Well I finally managed to somehow reach "The Land of Dumbasses" taking a couple of Lufthansa and United Airlines flights. On the whole it was a very comfortable journey bringing back haunting memories of the night of 30th when I was stranded at the airport with nowhere to head but back home. This time though I was intent on getting to the US and to my university at Syracuse. When my wait finally ended at around 6pm local time on the 8th of August -well that reminds me about the special date on which I travelled, 08-08-08. How many people can boast of an immigration stamp which has this date on it?!! To say I was only a little excited when I got down at the Hancock international Airport would be an understatement. I wanted to look around the campus right away and see how different the place is. I was dropped home by a very nice Indian couple whom I came to know through my father. They were really helpful and full of warmth. It was only when I was taking a ride with them did I realise that I was not the only one who felt that there is a dearth of good films coming from Kollywood. They also felt the quality of music in films nowadays is below average.
I had landed on a friday evening and would not be able to report to the university till the morning on the following monday. So I decided to go shopping with the guys here and they took me to Walmart. The first impression one gets when he steps into this store is WOW! Well, at least that is how I felt when I went around the place. Such a huge shop with a very high variety of goods all available at cheap prices and in excellent quality. It is not easy to describe such a store and give the best and excat idea. One must be there to feel the brilliance and grandeur of the place. As for me, I picked up loads of stuff from a comforter to a pedestal fan to a floor lamp to basic stationery and some eatables for our house. I came back home to realise how big the mattress I have is. It is a KING size mattress which means its bigger than two single beds put together. It takes up 70% of my room and is the most comfortable mattress I have been in.
Then came Monday morning and I reported to the Center for international services and finished my paperwork in a jiffy with assistance from my good roommate Mr.Anand. I did not fail to notice the free candy on offer at the Center and grabbed a couple of 'em. I also got a chance to visit the Library and make use of the internet facilities there. It is an excellent facility with everything right from a common printer to photocopying machines. But as it is the case in all places acrosses the US it costs to take printouts or make copies.
Apart from attending several seminars and getting paperwork done the other thing I have been running around for is an on-campus job. Its the one thing that has been evading me for a while. I have even been given an employment letter but then later rejected shifts for the job. Running from one end of the campus to the other has become very common. The only respite is that the weather is cool and pleasant and the campus is really beautiful. Though I claim the weather is very pleasant it is very unpredictable and it can go from being hot and sunny to dark and cloudy with thundershowers in a matter of minutes. It was on one such day when we decided to play football with a few seniors and a couple of Professors in a nearby ground. Though it seemed to be a fun experience for a few minutes it turned nasty with very windy and heavy showers that took quite a while to subside.
On another day I went to the Gym with my friends here and we were dumbfounded by the facilities there. What was on display was a few basketball courts, some squash and racquetball courts and a huge gymnasium. We were so overwhelmed by it all that we played basketball, squash, racquetball and then went out with the seniors to play football also. We were thoroughly exhausted and were expecting a comfortable ride back home when the seniors instead took us to a volleyball court when it was getting really cold. We were in our shorts and a strong and cold breeze was blowing. What was worse was the fact that we had to remove our shoes to play on the sandy courts and it had rained that morning, which meant that the sand was wet and very cold. Once all of us got back home that night we just cooked something in a hurry and ate it up and went to sleep very early.
If its one thing I like about this place and dont like at the same time its the bus service. Many a time they are irregular and not on time, but this reminds me of India which makes me happy. :) Speaking about India, there is a very new and young Indian student Association here at my university and we decided we needed to clebrate August 15th and remember the day when we got our independence. I should say it was a fun experience with a small snack arranged- in this country snack is biscuits, cookies, cheese, salami. After the snack we had a nie speech by one of the freshers here for this Fall and we followed that up with a pretty good rendition if our National Anthem. Am sure Mr. Tagore would have been proud of us. :)
The best structure on campus would be the Carrier Dome, where all the football(American football- gosh i hate it when they call football soccer!!) and lacrosse games take place. It is a splendid piece of work and you cant take your eyes off it for a few moments. Syracuse has a great sporting history with one of the best basketball teams, a superb lacrosse team and a well respected football team. Please do catch the upcoming film called The Express to know more about Syracuse university and a special football player back in the 1800s. Am sure you will find the campus green and beautiful.
