Beth
International business major
Jan. 10, 2007

After breakfast, the group piled on to the bus and headed to the American Center to meet with some U.S. Foreign Service officers. Home to public diplomacy and commerce offices, the American Center is a facility that is more open to the public than the U.S..Embassy itself (of course, there is still strict security); it is primarily dedicated to fostering more communication and mutual understanding between Americans and Indians in a welcoming environment. We met in a beautiful library with several people who had unique perspectives and responsibilities within the Foreign Service.  We learned about some of the logistics of how to get into the Foreign Service, a little about the nature of the work, as well as gained some insight into the politics, economics and media atmosphere of New Delhi. The discussion was very conversational and informal and some of us even won pens if we answered questions correctly.

Our next stop was the Indian Institute of Planning & Management, a very sophisticated graduate business school.  As we approached the building, we were greeted by a group of impressive-looking students with wide grins who took the initiative to saddle up next to us and strike up conversations as we made our way inside.  Even though we were in our professional dress, the guys looking great in shirts and ties and the women sporting beautiful scarves bought here in India, we were certainly outdressed by these strikingly extroverted and talented students. These representatives clearly exemplified what the competitive edge of international business is going to look like for India in the not-so-distant future.  After being ushered into a brightly colored conference room, we had a few minutes to get to know those whom we were sitting near. Introductions were made, Paul gave a great promotional speech about Whitworth University, and the presentation began. Siddharth, the chair of the Global Outreach Program of IIPM, gave us an overview of the school using a video and then spoke about IIPM’s history, uniqueness and extraordinary goals, which served as a testament to the fantastic growth and potential of India itself. When he was finished, we were given a tour of the campus by the students and faculty, exchanged email addresses, took a quick group picture, and hopped on the tour bus again.

For lunch, most of us had a little taste from home when we stopped in an area that  had Dominos, Subway, and a Pizza Hut, but, of course, the food in these places  maintained its Indian flair. After lunch, we were dropped off at a large marketplace that sold, among other things, name-brand clothes that were apparently from Western markets. We felt the population density of India as we made our way through this open- air market. Some of the Whitworth women actually made it on to TV. There was a television crew out interviewing people, so three of our students took the opportunity to be on TV and said something about the weather or how much they liked New Delhi.  After shopping, we headed back to the hotel and then most of us walked to a movie theater to celebrate a 21st birthday. We saw Bhagan Bhag, a musical/comedy/tragedy – meaning that there were spectacular dance numbers, two main male characters who were very entertaining (as indicated by the laughter of the audience; it was a little harder for us to catch the jokes, since the movie was in Hindi), and, interestingly, a suicidal female character who jumped in front of a car and survived only to set herself on fire later! Because it was a three-hour movie, a few of us decided to go back early, and the rest left at intermission.