by liz scully | Jul 31, 2014 | Cultural Differences, India
A few months before I left India, a very strange, but deeply Indian thing happened. The doorbell rang and when I opened the door, there stood two small ladies with a clipboard and one of our (fairly useless) building security guards. They told me they were from one of...
by liz scully | Jul 16, 2014 | Canada, Cultural Differences, India
Since I left India, I’ve had pretty severe culture shock. Reverse culture shock. It’s mostly worn off now, but for a good few months there, I was finding myself having a little difficulty re-adjusting to Western cultural norms. Girls in really short skirts in the...
by liz scully | Jun 26, 2014 | Driving, London
I got in the cab still laughing and the cabbie smiles and says, You finishing for the night? Yes, you just starting? Yeah, I’ve only been on for a half an hour. How long you worked nights? 35 years. Gosh, you must have some stories. No, not really, I’m not good at...
by liz scully | Apr 24, 2014 | Canada, Cultural Differences, Driving, India
I’m very excited about soon being near actual real quality pavements again on a daily basis. I realise I’ve mentioned this pavement thing a lot – but it kept coming up over and over again when I was telling people I was leaving India. There I’d be waxing...
by liz scully | Apr 10, 2014 | Cultural Differences, India
Second in a series of things I won’t miss about India. India is noisy. Very noisy – there are dogs, and cars and temple festivals ALL the time. People live in noisy joint family houses and seem to not even hear the sound of each other shouting. Unfortunate...
by liz scully | Apr 2, 2014 | Cultural Differences, India
First in a series of things I will not miss about India. In Kerala the stare is benign. Soft even, and if you catch someone’s eye, they almost always break into a massive smile. Staring feels considerably less benign in Bangalore. It’s not out and out aggressive...