Seema Kaushal
English Instructor from India
Field: Language Teaching
Host Institution: North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina
Dates: August 15, 2007-May 15, 2008

My sojourn to the U.S. as a Fulbright FLTA has been a tremendously wonderful learning experience. On the day I left India, August 11, 2007, I was in a world of mixed emotions. I was nervous and excited. When I reached one of the busiest airports in the world after flying for 16 continuous hours, I felt as if my long-cherished dream came true. My journey was full of colorful experiences. When nearby passengers found out I was a Fulbrighter, they were highly impressed. Speaking frankly, I felt so fortunate to be a part of the Fulbright family and a great sense of achievement.
 
I had my orientation at a world-famous university, Stanford, and remained on campus for a couple of extra days. I truly appreciated the special lectures delivered to us during the orientation about American society and culture. They helped me to better adjust to American society. During the orientation, I met fellow FLTAs from all parts of the world. I interacted with them and tried to learn different aspects about their cultures. It was really a great experience.

My visit to America provided me with direct interaction with its culture. I feel that exploring a new culture opens up one’s mind, increases one's level of maturity, deepens viewpoints and builds confidence. This sojourn has provided me with an opportunity to practically see and analyze all I had read. In this cross-cultural expedition, I think it is mandatory to know about the diversity of the world's cultures.

I faced frequent culture shock in San Francisco, which surprisingly, I also enjoyed! I would like to share one very interesting incident. We had a garden party with Stanford University teachers. We were all supposed to toast and to say, “Cheers” in our respective languages. As we were four Indian women, we toasted with water. When our turn came to say, “Cheers," we had no specific expression for this in Hindi. We laughed so much. I then talked about Indian traditions and customs to the Americans at the table and tried to explain to them that traditionally, Indian women don’t drink. They were fascinated to learn this. The kinds of ideas I shared with them whetted their curiosity. I can never, ever forget this incident.

I admire the American attitude towards life immensely. The FLTA program has given me the chance to observe and analyze American society and culture more closely, and it has helped me to deconstruct stereotypes and pre-conceived notions about Western society that I had had before coming to the U.S. I really feel proud to be an Indian as Americans are so curious to learn about India's composite culture and to explore the unexplored. As a cultural ambassador, I am able to compare both cultures, Eastern and Western, and moreover, I can bridge the gap between East and West.

My host institution is North Carolina State University, Raleigh (NCSU). My supervisor and his wife came to the airport to pick me up when I arrived. I was so surprised to see my supervisor, who is a Native American, speaking Hindi so fluently! It was hard for me to imagine.

I have a good number of Hindi students in my class. Teaching Hindi in an American University is really very interesting and I feel so privileged being a faculty member on campus. By working as a Teaching Assistant, I have learned new techniques. I have adopted the lecturing method for presenting factual and informative material, and I make use of audio-visual aids that describe India's composite culture. I also prepare various activities for them to enhance their conversational skills. My students are fond of Bollywood songs and movies, and these tools have helped my students to understand and converse in Hindi.

My visit to the U.S. has proved to be a blessing for my career as an English teacher back home. I have tried to learn the American accent and enjoy being in the company of native speakers of English. Both will lead to improving my knowledge of English and in a way, my potential as an English teacher. I am also taking very interesting courses and participating in group activities.

Understanding American festivals in detail is unbelievably interesting. I have become more aware of American values and I am sure that these insights will help my students. NCSU's program is highly interactive and I took part in the International Festival on campus.

Last but not least, I would like to say that the Fulbright experience has changed my whole perception towards life. The changes within my personality are highly appreciable. The experience has drastically broadened my thinking. I will prove to be a better professional and indeed a better human being as this experience has added new attributes to my personality. In fact, I would like to call it a life changing event. I am full of gratitude to the Fulbright family for providing me with such an amazing opportunity. I look forward to one day pursuing my advanced studies in the U.S. as I would like to learn more about the Western educational system and society.

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