Cross cultural workshop

I got a mail in my mailbox one fine day saying that I need to attend a workshop wherein they give tips to get integrated into the German culture without any problems. I thought to myself "another fun filled day" at work. I was very sceptical to go to the workshop because I had heard not very good things about it from one of my colleagues. She was amongst Indians at the workshop who were speaking their own mother-tongue and who had brought kids and wives to the seminar and a mini-India was formed there which left her a little alone.

When I reached there,  I was relieved to find only 3 other Indians other than me. It was a mixed group and there were Serbians, Chinese, American, Russian, Mexican also. And the best part was that the trainer was Indian. She had a strange British accent though she was settled in Germany for 25 years now. But she was damn good.  She knew her subject well and had a great control on the group.

We got a great information on Germany and Germans and the history and culture and we compared it with our cultures. We found out that we are all same after all with little differences here and there. We all have strengths and weaknesses.  We all are good at some things and extremely bad at other things. We all are social beings with little difference here and there. No culture is good or bad. It depends on what you make out of it.

I have now decided to stop comparing India an Germany and take the best of both the cultures and enjoy every moment of my stay here. I want to take good memories of this beautiful country and also give a very good share of my talents and capabilities to this country. I want to make good use of the resources available here. I want to try out new things here which are not possible doing in India. I want to go back with a few German friends and prove the notion wrong that Germans are cold and unfriendly.  I want to go home enriched and satisfied.

Hey Germany here I come!!!

Thodisi dhoop

The title literally means little sunshine. You will realise why this post has this title when I give you a little background.

It is close to a month that I have come to Germany on an assignment and it feels as if I am here since ages. Strange is the human mind! When I was in Bangalore, I wanted to come to Germany so that we could all be together as a family and now that I am here, I often think of my house, my neighbours, the talks that we friends had about our growing babies etc. Here the life is very different. One has to do almost everything by his/her own and there is very less dependency on people. I often miss the bright and shining sun here and also the personal warmth of my friends and family here, but then one can’t be happy at all times, isn’t it? So now comes the story what caused this sunshine!!

My friend narrated a very heart warming incident to me and I thought of putting it across. He works in my office and he has to travel by bus to office everyday and the bus frequency is just one per hour. So, if he misses 1 bus, then he has to go back and come after an hour only or sit at the bus stop reading something. That day he got a little late to get out of his apartment and he started running for the bus. In the meanwhile, a lady driving a car stopped by him and offered him a lift, which was very unusual for me to know. There was a middle-aged lady in the car and she offered to drop him to the bus stop. As my friend was well versed in German, she was all the more happy and she started talking to him as if she knew him since a long time. Later he learnt from her that she was the mother of the owner of the guest house in which he was put up and as she saw him coming out of the guest house running, she thought of offering him help.

She drove him to the bus stop by making a change in her fixed routine. For you all, who do not know about the Germans, they are very particular about their schedules and have most of the things planned in their life. They abide by it, no matter what. But this lady was an exception perhaps. She not only missed her regular schedule, but went out of the way to help a stranger and not only that, when they missed the bus at the usual point, she drove to the next point and made sure that he got into the bus. When my friend narrated this incident to me, I felt very happy in my heart. I found that lady extremely sweet and helpful though I did not meet her personally and have no chances of it either. 

I thought to myself, Germans are not as cold as they are mostly portrayed. There are good and bad people everywhere in this world and I sincerely believe the bad things help us strengthen the belief in good things and people. Many Germans have offered me help in carrying the pram when there was no lift to carry it or while getting down from the train when there was a huge gap between the train and the platform. I hear a friendly hello from a bus driver here and there and I also get stares of indifference. But this is all a part and a parcel of life and one should take it in the right and positive spirit. Adjustments are inevitable in all walks of life, in any part of the world, then why not make them with a smile rather than a frown?

Isn't it?