Below you'll see short excerpts from two long emails that arrived on the same day - one from Junior Hillary Rosen, just after cresting a wave of homesickness in her first week an AFS student in Germany, the other from alumna Nan Ransahoff, who is spending a semester abroad from Harvard . . . in India. Their accounts show the open, curious spirits of these two young women - and the big, wide world that awaits our graduates. Hi Mr.Ulku-Steiner!
I am sitting at a German computer in Esslingen, Germany. The keyboards here are really different. For example, the y is where the z should be and the z is where the y should be. There are also more keys because german has three special letters: ä ü ö. So typing is difficult.
I got to Germany last weekend. I got up Friday morning in New York to finish orientation and then I was awake for the next 30 hours. After I got the the Frankfurt airport, I had to wait 13 hours until my train came for Stuttgart. When I got to Esslingen, I slept until 3pm the next day. Everything is so beautiful here. It looks like the town hasn't changed since the middle ages.
Here is a little about my typical day here:
I wake up at 6am. Then I go back to sleep and get out of bed at 6:30am. I go downstairs and eat breakfast, brush my teeth, and then start my walk to school. My walk to school takes about 30 minutes. I live in the mountains, so it's very hilly. I walk alone, but some girls in my class sometimes meet up with me when I'm almost at the school. The school starts at 7:45am . Most students walk, bike, or take the city bus to school. Some kids do drive though. The cars in the parking lot are either BMWs, Mercedes, or Audis. There are some smart cars too.
The school is very yellow and has about 4 floors. I am always lost, but I'm beginning to figure out where I am. All the schools here are public. I made a list of some of the things that are different between our school and the school here:
1. No teacher has their own classroom. They move and students stay, but sometimes students move too. It depends what day it is.
2. Almost no one has a locker and the lockers have keys.
3. No one older than the 9 grade uses a backpack and backpacks are square.
4. The textbooks are on loan and they are about 1/20 the size of ours.
5. The schedule goes 3 classes, then a 20 minute break, then 3 more classes, and then we get out of school at 1pm.
6. On most days you get out of school at 1, but one or two days a week (Mondays for me) you have afternoon school. In that case, you can eat lunch at the cafeteria and then go to your last three classes.
7. Sometimes you have two straight periods of the same class and other days only one hour of the class. Oh, and today they decided to teach English instead of Chemistry because our chemistry teacccher wasn't there. We weren't supposed to have English today.
8. I'm taking 13 classes: German, Spanish 1, Spanish 3, English, Religion(Catholism), Math, Geography, PE, social studies, physics, art, chemistry, and biology.
9. They take physics, chemistry, and biology every year since the 9 grade.
10. There are 13 grades.
11. There's almost nothing on the walls because the teachers have no room of their own.
12. The girls are a lot closer than in America. When close friends greet each other in the morning, the kiss on the lips. I don't have any close friends yet.
13. People where the same outfit to school for the entire week. I don't mean everyone matches, I mean each person wears just one or two outfits during the entire week.
14. All grades can leave campus when they have nothing to do and when people cross the street, they wait for the walk signal even if no cars are present.
15. Students have side conversations while the teacher is teaching and the teacher does nothing about it.
16. Some letters and numbers are written differently, so it's hard to read the board.
Those are just some of the differences between my school here and DA. My favorite subject is English, because it is taught in English. My second favorite is probably math, because it's pretty much the same. The words for things are a bit longer, though. For example, speed is "Geschwindigkeit." I always keep my dictionary handy.
So after school I walk home. It takes 30 minutes and practically the entire way is uphill. When I get home, we eat a big lunch, because dinner is practically nonexistent. After lunch, I start my homework, so that I am free by the evening. (remember, I get home at 1) I can also sit outside on the porch overlooking the rose fields or in my room with the beautiful view of the mountains and vineyards. At night, we watch TV together and eat pretzels.
That is a typical weekday in Esslingen. I will send pictures as soon as I get internet hooked up to my laptop. I'll be sure to keep in touch.
Hope everything is going well in North Carolina.
Mit Freundlichen Grüßen (With warm regards),
Hillary
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To: DA teachers
Subject: "Nan" means "eye" not "bread"
Yes, ladies and gents. Sorry to disappoint, but in Hindi, "nan" (if you pronounce my name correctly) means "eye." Not the tasty indian bread. I'm pleased because it has a little more meaning than a food (as yummy as it may be). Now that that's been settled (I apologize this is so long, it's just that everything is so new. For those of you who make it through, I hope you get a few laughs.)
Orientation, in a word, sucked. It was a lot of safety/health/logistical issues that are pounded into us over and over again. I mean, is it really necessary to have to two-hour sessions of which the takeaway message is: don't drink the water and wear bug repellent? We get it. However, while the vast majority has been downright boring, here are a few new things I did learn, mainly pertaining to avoiding sexual harassment in India.
1. Carry a diaper pin or safety pin to poke men on the train who won't leave you alone. For some reason this is not considered violence. (I will make sure it's at least a clean pin, since this country doesn't need any help spreading diseases.)
2. Don't be afraid to take off your sandal and smack men who bother you incessantly.
3. If a man is bothering you, don't hesitate to turn to the stranger next to you and say very loudly, "Can you believe this man! Look at how he's behaving!!" to draw attention to him and shame him into leaving you alone.
4. Don't point the bottom of your feet at people. It's incredibly offensive.
5. Never eat with your left hand (as this is the one that does all of the "dirty work" ahem). This is somewhat problematic for me as I'm left handed. I've been practicing eating with my right, but its going miserably so far.
While I have not had to use any of the anti-harassment suggestions yet, it's common to hear non-threatening come-ons usually along the lines of, "Big businessman in US" while the guy points to himself. He might be more convincing if spoken in complete sentences, but whatever works I guess.
