Multicultural Education

              As part of learning about Multicultural Education, I signed up for a program on campus called the Global Aggie Partner program. This program is designed to help international students get involved with on or off campus activities and make new friends. I was assigned a partner, his name was Saeed.  We mostly had meals together, lunch and dinner, and had good conversations. We had lunch at Aggie Ice Cream once, and another time he invited my roommate and I over to his apartment for delicious Saudi Arabian food.

                I learned a lot from Saeed.  I learned some things about Saudi Arabian culture, for example, they usually sit on the ground for their meals and have everyone dish out the food from a large revolving plate in the middle of the table.  The dinner that Saeed cooked was a traditional dish and he even used spices and ingredients from Saudi Arabia.  It was a very delicious meal.    I also learned that typically Saudi Arabian families are large, Saeed has four siblings, and that is unusual.  Apparently, seven to ten children in a family is typical in his culture.  We found a lot of connections because I also have a large family.  We discussed how much we like having a lot of siblings, and how much fun it can be to have family gatherings when there’s a lot to talk, joke and laugh about.  We also discussed that it can also be hard sometimes having a large family because sometimes we can fight and argue.  Saeed also told me about how he came to Utah to get an education because the schools were a little cheaper, and then he intends to move back to Saudi Arabia after he graduates and make more money over there as an engineer.  We are both in a calculus three class and we’ve talked a lot about how hard the class can be.  He has an especially hard time because he is still learning English.  As an international student, he had to spend two years learning English before he could start his program.  For only knowing English for two years, he communicates pretty well.  Though when we were having dinner at his apartment, my roommate and another American that was there were talking about school and other things and Saeed and his brother (who is also here, spending his two years learning English,) both told me that they didn’t understand anything my roommate was saying because she was talking too fast.   Something I learned about Saudi Arabian culture is that it is offensive for men to touch a woman’s hair.  Saeed didn’t tell me what it meant, only that it was offensive.  That is also one of the reasons that the women wear the niqab.  Saeed also showed me a large robe-like thing that he wears for warmth.  I can’t remember what it was called, but it was like a very very thick robe that had long sleeves and went all the way to the floor.   We talked about how we wish that everyone could have something like that and wear it everywhere, especially here in frigid Logan!   Saeed also talked about how he isn’t used to the cold and doesn’t really like it.  He was very used to the really warm weather in Saudi Arabia.  We made a connection about that because I grew up for a time in Southern Arizona where I was also used to very warm, dry weather, and then moved to a cold, wet Utah. 

                We also talked about what we like to do for fun.  I told Saeed that in Utah, outdoorsy things are very popular because of the mountains and lakes that are close by.  I told him about rock climbing, hiking, water skiing, four-wheeling, etc.  He told me he doesn’t like heights, and hasn’t really done very many things like that.  In Utah, for fun he likes to hang out with friends, try out new recipes or restaurants and go to parties and activities.   In Saudi Arabia he said it’s about the same, he really likes their social gatherings and big family gatherings. 

             Spending time with Saeed gave me insight to how I should teach when I have students of other languages and cultures. I will need to be patient and understanding when students have a difficult time keeping up with the other students and make accommodations for them to continue learning and understanding even though there may be language or cultural barriers.