58 days

yeah, that's long it has been since i last blogged. needless to say, this gap has been due to a mix of initially nothingness, then laziness and now busy-ness. so a short recap of what happened for y'all. here goes.

my days at home with my family and other relatives was awesome. as i mentioned before, it just feels good to hang out with people whom you havent met in years and get to know their stories. some interesting, some not so - but definitely worth an ear. besides those discussions, i also did a lot of shopping, and somewhere down the line i figured that i had shopped more in this one month than in all my years of working combined. luckily though, the shopping didnt amount to excess baggage, and a week back, i was on board the British Airways flight to Chicago.

The flight to Chicago was just about OK. Not so much because of the quality of the airline, but probably because of the long distance i had to traverse. my flight was on time, and i reached my apartment safe. the pre-processing with the apartment people had already been done, and i checked into a apartment very soon. then came the funny part. there were no lights in the bedrooms. it seems one has to buy lamps and put them yourself (i was learning the american way of life). thankfully my room had a closet which opens up into the room, so i managed with the light that came out of that. add to that the fact the room was completely bare - that's how it is, but this is something i knew before checking in.

all this meant that we had lots of stuff to buy, which kept me busy over the next day or two, and i was soon able to bring the furniture i wanted. the bigger part though, is still pending - i.e. the furniture still needs to be assembled. i guess i will get to that after this huge continuous list of parties end. which is what is keeping most of us occupied these days.

these parties and meet-ups have completely shattered the few gsb stereotypes that were lurking in some corner of my brain. over the last few days, our classmates have put in all the effort to get to know one another, and what better way to do that than over a mug of beer. at this point of time, i can surely say that we have a enthusiastic and energetic set of classmates.

another interesting thing is the high percentage of internationals in the class this time. i had complained sometime back about not staying at IHouse and missing out on the international scene at GSB and UChicago. But thankfully, hardly anyone went to live at ihouse (as predicted), and most of them landed at the condo i am staying at (or close by). this meant that we get to meet a new face very often, and that new face is from a different country. till now, i have had the opportunity to talk to people from thailand, singapore, japan, england, poland, latvia, ivory coast, columbia, argentina, brazil, mexico, peru, russia and of course, the indians and the chinese. these interactions, i think will probably be one of the highlights of my gsb experience.

school officially starts tomorrow, the 4th. needless to say, i am very eager to see how it all shapes up. there are undercurrents in the community about bidding for courses, and getting an internship. all that needs to be taken care of, but i will handle all that when it comes and as it comes. for now, i am just soaking in the summer sun, and having fun imagining what's it going to be like in the coming days.