An afternoon with fellow English teachers, sharing curriculum ideas, and an evening spent with faculty at a potluck bbq. What a lovely day to be out in a beautiful backyard, sharing laughter and good food with new friends and fellow coworkers. I feel joyous (yes, joyous) over the fact that I truly enjoy the company of my fellow teachers here, how welcoming and smart and fun they all are. After work yesterday we all went out in the evening, and as I looked around I was struck by the strange fact that this is the first time in my life that I am spending good time with non-desis - what a completely fresh breath of air! I realize only now how many years I missed out on getting to know people of backgrounds different from my own, and although I regret those years in college in which I didn't "expand my horizons," I am enjoying the important opportunity now.
I'm curious to hear from you guys how you feel about this. To what extent is it important (if you are at least somewhat interested in maintaining your South Asian culture) to build quality relationships (friendly or otherwise) with non-desis? While I unfortunately grew up very much aware of the dichotomy, did you grow up not even really seeing any race lines, or were you very much on the opposite and of the spectrum?
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