experience something similar?

Identity

2011-01-29T20:38:00.003+01:00

This one is going to be way too short to answer this question: Who am I?

What is most importantly, answering this question, is the fact that I as an individual hardly ever experienced any kind of racism, while there was lots of it all over the world, and lately this is the case in Germany more than ever.
Thilo Sarrazin, being a former politician and the author of the highly controversial book "Deutschland schafft sich ab", caused a very dirty and totally not sophisticated debate about the whole Muslim community, not only in Germany.

This is once more a reason that makes me hesitate to say I am German. I love this country and I love German values, but i definitely cannot say that I'm German. I sometimes do not even know if I'm a welcome part of this society. Identity by BiHabik is a photography made by me and my comment below describes more or less the situation.

One thing I need to add is that even my sister who experienced lots and lots more of racism says she's German. That makes me speechless! I mean, why can't I just easily say that I am. The point is that I cannot say I'm Turkish either because there's plenty of things that just wouldn't match. And I know how stupid that sounds...

It's tricky...

One major Influence

2011-01-24T12:48:00.005+01:00

Like for many others, music takes quite some space in my life. Listening to it on any occasion, I became more and more aware of what I was listening to. I used to listen to really everything that sounded nice.
But no more! I realized how much crap there was, especially Gangsta Rap what I listened to mostly. Luckily, I found out what Hip Hop was truely about: Express themselves to reach and nurture their peers! Conscious Rap, the direct opposite of Gangsta Rap, is so much more fulfilling!
Artists like Jurassic 5, Arrested Development and Blackalicious rap about how and why they as a society they moved from "we used to tell the girls we love'em" to "now we're callin them hoes" ("End up like This" by Jurassic 5) or answering the question "the rhyme is not laced with Gangsta touch?" with "Simpy because I don't live that way" ("Shallow Day" by Blackalicious).

In the end it's not just music, it's more than that! It reflects one's view on life so we should all choose wisely!
How about you? What do you listen to? And have you always been listening to that music? I would love to know about that!

Japan Festival 2011

2011-01-17T11:49:00.004+01:00

As I mentioned in my first blog-entry, I am fascinated with Japanese culture. It all started through videogames and anime during my childhood, but at the same time I was extremely frightened by many of their customs. I was able to accept that as a simple cultural difference after all.

Before you start reading I wanted to apologize for the poor quality of the images. I'm still in the learning process and my camera is pretty bad regarding poor lighting. Thanks for your understanding.

This past weekend (the 15th and 16th of January) the Japan Festival was held in Berlin.
Honestly, I needed a friend to convince to go there together. I just wanted to see if it is like the Comic Fiesta 2010 (which is only one example of the many conventions Danny Choo reported on).

One thing you should know is that in Germany such events are mainly about the culture as a whole. That means on the one hand that you a huge variety of things to be seen, but unfortunately pretty short and not too detailed either.

The first thing that raised my interest was Go. It is actually pretty easy to learn if you have an experienced someone explaining the rules. But most importantly it's a really great game! I played it with my friend with whom I play chess occasionally and we both were thankful for something new.

They used the game Go to present some furniture as well. This seems to be how the game is played traditionally. It looks pretty cool and knowing that it is comfortable too, I wonder why we refuse to give it a try.

Artists exhibiting their pieces of work. It definitely looks great, but being a student makes it hard to reward the artists for their work. In the end it's just too expensive I guess. Still great!

Of course, there were Katana as well. I never been too fascinated with them, but being nearly able to lay my hands on one of them was pretty amazing nonetheless. I thought the golden one was a bit over the top though.

There was a Shorinji Kempo perfomance as well. Looked pretty interesting but not always that credible... I'm pretty sure it would look different in a really dangerous situation.

The same lovely lady once more:

Probably a bit more known due to the show Yamato are the Taiko Drums. Really impressive while being a bit scary as well... It's just overwhelming to see that happen with only about 8 drums. You should definitely go to one of these shows.

If you're not familiar with Japanese fashion: relax, I guess no one really is. I mean, look at these: a pair of glasses with a wooden frame??? Seriously? I love it!

And finally: Cosplayers! I mean, what would such an event be without them? As I pointed out earlier, these images are pretty bad actually (high ISO numbers and stuff...), but I hope you'll still like them.

Auron from Final Fantasy X

L and Near from Death Note

Unfortunately, I only know Sasuke and Naruto from Naruto, Cloud from Final Fantasy VII and Sailor Mars from Sailor Moon. I'm not too fond of animes after all.

There were a few shops exhibiting their products as well. Everythign from Figma or Nendoroid, Anime-DVDs, Mangas or Cosplay-outfits.

It was a pretty interesting event and amazing to see this subculture live. I've seen many Cosplayer's work like Jessica Nigri's for example or many others on Danny Choo's website.
I was a bit dissapointed though. There were hardly any Japanese distributors representatives. Be it in sales, shows or Cosplay. It just did not feel authentic.

I'm looking forward to next year's Japan festival though. How about you? Would you attend such events? Or don't you have something like this around you?

Well then, sayonara!

Pretty Funny Actually

2011-01-13T11:42:00.003+01:00

This is a little test I found on someone's deviantArt profile (check out mine: bihabik.deviantart.com) which is all about one's degree of being multiculturally influenced.
I would love to know your results as well (even though I have not followers for the moment)!

