The Rebel..!!! :D

I learnt quite a few virtues of living, after coming to Germany, but ironically, staying in a hospital has taught me one of the most important one - "To ask..!!!" A reason why I add this to virtues, as generally bearing it "patiently" (also in my case..!! :P) is considered to be of higher morality, but after a certain threshold, keeping shut gives the others a chance for immorality. Ofcourse again just going through with that makes one a higher person, but at the expense of one's own deficit.

A recent conversation between a friend, who had just returned from a trip to India, and me:

Friend: Dude, wassup man, looks like you are having a 2 month paid vacation.
Me: Abe, I have been literally doing a Mahatma Gandhi here on a daily basis.
Friend: What you staged a Satyagraha or what?
Me: Somewhat related..!! (Salt--->Food..!! See the relation..!! :D)

Probably the only hospital where I have to ask for food and somehow make them realize that I am a patient and I need nutrition (read ---> Be a Roman in Rome..!!!). The first 3 weeks, almost no fruits and then I guess they realized it, after seeing my friends get them for me, that they started to give them.

But this beats it on a higher note. Probably the only hospital to ask the patient to change his own bedsheets. Even better,when I asked about this, the hospital correspondent said that, because you are young and that your sheets are infectious, the nurses must have ignored it. I was like, dude do you hear what you are saying, the gloves and the masks are not a fashion statement. I mean, is that even a reason. Although, its not a big deal, coz changing the sheets hardly takes 15 minutes and 50 calories(;)) of my energy. Well something notable, the others in my floors were not subjected to this, but with his reason it was implicit as the others were old. It was easy to figure out. Oh and did I mention that they were germans!

Another interesting conversation between a friend and mine:

Me: Dude, I think it might take another 3-4 weeks for me to get discharged.
Friend: Why are they taking so long to release you?
Me: RELEASE..!!! dude its discharge, don't make it sound as if I am in a jail.
Friend: How big is the difference?

And then it struck me, the only difference was, I don't have a charge-sheet (touch wood..!!) but a medical-sheet,  I have a cellphone and a laptop and no uniform.

P.S. : I know talking ill of the hospital where am getting treated is not really virtuous of me, but then, I aint got anything interesting other than this for my blog. ;) :P :D

Be a Roman in Rome..!!!

"Be a German in Germany, or watch out for your health and don't get admitted in a hospital..!!!" Although the fact of staying in a hospital is thoroughly depressing, other than the fact of helping yourself to recover,an experience which I didn't want to mention here, but certain scenarios just help you to bring out humour amidst desolation.

Well, yeah getting admitted in a hospital 3 days before the trip back home could be devastating, but cutting the emotional attyachar here, the hospital is desperately trying to bring out the German Harish within me. Prior to this, my usual schedule was to have the breakfast at 10-11am, lunch at 2-3pm and dinner at 9-10pm and I also had lot of spices in my food. And now with the so called german military standards, I get my breakfast at 7 30am, lunch at 11 30 am and dinner at 5pm and, I dunno if its the cooking standard, but food which has only salt in it and absolutely nothing else. The first day was the best, I will never forget the nurse's and my reactions at the evening's dinner/snack or whatever.

So on the first day the dinner comes at 5pm, which I considered as snack. I mean seriously, you have some liquid called as tea and TWO bread slices and cheese. What else do you think of it as..!? I waited till around 8-9pm and then called up the nurse asking for dinner. She only replied that it was already served at 5pm. The only reaction I had was "are you freaking kidding me..!?", just didnt have enough energy to get them out. Nevertheless, I asked her, how were 2 slices of bread and cheese supposed to be dinner till the next day morning 7 30pm. The reply was the best, saying that its the standard (Man, and I was under the impression that the patient's comfort took a priority, what a dunce...!?). I was able to hold back for a few days, but then I started telling that I get hungry at 9pm  and thankfully they did get me something to eat. And now, its 11 am here and am already hungry, waiting for my lunch. I guess I just need to furnish my german, and use salt as the only spice, and start pronouncing "thinking" as "sinking" for my complete transformation.

A year after..!!!

Time does fly, and though I have experienced it innumerably, mostly in good ways, the realization of completing a year here in Ulm, Germany, was quite exciting. The sheer thought that I have been, and I could be independent, in almost an alien environment, makes it even special. Time and again I have mentioned in my previous posts about my span here, but this has its own specialty. To make it more ironical, I am receiving a friend, who has taken the same flight on the same day and hopefully will reach here also at the same time. It'l feel good to say "welcome to Ulm!" for a change. So off I go to receive my friend, as I prepare myself for the year to be.

