Send-off #1

Five days ago saw us sending off the first of this season’s exchange students. I was just telling someone, that when the first group flies off, the rest will follow suit fast and furiously, and before you know it, we’ll be all gone. Someone’s leaving tonight, and another group in 7 days, another in 11 days and so on. It’s all a matter of days. And before a half dozen weeks are over, thirty over of us CS students will be sprawled all over the globe.

Those lucky souls routed to India, now probably frolicking somewhere in Ahmedabad sipping masala tea and eating murukus, was given an upgrade to business class on SQ. Much as I’m envious, I guess it’s a good start though to ease those nerves and uncertainties of what to expect in India. It’s a relief though to hear that things are getting on fine over there for leigh and the rest.

And the unemployed me still haven’t quite found a job to last me through the next month. Ha. That translate to more cash burning and earning nothing. After all, virtually everything needs money: food, entertainment, and even day-to-day necessities like the newspaper and transport. I was even reading up on inflation today. Doesn’t help when the costs are permanently rising. I was just telling my mom, maybe when we get back from US, the costs of things will probably be the same there and here.

Apparently quite a number of people going on exchange have gotten themselves DSLRs for their own use during the trip. Off my head I could count at least 5 such persons. Mostly aspiring journalists or visual communicators, by the looks of it. Myself excluded, of course. I don’t have that kind of money (or perhaps even passion) to get myself one. I’ll just have to count on my old (and not so trusty) point-and-shoot Lumix. Well, it’s always nice if i could have afforded a DSLR in the first place. Perhaps next time.

On the other hand, perhaps I should invest in some form of entertainment, perhaps a PSP, to keep myself occupied, especially during those long transits between places. Probably I should start playing games again. One of the many cons of having a mac, you lose out on your gaming life.

So… happy job searching to me! And happy new year to one and all!

Flying… flying… Fly!

With the exams over and December hanging in the air, it’s only a matter of weeks before we jet off to foreign land and spend a good half year immersing ourselves in lands of the relatively unknown.

At the OLE run, we were just commenting that the earliest group to set off will depart in less than 4 weeks. And I’m flying in 57 days. How time flies.

The administrative matters begin to look a little daunting, slightly painful. The tons of visa application information and health checklist and air ticket booking and so on just seem a little too wordy and jargonish. Quite a pain in the ass, if you ask me.

The feeling of finality finally set in, since the maroon booklet detailing admissions information reached my home in a fedex package a week ago.

I wonder what US holds for me in the five months or so that I will spend there. Like many who have gone on exchange and returned, I’m expecting a change of sorts to happen. Just what kind of change exactly, I don’t know; I dare not fathom. I have been pretty independent (of my family at least) all along, but I have no idea if i could do this for as long as 5 months. Many people say that going on exchange changes a person’s perspectives, goals and ideals to a large extent. I see some of that in people who has gone and came home. It’s exciting, and yet a little challenging, to see how being in a land where you suddenly become the minority changes a person as a whole.

I’m getting pretty excited over the places that I wanna go during term and summer too. Too many places, too little time, and limited resources. Economics at work again. I wanna walk down Hollywood Boulevard again, and this time go up to the Hollywood sign. I wanna spend a night in the lovely gorge of Grand Canyon. I wanna stand at the foot of the Niagara Falls, enjoy the cooling mist and the majestic sight of the water falling. I wanna visit Ground Zero as well. I want to do this this that that, everything!

57 days!