Keya Choudhury is a Berlin-based intercultural trainer: She helps individuals and organisations prepare to work in different cultural environments than their own. Taking some time off from her current assignment in Bangalore, Keya recently came to Delhi for a short holiday. Being highly energetic and proactive, sight-seeing and meeting friends proved not fulfilling enough, so she enrolled in a week-long intensive Hindi course with Language Must. In this refreshingly lively interview, Keya shares some of her experiences learning Hindi, living in India and navigating different cultures.

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Anil Misra is a senior expert in the field of renewable energies, having worked both in India and abroad for the last 27 years. As a student he spent one year at the University of Siegen, Germany, where he later also taught. He currently works with GIZ as Senior Programme Advisor. As part of a Germany-based multinational organisation, German is part of his daily work. He has previously joined one of the German courses offered by his employer in collaboration with Language Must.

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Christmas in India – how does that work? For many people (including me), it was difficult to imagine at first: Christmas trees, snow and presents - accompanied by warm climate, cows and monkeys? I asked friends, colleagues, shopkeepers and people on the street about it. How do they celebrate this festival? Is it as grand and pompous as in Christian countries? I got various answers, but one can be said for certain – Christmas is enjoyed by everyone!

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There are few Christians in India – slightly more than 2%. Nevertheless, India and particularly Delhi are great places to celebrate the Christmas festival. There is plenty to do in the capital – Christmas is probably the most international festival, cutting across all religions, nationalities and age groups. In December, everyone is excited about wrapping gifts, baking cakes and taking part in the celebrations. The city turns white, green and red, overflowing with Christmas goodies, souvenirs, Santa hats, decorations, and of course the Christmas spirit. Hotels, restaurants and shops try to outdo each other with the brightest possible decorations and most attractive festive offers. Here and there, Santa can be spotted roaming around, distributing sweets and gifts among children. Carol choirs can be heard around churches. Many hotels, nightclubs, restaurants and banquet halls organise parties over Christmas. Christmas holidays in Delhi are a time for shopping, enjoying and partying. Different events take place simultaneously, allowing you to celebrate the festive season exactly as you like it.

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Sudha, Gaurav, Jeetendra & Niraj work at the Delhi office of Fackelmann, the German household article manufacturer. Being an international company with offices across the globe, their working language is English. Learning German, however, has proven to them not only to be fun but also of great use at work. Read the interview below to find out more about their experience studying German with Language Must.

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When I booked myself on a Historic Mehrauli Walking Tour I was really excited, was really looking forward to go. Why was I so excited about this walking tour? I had arrived in India only two weeks before to complete an internship as part of my studies in Germany. And of course, everything still felt completely new and adventure-like to me. It was my first time in India, as you may have guessed. You must remember your first time being here and can imagine how I felt.

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Ever since I started working in Shahpur Jat in the southern part of Delhi, I have been inspired by the particular atmosphere pervading the small galis of this neighbourhood. However, it took me more than two months before I took to the streets to explore whatever they have on offer. One spring afternoon after sitting through several successive power cuts I decided to leave my desk and go out looking for adventure. For the last two months I have been hearing about how the place is full of design shops catering for the tastes of the urban and the fashionable, but on my way to the office I did not see anything like that, only the main market filled with small grocery shops offering the usual knick-knacks and the carts of the vegetable and fruit sellers.

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Along with economic development and social evolution in both developed and developing countries, leisure activities have become more important and diverse than ever. Relaxing after long and strenuous working hours and the other obligations of daily life is now a necessity. The “need to escape” is enjoyed in different ways across cultures and is closely related to daily lifestyles, working life, and cultural patterns. As Chinese society has experienced great changes over the last few decades, leisure activities have also developed a lot. I have had the opportunity to observe these evolutions in China and explore Western and Chinese views on this issue. The following is an interview conducted with David Ritter, a 27 year old American male who has been living in China for two and a half years, and Yang Qi, a 25 year old Chinese male who studied in Australia for six years but has since returned to Chengdu. Below is a transcript of our discussions about Chinese leisure activities.

