Medeshi Sept 20, 2008
Dear Somali people: my experiences with them (Article 2 of 3)
By Yoshia MORISHITA
Having Somali friends meant a lot to me. My usual plans for weekends began to shift to a series of excursions to some of the predominantly Islamic sections of London, including Whitechapel, of course. In this second article, I will write about some of my experiences with Somali people.
(Photo: Yoshia lecturing to young soldiers)
One day I was walking with my Somali friend in the Whitechapel area. I had already lived in London for about 3 years but was pretty surprised to see all the vendors, little Halal cafés and restaurants, the variety of newspapers sold, people’s clothing and so on. I never felt out of place in central London where there are people literally from all over the world but this time it was different. At a Somali restaurant where we had lunch, I was out of place. We took our seats by the window and I noticed this huge waiter was staring at me while taking our orders. When the huge man brought our massive meals I got to know that I was being treated differently because I was given a knife, a fork and a spoon. This is just like Japanese restaurants giving non-Asian customers these things in addition to chopsticks. I saw only Somali customers there, unlike Chinese restaurants, for example, where you see Asian, American, European and other customers. I wonder why because the Somali cuisine is good (although its presentation could be improved if it was to be widely accepted) but maybe serving their countrymen and women may be enough for the Somali restaurants to stay in business!?
As I got to know more about Somali people and their cultures, I became able to tell the difference between Somali people and other Africans. Just like Japanese are different from Chinese and Koreans Somali people are different from Ghanaians and Egyptians. When I talk to people who I guess are from the Somali region, I ask, ‘Where are you from? You are from Somalia, aren’t you?’ I get it right most of the time and the Somali person looks so surprised and happy, saying, ‘How could you tell?’
To be honest, Africans looked all the same to me till I lived in London but now I know that it is not very useful to make generalisations when you want to be specific about something. However, I have seen some black Africans categorise themselves as ‘an African people’ and likewise with that some people still ask Japanese people if they are Chinese (stop assuming all East Asians are Chinese!). I remember when I was travelling to Holland by coach, there was a family near my seat and we started to chat. They looked happy because I talked about my Somali friends but what a few of the family members were saying to me was clearly based on the assumption that Japan and China form one single country.
By talking to Somali people I always get the impression that the Somali network is tight and wide. Many of them mention their friends, relatives and so on who live here and there, in an attempt to find even the weakest link between us. Surprisingly the worldwide Somali network does exist. One of the executive members of the organisation I worked for in London attended the wedding ceremony of the Somali guy who lives in our neighbourhood in Japan! Moreover, his ‘brother’ (more correctly his cousin) who was here in Japan with us for sightseeing knows the web master of this web site! What a small world!
END
About the writer:
(Mr) Yoshia MORISHITA is a Japanese national who studied and worked in the UK, as well as Turkey and Eritrea. He has visited around 25 countries of the world and developed his international perspectives. He has a Master’s degree in International Development from UCL, University of London and worked as a research associate at a British NGO. Currently he is living in Japan running a small business in the area of various international programmes and businesses facilitation and co-ordination, while reading sociology at Hokkaido University.
By Yoshia MORISHITA
Having Somali friends meant a lot to me. My usual plans for weekends began to shift to a series of excursions to some of the predominantly Islamic sections of London, including Whitechapel, of course. In this second article, I will write about some of my experiences with Somali people.
(Photo: Yoshia lecturing to young soldiers)
One day I was walking with my Somali friend in the Whitechapel area. I had already lived in London for about 3 years but was pretty surprised to see all the vendors, little Halal cafés and restaurants, the variety of newspapers sold, people’s clothing and so on. I never felt out of place in central London where there are people literally from all over the world but this time it was different. At a Somali restaurant where we had lunch, I was out of place. We took our seats by the window and I noticed this huge waiter was staring at me while taking our orders. When the huge man brought our massive meals I got to know that I was being treated differently because I was given a knife, a fork and a spoon. This is just like Japanese restaurants giving non-Asian customers these things in addition to chopsticks. I saw only Somali customers there, unlike Chinese restaurants, for example, where you see Asian, American, European and other customers. I wonder why because the Somali cuisine is good (although its presentation could be improved if it was to be widely accepted) but maybe serving their countrymen and women may be enough for the Somali restaurants to stay in business!?
As I got to know more about Somali people and their cultures, I became able to tell the difference between Somali people and other Africans. Just like Japanese are different from Chinese and Koreans Somali people are different from Ghanaians and Egyptians. When I talk to people who I guess are from the Somali region, I ask, ‘Where are you from? You are from Somalia, aren’t you?’ I get it right most of the time and the Somali person looks so surprised and happy, saying, ‘How could you tell?’
To be honest, Africans looked all the same to me till I lived in London but now I know that it is not very useful to make generalisations when you want to be specific about something. However, I have seen some black Africans categorise themselves as ‘an African people’ and likewise with that some people still ask Japanese people if they are Chinese (stop assuming all East Asians are Chinese!). I remember when I was travelling to Holland by coach, there was a family near my seat and we started to chat. They looked happy because I talked about my Somali friends but what a few of the family members were saying to me was clearly based on the assumption that Japan and China form one single country.
By talking to Somali people I always get the impression that the Somali network is tight and wide. Many of them mention their friends, relatives and so on who live here and there, in an attempt to find even the weakest link between us. Surprisingly the worldwide Somali network does exist. One of the executive members of the organisation I worked for in London attended the wedding ceremony of the Somali guy who lives in our neighbourhood in Japan! Moreover, his ‘brother’ (more correctly his cousin) who was here in Japan with us for sightseeing knows the web master of this web site! What a small world!
END
About the writer:
(Mr) Yoshia MORISHITA is a Japanese national who studied and worked in the UK, as well as Turkey and Eritrea. He has visited around 25 countries of the world and developed his international perspectives. He has a Master’s degree in International Development from UCL, University of London and worked as a research associate at a British NGO. Currently he is living in Japan running a small business in the area of various international programmes and businesses facilitation and co-ordination, while reading sociology at Hokkaido University.
