SDLC 110: Cultural Post 7

[Tenaya Bien]

I think that Turkish people have a great sense of family bonds. Sezgi often uses the example of a Turkish wedding in our class to help explain cultural concepts that we are learning. She describes the act of proposal where the groom-to-be along with his ENTIRE family (extended family as well) goes to the house of the bride (she basically knows it's coming, it's not a surprise) where she and her ENTIRE family are waiting to receive them. He then has to ask the girl's father for his daughter's hand and with her parents' blessing they can be engaged. The bride-to-be then has to make and serve Turkish coffee to everyone from both families and she puts salt in the groom-to-be's coffee to represent possible hardship in the marriage. If he can stand to drink it, it means that he will be able to take the hard times in their marriage too. From this example of the Turkish wedding, I think it shows how close families generally are and how important it is that they are involved in each others' lives.