About


Welcome to my intercultural blog.

Last week I had a little encounter that really captions what this blog is about.
I was on the way back from a friend who lives in a neighboring country. I was going by train and it was starting to fill up with commuters and people who returned from weekend trips. A dark Asian man sat down next to me. I couldn't tell whether he was from India, Pakistan or maybe Sri Lanka. I have to say I study a little bit of Hindi as I have friends in India and like the culture. We sat next to each other for a minute, looking in different directions. It was a little awkward, so I decided to do something about it. When he looked over, I just went for it. I can't say much in Hindi but I managed to put together "Are you from India, sir?" He looked at me in shock for a second, then he burst out laughing. We both had to laugh, it was so surreal. Tears of laughter still in his eyes, he told me he had just decided to break the awkwardness and say hello, but I was faster. And he absolutely hadn't expected Hindi from a white person so he was flabbergasted. And by the way he had understood something with a "yellow man", before he figured out that I wanted to know where he was from (yeah, my Hindi isn't worth much, but the 6 different d's are really hard to master). We talked for half an hour before he had to get out and decided to stay in contact.

Interculturalism can be sparked by small things, it can be very funny and you challenge the traditional routes of your thinking.
Many people have developed an interest in different cultures, be it from travelling, meeting people or simply reaching out through the media. It is a great experience to broaden your horizon. I wouldn't miss my international friends and travel experiences for the world. However, the more I learned about other cultures, the more I realized there is interculturality even in the small, day-to-day things. You don't have to look at  neighboring countries. Youth culture can be a different culture as well (depending on your inner age...) and country life feels very strange for a city person as myself. Join me to explore all the small daily things that contain intercultural aspects, as well as the big things that spark controversies and discussions. Be informed, surprised, challenged, inspired.
As I love to cook and craft I'll throw in some of that as well.
Feel free to contribute any intercultural experiences you have, as this will make the discussion so much richer.

About me:

I am a young teacher from Germany and my subjects are Chemistry and English. I used to work at an international school and now work at a multiethnic state school. I enjoy travelling a lot and would love to increase that in the future. The furthest so far has been a three week trip to India to visit friends. During my studies I have lived in Cork, Ireland, for three months. I love cities and stop by London on a regular basis.