I know I keep posting links to other students blog but this is probably the last one and is totally my favorite, no offense to the others. I'll post the link on the left with the others but I'll also put at the end of this post. This blog belongs to Chris Yoder of Illinois.
I posted something he wrote earlier about our Christmas experience. His most recent post is about what it's like to be an foreigner on the streets of India. Chris might have it the worst of all the exchange students I know. His city, Nagpur, isn't quite as conservative as Indore but Chris is also extremely tall, blond, and fair skinned which makes him stand out no matter what. I could even blend in to a crowd if I wanted, I could cover my head and hair, and most of my skin and would be able to pass as a fair Indian (there are some people here with a skin tone close to mine). Chris on the other hand towers over the crowd no matter what and covering his head with a scarf isn't really an option for a male.
The stares are something that didn't really bother me much at the beginning of my year. After a while I got pretty good at ignoring them but if not being unaware altogether. After returning from the South Tour though I was much more conscious of the gawking whenever I was out in public. I think that's because on the tour we were all very aware of it since a group of more than 15 foreigners tends to attract attention. Again though, I've gotten more accustomed to people looking at me. I know a lot of the time it's just purely because people are surprised of curious but there are other times that you just have to ignore the stares and walk by without being careful not to make eye contact. Then there are the people who come up to you and ask questions, some of them really dumb such as "are you a foreigner". The answer to that is quite clear as I very obviously and not of Indian descent. My least favorite is when people ask to take my picture of don't ask and try to take it anyways. Some younger people think it's very funny and amusing to dare their friends to come up and talk to us which usually consists of a "hello" then the speaker running away giggling. It's very entertaining to make up information when you get sick of people asking questions. My friend sometimes tells people she's from Prussia, the other day someone told her that they had just come back from a vacation there... I'm not very good at that game whenever someone asks me where I'm from I have a hard time thinking of a place so I usually answer with the truth say "America" or that I live here in Indore. People never believe me when I tell that I'm currently a resident in Indore, I mean how could a white person possible live here??
In a way though, I'm being hypocritical. If I'm ever in the mall or somewhere with friends and we see other foreigners I usually find myself staring. Foreigners have become more popular since I got here, monsoon season is not a very popular tourist season. Winter on the other hand, is when most people come to India do that they can travel in relative comfort. There have been times that I've been with the other exchange students when we argue amongst ourselves about whether we should approach the other foreigners and who should do it. Sometimes they approach us, other times we leave them to their business and assess from afar. So far we've met two other American families living in Indore and tourists from Australia, Germany and France. I'm sure when tourist season ends I won't be seeing fellow foreigners except for exchange students much.
Chris' Blog: http://anindianyear.wordpress.com/
I posted something he wrote earlier about our Christmas experience. His most recent post is about what it's like to be an foreigner on the streets of India. Chris might have it the worst of all the exchange students I know. His city, Nagpur, isn't quite as conservative as Indore but Chris is also extremely tall, blond, and fair skinned which makes him stand out no matter what. I could even blend in to a crowd if I wanted, I could cover my head and hair, and most of my skin and would be able to pass as a fair Indian (there are some people here with a skin tone close to mine). Chris on the other hand towers over the crowd no matter what and covering his head with a scarf isn't really an option for a male.
The stares are something that didn't really bother me much at the beginning of my year. After a while I got pretty good at ignoring them but if not being unaware altogether. After returning from the South Tour though I was much more conscious of the gawking whenever I was out in public. I think that's because on the tour we were all very aware of it since a group of more than 15 foreigners tends to attract attention. Again though, I've gotten more accustomed to people looking at me. I know a lot of the time it's just purely because people are surprised of curious but there are other times that you just have to ignore the stares and walk by without being careful not to make eye contact. Then there are the people who come up to you and ask questions, some of them really dumb such as "are you a foreigner". The answer to that is quite clear as I very obviously and not of Indian descent. My least favorite is when people ask to take my picture of don't ask and try to take it anyways. Some younger people think it's very funny and amusing to dare their friends to come up and talk to us which usually consists of a "hello" then the speaker running away giggling. It's very entertaining to make up information when you get sick of people asking questions. My friend sometimes tells people she's from Prussia, the other day someone told her that they had just come back from a vacation there... I'm not very good at that game whenever someone asks me where I'm from I have a hard time thinking of a place so I usually answer with the truth say "America" or that I live here in Indore. People never believe me when I tell that I'm currently a resident in Indore, I mean how could a white person possible live here??
In a way though, I'm being hypocritical. If I'm ever in the mall or somewhere with friends and we see other foreigners I usually find myself staring. Foreigners have become more popular since I got here, monsoon season is not a very popular tourist season. Winter on the other hand, is when most people come to India do that they can travel in relative comfort. There have been times that I've been with the other exchange students when we argue amongst ourselves about whether we should approach the other foreigners and who should do it. Sometimes they approach us, other times we leave them to their business and assess from afar. So far we've met two other American families living in Indore and tourists from Australia, Germany and France. I'm sure when tourist season ends I won't be seeing fellow foreigners except for exchange students much.
Chris' Blog: http://anindianyear.wordpress.com/
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