the great american blog !!
its been 2 full weeks now that i have been in America !!
sounds exciting and fun..it has been till now..
i was looking forward to the whole getting back to school (i like the word 'studies' more..but when in amreeka act like the 'amreekans') !!! i get to be the mad, geeky, studious, wacky, creative person without any limits..with 2 yrs of corporate life i had become more lady like and composed !! (in short boring and monotonous :D)
But graduate studies is a serious job !! I'm 2 classes down in the term and already feeling a bit overwhelmed by the profs ka expectations..not that i mind..but it isn't a casual shrug of the shoulders anymore nor pass it on to someone else kinda thing..
only that the transition is sinking in more heavily now..in every sphere of life..
i go out and do some shopping (read groceries and things necessary to survive on this planet !!) i feel like what the hell..the other day i went to a Jewel for some groceries, had a tough time finding out what is what and what is priced what..there r a hundred things written on a product label, which includes offers for preferred customers, normal customers, unit price, offer price and what not !! but one good thing is help offered, i mean u just need to tell them that u r in distress and they will guide u in the simplest possible ways. So communication forms a key aspect of your life when your in the US of A.
Actually things are very simple here (the naming convention of the streets, buildings etc), but until you overcome the initial downs of the phenomenon called 'culture shock', you can learn to communicate..its a good experience..you have to be a bit artificial (compared to overtly artificial manners of the locals, com'on that's what i felt !! don't judge me there :D) and smiling (this is fine..there should not be any problem in improving your face value !!) and you can get help easily..believe me if u are stubborn (as i was initially) and dont ask for help, u will need a lot of time to get adjusted to 'being in bush's land', which is not at all done, if your in the city of 'yes-u-heard-it-right' Chicago !!
After coming here and visiting downtown (my school, again !! is very near downtown, which i cant help telling every now and then :D) i realised where the term skyscrapers came from..all the buildings are actually scraping the sky and your head literally spins looking at them..guess stan lee ne yahi kisi building ke chat (terrace) pe baith ke spiderman ka first sketch nikala tha !! imagine if i had teeny weeny traces of superpowers, what fun it would be to zoooom thro the skyline and see at the tiny creatures crawl below me !!
allright, the calvinish, devilish thinking aside, downtown gives u the feeling of being in a city of dreams, a city which deserves to bid for 2016 Olympics and paralympics !!
some of you might say that, may be I'm just overwhelmed by USA, but a place which has 30-40% desis, which gives you the feel of amchi mumbai, can't really be that bad !! I remember telling my mom, i dont feel i have actually travelled for 24 hrs and reached other part of the globe..i see as many indians here to make it even worse !! lol..really my flight had 20 kids going to the same univ as mine..the international community here is huge..and that's why, i think its going to be one rollercoaster ride !!!
One more really amazing fact about Chicago is the Michigan lake..and the quietest part of the lake (that's what i think) is 5 mins walk from my apt..after a tiring day, a walk by its side is the best relaxation, i must say !!
Though there r a lot of things i miss, ghar, mom-dad, dada, ghar ka khana, the comfortable and secure life (it will take some time to settle down here :)), friends, eating out and shopping escapades and what not..but guess studies and a really good city will make me a better person !!
so until amreeka reports again,
take care you all :) and as they say here, have a nice one (jo bhi kuch ho ;-) ) !!! :D
P.S. my life works a lot on guess work, don't u think so ?? :)