American Football

Football is probably the most popular game in the US & it has some die hard fans. Michigan State is part of the Big 10 teams.

Last week, everyone lined up atleast 5 hrs before the start of the game, in some 10 degree C cold, got completely drenched in the rain, and got disappointed because we threw the game away to Notre Dame. Everyone is hoping that we have better luck with Illinois today, and Ohio State Univ and Univ of Michigan in the coming weeks.

To find out more of the Big 1o:
http://bigten.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/big10-m-footbl-body.html


The Spartan Stadium has a seating capacity of about 75,000 and is considered a medium sized stadium :)

 

Onset of Autum

Its Sept end and the trees have started to change the color. The temperature at night is already close to 3 degree Celsius. It rains all the time here and the cold wind bites. I am already dressed as a polar bear and I don't know what winter is going to feel like. Luckily for me, I will be enjoying my winter break in Florida! :D

The campus looks so beautiful that I decided to post some pictures.


 

Campus pictures

 

The Kalamazoo Promise

Kalamazoo is a small city in the southwest area of the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 77,145. Recently the city made big news with the Kalamazoo Promise. Basically a group of philanthropists got together and wanted to do something for the city, and they put together a fund that will pay for the complete 4 years of college tuition (100-65%) of every kid who has studied in one of the Kalamazoo public schools (provided they study in any of the colleges or Universities in Michigan) for years to come!! They plan to make it the education city.

People from all parts of the country are moving to the city to make the most of this opportunity. The city has seen a 0 to $10 million investment in 45 days! I think, what these people have managed to do is phenomenal! This will ensure that all students from Kalamazoo get quality education at no cost. A stat. from my finance class, the inflation in University costs is 400%, when the average of the rest of the country is close to 4%!! This fund is big enough to support tuition costs of students for years to come (according to one of my friends, as long as 35 years!!).

One fund, placed so strategically, will change the fortune of the city forever. I would love to do something like this when I grow up.

To learn more about it, check:

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=2402365

http://www.kalamazoopublicschools.com/education/dept/dept.php?sectiondetailid=10657&sc_id=1131662979

My Room!!

The first few days that I spent in the dorm were slightly scary and lonely cause I was probably the only one in the dorm. All the other international students were in the other side of the campus, and buses were still not functional on the campus. They say this is the second biggest campus in the US!! So there is a lot of walking and everything is simply HUGE!

Luckily for me, I have Nicholas for a room-mate. (Cool, fun and easy guy to work with! He is from Columbus, what is the probability for that happening?!?! ;) ) You can see him in the picture, and he is sitting in front of my desk. The other person in the picture is Maulik, and he is from the other side of the campus.

Also notice the excellent view from my room, the "I want to believe" poster (God knows for how long I wanted that one! ;) ), the Christania (Denmark) poster over my desk and loads of magnets on my desk from Europe! When I had entered the room for the first time, it was absolutely bare - no doors on the closet, no water, no TV, no microwave, no fridge, no carpets ... just the empty beds and desk.

And look at it now, God I love my room!

Europe

I thought I would blog in detail about my experiences in Europe and tell you what, its not happening. It’s impossible!! There are so many things (and education in US really keeps you busy) that I don’t know where to start and I would like to do full justice to the experiences. I have uploaded a few pictures and they say a lot about the fun that I had there. And if you are interested in checking out the actual photos, then just send me an email and I will provide you with the links.

...not worrying about fine details of the trip and taking things as they come, re-unions, being open to new experiences, talking to the locals and just picking all the unconventional places to see – paid off well! Extremely well!

Spending about a month with good ‘ol friends in Europe and making new ones on the way was an extremely good idea. 

Europe pics