Today I went to ANTS graduation..."All Nations Theological Seminary." I wonder if they thought about the acronym when they named the school? Hmmm. It's unforgettable, that's for sure!
Anyway, yesterday I received what I thought was a compliment, although I had slight hesitation in saying "thank you" because I am pretty familiar with Indian culture by now. But today, it was confirmed that the "compliment" I had received was basically a rebuke!
Picture this: any American girl gets told she looks "thin." What's her reaction going to be? Sheer excitement, right? DUH. That was my reaction to an Indian's comment to me yesterday. However, you can only imagine what a "LOL" moment I had when I overheard a conversation today that went something like this:
Boy says to girl, "You're looking very fat these days."
Girl replies in an excited voice, "THANK YOU!"
Haha! I laughed not only because this would NEVER be a compliment to an American girl (and you'd get the "Jerk of the Year Award" for saying it), but mainly for the fact that I had expressed gratitude for a "compliment" yesterday that wasn't really a compliment. Oh man! Were there any Americans around to share my cultural story? Of course not. So I just had to hold in my laughs and chuckle at the irony.
Oh, and if you're labeled "healthy," it doesn't mean you eat a lot of fruits and vegetables. It means you eat a lot of rice...aka too much. So I guess I'm not eating enough rice :) I love learning and using the cultural terminology of "Indian English."
ps - another cultural twist is that Indians want to be "fair," (they have BOATLOADS of fair creams, even for men) while Americans want to be dark. Today in the service, a pastor was talking about pride and said, "For example, if you think, 'I'm more fair than that person..." Haha! I also smiled at this, thinking that my sister would have a lot of pride issues here in India :)
Picture this: any American girl gets told she looks "thin." What's her reaction going to be? Sheer excitement, right? DUH. That was my reaction to an Indian's comment to me yesterday. However, you can only imagine what a "LOL" moment I had when I overheard a conversation today that went something like this:
Boy says to girl, "You're looking very fat these days."
Girl replies in an excited voice, "THANK YOU!"
Haha! I laughed not only because this would NEVER be a compliment to an American girl (and you'd get the "Jerk of the Year Award" for saying it), but mainly for the fact that I had expressed gratitude for a "compliment" yesterday that wasn't really a compliment. Oh man! Were there any Americans around to share my cultural story? Of course not. So I just had to hold in my laughs and chuckle at the irony.
Oh, and if you're labeled "healthy," it doesn't mean you eat a lot of fruits and vegetables. It means you eat a lot of rice...aka too much. So I guess I'm not eating enough rice :) I love learning and using the cultural terminology of "Indian English."
ps - another cultural twist is that Indians want to be "fair," (they have BOATLOADS of fair creams, even for men) while Americans want to be dark. Today in the service, a pastor was talking about pride and said, "For example, if you think, 'I'm more fair than that person..." Haha! I also smiled at this, thinking that my sister would have a lot of pride issues here in India :)
Megan, you just have more of my genes. ( I look more like my aunt than my mother!) I think it is really interesting how genetic traits show up in the different generations.
ReplyDeleteLove you MORE!
Aunt B.