Diwali Dhamaka..!!!

The previous 7 days were the most happening days, so far, for me in Ulm. Saturday, November 8, 2008 was a celebration of the most awaited festival back home, Diwali, in Ulm, the delay of 2 weeks could be accounted for the preparation time. It all started with gathering of few families and few students, in the early weeks of September, to organize the events, which had been going on for the past 5 years. Frankly speaking, thanks to Vamsi, I got myself involved in this, which otherwise wouldn't have brought in the feel of student (talking from the extra-curricular point of view), which was the only missing point. The first gathering, we end up meeting a few families, discussing the over-all layout right from the welcoming to the end. It looked quite simple then, with the layout looking just like, Welcome-Cultural Event-Dinner-End. However, I was quick enough to realize that this was not as simple as it looked and thoughts of giving my own performance also crept up my mind.

The following weeks breezed past as I had to finish another exam of my first sem, which turned out to be a bit disappointing, despite a better preparation. Nevertheless, I was happy that I sailed across. In the meantime, I start to plan on my performance, which would mean it was the 2nd time I was going to be on stage, the thought would just give a wobble to my vulnerable stomach. The best response for the event was the number of events we had in our hands, going upto 17, right from the families to the students and even the kids. Boy! those kids steal the thunder, just displaying their innocence (a prized possession!) on the stage, makes me go back to good old days. As the day neared, the excitement just increased. Just to know that you have an Indian festival being celebrated here, makes you feel at home and want to get back soon. Whats even better, the number of Indians one gets to meet here and one never gets surprised at the Germans' curiosity to check us out. So when the day came, we were not ready for only one surprise, the time. We were supposed to start at 5 30pm, and what do we see, the Germans storming in from 4 45pm. Being on time is something which is Germans' specialty, but hello, being ahead of time, was a bit too much to handle. Nevertheless, the welcoming team was already there.

Once the event started, I didnt even have the time to watch the time :). One moment it was 5 30pm, and next it was 11 30 and the best part was the end, where the stage was open and everyone including the Germans and others, grooved to fast-paced Indian music. I remember teaching some moves to William, his sister, Daniel and Diana (Colombians), who for change, tried on some Daban-kuthu (tamil folk) and a bit Bhangra (Punjabi folk). Not only they, but many other nationalities tried on some Indian moves. This had to be most eye-catching one. The clock hands had just struck together, when a friend of mine and me decided to call it a day and take leave. So after dropping her half way to her house, I took the usual path from my bus stop to my dorm. There was mixed emotion there, one where I was happy that the event was over, so that I could get back to what I came for, Studying and one where I was surrounded by emptiness, thinking about all those excitement which I will be missing for quite sometime. It did take me sometime to get back to books on sunday, and I ended up making a report with some music and doing a bit of dance while sitting on the table (I hope my report is not messed up :D!). I believe its a usual cycle, that one has a day of excitement, followed by an emptiness around oneself.

Play time's over, nevertheless, Seinfeld continues..!!

I had never realized when I stopped keeping a count on the number of days in Germany. It turned out that the day denomination was small and I had to get on to the next one, Months. Yeah, that seemed easier, so as I write this post, its 8 month running. The going, so far, has been pretty good, with lots of surprises, quite expected, and a bit of studies ('lot of studies' wouldn't be doing justice on the amount of time I spend!! :D), which made me realize that this journey is not only about studies, but an over-all improvement. Well now what are we looking here, overall-improvement, lets see, I can cook, plan my day (execution of the same still remains a question!!), or rather "have to" plan my day, go out for a stroll at midnight - wait, thats not improvement- yes "have to" manage my expenses, separate wastes or again "have to" separate wastes, arrange and clean my room (though it does not need special mention, as I have kept my room clean, not sounding very over-whelming! :D), well the list does look pretty good.

So coming back to the point, amidst the schedule and Naruto spree, we received the announcements for our exams, and instantaneously there's a wobble in my stomach, as if my stomach had taken a roller-coaster ride. It did strike me, that I had given my previous exam almost 2 years back, but didn't think it would be difficult to accept the fact the I was heading for another one. Somehow, when one plans higher studies, I guess they miss the fact that exams do exist, or rather they have an overwhelming expression that it can be done (with the consideration that it would be a piece of cake!). Well, it was the latter in my case. Nevertheless, I had to get ready for it, the sooner I realize, the better for me, I figured. In between, I would think sometimes, boy am I really in Germany! This thought is like an alarm, I have been getting them atleast once in a month. Well in one sense its better, keeps a check on me :D. I thought, I better start burning the lamp for books. Well, the start was pretty good, you know those first day hysterics, or rather hype, where you plan to finish almost the entire 1st lesson, which is a third of the syllabus and you think that, that was not difficult, and still have a lot of time for exams, except you forget that its hypothetical. However, the good thing for me was, it did not take me long to figure out that it was hypothetical.

