Some stuff in India to adjust to
Oct. 21st, 2007 01:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
christopher5751) When you're explaining something to someone in India, they'll roll their head back and forth while maintaining eye contact with you. It's a gesture that would be rude and dismissive in the US, but it's actually their way of saying that they're listening actively and understanding you. It threw me for a loop the first few times I saw it, but since I'm teaching a class and answering a lot of questions, I saw it a lot and picked it up about halfway into the first day.
2) Driving is insane. There are no posted speed limits. People walk on the edge of the road instead of next to it. People drive the wrong way on divided highways and on one-way streets. You have to honk every time you pass someone because there's no assumption that people will drive in a straight line. Some roads have lanes painted in, but nobody pays attention. I hope to get a picture of the huge banner I see on the way to work each day that reads, "DEVELOP A CULTURE OF DRIVING IN THE LANES" but doubt I will since we swerve past it at such scary speeds. The cows mostly keep to the side of the road, but sometimes one wanders in.
3) In the US, one is pretty used to seeing people of all races, but in India, it's still pretty homogenous. I never knew I was so fascinating to look at, but people form in groups nearby and stop speaking to each other so they can watch me. I do wish there was some way I could see what will happen when all those people who took pictures with me yesterday gets them developed and shows their friends.
4) The power goes out a lot. Here in the apartment, we've got an emergency light in the living room, but it was startling when I was taking a leak and the lights went out. Luckily, I'd already established my aim. It also never stays off for long, thankfully.
5) There's a pretty obvious class divide. I figured our driver would eat with us yesterday, but he was always off somewhere else. Everyone talks to him in the car, but when it's time for a break, he's on his own.
6) Everyone is so nice. The other day I asked my coworker at dinner if he wanted a cup of water while I got one for myself. He said no, but asked if he could go get mine.
7) It's going to be hard to come back home and adjust to doing things for myself. Someone washes my clothes, does my dishes, and cleans up after me at the apartment. When I get to the office, a guy finds me and brings me a bottle of water and a coke, and brings several more bottles of water throughout the day. A driver takes me to and from work, and is available to take me wherever else I'd like to go. He also opens and closes the door of the van for me.
8) The coworkers in my class are all extremely eager to learn and also interested in talking to me about my life and the US. Four of them skipped out on 30 minutes of their dinner break Friday night so they could chat with me and check out my tattoo. They always greet me enthusiastically and I feel bad because I have no way to memorize all their names quickly enough.
9) I finally slept through a long night (10 hours? not sure) without snapping awake halfway through.
10) The apartment is AMAZING. It's on the 15th floor, and the living room/dining room area is larger than my entire apartment. Add to that four bedrooms (each with its own bathroom), an enormous kitchen, three balconies, and servant's quarters with its own bathroom. The floors are all marble, and every room has its own ceiling fan, which we don't need to use because each room also has its own air conditioner.
11) I'm glad the apartment is this nice, because I feel somewhat trapped here. Of course, there's a driver I can call, and even a store on the property, but looking beyond our complex I see a dusty road I'm nervous to go anywhere near, and have no idea how far I'd have to go to get to anything interesting. We've planned a shopping trip for this afternoon, so that'll be a nice chance to finally see some of the area around here. But honestly, there's a whole Mad Max feel to it.
12) Call centers and the like in India have a pretty mixed reputation in the US, but being here I can see that it's a really excellent job to have. All the businesses around here provide transport to and from the office, and free meals for their employees. It's the standard here. Everyone I've talked to really loves their jobs, and it's sad to think about, but judging by the amount of time they spend in the office even when they're just hanging out with their work friends after finishing for the day, they've probably got dreary situations at home that they're happy to spend a lot of time away from.
EDIT TO ADD, 13) Chinese food here comes in plastic buckets with lids taped on so securely that it's hard to get to the food. It also comes in plastic bags tied in knots and little tiny zipper baggies. It's almost like getting shipments of illicit drugs, and is kind of a pain. I think one could make a fortune introducing the Chinese takeout container to India, and I wonder why it's not already in use.
2) Driving is insane. There are no posted speed limits. People walk on the edge of the road instead of next to it. People drive the wrong way on divided highways and on one-way streets. You have to honk every time you pass someone because there's no assumption that people will drive in a straight line. Some roads have lanes painted in, but nobody pays attention. I hope to get a picture of the huge banner I see on the way to work each day that reads, "DEVELOP A CULTURE OF DRIVING IN THE LANES" but doubt I will since we swerve past it at such scary speeds. The cows mostly keep to the side of the road, but sometimes one wanders in.
3) In the US, one is pretty used to seeing people of all races, but in India, it's still pretty homogenous. I never knew I was so fascinating to look at, but people form in groups nearby and stop speaking to each other so they can watch me. I do wish there was some way I could see what will happen when all those people who took pictures with me yesterday gets them developed and shows their friends.
