It may sound petty, but over the last few days there is something that Mateusz has been doing that really has been getting on my nerves:
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- "Could you PLEASE hand me the travel guide?"
- "PLEASE tell me what time it is."
- "Would you pass me the sunscreen PLEASE?"
- "PLEASE put this back in your bag."
He was eager to learn saying, "Ohhhh so it is the nice way of asking someone to do something for you and then they will be more happy to do it?"
And I responded, "Exactly!"
In the same way that I taught Mateusz to say "please," I feel I have a lot to learn about the Turkish way of doing things. This concept can be applied to more than just language as well. For instance, the amount of personal space given to an individual is quite smaller than in the States (especially on metros). While I usually would find this invasive and uncomfortable, for them it is very natural to be this close together. This concept of Cultural Competence is constantly coming up in our pharmacy school curriculum, as the population of America continues to diversifying becoming the melting pot that is our patient population. This does not necessarily mean that we need to accept everything that other cultures do differently; rather we must be aware and respectful in order to provide unbiased and complete care to each unique individual.
(Additional pictures from throughout our day today have been added to the Photo Gallery)