Fulbrighter Becomes Immersed in India

As part of the Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Program, 2009 St. Ambrose graduate John Kuhn is spending the next several months teaching conversational English to sixth through 10th grade-age children in New Delhi, India.

Yet his journey began not with teaching but learning: the meaning behind the murmur of the Muslim Call to Prayer five times a day, and how to appreciate Indian tea breaks. And especially the bahoot mushkil-very difficult-Hindi language in which he immersed himself his first three weeks in India.

That's because Hindi would be the language in which he'd first connect with his Indian students. "I have a lot of fun teaching and interacting with students," says Kuhn, who spent six months in the classroom at Orion (Ill.) High School before learning he'd been accepted into the Fulbright Program. "I want to find ways to engage my students in a manner that lets them succeed and step out of their boxes a little bit in a classroom atmosphere that's familiar to them," he says.

As with many educators, Kuhn was inspired to go into teaching by those who taught him. "I had some great teachers growing up, especially in high school [in Ottawa, Ill.], and continued to have meaningful interactions with teachers throughout my college career," he says. "I guess I saw qualities in them that I hoped to model in my own life. I could tell they had a genuine interest in kids, and that they wished to continue to learn. I think one of the coolest things about teaching is you are able to continually learn more and more about people and culture through interacting with young adults."

Much of what Kuhn is learning, both about India and himself, is recorded in his blog. He paints a vibrant picture of the country that will be his home through next spring: The Delhi traffic, with "cars, rickshaws, trucks, scooters, motorcycles, bicycles, pedestrians, stray dogs, cows, donkeys, horses, and beggars all intermixed with one another." And the bazaar, where "you can get just about anything in the world you can imagine. Mangos, bananas, washer machines, chocolate, Fanta, grilled corn on the cob, Adidas shoes, cell phones, books, scarves, saris, and perhaps the world's best smelling street food."

While it may seem these are only passing impressions, Kuhn is indeed absorbing this new and wonderful environment in ways he intends to retain long after he returns from India. "I hope to bring a more open mind to my classroom back in the States," he says. "Through stories of my experiences in Indian classrooms and social settings, it'd be great if I could create a sense of oneness in my future students."

Until then, the way is clear: "I'm here to continue to learn what I don't know but want to know about myself, Indian culture, American culture, and how people everywhere figure out ways to live and learn together."

-Jodi O'Donnell