Senseless Syndrome

admin August 26th, 2008

Moving out of India in to a foreign land was a big decision which i took after many considerations. With a not so great profile some how i got in to Virginia Tech which is one of the prestigious schools in the United States especially for engineering studies. After spending almost 21 years in Chennai it was a big change and the first fortnight here in Blacksburg has been significant.

I am not a frequent flyer and the very thought that i had to take 4 flights in a span of 30 hours across time zones was the first hurdle. I started off from Chennai on my 21st birthday and i was really overwhelmed when all of my friends came to the airport to send me off. Hats off you guys! At many places i didn’t know what to do but finally managed and completed my immigration in Chennai. I had to take a connecting flight to Mumbai and waited there for few hours. I did get some travel company and so it went on pretty well. The Airbus which took me from Mumbai to Chicago was massive. Almost 900 passengers in a single flight! One good thing about traveling in Air India is that you get some decent food but in flight entertainment- NIL! I did finish reading a book in the journey and it was after a long time i read something.

There was a transit in London Heathrow and it is a very beautiful and huge airport. The worst part is we had to walk all the way through the airport, do the security check again. The biggest nightmare was waiting to meet me in O’ Hare Airport in Chicago. I had to take a connection flight from the domestic terminal and there was a three hour gap in between which generally is more than enough. The immigration took close to two hours and with an hour left i had to find my baggage and move to the domestic terminal for which i had to take the transit. The baggage check in machines conked off when i was looking at my watch every 30 seconds. Fortunately the flight got delayed and i made it!

There was Chinese guy waiting at the local airport at about 12 in the night holding a Virginia Tech board and it was a big relief.  After an half an hour’s drive the Indian seniors helped us to get set. The first few days i was awe struck seeing the beauty of blacksburg and the campus. The University was on vacation and there were hardly people on campus. The international center did an awesome job and every day they arranged some activity to keep all the international students engaged.

Cascade Waterfall Hike

There is a beautiful waterfall near Blacksburg and some 40 international students decided to venture out in the woods. The place was so pristine and i enjoyed the 4 hour long hike.  Virginia Tech has a very diverse culture with people from across the globe. In the group of 40 i guess there would have been people from 20 different countries.

Campus Legend Tour and Scavenger Hunt

Every campus will have its one history and myths. Like where the ghosts are, where the secret passages are,  where people make out and so on. Virginia Tech is a little ahead with all these stories and they were damn interesting. Jonathan from Cranwell Center took us for the legend tour and i was impressed on hearing those stories. Vt has lot of underground steam tunnels and there are people who explore those tunnels. The police get behind those guys but still people do it. VtUnderground.com has lot of information about those tunnels. I am planning to make a site for VT Legends along with Jonathan. Should be interesting!

The scavenger hunt is one thing which i was longing to do and finally i did it. Although we didn’t win we completed majority of the 30 crazy tasks and it was absolute fun. the first two weeks on campus was total fun with lot of dinners, hikes, movie night, swimming, club house, library, ultimate frisbee,shopping etc etc. Classes have started and in a week from now i guess it will get hectic. I also managed to get a job in the food court although i am not going to take it! Interviews, online tests, training session for a server or a cleaning job is too much!

Virginia Tech is one of the top college football(American) teams and the people here go crazy about it. The stadium is huge and i heard the home games will be beyond imagination. Hope i get a ticket to sit in one of the loudest stadiums in the country. Before that i am trying to figure out the rules of the nasty game!!

War Memorial. VT is a military school and lot of alumni have lost their lives in the World Wars.

The Torgersson Bridge. There are 8000 outdated ethernet ports and 80 miles of copper and optical fibers in this stretch.

The Newman Library. This is where i work from when i am on campus.

Computer Science Department

Ultimate Frisbee in the drill field. I did play along with the University team once and made my team loose two points but scored one! The guys are super cool and they do pass to me! Hope i will get better at this game.

Check out more pictures from Virginia Tech HERE

Two years in this beautiful place is good but i don’t know how effectively i will tackle my courses. I have put most of my savings which i earned during my final year of UG in this course and hope i don’t screw it up! Looks like all the guys in my department get funded from the second semester but it involves lot of hard woork and research commitment! I can also do a paid summer internship and make some money if i don’t opt to do research. The spirit of the people is too high! The people at Virginia Tech are called Hokies and every single day you can see this word at least a thousand times on hoardings, buses, tshirts,and where ever. I am wearing a Hokie Tshirt too! Feels good to be a Hokie!

I am a Hokie!

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