It’s Independence Day in India, so remember to raise your Indian
flags and wear orange, white, and green!
This morning I woke up at 6…and then again at 6:30 in order to watch a
ceremony put on by some local elementary school kids. The festivities included dancing, singing,
and reciting India’s pledge of allegiance.
It was pretty fun to watch, but once it was done I came right back home
and slept for another three hours.
Independence Day means no class, so I have been taking it easy all day. Today was a day to relax and
re-cooperate. You know, trying to soak
in every detail of a culture and make the most of every minute is exhausting!
Yesterday was my second day of school and was much less
hectic. I arrived at 11 (because it
turns out school starts then, not at noon like we had previously thought) and
began attending classes. Mostly, they
were pretty boring. School here seems to
be taught by the book–meaning the teacher reads a section from the textbook, reads
the analysis questions, answers the questions, then looks up to see a few
nodding heads before continuing. It
really does not seem like a very good teaching method but Symbiosis is
apparently one of the best junior colleges (11th and 12th
grades) in Pune and in all of Maharashtra.
I guess I will learn to accept it.
French, however, is much more interesting. It is by far my favorite class because the
teacher commands respect and the students are, for the most part,
attentive. It also happens to be the only
class in which I have learned anything.
Ironically (and a little sadly), I have learned more French in these two
days of class than Marathi or Hindi since I arrived. I am hopeful that I continue to learn more
French throughout my time here because the more languages you know, the better
off you are. Learning French will also
be made easier by the fact that it is similar to Spanish, which I already
speak. You never know what you will
learn during a year on exchange!
Tomorrow I will not be attending classes because my family is
hosting some sort of religious gathering which they want me to see. I am excited to see a new part of Indian
culture and to be a part of whatever ceremony is going on tomorrow.
Other than that, life is becoming much more familiar here as I begin experiencing seconds along with firsts: I am
used to the traffic and don’t feel the need to close my eyes whenever I ride a
two wheeler, the food is still spicy, but I am managing fine, and now I’ve
attended two days of school. I have
gotten through the ‘shock’ phase, and have moved on to the ‘acceptance’ phase,
and this one is giving me a little trouble.
Acceptance entails realizing that I will be here for a year and that I
have to put my life in Northfield on hold.
This is quite difficult for me because Northfield is my home and I love
my life there. Last year everything was
going really well for me and I felt that I had everything figured out, and that
is a tough feeling to let go. I have traveled
across the world, and willingly put myself in a new and vastly different
culture, but it did not occur to me that I would have to let go of
Northfield. There is a fine line between
missing home and missing out on exchange, and this is the line I have to define
for myself. It is a matter of knowing
that I have a once in a lifetime opportunity to take advantage of, and
reminding myself that I am not leaving my old life behind, I am merely putting
it aside as I experience great new things here.
And with Skype, I can bring Northfield back with only the click of a
button. It is comforting to know that I
do not have to leave home entirely.
Do not get me wrong, I am enjoying India. There is so much to experience and understand
that a year cannot possibly cover it! Even
as I begin to have as many seconds as firsts, my time here is still
valuable. I am determined to make the
most of my exchange and experience as much of India as I can. Wish me luck!
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