Amidst these, the 220 online-stored episodes were just getting over, and I was thinking what would be the next one (Ok, perhaps I shouldn't sound very enthusiastic here, I do study also!). While I thought this, I was on the usual practice of browsing though my laptop, as if to find some hidden folder, which would have been provided, mentioned as 'time-pass'. As expected, I was disappointed, I think I should suggest this to Microsoft, might just increase the sales, due to suspense factor. Sometimes, I find it difficult to figure out, if I am bugged off my laptop, or am addicted. So as I was browsing, I happen to see a folder called Seinfeld which my friend had given me, when he got the laptop. Suddenly there was an answer, as to why I was browsing through the laptop, there was a folder, which I hadnt been to for long :D. So I start searching for this sitcom and fail to find any episode online and I had no access to Torrentz, making it even difficult to get the episodes. In the meantime, one of my friend had just arrived to UK and he was talking about movies which he downloaded from Torrentz, and then, eureka! You guessed it right, we made a deal that he would download all the episodes of Seinfeld from Torrentz and transfer them to me. Although it takes around 3-4 days to get all downloaded, as long as I dont extend the limit, it was a good plan. Just for your curiosity, Seinfeld is a sitcom on the daily lives of 4 friends, something similar to F.R.I.E.N.D.S, but it came before and it does not involve any emotions, just laughter. This series was the best stress-buster for me, and I believe it will be for anyone. You feel depressed, then you have to see this to get light and feel yourself again. This turned out to be a way for me to take breaks while studying, where I would study for an hour or 2, with a break of a half an hour episode, especially, when you find yourself completely inside your dorm, for more than 15 days, on any context. Eventually that turned out to be the most difficult part of preparing for the exam. Nevertheless, the first one did help me figure out on how to prepare for the next ones.

The Schedule and The Naruto Spree..!!!

Coming back to my experiences with lectures and lifestyle change in Germany, oh yes it did change a lot, for once I started bunking the lectures. Ok, bunking doesn't really count here, as the attendance is not compulsory, but for a person, who's got a good record for attendance in schools and college (except for last 2 yrs of my college!), this was a "big step" :D. The schedule for a subject is divided into two, as lectures and exercises, and I used to make sure to attend all the exercises atleast, as that was more important from the exam point of view. The only lecture that had 100% attendance here was German, as I was desperate to learn it at the earliest. To make it more effective, William and I came out with a pact, that we would speak only in German, which didn't seem to work most of the time, and the only German words we used to exchange, were Guten Apetit (Have a nice meal!) and Gleichfalls (Wish you the same!), as we shared the same kitchen. The other reason for the plan failing would be our complicated conversation whereby we would end up talking in English. In the mean time, I had just completed with the entire 10 seasons of friends, comprising of 220 episodes, which seemed to be an achievement for me, but after talking to others I discovered that I was one in a crowd. One day, William came to my room and told me to watch an anime called Naruto. I told him, dude don't kid me, this is a cartoon (its not like I don't watch cartoons, as Tom & Jerry is always my favourite and ofcourse I like watching animated movies! but still animated cartoons as to running 250 episodes was something I couldn't accept to be associated with!)and am not gonna watch it, however he insisted to watch just the first episode and decide, which turned out to be quite boring. It had been a week after that, since he insisted to watch the episode and gave me link for further episodes. On a particular day, I happened to hear some voices of laughter from his room and came to know that he was watching Naruto, I thought what the hell!, lets watch it and it was episode 8, and thats when I saw why William wanted me to watch it. The imdb ratings prompted me even more to watch the anime.



Naruto is an anime about a normal boy, who aims to be the leader of his village and vows to protect them. The boy is not a born superhero, or one with special abilities, but its just the opposite, he is stupid, funny, annoying, neglected, one with big-mouth, etc. But the best thing about his character, is his will power, which has a never-say-die approach and he never gives up trying, and this is the reason for his success. The anime itself has the bottom line "Believe it". Well thats the catch that I had from this anime and its history from then onwards. This spree of mine was even bigger than F.R.I.E.N.D.S and it became one of my favourite cartoons. It still continues to be, I found it very distracting from my studies and that was one of the reasons why I had to finish it soon, so that I can have more time for preparation later for the exams. However, the anime still continues, even after 250 episodes, waiting for each episode, now, is pretty painful but the struggles of Naruto always keep you on the edge of the seat. The best thing about the anime is, some of the moments are displayed so well, that one would find it difficult to give up on it. It has everything required for a cartoon, to be a hit, which it is. The free internet and the google search made the job easier for me to locate all the episodes and stream them online. The next 2 months until july, my days would jam-packed with lectures, cooking, work (which I had started from second week of June!) and Naruto, quite obvious why I didnt realize when and how May and June got over.

