America doesn't talk in English, it talks in a language called 'American English'...

There are thousands of differences between how we Indians speak English and how Americans do. For the same thing/place/event, Americans use different, sometimes contradictory, words than us. I had read somewhere that America and India are two opposite sides of the world, not just physically but how their people talk. Here you flick UP the switch and not flick DOWN. In the restaurant, you get the CHECK and pay through BILLS and not otherwise. Courtesy immihelp.com, I thought of providing the following key to be more 'American'. The list is quite exhaustive and I think I might have grasped 75% of it in the last 9 months. 

Language.pdf

Its quite interesting and for those Indians who are in IT, it really helps to know American english because most of us have to communicate with American clients. For some others, it makes them more 'cool' to talk American....or should I say Amairican??? :)

Semester Over! Hurray!

My second semester got over last Wednesday (5/13). I am extremely relieved. It was a very hectic semester than I had imagined it to be. I thought that the first semester in a new university (of a new country) goes hectic because you have to get used to the place, get a house, go through all the formalities, get a bank account, know the surroundings, culture and in general everything. Plus I had taken 4 courses then. But it was manageable enough. However, this semester was like...Phew! And the reason I attribute that to was the fact that all 4 courses of the second semester were proper management (or like management) courses and had articles to read, summaries, homeworks, projects, assignments, exams (mid-term+finals) in all of them.

Moreover, I also had to take care of my part-time GA job too.

Plus, I had also participated in Googles Summer of Code competition (which I did not qualify beyond round 1) and Ideas Challenge Competition (Entrepreneurship Idea) in my college [which again, I did not qualify :( ].  

Biggest of all, I also had to apply for an internship (which I did to 100+ companies) and finally got through one!!!!!!!!!!! YEEEHOOOO!!! I had this dream of returning back with $5000 (which my dad had given be when I came here) or more and I believe it would be achieved now.

In short, I would be able to tell everybody that 'I COMPLETED A DEGREE LIKE MANAGEMENT (MASTERS IN MIS), FROM A REPUTED UNIVERSITY LIKE TAMU, IN A COUNTRY LIKE USA, WITHOUT EVEN SPENDING A PENNY; FOR FREEEEE' including living costs, food, rent, travel, etc. [Although I don't want to neglect the contribution of my brother and bhabhi who helped me a lot; gave me a car, took care of me, etc. But even if these 'benefits' wouldn't have been there, I would have managed to do so, although with a few more wrinkles on my face and with a couple of pounds of body weight lost.]

Moreover, since I had no plans of staying in College Station during the summers, I had to find a sublease for my room, a buyer for my bed so that I could save some money. For that I had to post ads on craigslist/google group (tamu_for_sale group) repeatedly for a long time, communicate with prospective 'clients', show them around and then get disappointed at their rejection (it happened numerous times until the end).

I also had to get my car fixed (sob...cost me $250) and that took a lot of time too.

All in all, it was a very very hectic semester and I am glad that it's over now.

I shall be working from home most of the time for my internship because the kind of work that I have got doesn't require me to work on-site...I can work remotely. So here I am, in the comforts of my home, starting my internship.

Thank you GOD, you've been very kind. After all the tribulations, I got almost everything that I wanted during the semester: room subleased, bed sold, car fixed, got internship (and that too as good as this one) and a relaxing final semester beckoning me ahead.