Well, I guess I have written a pretty good amount of stuff as part of my first actualy week in the US. I actually call it My Second First Week in the US for reasons my previous blog would have explained. It has been fun so far, but once classes start is when it gets all busy busy and hopefully with an oncampus job I should make some money for myself. Lets hope for the best. I will keep writing about my life here heeding to the request of some people in India who wanted to see Syracuse through my eyes. :)
I had landed on a friday evening and would not be able to report to the university till the morning on the following monday. So I decided to go shopping with the guys here and they took me to Walmart. The first impression one gets when he steps into this store is WOW! Well, at least that is how I felt when I went around the place. Such a huge shop with a very high variety of goods all available at cheap prices and in excellent quality. It is not easy to describe such a store and give the best and excat idea. One must be there to feel the brilliance and grandeur of the place. As for me, I picked up loads of stuff from a comforter to a pedestal fan to a floor lamp to basic stationery and some eatables for our house. I came back home to realise how big the mattress I have is. It is a KING size mattress which means its bigger than two single beds put together. It takes up 70% of my room and is the most comfortable mattress I have been in.
Then came Monday morning and I reported to the Center for international services and finished my paperwork in a jiffy with assistance from my good roommate Mr.Anand. I did not fail to notice the free candy on offer at the Center and grabbed a couple of 'em. I also got a chance to visit the Library and make use of the internet facilities there. It is an excellent facility with everything right from a common printer to photocopying machines. But as it is the case in all places acrosses the US it costs to take printouts or make copies.
Apart from attending several seminars and getting paperwork done the other thing I have been running around for is an on-campus job. Its the one thing that has been evading me for a while. I have even been given an employment letter but then later rejected shifts for the job. Running from one end of the campus to the other has become very common. The only respite is that the weather is cool and pleasant and the campus is really beautiful. Though I claim the weather is very pleasant it is very unpredictable and it can go from being hot and sunny to dark and cloudy with thundershowers in a matter of minutes. It was on one such day when we decided to play football with a few seniors and a couple of Professors in a nearby ground. Though it seemed to be a fun experience for a few minutes it turned nasty with very windy and heavy showers that took quite a while to subside.
On another day I went to the Gym with my friends here and we were dumbfounded by the facilities there. What was on display was a few basketball courts, some squash and racquetball courts and a huge gymnasium. We were so overwhelmed by it all that we played basketball, squash, racquetball and then went out with the seniors to play football also. We were thoroughly exhausted and were expecting a comfortable ride back home when the seniors instead took us to a volleyball court when it was getting really cold. We were in our shorts and a strong and cold breeze was blowing. What was worse was the fact that we had to remove our shoes to play on the sandy courts and it had rained that morning, which meant that the sand was wet and very cold. Once all of us got back home that night we just cooked something in a hurry and ate it up and went to sleep very early.
If its one thing I like about this place and dont like at the same time its the bus service. Many a time they are irregular and not on time, but this reminds me of India which makes me happy. :) Speaking about India, there is a very new and young Indian student Association here at my university and we decided we needed to clebrate August 15th and remember the day when we got our independence. I should say it was a fun experience with a small snack arranged- in this country snack is biscuits, cookies, cheese, salami. After the snack we had a nie speech by one of the freshers here for this Fall and we followed that up with a pretty good rendition if our National Anthem. Am sure Mr. Tagore would have been proud of us. :)
The best structure on campus would be the Carrier Dome, where all the football(American football- gosh i hate it when they call football soccer!!) and lacrosse games take place. It is a splendid piece of work and you cant take your eyes off it for a few moments. Syracuse has a great sporting history with one of the best basketball teams, a superb lacrosse team and a well respected football team. Please do catch the upcoming film called The Express to know more about Syracuse university and a special football player back in the 1800s. Am sure you will find the campus green and beautiful.
Well, I guess I have written a pretty good amount of stuff as part of my first actualy week in the US. I actually call it My Second First Week in the US for reasons my previous blog would have explained. It has been fun so far, but once classes start is when it gets all busy busy and hopefully with an oncampus job I should make some money for myself. Lets hope for the best. I will keep writing about my life here heeding to the request of some people in India who wanted to see Syracuse through my eyes. :)