The Real Game Begins..!!

After the fun-filled snow war trip to certain place in Alps, the name of which I have finally discovered as to be Oberjoch (pronounced as Oberyokh!), we had a small session of music exchange with our German class batch. As I had told earlier, our German teacher became quite a good friend of ours and we had decided on a small musical exchange session of each country, 2 Australian (Peter and Matt), a Costa Rican, a Columbian and an India, ofcourse me, in our dorm. This was good time, listening to some famous typical Australian music, there's difference in the type of music, even though they have the same language of English, Pablo (Costa Rican) playing some of his Reggae tunes, William (Columbian) playing some of his Spanish songs (which I have found a certain liking to!), our German teacher, Ivana, playing to some of her favourite German songs. From my side, they danced to the tunes of Delar Mehendi's 'Rang De Basanti' and the melody of 'Malargale Malargale' from Love Birds. This was happening on April 13, 2008 Sunday evening. The next day was the big day, April 14th, when we started some serious studies.

So the day begins, with me getting up on time, for a change, 8 am and starting for my class, which was to begin at 10 am. I didnt want to be late here also, and hence reached the place 10 mins before time. The lecture was Communication Engg., which as per the seniors, is the second most difficult paper in Uni Ulm. There I sit in the lecture, with a hope to make sure that I understand each and every word uttered by the professor. Taking about whom, this was the first time I was sitting in a lecture, where I can really say its a Professor, coz he was a Doctorate, and he had published some innumerable papers and he was having the latest laptop for lecture (its the fancier part!) and he was the head of 2-3 research groups. Back in India, we get to see such professors only in IITs. And I realized something else, when the number of degrees for a Prof. increases, the extent of one's comprehension of his words decreases proportionally, atleast thats what I experienced. Nevertheless, being the first class, introductory and history of communication, there was nothing much to understand, it was not the same in the subsequent lectures. The lecture lasted for around 2 and half hours, which made me feel worse, coz my limitation for any lecture back in India, never lasted more than 30 mins, with my ultimate concentration levels, and here all the lectures lasted atleast an hour (Oh brother!). Well I figured out, at some point, the early, the better, I have to get used to this, if I have to reduce my stress during the exam days. My schedule was not very grueling, it was comfortable, with 1 Technical Lecture on Mondays and German class in the evening, another Tech and Cultural Crossroad on Tuesday, 2 Tech and German on Weds, free Thurs and one 4 hours Tech on Fris. In between we can have an appointment for lab, whenever the supervisor and we were free, which was generally on Fris after the lecture. Finally I was relieved, that the technical course had started, however, relief is just related to my feeling that the course had started, the part which came next was not so relieving.

The Following Month..!!!

Over the next few hours, after our German exam, and my short-lived happiness (higher German level, with no chics..!!! hmph!! cant get a better sad-happy condition), we were alloted the classes according to our level. The classes start everyday at 8 30am in the morning ('Darn, so early, I haven't managed to get up before 9am!') till 12 noon. So the next day keeping that in mind, I try waking up early, but only in vain. I found this amazing ability, where I could switch off the alarm subconsciously. When I woke up it was already 8am ('Class in half an hour, forget it Harish! But yeah first classes always have albeit, searching for the class and stuff'). So somehow, I get superfast and manage to have my breakfast and dress up within half an hour ('Man, am I a super human!'). I have always wondered, should there always be a critical situation for me to act super efficient. Anyways, so I end up going half an hour on the first day of the class as usual('I could see the reactions of the others, what a guy to come late on the first day!'). However, I was surprised by my German teachers reaction. She was pretty cool, ('Thank God!'), actually she looked pretty good too, and was quite young compared to other German teachers, for Vamsi and Bhuvan (ha ha..!!).

