DISSECTING MY TRIP TO L.A

I am on my way back to Morgantown after a good break in L.A for almost three weeks….I am typing this in mid air….will post this when I go home. L.A was great. I just loved the weather especially with me coming from a cold winter in Morgantown. The comfort of going out without any winter jackets was great and I took full advantage of it by roaming around in shorts.

Actually I did not go out much in L.A especially with my cousin’s child it was tough going out. I am also not that inclined to traveling. We did go out to Sanfransisco. It was a fun trip too where we almost took breaks every 25 miles and spent most of our time in eating. We did manage to find time to see the Golden Gate Bridge and the Crooked Street in the busy schedule during that trip. My cousin was so scared to see the crooked street as she felt the route to the Crooked Street was very steep and risky. Finally when I saw the street I was really surprised about my as it was just like a street in Morgantown. Maybe my cousin has not seen such streets but it was just like a ride in Morgantown. It closely resembled Eighth Street in Morgantown.

I would have loved to go to India during this break but L.A was as close as I can get to my home. It was really good to live in a family environment after a year having good homemade breakfast lunch and dinner. Thanks to my cousins and Perimma, I had a great time.

I was also really amazed to see my Perimmaa so obsessed with SUNTV and its nonstop nonsense megaserials. Even I am fanatic about football and NBA and some other shows but not as obsessed as her. I can live without football and NBA and other TV shows but I seriously doubt if Perimmaa can live without TV serials. I was also really amazed at her multitasking doing so many household chores and cooking and still managing to get a glimpse of her favorite SUNTV. She does not change the channel and does not need a remote control. It will be interesting to know if she uses the remote control and watches other channels in India. I should not be making fun of her especially after the considerable time she took in providing some lovely food for me. Sorry Perimmaa( if at all you get to read this) !!!. But one final incident before I change gears to another topic. I was watching TV in the morning around 9 AM. As usual I was watching ESPN. I was thinking Perimmaa is sleeping and it will take some time for her to do her early morning chores and so I can watch ESPN till then. She got out of bed in 5 minutes and to my alarming surprise she just came straight to me and told “ Its 9 AM There is Selvangal(Megaserial) on SUNTV . Please change the channel to SUNTV”

I was criticised by my cousin and perimma for not watching SUNTV and tamil movies. I was constantly reminded about my Indian origin and nativity and they told me that I have become "Americanised". The following few lines are dedicated for them as well as some of my friends who criticise me for not watching Tamil movies. Not watching Tamil movies and serials and sun news does not in any way make me anti Indian or American. Conversely watching those programmes does not make them true ambassadors of India. I have nothing against Tamil language. Its just that I dont want to watch stupid movies or serials or the totally biased news of SUNTV. Frankly I watched very few movies and very little TV while I was in India. I used to spend my time playing and chatting with friends. My TV time grew up drastically after I came here since I had no other go but sit and watch TV.

It was really tough to leave L.A. The thoughts of an 8 AM class on Monday and then working after that and also the thoughts of searching for a full time job really made me stressed out. I did not want to leave L.A but “WHEN IT’S TIME TO GO, YOU GOT TO GO”. I had a great time in L.A. But as per the saying “All good things have to come to an end”. It came to an end today.

AMERICAN STUDENT LIFE FOR AN INDIAN

I have been thinking about blogging for nearly two months...and finally i am going to post my first blog...not only have i been thinking about blogging I had also made up my mind about my first topic ..I wanted to post about a typical student's life in America...a small account of my life in america till now...
As with all things in life there are pros and cons of a students life...it has more -ves than +ves...these are just my viewpoints some others may list some more positives more negatives....at the end of the day each one has their priorities...
CONS:
1. FOOD - I list food first bcoz at the end of the day tats wat u struggle for..and if u juz get a dinner cooked from a roommate who juz does it as a duty and a lunch whi ch is a sandwich or sometimes nothing and a breakfast of the sick old cereals..it really is sick
2. FAMILY- I do not need to type anything..i think it is pretty understandable....
3. CULTURE- I miss the tea kadai the bus stand the bajji and masal vadai(God I cant stop thinking abt food..)
4. CRICKET - No explanation
5. THE ARATTAI IN THE STREET CORNERS
6. TEMPLES
7. Putting up with some of the people here who still think you dont understand english. Example : I was talking to my owner the other day and this was the transcript of the conversation. This happened like three months back.
Me : Hii, I am Ganesh. I am doing my MBA in WVU. I have completed my M.S in WVU. Who are the other residents in this apartment.
Owner. There are two students living in this apartment. There is a lawyer living in this apartment. After this he asks seriously, " Do you know who a lawyer is ".
These types of incident really pisses me off. There are many incidents like these for my friends. Can somebody please tell them that we can read write and understand English?
8. SNOW - It looks good only in the pictures or online photo albums. It will be really sick if you have to walk in the hilly roads like i do . Ask me about snow as i have numerous incidents of falling down in the snow. Snow is not for me!!!!!!!

PROS
There has been too much negativity in the air. Let me list out the postives.
PROFESSIONAL EXPOSURE - This is the reason most of us come here.
RESPONSIBILITY - You become more responsibile as you have to do your own .....
I do not think I would have become more responsible if I were in India.
LIVING STANDARD - Living standard is definitely better.Day to day comfort is more.
SPORTS(NFL, NBA) - If you are an avid sports watcher like me you get to watch NFL, NBA and not to mention College Football College Basketball. These things take up a lot of my time too!!!!
PLACES : You get to see more places.
MONEY : Even though you can only save peanuts, that peanut is still worth more at the end of the day.
AND FINALLY : You are living in the USA the best place to live in the earth (????) according to some sections of the population.

At the end of the day , negatives outweigh the positives. I do sometimes think whether is it worth struggling away from you really want to be. I hope it is. But still life goes on. I hope to go back in probably 5-6 years.
P.S : I think this has been a pretty cumbersome post. ( Especially for those who do not livehere) anyway I have managed to kill 2 hrs of my time . I do not know how frequently I will update my blog as I have a busy schedule and equally I am a pretty lazy guy.