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Whether you come for business, education, or leisure, India's capital city Delhi offers you countless opportunities to spend your time. To help you make the most of this mega-city, we have gathered together over 100 interesting, fun, and often unconventional ideas into one handy guide. See how many you manage to tick off before you leave - that is, if you intend to leave behind the city's excitement at all…


ACTIVITIES:

1. Learn Hindustani, the lingua franca of the Indian Subcontinent (that covers the continuum of the standard registers Hindi and Urdu). For Delhi this is a real Must - and will make you enjoy the city all the more!

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Lili Jiang, 23, is a Chinese student from Sichuan Province, China. In July she went to travel in India and she has decided to share her experience with us.

KM: So, first of all, Lili, how come you decided to go to India? Isn’t it still a quite unusual destination for Chinese tourists?

Lili: Well to be honest, I think you are right, there aren’t many Chinese tourists in India (yet!), and on the plane I had a hard time explaining to the Chinese hostesses and passengers why I was travelling to India as a tourist. Most of the Chinese people on my flight were going to India for business purposes and they didn’t understand why I was going there just for fun! The hostesses were actually worried for me, telling me things like: “Why are you going to India? Are you mad? If you need help you can stay with us, here’s our Indian phone number!” Despite their concerns though, my experience in India was great! The main reason why I decided to go was that I’ve always felt an attraction for India! We’re neighbours, yet so different!! My friend (who was flying from Hong Kong, while I was flying from Beijing) and I were scared we would miss each other in the airport. Luckily enough, I guess I looked too different from my Indian sisters and brothers and my friend recognized me right after I got out of customs!

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Around Mid-Autumn Festival there is an interesting custom occurring in China, especially among the younger generations: text greetings! The 15th day of the 8th month of the Chinese lunar calendar (12th of September in 2011) is one of the most important festivals in China, 中秋节, the Mid-Autumn Festival. It is a harvest festival dating back over 3,000 years, and it is celebrated by worshipping the moon. The particular date falls around the time of the autumn equinox, which is usually in September or early October. Traditionally, on this day Chinese families and friends will gather to admire the bright mid-autumn harvest moon and eat moon cakes, round or rectangular pastries with a thick filling. Even though many people are still upholding tradition, others are spending time doing other activities such as travelling or partying.

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There is loads of fun to be had during your time in Chengdu, whether you come for business, education, or leisure. To help you make the most of this "heavenly city" we have gathered together over 100 ideas into one handy guide. See how many you mangage to tick off before you leave - that is, if you manage to leave at all…

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I had never made the experience before of how it feels to guide somebody in a place that is so well known to me. On the 28th of May 2011 I held my first guided tour of my native place Old Delhi – and it gave me such a fresh feeling of being a representative of my culture and not just a sheer local of the place I have been living in for almost all the years of my life. If you ask locals of Delhi about Old Delhi, their first reaction often is a feeling of discomfort. It is a place which is mostly considered by people as a cobweb of streets that are overcrowded and where you can get lost easily if you walk alone and don’t know the place well. Even for me living in Old Delhi, before preparing for this walking tour, my locality was just so humdrum and tiresome – everything was so fatiguing to me.

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I met Chichi in Porvoo, Finland. We were there as Erasmus exchange students. In the beginning I wondered how somebody from Asia can be an Erasmus exchange student. Only later I got to know that Chichi was actually raised in the Netherlands by her Chinese family. Being a Dutch girl of Chinese origins who studied in Europe, lately in Macau, and is now contemplating her next global career destination, she has many interesting insights to share with us.

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Lately Knowledge Must had the opportunity to interview the distinguished Swiss interculturalist Hans Durrer, author of articles and books, teacher and coach, theoretician as well as practitioner. His pioneering works on intercultural and visual communication offer a very innovative approach to the study of culture. One particular field of interest for him is photography. According to Durrer photographs are nothing else than shattered fragments of the broken mirror of reality, which force the viewer to reconstruct their meaning. Depending on the upbringing, interests, and also the mood of the viewer, the photographs’ meaning will be read very differently.

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