Taking stock of winter

• Snow is NOT beautiful. It is bitterly cold when it snows and I can't see how everything covered in white is good looking. The only time snow is better or acceptable is when compared to rain. Give me plentiful sunshine any day !

• If the Sun is out in all its glory and it is nice and bright outside doesn't necessarily mean it is hot outside. Heck, it need not even mean it is warm. You could have plentiful sunshine with sub-zero temperatures as well. :-|
  

• Ice falling from the sky might be an amusing thing (like snow) to see but it makes road conditions miserable and you won't realize just how frigging difficult it is to drive (or even walk !) on ice till you experience it.
  

• Ice skating (the traditional way) might look fun, but it is no fun if you topple over, twist an ankle or injure yourself in any other way. I don't think the pain is worth it. So, you want to experience skating on ice ? Just try walking on the road after there has been an Ice rain.
  

• Winter is also a good time for deals. When you see an offer and feel that it really is a deal, just buy it. The longer you sit on it, the more you are going to get confused. 5 different websites will offer 5 different offers for the same product with not much of a difference in terms of cost. Looking through all of them will only waste your time and most likely you will end up buying the first one that you saw. Also, once you buy a product, forget about looking for it anymore unless disappointment is a good friend of yours.
  

• Once the mercury goes into sub-zero region (and am talking in Celcius scale although it really shouldn't matter), it makes hardly any difference if it's -10 or -20. You're screwed either way.
  

And a Semester goes by ...

Yes, it's over. Done and dusted ! Phew ! 

People said Grad school was no joke and that it can be quite tough. People also said that Texas is very hot and on the upside, winters are much more tolerable (for someone used to Indian winters). I realized late that I had absolutely NO clue about the severity of both the things. But then again, I don't think anyone would realize that till they experience it. 

Nightouts in lab, nightouts at home preparing for the mid-term, worse still, nightouts to complete a homework, preparing 'legalized' cheat-sheets for the exam only to find that it was a collossal waste of time, living on readymade powders (courtesy: The Grand Sweets & Snacks, Adyar, Chennai), realizing that we are the only hapless souls sitting in lab at 5 in the morning, catching the first bus of the next day to go home and sleep (for the previous night ???), realizing just how deep is deep sh*t - well, the list goes on and all I can say is that, I have seen 'em all and will continue to see 'em next semester. Phew and sigh !

On the positive side, I took up to playing Tennis (albeit only for couple of weeks before the vicious cycle of the previous paragraph set in :|). I did not realize just how tiring a game Tennis can be. But it is also lot of fun and I look forward to resuming it sometime (I might probably need to buy a better racquet and not settle for some cheap stuff, but I need to be more regular to justify the investment). I realized that not buying the UT Sports Package while in India was a big mistake. College Football is a BIG thing here and quite rightly so. It definitely gets addictive especially if your team is one of the best in the country ;-). The atmosphere, passion and support is just unbelievable. 

There were also plenty of 'Free Food' oppourtunities throughout the semester. Some, really worth it (read: Pizza) and some, a total waste of time (read: grass and other leafy things which I believe should be fed only to cows :|). There were also some hopelessly sad moments when we had to sit through presentation of a Chemical company for the sake of free food. aaah ! the pitiable state of Poor Indian Graduate Students (PIGS, as my friend Sid calls them). 

At least the 'pundits' were right on the cold part. Yes, Texas does get cold, very cold. Heck, it even snowed in Austin on one night ! . But, it is nowhere near as cold as some of the other places. I can definitely vouch for the midwest ! It even threatened to reach zero degrees in Farhenheit in Cincinnati ! 

It's been less than 6 months, but after being roasted in the August heat of Austin, am now freezing in the December cold of Cincinnati. It has been fun, painful, enjoyable, depressing, frustrating, satisfying, relieving et al. Overall, it has been a new experience and am thankful for it.