The next four hours were tough and superb. Tough, because we were allowed to speak only in German in the class and good coz I learned a lot in the first class. The other good thing about my class, was the huge cultural diversity, 2 Australian, 3 Egyptians, 1 Finnian, 1Thai, 2 Chinese, 1 Costa Rican, 1 Columbian and 1 Indian. Wow, I really didnt think it was this big, until I mentioned it here. There was one thing about this class that I could never forget, again something to do with my name, thankfully not a great deal. While passing the name list, I mentioned my name as Harish N and German teacher, started calling me as Harishn (just for pronunciation it sounded- Harishen). ('What the hell, thats my Last name.') I didnt have the energy to correct it again, only to see hear everyone calling me Harishen, and William continuously asking me, that isnt supposed to be your real name right?, suspiciously. Everytime I bump into the Egyptians, they ask, what is your name, Harish or Harishen?, which I do clarify to them, but everytime, common that was not funny. So finally, after one month, when my introductory German class was finally over, I told Ivana(German Teacher):

Me: Mein Name is Harish und nicht Harishen. N ist mein Nachtname. (politely, my name is Harish and not Harishen. N is supposed to be my Last name).
Ivana: Achso, tut mir leid, du muss früher zu mir erzählte. (You should have told me earlier).
Me: Ja, aber mach nichts, das ist ok. (No problem, its ok)

So finally I correct my name. Talking about Ivana, she became quite a good friend of ours. Before finishing our classes with her, we also happened to go out for a get together. It is always good to have someone younger, as a teacher, compared to the oldies (:D). Not to forget the fact, that I ended up going late on all days. My earliest to class was a day, when I was late by 5 minutes ('It has to do something with my Bus driver, I reached the bus stop at 8:15 that day!').

There was quite a lot of mixed emotions in this month, for me, like the first thing was the course had not started yet, so there was no pressure. In weekends I would spend sleeping, till late in the afternoon and once I wake up, lunch would ready for me, courtesy, Bhuvan. Before going ahead, I have to mention here that for the entire first month, my eating urges were taken care by Bhuvan. Everyday, it would be like an order, the dinner would be either salami sandwich, or if am bugged with that, I would call up Bhuvan (I try hard not to bother him, but in vain! :D):

Me: Dude, whats for dinner?
Bhuvan: I havn't made anything yet.
Me: Ummm, how about besibela?
Bhuvan: Yeah I make real good Besibela.
Me: You expect that I was gonna say, that am making Besibela bhaath, ofcourse you are only making it.
Bhuvan:$&%&$%&, atleast for a change, make something dude.
Me: Machan I have no probs, but I dunno anything in cooking, so eat at your own risk.
Bhuvan: &§$%§$%, alright, come up in an hour.
Me: You are the best, buddy.

So this is how I end up, giving no other choice, for Bhuvan to cook. He does cook well though. But yeah, now I have started making my own food, dont wanna be bad mouthed by him always (lighter note), but seriously dont want to be dependent on him, though cant say much about the food I make. On the other side, Vamsi had already started his tests and his experiments were turning out to be more than successful( once when I had a chance to taste, his food, it was pretty good). ('Boy, could have I asked for anything more, if Bhuvan doesnt cook, Vamsi dude, am coming over for lunch/dinner'). A normal weekend routine would be, wake up at 11 or 12, log on to orkut, call Bhuvan at 1pm for lunch, watch some movie, again call Bhuvan at 9pm for dinner, goto sleep at 2am. However, among these were moments, where I would feel pathetic, as I had no part time job, and I was learning German, even though I knew that Technical course would start in a month, having the thought that around 325 euros were going just was learning German in the first month would drive me crazy, I would end thinking if this was a good decision. But somehow, I would gain courage to calm myself. These things made me realize, the different reasons, why studying abroad has never been a piece of cake and I guess it never will be.

The German Exam

I return home, thinking about the German exam, not worrying a lot, but the thought of 14000 bucks almost being wasted was disturbing me. My dorm, named Frauensteige 2, is a doublet, with 2 individual rooms sharing, a kitchen and a bath. So I happened to meet my room mate, William Enrique Fonseca Barbosa (and I thought only we had long names) from Columbia (South America), when I returned, who seemed to have arrived in the morning on that particular day. Later we ended up talking about the cleaning and the purchase routines. In the evening, we got our internet connections, and boy what a relief from some heavy boredom! I started to think, that walls were to be my companions for the next 2 years. One would have easily guessed my next step, yep logged onto gmail and importantly orkut, " now everything felt right!" Thats it, I began wondering how the entire evening had passed and suddenly it was 10pm. No wonder, there was a certain amount of pain in my stomach, indicating my hunger. Having worked in a software industry, I should have known that computers are addictive. "So what do I make for dinner", was the thought that came up, not that I had an entire list of options to select from, but I didn't have anything. "Sigh! Ok, lets have some cornflakes" , it was a pretty enthusiastic decision, considering the fact that I had apples, milk, cornflakes and honey. That pretty much shows that, that was the best option. So for the first 2 days, this was my breakfast and dinner, thanks to Mensa, that I got to eat something different at the university.

