The JET journey does not have any complaints and I can only say that they have caught students big time. Every second passenger was an INDIAN student going to some school in the US for their masters. I was bemused to see so many of them and for a moment felt like just yet another guy. But then I heard people going to universities that I have never heard of ( Ferris State University, Kennesaw State University, University of Texas in Pan America to name a few), I got back my senses and said to myself “Dude, NCState rrrrrocks !!!”. Throughout the journey, I was just thinking of all my dear ones back home. I love my folks and was contemplating on when would I meet them again. Two years is not a big time. However, two years is not a short time too. I will miss playing tennis with my dear cousins. I will miss making fun of and being made fun of by my dear folks. I will miss parental care. I will miss my long phone calls with my dear friends. I will miss my not-so-bad salary. I will miss playing with my nieces. I will miss my sister-in-law’s five flavored pani poori. Above all, I will miss being an IRRESPONSIBLE BLOKE.
Carolina Style In Amreeka
After arriving at Raleigh,NC, I was promptly picked up by my aunt who is next in turn in their family to put up with me after my aunt in Bangalore. (Is it gona be Australia or Coimbatore or Haripad next? ) The first few days in their place was nothing less than luxurious and it was a home away from home. I am sorry if I am turning on the fire alarms in HongKong. I know somebody’s stomache in Hong Kong will burn on reading this. Anyways, take that from me my dear bro. However, after moving in to my apartment, I was made to realize the fact that being in America means you have to fend and defend for yourself. You are completely on your own.
Raleigh is a very quiet capital city and it belongs to the Wake County, one of the 100 counties in North Carolina. Famous for it’s lakes and oak trees and of course NCSU ! Nothing more and nothing less. People here love the summer and Raleigh is rated one of the fastest growing cities in the USA. People pay lesser tax here than some of the neighboring cities and that is one major reason for a lot of people moving in to this city. Huh, I have collected enough information to put it up here
After my classes started, my life was on a fubar for the initial few days. The education system here is a way too different than what most of the institutions in India have. Assignments (that you should do on your own), pop-quizzes etc etc were all too new to me and it took around two weeks to get a glimpse of what is happening around me. It all sounded a little scary and me and my friend were discussing of doing something illegal and get deported to India so that we get our return tickets free of cost . I crossed that phase and now I am kinda settled out here. And now, I need to mention about the profs I met here. The profs are so damn intelligent and are completely against the picture I had about them before I came here. I was thinking of bespectacled, wrinkled people as profs. The truth is they are just a little elder to my old cousin in Hong Kong (I am sorry again. I cannot stop pulling your leg! ). One guy had been with the US Army before he became a doctorate and one guy is a down to earth cool dude who is a big shot in the industry and wears a blazer to the class that does not match a shade with his inners. Some characters they are.
Before the classes started, we had at least three different orientation programmes that were monotonously boring. We were taught not to plagiarize ( a word that I very often hear in NCState) and we were taught not to call lady profs / staffs for a date. The best thing however was that I got to meet and make friends with a lot of international students and even better was “FREE FOOD” (my Indian mentality will never die down in me). We had a get-together at a church and we were made to dance for famous numbers like “Do the hokey pokey”. I was reminded of my sweetheart niece “Srishti” back home who used to dance so cutely to this rhyme and it was an irony to see fatsos dancing for this.
Another thing interesting that happened was the nightout @ Yard Sale. You spend the whole night out of a church to buy stuff for cheap for your apartment. This is not crazy as you may think. This is the way of life of the Indian student’s community @ NCState. The amusing or not so amusing thing about this is that all the students who was there the night before were Indians. And what you juxtapose with an Indian crowd is quarelling, cursing, abusing and a lot of commotion. All this happened outside a church in a city called Raleigh in United States Of America. Indians are always Indians and we don’t believe in “Be a Roman while in Rome”. After spending the whole night out there, the sale started in the morning and we grabbed a dining table and some rocking chairs for our apartment.
On the entirety, following is what I have understood as to what it means to live a student life in America. It means:
• You cook for yourself. You make sambhar that does not taste nearly like it. And you even try Bainghan ka Bartha which comes out good out of the blue. You clean the dishes and the kitchen. It also means Dosas are not round in shape and omlette is a semi-solid dish.
• Capsicum is Green Pepper and Brinjal is EggPlant.
• You have to follow traffic rules even while walking. You cannot do “Jaywalking” ( an American word for crossing the road without signals) which you always do in India.
• The prof gave me work up the butt does not mean something bad. It just means that he gave you too much work to do.
• You have to keep distance with the car in the front and cannot tailgate (another American word added to my vocabulary) cars while driving. This is also something we always do in India.
• You have to look at your left side while crossing the road.
• You buy the cheapest stuff and rather than the famous stuff. I use “Gazz” soaps. Have you heard of it?
• Football is played with hand and not legs.
• We are called P.I.G.S ( Poor Indian Graduate Students).
• And finally, it means you use tissue paper to wipe your *** and not your face.
I will add more to this list later on.
Sorry for putting up this after a long delay. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Finally, I am signing off with a plagiarism of a thought from an advertising company:
My house rent – $200 per head. My monthly expenses – $400 . The laptop bag I bought recently – $25. A big sliced pizza @ NY Pizza – $4 A chocolate muffin - $1.
Spending time with my wonderful cousins and awesome friends – Priceless ! ! !
We are P.I.G.S. (These are the fundo guys i am staying with).
