Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Being Indian in Germany

It's been a long time since I wrote anything.

It's been nearly 1.5 years since the move to Munich, and I feel I am still acclimatizing.  The language is not a problem anymore - I have reached a stage of what I call "functional fluency", where I can understand everything and can say everything that I want (although sometimes incorrectly).

What is still incredibly hard is the culture shock. This article in the NY Times "Being Back at Stuyvesant High" definitely struck a chord.

The article describes the experiences of a black student at one of NYC's elite public high schools, where the majority are either Asian or White.  A guidance counsellor says in the article - "There’s something very isolating, about being one of the very few.”

I am always recognised whereever I go, and I never ever forget my racial identity. I wonder if other non-white Germans feel this as acutely as I do as well. Or whether I feel this more being a foreigner.

1 comment:

  1. True. I had worse experience to make me feel that i am a outsider here. Need to accept it.

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