So the next day, on the day of German exam, I wake up at 9 am (Test was at 10am). "Damn! what the hell?" , it seems that I had kept the alarm, but somehow I managed to turn it off, when it rang, one can understand these oblivion sleeps, due to the change of timezone. "Hurry, hurry! I dont want to be late as usual, and that to for this exam!" , was my only thought, but in vain. Luckily, I had an accomplice "ha ha, much better",William too was late. So we goto the particular room, "damn those two, Vamsi and Bhuvan, how come they are on time? traitors, grrrr!" I went to the last row, as it was the only empty place we had. "Why is Vamsi not writing anything? Not a good sign!", I thought to myself, then I realized that he didnt learn German in India. "Anyways, lets do it!" We were given the question paper, and the instructor told that the exam was for 45 mins. "Wait, wait, we arrived 15 mins late, so we have only 30 mins then?" , I had just finished thinking that, and then, "No grace time!" , I heard. "Are the Germans Telepathic." "Ah! well, cant do much about that now."

But when I went through the question paper, I was full of smiles, as I was able to do most of the questions, and only if I had come earlier, I could have completed the question paper, well before time. In between, I saw Vamsi giving me a smile and leaving the room, within 10 mins, and even Bhuvan was not to be seen. William did tell me that he had learned a bit of German. So, we were the last to leave the room. I had to leave last 15 questions, allowing me to attempt only 45 out of 60. We were told to wait for the results and in the mean time, the instructor would help us to know the Erasmus team. There were around 80 students taking the exam, I suppose. We were given an invitation for the Erasmus party in the evening. And then came the results. They said that they would be calling up names classified by the course level as 1a, 1b, 2 and 3, in the ascending order. However, after giving the exam, I was sure that this performance would not put me in basic course again. As they had started calling the names, Bhuvan and Vamsi were put in leavel 1a. And I was surprised to see, that my name was not called in the course level 1b too. All the 14000 bucks utility came to my mind and was such a relief. And then I heard my name, again sounding really bad, "Neanndaaa.....gopaall Harish, did I say it correctly ?". I was already embarassed, nevertheless "Never mind, it was fine!", (Whats with this Germans, why do they stress on 'a' so much!) in course level 2. William was also out in course level 2. I was happy, but only for a moment, something caught my attention, there were no chics in Course level 2. When I had entered the examination room, I saw some great beauties in the 2nd row. "Wow, after all Germany was never a bad idea!", all the hopes in vain. It was as if my fate came with me from India all along. Even worse followed, all those beauties in course level 3, "damn, damn! if only I was earlier. Why didnt I wake up early?". I even had the temptation to ask for a re-test (lighter note), but whats gone was gone. Summarizing, course level 3 had around 70% girls and 30% boys. Anyways, I was happy that attempting fewer questions I was able to get that level. 14000 bucks, very very useful. I came to realize, that I was lacking in communication but written and reading skills in German were pretty good. But yeah communication still had a long way to go, nevertheless, it was good to see that this development will be in a country where German, oops Deutsch is the mother tongue (Deutsch ist die HauptSprache :D).

The Next Day...!!

After a wobbling start to the next stage, the next morning greeted me with some beautiful snow around my dorm. However, this took sometime to sink in, as I got up with the usual gloomy, swollen eyes, asking for some tea, except that I didnt hear any response. It struck me immediately, that am in a different country, and what was worse, I didn't have TEA (damn, this was a bad idea..!!). This was something, I was really addicted to, back in India. Whether I eat or not, tea is a must for me, and now as I write this blog, I am surprised, that I have lived for 4 months, without having a taste of Tea. Not that am very happy about it, but still its good to know, that I was not actually addicted to Tea. Ok, if am mentioning Tea in caps, it has a certain amount of importance in my life, guess my close buddies will be knowing it.

So I wake up, to find no Tea, no newspaper, no TV (didn't get my internet connection yet), no music (both mobile and ipod were dead), hmph..!!!, one cannot ask for a more boring morning. However, I forgot all these, when I saw the snow outside my window, and thought of taking sometime off and viewing its beauty. It was amazing. I had seen snow earlier, in Kullu-Manali, but this was different. There were people rushing to cover their cars, some of them trying to start them, and this particular scene got embedded so deep, that I still remember every detail of that day. But I had to move on, I had to goto the university, to meet our coordinator, for doing all formalities.

