Jul 23 / It is a two-way road!

by Himaannii Gangakhedkarr, India 07-08
hosted in Shaftsbury, VT

Shortly after returning back to India, on completing an exchange year in the U.S, my parents organised a presentation and get-together party for our family and friends here in Pune, India.

It was great seeing the audience of 100 very eager to hear about my experiences of American living and the culture. I told them about host family, school, friends, cookies, Ameican values, country-living and more of the core-cultural stories.

I was also happy to clear some of the stereotypes. I told them that Americans deeply value hard work, honesty and social service. They were also very curious to hear about Graduation, Christmas, Thanksgiving, prom etc.

I feel very satisfied to share my host experiences with my natural people, thus completing the cross-cultural exchange. The whole program was followed by bhajan- a traditional way of singing devotional songs in a group. It felt very spiritual after a year.