12 Sep 2009 - 19:24 (EST) : 04:45 (IST - the next day)
------------------------------------------------------
I noticed that it'd been raining all afternoon. I just came out of a shower, after a 4-hour afternoon sleep. With no-one around and also with no mood to go out, 'the best time I should write something', I thought. Preferring to have a view of the outside, I adjusted the blinds of my window .. Darkness was fast falling in, adding to the already cloudy weather. I remembered someone saying, 'bye bye summer'.
It's been a little over two months I came to US. Work had been hectic. I thought of writing many a times, but never got into the mood. Pretty ironic, isn't it? Given the fact that we are hooked onto the internet 24 hrs a day ! :-) baaah !! never mind ...
1 Jul, 10:45 AM: I was at the Liberty International Airport, Newark, waiting for my colleagues to come and pick me up. The wait was long .. owing to their errands at work. I felt helpless without a cell phone until I found a gujju, who lent me his for a call. Nevertheless, it gave me ample time to get a first-hand view of one of the developed nations of the world. The fast moving cars, the maze of roads in front of me, the govt officials.... Much of it seemed the same way I had heard of. Rules existed and people consciously followed them. I was amazed, probably this is their way of life.
I must say the first few days seemed very different for me. Much like, I was not ready for the change in things. Almost everything outside home was new. People, cars, rules of the road, public transport, seemingly-little options of veggie stuff at eateries etc .... I used to get irate at times, maybe viewing things, the way I did not like them to be. 'silly guy, this is the way it is. Learn to live it', said my roommate, 'you will find it difficult otherwise'. I was still in a state of denial while !!
After a month, I got used to all of it. There are options: you just need to look for them with an open mind, I realized. I got habituated to the sandwiches, pizzas and of course the entrees, which I treat as main course !! ;-)
My workplace, Lucent Technologies, is in Murray Hill. The place is all open spaces with sparsely built blocks. You can see long stretches of lawns all over .. I will write a photo blog about it sometime. It's about 14 miles from the place I stay. We travel by car. No no...I don't drive ;-) my colleague does !!
..that's it for now. Try to put in more about other things here soon, the next time I get the mood !! :-)