So Bhuvan and myself, start off to the uni, thanks to the detailed map, it was pretty easy to spot the bus, except that we had to argue about the direction of the bus to be taken. The best thing about the uni was, for starters, the engineering department was located separately and easy to find. On our way, we happen to meet our first batch-mate, a girl from China. Even though we are the closest among all the neighboring countries, and we compete in all the fields, the biggest competition between both the countries, will be "Who memorizes whose names first?". I guess it took us 10 mins, to explain her our names and get her name, and still I dont remember her name. However, she had a pet name, which was rather simple, Jojo. There is no link between her pet name and her original name. So this is how the conversation went:

Me/Bhuvan: Hello, so are you looking for the Commn Dept?
Jojo: !?!?!?!?
Me/Bhuvan: Are, you looking for the Commn Dept? (extremely slowly)
Jojo: Ya, ya (shaking her head up and down..!!! I feel this is very common in China..!!)
Me/Bhuvan: Hi , I am Harish (Me)and I am Bhuvan (Bhuvan)
Jojo: Haaiisssh??? Poooovan???
Me/Bhuvan: (Great never knew my name could sound so bad..!! Bhuvan please take the honours of explaining) I guess I can write the name (Bhuvan) (Brilliant - Me)
Jojo: Ya, ya (Again shaking her head). Oh oh Haariisshh (r extremely silent)(Chalo, a bit better than the last time..!!) and Boovan (ha ha..!! mine was better - Me)
Me/Bhuvan: Whats your name?(Bhuvan) (I am not going through that again..!! - Me)
Jojo: §$%§$"$%..!! (believe me, i still don't know..!!)
Bhuvan: May be you can write it..!!
Jojo: Ya ya

And so somehow Bhuvan got her name. And then, the impossible happened, 5 more Chinese appeared, and we ended up explaining our names for the next half an hour, and thanks to our coordinator, we had to stop. Then came the usual, formality section, filling up of n-number of forms, (isn't there an easy method to do this..!!), but I had to appreciate our coordinator's patience to put up with us for almost 2 hours. Vamsi, arrived late, as usual, and then we set out to have a tour of the uni. Our bank accounts were opened and then we went to mensa, (Lunch canteen in the uni), there again I gave a failed attempt to reclaim my lost heroics, in German. So this is how it was:

Me: Entschuldigung (Man this is the only word in German that I have mastered..!!) Was haben Sie .... für Mittagessen ?(Tanslation - What do you have for lunch?) (Ok, that was better than before)
German Guy: %§$%"§%&$%&$"$" in German
Me: (damn, I havn't learned food names in German..!! fine, lets go step-by-step) Sigh, Können Sie Englisch sprechen?
German Guy: Ja, so we have .....!!!
Me: (Someone, grab and pull me inside the earth..!! I can see Bhuvan and Vamsi, with all giggles behind me..!! Guess they could have done this better..!! well it can't be helped)

What came next was going to be really interesting, we were supposed to have a German classification test the next, to put us in different levels, based on our German knowledge. (Man with this kinda remembrance, I spent 14,ooo Rs. on German course in India, and I will be back where I started..!!), and to make it worse, I didnt bring any German course books with me (damn the baggage limits). Ok Harish, get ready for going back to Basic Course Level in German, not that anything is bad with that, but I spent 14000 bucks learning German. And so, I go back to my dorm, waiting for my German exam the next day.

The First Few Minutes after we reach Ulm...!!!

So, thats what it was to begin our journey. Sigh!!!. We just hoped, we did not have to go through the same coldness for the next two years, if you know what I mean. And I must say, we were in a place, where this has to be far from reference. Ofcourse, I did not mean that all the rooms here have heaters (uh..!! ok bad one..!!). There we were in the station waiting for the person, to accompany us. We met the station master, and here, I thought of bringing out my heroics, as the other two friends of mine, didn't goto any German class. So this is how I went about:


Me: Entschuldigung...!! (Whats next..!! what next..!!) Kannst du, nein, konnen sie... (uh..!!! sigh..!!) Englisch sprechen?
Station Master: @#%@##@$ (in German)
Me: bitte..!! (so it was true, not many of them know english)
Station Master: directs his hand, and shows us the direction...
Me: Danke... (darn..!! any tom, dick and harry, without finishing a single level of German would have done that..!! and I am supposed to have finished 2 levels..!!screw me..!!!)


