The cold and rain are here. Time to trade in my loafers for shoes, use heavy jackets and gloves and things. I've forgotten how cold it can get because of that uncharacteristically warm (or so my Dutch friends tell me) summer we had. The heating in my room is now on, another reminder that winter is near. Soon we'll be resetting our clocks as Daylight Savings comes to an end. It'll become darker earlier and that means I can jog in the dark. Well, its the only pleasure that I derive during this time, so don't begrudge me that.
The spaceboxes are full of new folk. Not that I've met them or anything. Its just that the high pitched whining of the smoke alarms assault my ears every five minutes. Guess, they'll learn how to deal with it. Just like we did. I also overheard an interesting conversation where this fresher was telling some other freshers about how 'it seems impossible to complete this course in two years'. Lousy kid. This is just the beginning. Wait until you get to the sleepless nights and eat-food-out-of-the-vending-machines phase.
When I got here last year, I was thinking of the honours track and a cum laude and extra credit and the whole works. But now (suitably humbled by the course), all I'm thinking off is finishing with a decent grade. Unfortunately, this quarter,I think I bit off a tad more that I can chew.I'm loaded up to the eyeballs with work. Unnecessary work, I might add, because I had obtained all the credits I was supposed to have obtained the previous year. All this with the sole purpose of concentrating on my thesis for the whole of the second year. I guess I'm a glutton for punishment. If I get out of this mess unscathed, I'm not going to do any more hero stuff. I promise.
Dutch classes are picking up. Yep, I now take Dutch at the university. We're a diverse bunch -Chinese, Iranian, Colombian, Spanish, Australian, Bangladeshi, Greek, Mexican and Brazilian. Wonder if I've missed any nationality. Nope, don't think so. I'm the only Indian in class. And in case you're wondering, there are only about fifteen of us in the room. Couple that with an incredibly enthusiastic Dutch woman, who enjoys imparting knowledge, and you get some amazing dynamics. Apart from the course, meeting all these folk is interesting. A Chinese girl actually talked with me. I mean, imagine that. Normally they shuffle their feet, avoid all eye contact and steer clear of my path. Guess I should stop stereotyping, eh? Ok, wait, that's just one Chinese person out of the many in Delft. If there are three others who have a normal, relaxed conversation with me, then I'll stop stereotyping for sure. This one even got my name right. Most Chinese and Korean people (to my knowledge, anyway) can't pronounce 'n' properly when it is in the middle of a word. It comes out sounding like an 'r'. So, instead of going "Anish" they go "Arrish". I gave up trying to correct that a long time ago. Quite a scene it used to cause.
Me: Err...It's Anish, by the way.
Random Chinese Person: Ok, Arrish
Me: No, no...Annish.
Random Chinese Person: Ok, I know, Arrish.
Me (with exaggerated lip movement): Annnnish.
Random Chinese Person (with exaggerated lip movement): Arrrrish.
Me: Siiiiiiigh.
Coming back to Dutch, I must reiterate, progress is good. At the beginning of my tenure in Delft, I used to say "Ik kan niet spreek Nederlands (I can't speak Dutch)". Now I've upgraded to "Ik kan spreek Nederlands maar niet zo vloeiend (I can speak Dutch but not so fluently)". Hopefully, the next time, someone asks me for directions or whatever, I can launch into a nice soliloquy without making excuses.
Tot later.
The spaceboxes are full of new folk. Not that I've met them or anything. Its just that the high pitched whining of the smoke alarms assault my ears every five minutes. Guess, they'll learn how to deal with it. Just like we did. I also overheard an interesting conversation where this fresher was telling some other freshers about how 'it seems impossible to complete this course in two years'. Lousy kid. This is just the beginning. Wait until you get to the sleepless nights and eat-food-out-of-the-vending-machines phase.
When I got here last year, I was thinking of the honours track and a cum laude and extra credit and the whole works. But now (suitably humbled by the course), all I'm thinking off is finishing with a decent grade. Unfortunately, this quarter,I think I bit off a tad more that I can chew.I'm loaded up to the eyeballs with work. Unnecessary work, I might add, because I had obtained all the credits I was supposed to have obtained the previous year. All this with the sole purpose of concentrating on my thesis for the whole of the second year. I guess I'm a glutton for punishment. If I get out of this mess unscathed, I'm not going to do any more hero stuff. I promise.
Dutch classes are picking up. Yep, I now take Dutch at the university. We're a diverse bunch -Chinese, Iranian, Colombian, Spanish, Australian, Bangladeshi, Greek, Mexican and Brazilian. Wonder if I've missed any nationality. Nope, don't think so. I'm the only Indian in class. And in case you're wondering, there are only about fifteen of us in the room. Couple that with an incredibly enthusiastic Dutch woman, who enjoys imparting knowledge, and you get some amazing dynamics. Apart from the course, meeting all these folk is interesting. A Chinese girl actually talked with me. I mean, imagine that. Normally they shuffle their feet, avoid all eye contact and steer clear of my path. Guess I should stop stereotyping, eh? Ok, wait, that's just one Chinese person out of the many in Delft. If there are three others who have a normal, relaxed conversation with me, then I'll stop stereotyping for sure. This one even got my name right. Most Chinese and Korean people (to my knowledge, anyway) can't pronounce 'n' properly when it is in the middle of a word. It comes out sounding like an 'r'. So, instead of going "Anish" they go "Arrish". I gave up trying to correct that a long time ago. Quite a scene it used to cause.
Me: Err...It's Anish, by the way.
Random Chinese Person: Ok, Arrish
Me: No, no...Annish.
Random Chinese Person: Ok, I know, Arrish.
Me (with exaggerated lip movement): Annnnish.
Random Chinese Person (with exaggerated lip movement): Arrrrish.
Me: Siiiiiiigh.
Coming back to Dutch, I must reiterate, progress is good. At the beginning of my tenure in Delft, I used to say "Ik kan niet spreek Nederlands (I can't speak Dutch)". Now I've upgraded to "Ik kan spreek Nederlands maar niet zo vloeiend (I can speak Dutch but not so fluently)". Hopefully, the next time, someone asks me for directions or whatever, I can launch into a nice soliloquy without making excuses.
Tot later.
winter is back :(
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