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.

A journey begins ...

I had written most of this stuff for people back home in India. Guess it makes for a good excuse to bump up a rotting blog through some C&P stuff. ;)

I am finally getting proper internet access here from Austin. So far, whatever I have seen of this place and America in general has more or less convinced me as to why this place is everyone's dream (at least for Indians !). The places are just beautiful, the people polite and things all very simple and easy.

The Emirates flight to Dubai was quite comfortable. The breakfast was quite sumptuous as well. Starting with a lemonade, they had few mini idlies (with molapodi mixed), vada and some upma kind of preparation - all soaked in sambhar. Then they had fruits and a muffin with butter and jam to go along with coffee. The entertainment system was quite good as well (movies, audio, games - all controlled by a remote as well as touch screen !), although it took me sometime and the air hostess' help to figure out where to plug in the headphones !. They also had a nice cozy shawl for our comfort, to go alongwith a small pillow. After having the heavy breakfast (at around 5.15 AM India time), I watched some TV and slept well.

After clearing the security at the Chennai Airport, as I was waiting for the boarding call, I happened to catch a glimpse of Rajinikanth, who came late (about 15-20 mins after the last passenger) to board the Cathay Pacific flight to HongKong. The flight landed in Dubai almost on time, but it arrived far from the main terminal (near the new terminal that is being constructed). A lengthy bus ride took us around the huge fleet of Emirates aircrafts (nice little trick from Emirates to showboat ;) )and dropped the ongoing passengers for connecting flights. The security check at Dubai is almost straightforward. We have to remove all metallic items, including belts and then simply walk through the metal detector. If it beeps, we have to remove the item for checking, else, we are clean to go. The Dubai airport looks more like a shopping mall. As I was in a hurry, I couldn't look around much, but from what I could see, it was Massive and lots and lots of duty free shopping. Definitely a place to visit for holiday and travel !. Just before landing in Dubai, the in-flight TV shows the gates for connecting flights from Dubai. So, getting around in Dubai is made simpler.

I met up with Kiran (my roommate) near the gate for JFK bound flight and joined the queue along with him. We couldn't find any place for making a call or using a comp. They must have been available somewhere outside, but we had already checked in for the flight. The flight from Dubai-JFK was just as great !. Of course, the economy class legroom wasn't great for a long haul, but it was decent enough. The entertainment system on this Boeing flight is simply AMAZING !. There is a massive choice of entertainment ranging from movies to tv shows and audio - and all of them comes over a wide variety of genres. The games are plenty of their own. We can also make calls and send sms/email through the remote/handset, using our credit cards. One has to travel by that flight to experience the treat provided by Emirates. The food was excellent and sumptuous again. If needed, one could go to the rear of the aircraft and get food/water/juice based on availability. The air hostess' are multi-ethnic, but the asians appeared to be lot more cheerful ;)

I was watching bit of movies/tv and sleeping in between (I watched Kungfu Panda and My Cousin Vinny - apart from few episodes of Friends, Simpsons, Family Guy etc). Halfway through the flight, I changed my window seat with another small boy who was sitting next to me and got an aisle seat. But the journey was quite pleasant at both the places. They served breakfast, some refreshments in between and lunch later on. We were handed over immigration and customs forms shortly before the flight landed at JFK and were also shown videos on how to fill them. They questionnaire was quite straight forward. To our surprise, the flight departed Dubai only about 10 mins late (usually 30mins-1hr late) and reached JFK about 20 mins before time !!.

The immigration and customs at JFK was a mere formality. This was the biggest surprise of them all. I had anticipated huge queues for Immigration and lot of scrutiny for Customs. Immigration counters were all empty before it got filled by passengers from our flight and once that was cleared, we had to collect the baggage. We needed to pay $3 for using the trolley. The system is quite simple. If we put extra money, we get refunded. I put a $5 bill and got 8 quarters (25 cents) in return. After collecting the baggage, we went for customs. There we just handed over our form and they let us go. No opening of baggage or anything. We then dropped our baggage at Emirates connection gate for the next flight and then took a 'Air Train'. This train at JFK, is a wee bit similar in planning to chennai's own 'parakkum rail', in that it runs across and over the city's roads. It basically connects different terminals (International and Domestic) of JFK. We then got our boarding passes for the connecting Delta flight. Here, if we had booked the ticket online, we had the option of issuing the boarding passes ourselves using the kiosk. I used them - again, quite simple and self explanatory. After getting the boarding pass, we had to clear the TSA security for domestic flights. Here we have to remove everything, including shoes and belts. We are also not allowed to carry water beyond this point.

Since I had some time before the connecting flight, I had some tiffin stuff that I got from India. By this time, I was quite tired. The flight for Austin departed about an hour late, but it reached Austin on time. We were served some refreshments (biscuits, water/cool drinks etc) on flight and the journey was quite comfortable although I slept most of the while. Kiran had called his senior from JFK to inform of our arrival and he was there along with his friend to pick us up. As told by Vijay (local contact here), Austin airport was more or less deserted at this time, except for arriving passengers. But it was beautiful and well lit. We traveled back to the senior (Ashwin's) apartment by car. There are few more tamil guys living in the same apartment complex and I am currently staying in one of the guy's apartment. The apartments are all quite beautiful, with either carpeted or wodden flooring. Not all apartments come furnished and we may have to buy. But these apartments were furnished and quite beautiful with lovely couches and seatbacks !.

Today, I got some of the initial formalities done. The student ID card was issued in just 2 minutes. Ashwin took us to the place and showed few places around the campus. I then opened a bank account and have deposited some of the cash, all the traveler cheques and the DD. Because the DD was a large amount, they will credit it after 5 days, but that should be fine. The staff there were really helpful and talking about India, weather and stuff. They also gave away a complimentary Tee shirt for opening the account. It has the college symbol in front and is of the college colour (burt orange). The entire bank process took less than an hour and they even issued me a debit card, with my name printed, in that time. (This is efficiency at its best.)

The campus is quite huge and beautiful and it will take us sometime before we get used to the directions and lot of time before we explore completely. Ashwin dropped us in the evening for a 'movie day' event for new international students. Lot of people from India had come as well as from other countries. We watched The Pursuit of Happyness and refreshments were given away. The sun here sets only at around 8 or 8.30 ! We have traveled a couple of times in the University Shuttle ! It is completely air conditioned - like the G18 (bus in Chennai), but only many times better !

We went to a Grocery store called HEB with the senior. It was so massive ! and almost everything is available here. :) We are mostly finalizing the apartment where we are staying temporarily now. The seniors will be moving out by 17th or something and after some cleaning it should be ready for move in. Hopefully that is settled soon and after that phone and laptop will have to be done !

Austin is as hot as chennai ! It is really hot at this time of the year. but the campus is quite beautiful, with fountains and lovely buildings ! There is a super view of the State Capitol as well and at night, the buildings are really beautiful !