Well, I finally ended up making a big fiasco, as I had realized that it was more than a month since my German classes were over and I had forgotten whatever I had learnt as I had lost touch, not that I would done any better if I had, just a mere satisfaction that those classes were useful, however, which was not to happen (not sounding pessimistic, as later those classes came in more than handy). So after this fiasco, I ended up talking with him in half english and half german. And then we were able to see the person waiting for us, relief crossed our face.We were given a file for each of us, and the first thing I noticed, that the address was just 2 lines (saves me energy, to write those big addresses, as back in India!!!). It was decided that among the three, Vamsi, Bhuvan and me, Vamsi would be going in a different dorm, and Bhuvan and myself to the same dorm.

As we started our way outside the station, we had to buy the bus tickets, and thats where I spent my first exchanged euros, and believe, it aches a lot to spend some money when you know that its actually being converted some 60 times of the money at your country. Well I realized, that I had to get used to it. The best thing about that evening was, I saw the first snowfall ever. It was not heavy, but drizzles in the form of snow. Summarizing, cold wave entry, german fiasco, euro expense within minutes of getting to Ulm and then snow. Not a bad start at all, Harish.

We get to our respective rooms, and believe me people, tracing where you are in Ulm, is never going to be difficult, which anyone coming from a crowded country, would easily realize. I figured out that it must be the same through out Germany. To make it even simpler, we were provided maps by the university and so well detailed, that no one can ever get lost. The person, who brought us, also invited us for the dinner and the returning part was a challenge, as we were on our own. We still had some arguments, and luckily we got on the right bus back home. Special note, our dorm was near Ulm's biggest brewery (not sounding very appealing, but just as a landmark). And so we move on...

First Step outa Country..!!!

A normal software professionals' day, it sucks, was coming to an end, just when I happened to open my mailbox and the usual filled up inbox, but my eyes kept searching it, as it did for the last 2 months, the news that would lift me off this boring, monotonous, software job (am not against software, but it was the kinda job I did). Well those drained twins, keep searching, even after viewing the high radiation monitor for around 10 hours, they kept searching for the news, until their persistence paid off. The mail had come, from the University of Ulm, for a 2-year Masters course in Communication Technology. The day of excitement and enthusiasm, started, as for the first time, I was going to step outa country.

Well the preparations had started much before the mail came, not sounding over-confident, but still the German class, learning a new language is always fun. The next 3 months were full of discussions, with seniors, friends, batch-mates (luckily found two of them) and was good to know, that someone will be there to accompany throughout the the next 2 years. So some spice was added to my software life, every evening would be full of excitement, with all the preparations for visa, traveling, studies ofcourse, etc. I still remember, this friend of mine, who conducted a 100% fool proof visa interview, from Germany, before my original interview, giving me different tips to answer. The biggest challenge was laid forth by the airlines, giving a baggage limit of only 30Kgs. But then, thanks to a comprehensive check list of items, I was able to save some expenditures, except for the unavoidable ones and luckily my baggage was just enough.

And then the D-day had come. It was good and I was really overwhelmed, to see most of my friends turning up to see me off (thanks guys..!!!). So it was first trip to the airport, the inside precisely, and I still reckon my walk being dead slow, and my head turning almost 360°, hope my eyes could go back too, not amazed at airport, but just to be careful checking if anyone is calling me. The baggage check was done, after a last wave of bye to my parents, there I was with flight ticket, moving towards the plane. The only traveling mean, I hadn't used yet (well Helicopter and Rocket do not count, i hope). It was the Qatar Airlines, and was ahem, a bit crampy till Qatar. But then from Qatar to Germany, it was quite comfortable, nevertheless, I spent most of my traveling time sleeping.

And then we landed at Frankfurt, I was still trying to believe that I was 100s of miles away from my country infact in a different continent. Well realization soaked in once I was in one of world's busiest airports, the design, the complexity, just eluded any other airport I have been to (ok I have been to Mumbai airport). The first step in Frankfurt was not that bad, as we did feel a bit cold, but what awaited us later was a complete shock, as we were struck by the cold wave, which is supposed to be usual, when we stopped at Ulm. None among the 3 of us were ready for that, we were just with our jerkins, and we were literally frozen, when we got down at the Ulm station. Probably that symbolized the way the next 2 years was going to be. Instinctively we reached for our Big baggage, only to find it sealed, luckily I had my winter clothing in hand luggage and put it on (thanks to my friend's advice). So there we were in the Ulm station, still recovering from what struck us, and waiting for the person to receive us. The three of us realized that the journey had just begun!