The konfusing kultural chaos
I will not hide the fact that I am bored to death with the German classes of B2.1 level. I miss my peaceful and quiet home. Even as the voice inside my head screams for home, there is one small problem. I am walking towards a cultural shock. There is every possibility that I might lose my German language. I do not know how many people will understand my Germanized Marathi and Konkani. My friends in Pune find it absolutely normal to scream ‘Gesundheit’ (good health) when someone sneezes. ‘Gluckwünche’ (good wishes) echoes everywhere when it’s someone’s birthday or ‘Alles Gute’ (I wish you all the good ) during exams. When I was home for a brief time in August, my Goan friends were rolling on the floor laughing when I instinctively shouted these words. My German classmates move seamlessly between English and German, often mixing the two languages mid-sentence. They will casually say “‘That’s so ‘peinlich’” (t...