Queen of small talk and bad jokes

IDC 2007 - International Development Conference, Jamshepur India

So I just came back from IDC 2007. I must say the experience was less enjoyable than expected but the unexpected was enjoyable, ok some of it.


Pre-conference - Kolkata (formerly Calcutta)

Friday night Soren and I left for Kolkata on the late night flight. Soren got a really bad fever the day of our flight to Kolkata which made things a bit more difficult but he made it. We were received at the airport at midnight by an AIESECer I met in Hyderabad, Pankaj, who apparently invited me to Kolkata when we met and felt it was his obligation to pick me up. We stayed with a new member who lived by the airport and she, her brother and I stayed up til 2.30 am chatting about the US, India, college, culture, etc... one of the best parts of my trip.

The next morning we had breakfast and then visited the Indian Museum and Victoria Memorial which neither the brother nor sister had been to so they came along. It really does make a difference to have someone who can explain to you what all the pictures of this god and that mean. After we were handed off back to Pankaj at a hookah bar, taken to the LC meeting, then to our train. Overall, things were looking good. =)


IDC

Unfortunately, partly due to riot in the area, there were only about 80 delegates instead of the expected 180. For the international aspect, mainly just 4 trainees (including Soren and I) and 8 internationals (Taiwan and Winne from Kenya) also the faci team which had 6 int'l. It was good though to see peopleI hadn't seen for a while like Winnie, Klepo, Fawzy and others. Ah, memories.

The content wasn't as issue focused as I thought it would be. It was more AIESEC oriented which I thought IDC was less of. For example, we mention what some issues are, but didn't actually delve into them much at all, which is why I wanted to go. I think it must have been different from the prior IDC where I heard the content was amazing about the issues. oh well.

The down side of the conference though was the night of India night where they had performances and such, I got food poisoning from the lunch (or so I feel and I'm sticking to it) and spent my night in the room throwing up and shaking in bed. Not fun in the least.


Post conference

The latter half of the trip was worse than the first by far. I was still a bit ill and so was Soren. Our train was 2 hrs late. When we reached to Kolkata we decided to see BBD Bagh, an old british square but by the time the cab arrived after 1.5 hrs in traffic, it was too dark to see anything. Soren was feeling ill and wanted to just check into a hotel even though we had our host, but she was in an exam. So we walked around for an hour more looking for a hotel because cabs were full and stuck in traffic. Both phones ran out of credit and we were lost and stranded. Long story short, we found our way to the beloved hookah bar and back to our hostess' house. We spent in the next morning, watched part of a Bollywood film, chatted, shopped for 1 hr then took our plane home.

Unfortunately, we arrived home to find our sick cat still sick and much thinner, despite being already underweight. We asked a friend to come by to check on him and make sure he has food and water. Soren asked him to please try to feed him his pill for the one day on Saturday and I believe he must has felt so pressured to make sure the kitten got the pill that he put the pill into its water, for it was all yellow (color of the pill) when I returned. Could explain why he was so starved and ill. Maybe it's a guy thing to lack some common sense. Maybe it's my fault for asking a guy. =P


Interesting Insight

Again someone (Pankaj) told me that they really like me (not like that) but as an American. I asked why and the response was because I'm really open and talkative with him. He said most Americans he's met have an "unnecessary attitude." For example, he picked up an American trainee from Texas this summer and took her around and everything and later when he visited the flats, she acted as if she didn't even remember him or wanted nothing to do with him, like he was just some Indian guy trying to bother her and she was too good for his company.

I can understand the "indian guy" thing with random people on the street wanting to be your "good friend" but at the same time I know many trainees aren't always proper AIESECers who are passionate about sharing their culture etc. And it's a shame I keep running into people who tell me I'm not like other Americans because other Americans are jerks. I thought we kept most of our jerks to ourselves. *sigh*

Soren also pointed out that for some reason when I get into AIESEC mode I have an insatiable urge to make small talk when needed. For example, the first dinner was 3 Taiwanese, 2 OC, Soren and I. No one was talking. I struggled to get anyone to comment one the food, the town, the travel with no success but apparently I just kept going, feeling the need to kill silence and share. It usually works. But I suppose the worst part is making jokes that are completely lost on other cultures. I think for the Taiwanese girls they just didn't understand what I was saying and the other guys, native to English, just didn't get it. Works on some, not on others.

On US politics, Soren and I talked about the candidates for the presidency and thought of how ridiculous it would be if Huckabee, a candidate who, to me, embodies all the narrow minded views of stereotypical racist, ethnocentric, Americans, made it to the run off. We both assume he would have no chance since he's just so off, probably good for pre-Lincoln eras, but were saddened by the fact that if he did, there's probably a lot of people in the US who are ignorant enough or that really hate whomever the democratic candidate is that would vote for him. Another *sigh*


That's all I can think of or remember for now. Cheers!