And have you ever come across situations where you are fully aware of how things are going to be and yet you just get overwhelmed with the situation in spite of knowing everything about it? I came across such situations more than once in this short span of time.
On my first day at College Station, I took a walk to the Texas A&M University campus at 1 PM without a water bottle on hand :-) Big mistake. By the time I returned back to my friend Rangavittal's house, I was literally fried. I knew that College Station was going to be as hot as Chennai or New Delhi, but never expected it to be this hot! And I have no idea why I left home without a water bottle.
And then I was fully aware that public transportation was limited in Texas. I also knew that the majority of the population own a car - without a car, life is not going to be easy. And yet, the moment I landed at Houston and started my journey towards College Station, I was amazed to see the sheer volume of cars in use (My friend later told me that I was looking at a very small percentage of the car population :-D). A few days later, once I started to look out for supplies to set up my apartment, I was again handicapped without a car to carry the supplies. The only alternative left to me was to make several trips to the stores and carry them back home through the Texas A&M Transportation Services. I am grateful to the Texas A&M Transportation Services - the shuttles run on-campus as well as off-campus. Since I came to College Station during the summer break, the number of shuttles were limited, but now that classes have commenced, the frequency of the shuttles is truly admirable.
I was aware that the University Campus was Wifi enabled. I knew that I would be able to connect to the Wifi network through my laptop and access the resources of the university and the Internet. And yet, I was simply amazed by the seamless connectivity that I got within the campus, whether I am inside a building or roaming about in the campus. So when I am attending a class, and the prof tells us to get hold of some resource and do a reading on it, then I am able to do it immediately and finish the task (I am notorious for forgetting details like these). These are early days though, and I am sure that I will be able to put the wonderful Wifi network to better use in the forthcoming days.
So twenty one days later, what is the situation I am into? I have now moved into a new apartment with three other classmates, we now have access to Internet at home and three of us have got bicycles. In my case, my new bike 'the Mongoose XR-75' has given me immense mobility both within the campus and outside. We have now provided the much needed attention to our dirty clothes and given them a good wash. We now have a proper postal address to which our bank cards and posts can now arrive safely. I now know a lot of people in the neighbourhood and the forthcoming days promise fun. We still face problems in getting the groceries and stuff back home from the supermarkets, but I guess this is something that we have to put up with till we decide to get a car for ourselves. The heat is also more tolerable now - I am not sure whether the temperature has come down or whether I have adapted myself to the heat. Either way, it is good news :-)
To sum up, after a tough initial period, my situation at College Station is certainly getting better :-) Friendly room-mates, more friends, my new bike, home made food, better shuttle services, fantastic academic atmosphere, an address for myself and Internet has finally made me feel settled down. I am still lacking a mobile phone, but I am sure I can live without one for the next two months. By then, I should have my Social Security Number and I should be able to apply for a phone connection (if I choose to go for one). The Fall Semester has kicked off to a good start and I am hoping to get accustomed with the academic system quickly so that I can make the most of this Fall :-)
Written 21 days after I set foot on the US Soil (or should I say asphalt?)