A few days ago we moved into our homestays. I am living with a mother, father and their 24 year old son. The father, Chandraji picked me up. He is a tiny little man with the biggest head of hair - huge dark curls. His wife is the sweetest woman I've ever met, and good lord can she cook. Its all vegetarian (which I love), and everything is super spicy (which I also love). They've been hosting SIT kids for 5 years, and she says, "all the students come here like this (waving her finger like a stick)" and leave "fatty." I, however, am determined not to get "fatty." She claims that she is "fatty" and is trying to lose 10 kilos. I try to tell her she is not "fat" (even though she is a little), but she doesn't understand.
Ankit (their son) loves Grand Theft Auto, so we play it occasionally. I mentioned that it enforces pretty terrible racial stereotypes in the US, to which he responds, "I thought that was not a problem anymore because Will Smith is a popular actor." That made me laugh. He has also downloaded about 50 youtubes of Michael Jackson, which I also find amusing.
Their entire family (and extended family) are musicians, which is amazing for me. The first time I walked in the house, there were 15 kids playing piano in the main room, 5 kids playing guitar in the bedroom and 5 kids playing sitar in the side room. I have already received a sitar lesson and an Indian vocal lesson. My mother walks around the house singing all the time, and I think it's the most beautiful thing I've ever heard. I'm really psyched to learn Indian music. It's a perfect match.
I have my own room, which's walls are bright pink, curtains are bright pink and bed is bright pink with yellow flowers. There's a huge mural on the wall of maidens frolicking by a pond with a flock of swans. It'sŠinterestingŠ My shower is a bath spout (but no bath, the water just falls on the same cement floor as the toilet) and I take a pitcher and pour water on myself. Also, toilet paper is virtually non-existant, at least where I am. People just splash water on themselves. I'm not really down with that, but whatever.
The house is really colorful - fake flowers and fake fish tank included (it's a tank of water with plastic fishes tied to the bottom on strings. Haha). There's no furniture in the main room because apparently its too hard to clean. Also, we eat in the parent's bedroom, which I find a little odd. All the families we are staying with are upper middle class, we are told. Could not be more different than the upper middle class in the US. Remarkable.
oh. also, they have ahomeless man who sleeps on their floor every night. skinniest thing ive ever seen. just thought id put that out there.
A few doors down, they have another house, with joint family. I spent today talking with the 25 family members living in this tiny little compound. Half spoke very good English. "Conversation" with the other half was composed of a somewhat awkward, silent smiling contest.
So far almost all of the food here has been phenomenal. Since I don't know what anything on a menu is besides "tandoori chicken" (thanks to HUDS), I basically just whirl my finger, point and hope that it's good. So far it has only failed me once, when I ended up with a sour yogurt drink with large chunks of basil and some sort of cracker mixed in. I don't plan on ordering that again, assuming I can correctly remember what its called.
As for Jaipur - first of all, the driving here is INSANE. Motorcycles, bikes, buses and cars are all the roads together and they essentially nudge each other along. I swear most people never let off the horn. It has lost all meaning. The average space between vehicles is probably 3-6 inches full speed no joke. We get around mostly in auto rickshaws, and I seriously fear for my life every time I'm in one. Drivin is like a constant game of chicken. Fortunately I have not been a victim yet.
The program center is really nice and we have chai tea every hour it seems. Our academic director is unbelievably old. While knowledgeable, he is very set in his ways (as well as hard to hear). He is also a walking contradiction. He goes on long rants about "simple living" how we don't need air conditioners, a lot of clothes, cell phones etc., and in the middle of it, his phone will go off, and out of his pocket comes not a even an old school nokia, but a new, fancy, technicolor razor, which he leaves the room to pick up. I don't really like him but whatever. Ha. We don't have to hear from him that much.
Overall, I really can't get over how different India is. I mean, I knew it would be, but actually seeing it and living in it is totally different. Everything, everywhere I go could be part of a spread in National Geographic - old, frail women carrying 15 bricks on their head but wearing these gorgeous, vibrant saris; stick thin men with turbans and wrapped in sheets limping around; camels wandering around; women leading cattle and herding goats while talking on their cell phones; carts of vegetables being pushed everywhere; snake charmers; the most stunning fabrics you can imagine. I see all of these things all the time, every day. It's hard to find many similarities to the US. I am slowly adjusting, but am not quite there yet. I miss you all so much. Thank you to those of you who have emailed me, I read and loved each one. I'll have a cell phone in the next few days I hope and will let you know how you can reach me (even if the 10.5 hour time difference leaves a small window of opportunity). I hope you are all doing well and enjoying AC and toilet paper.
So much love.
Nan
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Youth Noise Network (YNN), the bilingual youth radio project based at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke, has space this fall in our after school program for new participants. More info:
http://cds.aas.duke.edu/audio/ynn.html.
In YNN teens use documentary audio as a tool to explore issues that matter to them and their communities. The students produce a weekly radio show on WXDU 88.7 FM, featuring their audio pieces, on-air interviews and music.
YNN nurtures creativity, critical thinking skills and community engagement. Students involved in the project develop planning, research and writing skills, in conjunction with learning to produce a radio show. In addition to the skills acquisition, YNN is a great place to make new friends. It's part of our mission to create a unique social space where teens from all over Durham and from diverse backgrounds can get to know one another.
Participants must be Durham County residents between 13 and 18 years old. Potential YNN participants are required to complete Speak Up and Make Some Noise: A Radio Workshop for Durham Teens , on either Saturday September 29th OR Saturday October 6th, from 10am-5pm. The initial workshop costs $25.00 and there are scholarships available.
Tennessee Jane Watson
Youth Noise Network Coordinator
919.660.3696 / tennessee.watson@duke.edu
