Cross Cultural Encounters
By Valerie Victorias

Valerie Victoria is a Professor of English as a Second Language (ESL) and a mother of two sons. They moved to India recently. A recount of her experiences in this land of diversity

Shifting or Moving?
Other Culture Stories by Valarie:
There's No Walmart in India
The Fancy Store and a Culture Quiz.

As a speaker of English, I was excited to come to a foreign country, India that spoke English. However, after being here only a short time, I began to wonder if we were speaking "English." I went to enroll my son in school and met with an entire new vocabulary. I called for a taxi to get to the school and the following cross-cultural conversation ensued.

Hello?
Yes, tell me Madam.
Is this the taxi service? I need a taxi now for an appointment.
You want a vehicle even now?
I want a taxi now, please.
I'll send him even now.

I began to wonder what "tell me Madam" was and if a vehicle would be a car, truck or bus. We arrived at our appointment in a white ambassador and went into the office. Upon asking about the school schedule, the "timings" were explained to us. We now understood that "timings" is equal to schedule. I tried to fill out the paperwork for enrolling our son. This was our conversation.

Where do you stay?
We are staying in a hotel right now, but we will be moving to a house when it is finished.
You stay in a hotel?
Yes, it is a one-bedroom apartment.
Oh, you mean a flat in a lodge. A hotel is a place to eat! When will you be shifting?
Shifting?????
Yes, when will you shift from the lodge (hotel) to your house?
The owner said that it would be November 4th.
Oooooh, the house isn't finished yet. Well, you can count on shifting much later than that. Do you have a landline?
Landline????
Yes, a phone.
We have a cell phone. I can give you that number.
Please, tell me your "mobile" number and where you will be staying after you shift and also how often you'll be going out of station.
"Out of station"?
Yes, how often will your son miss school because you have business trips to other cities?
We are not going out-of-town on business trips and we will not be just "staying," we will be living here after we move….shift!!!!!
(In America, a "mobile" is a phone installed in your car, and you can't carry it around.) I didn't say this out-loud. I only thought it and gave her the number and our new address. Next, we moved on to school supplies.

The school official was now into a lengthy dialogue of school supplies and was telling me that she would just tick-off the necessary items.
"Tick-off"? She was going to make someone angry over the items he needed for school? I held my thought and watched as she checked-off several items and then handed me the list explaining that he only needed the items that she had "ticked-off." I got it! "tick-off=check-off" not "make angry." I felt like we were now communicating until she began to name some of the items on the list and where I could purchase them.

She said that she had the notebooks, covers and textbooks except for one of them. She began to tell me where to purchase these items. I was still stuck back on "covers," and when she arrived at geo box that I could get at a "fancy store" and a rubber. I couldn't keep quiet any longer. I politely asked what "covers" were and she explained that they are brown paper that you "cover" all of your books with, both notebooks and textbooks. She said that there were "fancy stores" in all of the shopping areas and to just ask someone where I go shopping, and they would be able to tell me. In America, a "rubber" is a slang term for a condom used for sexual intercourse to prevent pregnancies and possibly HIV, and I wasn't going into that conversation at all!!!!!

As we prepared to leave, she told me that if I had any questions, I could just give her a tinkle, and she would try to answer them. "A tinkle", oh boy, I am going to assume that a "tinkle" is a phone call and not a trip to the bathroom as it would be in America. I was glad to leave the place and go shopping for the items. Tune in next time for "There's No Wal-Mart in India".

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