4) The power goes out a lot. Here in the apartment, we've got an emergency light in the living room, but it was startling when I was taking a leak and the lights went out. Luckily, I'd already established my aim. It also never stays off for long, thankfully.
5) There's a pretty obvious class divide. I figured our driver would eat with us yesterday, but he was always off somewhere else. Everyone talks to him in the car, but when it's time for a break, he's on his own.
6) Everyone is so nice. The other day I asked my coworker at dinner if he wanted a cup of water while I got one for myself. He said no, but asked if he could go get mine.
7) It's going to be hard to come back home and adjust to doing things for myself. Someone washes my clothes, does my dishes, and cleans up after me at the apartment. When I get to the office, a guy finds me and brings me a bottle of water and a coke, and brings several more bottles of water throughout the day. A driver takes me to and from work, and is available to take me wherever else I'd like to go. He also opens and closes the door of the van for me.
8) The coworkers in my class are all extremely eager to learn and also interested in talking to me about my life and the US. Four of them skipped out on 30 minutes of their dinner break Friday night so they could chat with me and check out my tattoo. They always greet me enthusiastically and I feel bad because I have no way to memorize all their names quickly enough.
9) I finally slept through a long night (10 hours? not sure) without snapping awake halfway through.
10) The apartment is AMAZING. It's on the 15th floor, and the living room/dining room area is larger than my entire apartment. Add to that four bedrooms (each with its own bathroom), an enormous kitchen, three balconies, and servant's quarters with its own bathroom. The floors are all marble, and every room has its own ceiling fan, which we don't need to use because each room also has its own air conditioner.
11) I'm glad the apartment is this nice, because I feel somewhat trapped here. Of course, there's a driver I can call, and even a store on the property, but looking beyond our complex I see a dusty road I'm nervous to go anywhere near, and have no idea how far I'd have to go to get to anything interesting. We've planned a shopping trip for this afternoon, so that'll be a nice chance to finally see some of the area around here. But honestly, there's a whole Mad Max feel to it.
12) Call centers and the like in India have a pretty mixed reputation in the US, but being here I can see that it's a really excellent job to have. All the businesses around here provide transport to and from the office, and free meals for their employees. It's the standard here. Everyone I've talked to really loves their jobs, and it's sad to think about, but judging by the amount of time they spend in the office even when they're just hanging out with their work friends after finishing for the day, they've probably got dreary situations at home that they're happy to spend a lot of time away from.
EDIT TO ADD, 13) Chinese food here comes in plastic buckets with lids taped on so securely that it's hard to get to the food. It also comes in plastic bags tied in knots and little tiny zipper baggies. It's almost like getting shipments of illicit drugs, and is kind of a pain. I think one could make a fortune introducing the Chinese takeout container to India, and I wonder why it's not already in use.
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Date: 2007-10-21 10:02 am (UTC)and that head waggle thing is hard to get used to even when you know what it means.
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Date: 2007-10-21 09:07 pm (UTC)I am lonely!
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Date: 2007-10-21 09:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-21 09:41 pm (UTC)Seriously? Amazing overdose.
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Date: 2007-10-21 11:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-22 01:07 am (UTC)ilu and miss you so much, pal!
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Date: 2007-10-21 02:18 pm (UTC)Why are you so fascinating to them? Is it because they never see Westerners? One would thik it's commonplace but maybe not? I've never been to India...
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Date: 2007-10-21 09:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-21 09:23 pm (UTC)They would be too busy staring at my enormous rack.
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Date: 2007-10-21 09:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-21 09:38 pm (UTC)Those photos are usually reserved for when I am high on ambien heheh.
They are usually on my journal ;)
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Date: 2007-10-22 06:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-22 12:48 pm (UTC)Oh snap! I'll have to start representin' the rack pics again.
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Date: 2007-10-24 09:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-21 09:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-21 11:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-21 03:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-21 09:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-21 11:38 pm (UTC)As for the water, we've been avoiding it. Our drinks were too warm last night, so we asked for more ice. Then I realized we probably shouldn't have the ice, so we decided to drink them really fast so they wouldn't have as much of the deadly water in it.
I only finally had lamb last night. It was good, but a little spicy. I really want a lamb burger from McDonald's, but they were out the last time I ordered it.
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Date: 2007-10-24 09:25 pm (UTC)Try getting shahi korma (lamb in creamy nut sauce) and naan. Nummers.
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Date: 2007-10-21 03:24 pm (UTC)I want to go someday!
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Date: 2007-10-21 11:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-21 07:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-21 11:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-21 11:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-22 05:11 am (UTC)2) & 3) The staring and the driving and the cows on the road, that happens even in urban areas. It really made me paranoid. Now I'd be way less stressed out about it. I'd really like to go back now that I'm not a total spaz.
I'm glad that you have kind of the luxury trip where you have real hosts instead of people constantly trying to empty your pockets. We never had problems with power outages (at least not that I can remember).