Cross Cultural Experience:
As a college undergraduate, many of my friends and family would have heard me saying, “Why would I want to go overseas when everything I want is here in the United States?” Fifteen countries later, I have a new outlook on the world and my role in it.
I now consider the year my wife and I spent at an international boarding school in northern India with staff from 30 different countries a highlight of my life. We were invited into the homes of other staff members for their traditions (British tea and Beatles sing-alongs, Indian Diwali parties, watching South African cricket matches) and in return they shared some of our customs (American Thanksgiving dinner and Texas Hold ‘Em poker nights).
While at Woodstock School in India, I broke both of my arms in a basketball game while working as a ‘dorm parent’ in the high school boys dorm. My treatment took place at a local community hospital in the small hill station of Mussoorie filled with dirt from renovations, antiquated equipment, and unskilled medical staff (it took seven injections into my neck for the anesthesia to take effect). I was wheeled around and stared at by Indian strangers in a wheelchair rigged from a plastic lawn chair. For the week following the accident, I was spoon-fed meals by the school’s Tibetan health center staff, Indian neighbors, and my wife due to my inability to bring a utensil close enough to my mouth. Today, I am still grateful for their selfless act when I was in my helpless state. Since that occurrence in spring 2007, I vowed to use that as an example whenever asked about my ability to thrive in less than ideal conditions!
I have a heart for individuals around the globe and marvel at their ability to maintain high spirits despite their poor economic situations. I still have much to learn from them.
