Monday, November 17, 2008

Information & Tips from Miss Reynolds about Living in India

This is written from Miss Reynolds' Perspective (first person).

My questions about each statement are in all capital letters. You may respond to any of the questions I have posed. I do not have questions for each statement, but that does not mean you can't comment on it.
All posts should be school-appropriate with appropriate vocabulary and respectful ideas. Anything deemed inappropriate will be reported, removed, and will result in a failing grade for this assignment.


In India...

1. Everyone wants to know if you have had your breakfast. HOW DOES THIS COMPARE OR CONTRAST TO AMERICAN BELIEFS ABOUT BREAKFAST?

2. Keys open up multiple locks. My friend Jyotsna locked her keys in her car and used Lelu's keys to open her door. Not the same model, not the same brand, not the same car. Hmmm. My neighbor Meenakshi uses her house key to open up the front door to my house. Hmmm. HOW DOES THIS CONTRADICT WITH AMERICAN BELIEFS? WHAT WOULD THIS MEAN FOR THE GOVERNMENT? HOW DOES IT ALIGN WITH THE PROVERB, "LOVE THY NEIGHBOR." WHAT DOES THIS SAY ABOUT TRUST? HOW WOULD THIS MAKE YOU FEEL?

3. Auto Rickshaw drivers often drive barefoot. They like to take naps in their backseats on the side of the road as well.

4. People say, "I'll just come"- meaning, I will leave and come back in the future. My brain still battles with this. Aren't you already here? ANSWER MISS REYNOLDS QUESTION.

5. Toilet paper doesn't go in the toilet. Nough said.

6. Toilet paper is unavailable 96% of the time. A bucket of water is in its place. Nough said.

7. If you say "no thanks" or politely refuse any type of dish, people automatically think you do not eat it ever.
Friend: Oh, you don't take chutney?
Me: No, I just don't want it right now.
Friend: Oh, you don't like chutney?
Me: No, I just don't feel like eating it right now.
Friend (to other friend): She doesn't eat chutney.

8. If you are 30 an unmarried, it is a national calamity. IS THIS SIMILAR OR DIFFERENT TO AMERICAN VALUES OR OUTLOOKS ON MARRIAGE?

9. Milk comes in plastic bags. You boil it, then let it cool before you drink it.

10. Nobody says "bless you" when you sneeze. An Indian sneeze is the loneliest sneeze!

11. If someone touches you with their foot on accident they will immediately touch their forehead and mouth in a small prayer of forgiveness. It is extremely rude to touch someone or kick something with your foot. WHAT DO WE VIEW AS EXTREMELY RUDE?

12. Indian men hold hands. They just do. Always have. It is a sign of friendship. It is common and comfortable for two men to walk arm in arm, hand in hand. Women as well.

13. Bathing areas are not separate from the toilet area. Bucket baths are most common, and you bathe in the same space as the toilet and the sink.

14. Staring is common and "curious stares" are not intended to be rude. People just openly look. For a really long time.WHY IS IT RUDE IN OUR CULTURE TO STARE? WHERE DID THAT COME FROM?

15. Most women use whitening cream. Here we are, toasting in tanning booths while Indians are smothering themselves in whitening cream routinely. The fairer, the better. Is something wrong with this picture? WHAT DOES THIS SAY ABOUT IDENTITY?

16. Men pee anywhere and everywhere. The world is their toilet. Close your eyes when you go, well, anywhere! JUST SO YOU KNOW STUDENTS, IN AMERICA, YOU CAN GET TICKETED AND ARRESTED FOR DOING THIS. IT IS CALLED A U.I.P. = URINATING IN PUBLIC AND IT IS ILLEGAL AND ENFORCED.

17. Girls do not pluck their eyebrows. They go for "threading." This is where one woman takes a looong thread between her teeth, moves her neck back and fourth like a chicken, and ties knots around the hair with the thread then jerks them out of your head. It is really, really cool.

18. If you do not wax your arms people will ask you why you don't wax your arms.

19. People eat lunch between 3-4pm and eat dinner between 10-11pm.

20. The number one meal deal at McDonalds is the Veggie Burger. And McDonalds does not serve beef. And they deliver... on bikes!

40 comments:

  1. No one says bless you when you sneeze! Poor booger.

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  2. Wait, how can a burger be a burger without beef?

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  3. These are cracking me up! I'm so excited to hear your updates and live vicariously through you. Travel safely and learn much.
    xo

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  4. Miss Bailin, I miss you so much!! Honors isn't the same with out you!! I can't believe people in India eat lunch between 3-4 P.M.
    And then they eat dinner at 10-11P.M. That is so bizzare!

    Your sad student because your away,
    Haley Maurice

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  5. Dear Miss Bailin,

    I really can't believe keys open multiple locks in India!! I would never trust anyone going into my house! All my things would be gone in minutes. And they could get into your car?!? That's CRAZY if you ask me!!

    I miss you! Can't wait to see you!
    Your student,
    Haley Maurice

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  6. Dear Miss Bailin,

    I can't and never will believe that men pee where ever the want. Are the walls, streets, carpets, floors, buildings, and sidewalks full of pee?!? I wouldn't want to live in India because of that reason!

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  7. I don't know how I could survive without beef at McDonalds. It is also disgusting that you pee anywhere and everywhere.

