Japan is my very first international country to visit and it has also been the first time that I interacted with people who are not Indians. Even before coming to Japan, I always wanted to talk to different people of the world and ask them what they think about "India" or what is the first thing that comes to their mind. But most importantly, I was curious about the encounters and experiences they have had after meeting Indians in reality. Luckily, I was able to ask these questions last week when I conducted a survey where almost thirty-seven international students from the International University of Japan (IUJ) participated.
Seeing the world gathered in one place is definitely a once in a lifetime kind of experience and I consider myself fortunate to have that in my early twenties. But this atmosphere is definitely confusing sometimes. Let me tell you a story.
Since I came to IUJ, I always felt it was so weird to see my Caucasian friend bob his head with a big smile while greeting me. Initially, I thought he does that with everyone but later I realized he specifically greets "me" that way! But I never took it seriously.
Now after the survey I conducted about "What the world thinks about India" there was a question about "Indian stereotypes you heard" and interestingly more than five people from three different continents replied, "Indians shake their heads while speaking!"
That was so new for me! I thought it was a universal gesture. Now I was hearing that for the first time that it is just Indians who do that. I used to think that nodding my head is as natural as blinking eyes. I watched several videos on RU-vid after that to make sure and laughed so much at my naïvety. Interestingly, it is so natural for us Indians to do head bobbing for saying "Yes", "No" and "Maybe" during conversations. Most of us are not aware that we are stereotyped for such a common thing that we do so unintentionally and I find this funny. But now, I figured out why my European friend shakes his head while greeting me with "Namaste" in his French accent.
Tell me your funny experiences living abroad😁😄
#indianlivinginjapanindian stereotypes funnylife in japanstudy abroad
1 окт 2024
