Landed!

Atlast, I have landed in the US of A - this time on my own to do my Masters.

Well, I am not going to write a Thank You note like what Skely had mentioned here. But let me just write my First Impressions about this place.

University - I guess getting to the University of Minnesota is a very good decision I have made. The place is really beautiful and the campus is really huge. I guess it must be bigger than Perambur, the place where I live in Chennai. It is spread across two cities - Minneapolis and St.Paul, better known as the Twin Cities. My department is in Minneapolis, whose campus is divided into two by the great Missisippi river.

Talking about the beauty, the Univ has old-styled buildings with red & scarlet bricks and and huge pillars, like the one in Roman buildings; lush green gardens, well maintained and flowers around them, with hares and gophers(big-sized squirrels) running on them. So, it has a very good campus.

City - The Minneapolis downtown is quite close from home. I could actually see the buildings from my home. Yet to visit the place though. But the roads and the system is pretty much like that of California. CNN and Coca-Cola have its headquarters here.

People - There are all kinds of people here - of different fields, for different level of education and of different origins. Locals are quite friendier, but strict about discipline and punctuality.
I feel people in India are far much better.

Home - My roomies here had found a house and had furnished it with TV, refrigerator, phone, kitched utensils, sofa...almost everything. So, home is good too.

Weather - It is just like Bangalore now. I think it will start snowing in another 3 months.

Finance - This seems to be a problem. Got to find an assistantship very soon. Otherwise, it would be difficult to live up! :-(

Well, I don't know what else to write as it has been not even a week. Will try to post more details later.

Life is a caravan!

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go beore I sleep.

Relationships...(contd.)

(Another post on my favorite topic...please tolerate it :-))

Relationships, whether named or un-named, are complex. Complex to maintain. Some people are closer to each other even without ever talking a word in life, and some are not even close after being in touch everyday. You don't even know when some started, and when some died. But keeping in touch is important for most of the relationships.

An incident of this kind is common. You know a friend for many years and meet him after several years of gap. You look at each other and wonder whether he/she is the same person you used to know so many years ago, whether you could behave the way you used to... So, you keep thinking about this and finally behave as if you two are strangers. This has happened to me many times.

All I am trying to say is - even when I meet you people after some years, treat me the same way you do now - I will be the same old Gandhi, or Gandhe, or Godse, or Vijay, or VJ, or whatever you think I am now!

Feedback

I have added a link called 'Feedback' on the top-left side of my blog. You could use it to put in your general comments about my blog...I know I don't write any poems or stories to comment about...but still in some cases...like if you(skely specifically) want me to remove any posts, or if you want to scold me, or sometimes praise me :-), or just anything... :-)