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  8. These are true and hilarious (for the most part). I am Indian (born in the USA)and its funny to see how things are viewed by a non-Indian. The place IS like a huge toilet and the stench is what you can't sense through Natl Geog specials:) It is funny how Indians are so careful about personal hygiene but not so much communal?! You'll get past it though:)

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  9. My gosh! I can't beileve your in India Miss Bailin! Gawsh i miss you! But the odd part is there (not trying to offense there culture) you have to use a rag over and over again... And yeah its water but who is going to clean the water AND the rag? Also, just tapping something with your foot you have to bless yourself? On my letter it says they love football! How can they play it if it is rude to tap/kick something with your foot?

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  10. Also, with the eyebrow thing, it would be kind of odd to see a lady have a huge string attached to their teeth and eyebrows and see then moving their head. I would be staring and saying in my mine " Why the heck does this woman have string attached to her teeth and eyebrows while jerking her head?" I find it bizzare! We all miss you!

    ~Hannah Z

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  11. people in argentina pee every where too. it smells all over. i also wondered why we have so much homework.

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  12. I wonder why one key can open more than one door!!

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  13. where does the toilet paper go then?

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  14. they probably just have a collection of molds for locks that all the companys use

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  15. I miss you sooo much so have you made Indian friends yet? Have you seen any cows yet? OH I have so many questions!!!!!

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  16. wouldnt the eybrow method hurt though?

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  17. i dont know how a veggie burger was invented but i sure as heck never want to eat one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  18. the peeing part would be gross, but it could almost be convinient because you dont have to wait all the time, espesialy because i am a boy, plus you wouldnt get arrested

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  19. did she mention something about cows?

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  20. please come back, subs, no offense, but you are so much better!!!!!

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  21. Dear miss Bailin,

    I would be freaked out if people were constantly asking me if I had breakfast. But that is what they do and I can't change it.

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  22. Dear miss Bailin,

    The world is a guy's toilet. Creeeeeeepppppppyyyyyyy.

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  23. McDonalds on Bikes talk about fast food!

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  24. Devon - Can a booger be poor if all other boogers don't have money either? haha! Also, burg·er (bĂ»rgr)
    n.
    1. A sandwich consisting of a bun, a cooked beef patty, and often other ingredients such as cheese, onion slices, lettuce, or condiments. Often used in combination: a cheeseburger.
    2. A similar sandwich with a nonbeef filling. Often used in combination: a crab burger; a tofu burger.

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  25. Haley - I have not seen anyone urinate in public yet. I'm not looking too forward to that, but if it is the reality, it is something I will have to accept. Keys opening multiple locks makes me a bit nervous myself. That is such a foreign concept to us in the United States because we are pretty obsessed with what is "ours" and what we have "earned" and what we are "entitled" to. Culturally speaking, that is just the way it is and when you have been raised with something, it just becomes the norm.

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  26. Connely - I have had veggie burgers and they are quite yummy. It just depends on what type you try. Islands has one that is delicious. My mom always orders it. As for the toilet paper ritual here...you take it, wad it up, put it in a plastic bag, tie the bag, and then take it outside and dispose of it. My brother emailed me and he agreed with you that the urinating in public phenomenon would be convenient. We have not had much discussion about cows, but I did see one in the street when we were driving today. It was massively large! I just missed getting a picture of it. Cows are sacred here, but that is about all I know about cows so far. :) Thank you for telling me you prefer me to the sub. That made me smile!!! :) I miss all of you and it is a very different teaching environment and we all know my teaching style takes some getting adjusted to. I haven't tried the threading eyebrow method, but I am assuming that it hurts the same as tweezing because the hair is still being pulled from the root. Bree said that it stings.

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  27. Aaron - Even though I'm so far away, your sense of humor travels with me! Nice joke. I'm going to tell it to people tomorrow and see if they get it. Bree is laughing. :)

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  28. Kendra - Bree has some really good Indian friends and we had dinner with them this evening. They are very welcoming and kind hearted. They enjoyed seeing the pictures of my American students. I saw one cow while driving in a Rickshaw today, but we went by so fast that I could not get a picture. It was big and brown. I miss you too! I'm not sure why one key opens multiple doors. Bree thinks that there might a a lack of tools to make many different locks.

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  29. Hannah - I miss all of you too. Bree says that when they are playing sports, it is not considered rude because it is not in the same context as kicking someone.

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  30. Why do you have to boil the milk that comes in bags? Is it for sanitary reasons? And if toilet paper doesn't go into the toilet where does it go? Won't it smell? Eew!By the way evryone misses you! :(

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  31. Hi Sierra! we can't drink the milk without boiling it because it has bacteria and germs in it that can hurt us.

    The toilet paper goes into an individual plastic bag. Then you tie it up and take it out of the house. you have to do this each time you use the restroom. By the way...I miss all of you too!!

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  32. Hey! this is pretty cool how you teach
    your because i think i might visit India
    one day.The fact that you have to take your shoes off half a mile from the Hall!
    crazy ohh.. and the toilet paper funny blogs

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  33. wonder who made men pee in public

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  34. if I was a vegetarian I would probably try it. How could they not use beef

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  35. If a key can open multiple locks, can't someone use his (or hers) key to steal a car?

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  36. I would fall asleep in the middle of dinner in India if I eat that late at night

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  37. If our milk is anything like theirs, shouldn't they stay cold in a refrigerator???

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  38. How can you take a bath with just a bucket of water??

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  39. Do they even make toilet paper the other 4% or do they get it somewhere else?

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