British
[x] You drink a lot of tea.
[ ] You know what a brolly is.
[ ] Deal or No Deal has taken over your life.
[ ] You wanted Ben to win X Factor.
[ ] You use the word “bugger”or the phrase “bloody hell.”
[x] Fish and chips are yummy.
[ ] You can eat a Full English Breakfast.
[ ] You dislike emos almost as much as you dislike chavs.
[x] Its football…not soccer.
Total: 3

Australian
[ ] You wear flip flops all year.
[ ] You call flipflops thongs not flip flops.
[ ] You love a backyard barbie.
[ ] You know a barbie is not a doll.
[ ] You love the beach.
[x] Sometimes you swear without realizing.
[ ] You’re a sports fanatic. (For AFL, maybe.)
[ ] You are tanned. Sort of
[ ] You’re a bit of a bogan.
[ ] You have an Australian something
Total: 1

Italian
[ ] The Sopranos is a great show.
[ ] Your last name ends in a vowel.
[x] Your grandmother makes her own sauces.
[ ] You know how a real meatball tastes.
[ ] You know Italian songs.
[x] You have dark hair and dark eye color.
[ ] You speak some Italian.
[ ] You are under 5’10”.
[ ] You know what an Italian horn is
[ ] Spaghetti is the best food in the world!
[x] You talk with your hands.
Total: 3

Spanish
[ ] You say member instead of Remember.
[ ] You speak Spanish or some.
[ ] You like tacos.
[ ] YoU TyPe lIkE ThIs On Da CoMpUtEr.
[ ] You are dark skinned.
[ ] You know what a Puta is.
[x] You talk fast occasionally.
[ ] You have/had highlights or have dyed your hair.
[ ] You know what platanos are.
Total: 1

Russian
[ ] You say villian as: Vee-lon.
[ ] You are short tempered.
[x] You know of somebody named Natasha.
[ ] You get cold easily.
[x] Rain is fun for you.
[ ] You get into contests all the time.
[ ] You can easily make do with the cold weather.
Total: 2

Irish
[ ] You think beer is the best.
[ ] You have a bad temper.
[ ] Your last name starts with a Mc, Murph, O’, Fitz or ends with a ley, on, un, an, in, ry, ly, y.
[ ] You have blue or green eyes.
[x] You like the color green.
[ ] You have been to a St. Patty’s day party.
[ ] You have a family member from Ireland.
[ ] You have/had blonde hair.
[ ] You have/had freckles.
[ ] Your family get togethers always include drinking and singing.
Total: 1

African American
[x] You say nigga/nukka casually.
[ ] You have nappy hair.
[x] You like rap.
[ ] You know how to shoot a gun.
[x] You think President George Walker Bush is racist.
[x] You like chicken.
[x] You like watermelon.
[ ] You can dance.
[ ] You can ‘sing’ gospel.
Total: 5

Asian
[ ] You have slanty/small eyes.
[x] You like rice a lot.
[x] You are good at maths.
[ ] You have played the piano.
[x] You have family from Asia.
[x] You laugh sometimes covering your mouth.
[ ] Most people think you’re chinese.
[ ] You call hurricanes typhoons.
[ ] You go to Baulko.
Total: 4

German
[] You like bread.
[x] You think German Chocolate is good.
[x] You Speak some German.
[x] You know what Schnitzel is.
[x] You hate it when stupid people call you a Nazi.
[x] You went to Pre-school.
[ ] You’re over 5’2.
Total: 5

Canadian
[ ] You like/play/played hockey.
[ ] You love beer.
[ ] You say eh.
[ ] You know what poutine is.
[x] You speak some french.
[ ] You love Tim Horton’s.
[ ] At one point you lived in a farm house.
[ ] You watch/watched Degrassi.
Total: 1

American
[ ] You hate foreigners.
[ ] You hate non - Christians
[x] You’re lazy.
[x] You hate abortion.
[ ] But love em for the death penalty.
[ ] You don’t read.
[ ] You shop at walmart.
[x] You think this survey is rather biased.
Total: 3

Turkish
[ ] You have 3 or more siblings and an endless number of cousins.
[ ] You start to grow a beard with 13 years.
[x] You are offered more and more food even though you're about to blow.
[x] You're asked 3 or 4 times if you want to eat or drink something.
[x] It causes awkward moments when you don't eat meat.
[x] Your Dad buys fruits in crates not in bags.
[x] Your Granny always complains that your Mother does not take care of you.
[x] You're always told to concentrate on school when you are doing anything fun.
Total: 6

Honestly, this is crazy! Anyways, feel free to add any ethnicity to this survey and spread it everywhere.
I would love to know your results as well!

2011-01-10T00:07:00.000+01:00

First of all: Welcome to my humble blog!
All I want to ask you is a bit of patience. Thanks for that!

Anyways, this blog is going to be about my experiences about the issues that you automatically grow in when you are born into a Turkish family and living in Germany, longing for so many places on earth, like the crazy subculture of Japan or the great diversity of the American society!
While doing so, I will go into the stuff I appreciate about my situation as well, since there is not only stuff to grump about.

Once again, thank you very much! And have a great day, wherever you are!