Hindi - haan ya na?

There must be something about being a non-native that makes people ask if you're going to teach your kids your language. It's not just recently. I've gotten this question from the time I moved here.

I don't know if there is an easy answer to this one. To start out with, I don't have a natural knack of languages. Every Indian kid with a high school education knows two languages - English, and one other. That makes us a nation of talented linguists... Mmm... Maybe not. There are many households in India where the primary language of the house is English - complete with a funny accent, and bad pronunciation. I've had two years of formal Hindi, and 12+ years of English. Starting to get the picture?

So I'm not sure how it's gonna go with Priya. I'm sure she's going to pick things up along the way. But I haven't made a conscious decision yet to make sure I always talk to her in Hindi. Also I don't know how much difference it makes that I'm not with Priya all day.

Hey David, is Connor speaking Afrikaans yet? :-)

Nice to be back

It's nice to be back home. All-in-all it wasn't a bad trip. The days were so packed, that they went by quickly. Starting with breakfast at 7:30 in the morning, to finally getting back at 11:00 at night after dinner - it was non-stop. Saturday was a little laid back. I went to Wurzburg to do a little shopping. It was a cloudy and rainy day, but not too bad. One of the most ridiculous things I saw was shopping at a store equivalent of a Target, and seeing the prices of toddler shoes. The lowest price was €48, about $60. How ridiculous is that? The irony of the whole thing was that people who can drop that kind of money on kids shoes don't usually shop in stores with shoes laid out in racks. Unless the Europeans are a complete breed apart. Well... take a look at this picture. One can't even kill oneself without being reminded of it...

I'm happy for the long weekend coming up. Time to kick back and maybe start a new season of 24.

Guten Tag from Germany

Even though I should be in bed, I wanted to make at least one post while I was here. The trip is going pretty good. My jet lag wasn't bad at all. In fact, I think this was the best adjustment ever. The key was a reminder Tish gave me - take some ear plugs. Those were a life-saver on the airplane. I haven't slept that good while coming over.

My presentation went very well this morning. Lots of kudos. It was also nice to catch with people I haven't seen in a few years. Of course, I can't wait to get back home.

Ok. Now for some quick pictures.

Downtown Lohr. It has all the charm of a small town in Europe.

Tish and I stood on this exact spot three years ago.

Hiking through the Black Forest to get to dinner.

Dinner on Tuesday night.

A typical European hotel room - small and sparse.

Hmm... Why does an Aldi in Germany look exactly like the one in US?

Aaargh... more presentations to pay attention to...

A week separation

Priya's sitting here on my lap as I write this. She got a little bit early today which didn't help me too much. But at least we got to wish Tish a happy Mummy's Day before she left for work. I won't be seeing her again till I come back from my trip to Germany. I will be gone for a week. In the meantime, the girls are going to Michigan. This will be a tough week for me. I have never been away from Priya this long. And now that she's on the verge of walking, the Harry Chapin song comes to mind - she "learned to walk while I was away."

I'm not sure if my hotel has high-speed or not. If not, then I will be gone for a week. If it does, then I may post something during the week.

Birthday party number 3

One year old, and Priya had her third birthday party today. I don't think we can keep this pace every year. It was a nice and small gathering of friends. Here are some pictures from the day.