Accustoming to a new place is tough, and to a new place in another country is even more tougher. In the last 6 days of my stay here, I had some weird happenings and I would enlist them here
* The bank employee said "Thank You" 10 times in 2 minutes. Be it when I handed over the application form or when I confirmed the spelling of my name or when I typed the PIN first time, and when I typed it second time to confirm again I got a "Thank You" In return, I said "You are Welcome" twice after which I felt very awkward and stopped saying anything.
* These days when I go out, I prepare a short answer for the question "How are you doing?" Almost all whom your eyes meet up with ask that question. And by the time with an Indian accent I start saying something, they are out of earshot. Sometimes I look at the ground and walk or before anyone asks I quip the question and walk away he he!!! eppadi??
* The roads are all deserted (in comparison with our Indian traffic) and it is hard to find any houses/shops on either side of the highway, because of this all roads looks the same to me, and I cant keep anything as landmark to understand which part of the road I am in!!!
* After the long lecture about Fire alarm in the international orientation, and also the advice from seniors about how the whole world comes to you if you raise an fire alarm in this part of the world, I actually saw an alarm going up in college, and like we used to do in India at the HP office, I walked lethargically down the corridor, and hey presto the door opened and people were pouring out and almost ran over scaring the shit out of me!! By the time I came out of the building, Police, Fire brigade, etc etc were there on the entrance. I came back home and decided to have a chappathi and reheated it in the microwave. The timing I gave for it was more and it started smoking off. Knowing very well that the Fire alarm is going to go off any moment, my friend and myself took the oven and ran out of the house and opened it, and started waving the smoke out of it. Oh God!! we were saved!!! I stopped using the microwave after that.
* No one is allowed to wash their clothes in buckets and hang it in the balcony!!! One has to use the washing machine and drier only!!! To cap it all, one cant find a tap either in the toilet(that everyone knows) or in the bathroom (only a shower would be there!!)
* One good thing I did this week was enrolling with freewheels in college. Freewheels is an NGO organization who have a great passion for biking. I was given a cycle frame and I have to attend 3 classes 2 hrs each to assemble the whole cycle, End of the Day, I could keep the cycle with me till I leave the college. Thats cool isn't it?? If my father asks me what the hell did you learn from US after I return back. I could atleast tell him, I learnt how to fix a puncture!!! :)
* The bank employee said "Thank You" 10 times in 2 minutes. Be it when I handed over the application form or when I confirmed the spelling of my name or when I typed the PIN first time, and when I typed it second time to confirm again I got a "Thank You" In return, I said "You are Welcome" twice after which I felt very awkward and stopped saying anything.
* These days when I go out, I prepare a short answer for the question "How are you doing?" Almost all whom your eyes meet up with ask that question. And by the time with an Indian accent I start saying something, they are out of earshot. Sometimes I look at the ground and walk or before anyone asks I quip the question and walk away he he!!! eppadi??
* The roads are all deserted (in comparison with our Indian traffic) and it is hard to find any houses/shops on either side of the highway, because of this all roads looks the same to me, and I cant keep anything as landmark to understand which part of the road I am in!!!
* After the long lecture about Fire alarm in the international orientation, and also the advice from seniors about how the whole world comes to you if you raise an fire alarm in this part of the world, I actually saw an alarm going up in college, and like we used to do in India at the HP office, I walked lethargically down the corridor, and hey presto the door opened and people were pouring out and almost ran over scaring the shit out of me!! By the time I came out of the building, Police, Fire brigade, etc etc were there on the entrance. I came back home and decided to have a chappathi and reheated it in the microwave. The timing I gave for it was more and it started smoking off. Knowing very well that the Fire alarm is going to go off any moment, my friend and myself took the oven and ran out of the house and opened it, and started waving the smoke out of it. Oh God!! we were saved!!! I stopped using the microwave after that.
* No one is allowed to wash their clothes in buckets and hang it in the balcony!!! One has to use the washing machine and drier only!!! To cap it all, one cant find a tap either in the toilet(that everyone knows) or in the bathroom (only a shower would be there!!)
* One good thing I did this week was enrolling with freewheels in college. Freewheels is an NGO organization who have a great passion for biking. I was given a cycle frame and I have to attend 3 classes 2 hrs each to assemble the whole cycle, End of the Day, I could keep the cycle with me till I leave the college. Thats cool isn't it?? If my father asks me what the hell did you learn from US after I return back. I could atleast tell him, I learnt how to fix a puncture!!! :)
7 comments:
There you go! And good that you found some information about free wheel collective so early. So far I have managed to be there just once ;)
hi Praveen,
Good to see you settling slowly and steadily there! Hope you have a great time out there! All the best!
As a reader of ur blog it's funny to read abt microwave drama...but as a sis u knw standard advice take care of urself:)...
After reading ur blog, I recollect the scene of Madhavan (in Nala Damayanthi!!) telling the air hostess that paper is a symbol of Goddess Saraswathi. I laughed out loud after imagining you in that situation except that it is in your room.!! (Don't get angry.. )
See www.yesbeem.blogspot.com
very hilarious post man....at teh same time good to see ur getting used to some outside-ways of living!!....Take care!
Its been a month n guess u wud 've settled down well by now..though i read it late, cudnt stop laughing after imagining hw it wud 've been.. :)) take care!!
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