TRANSITIONS ...
For the last few months, I have been on the move ... a phase of life that really tested and tried me but something I enjoyed every moment. I always dreaded inactivity and from April onwards I haven't had a quite moment to think (and write) about all that happened during this period. It started with end sem and BTP in Kgp. Then it shifted to visa issues for Germany. Once in Germany, it was ACI (Auditory Continuity Illusion) ... the project that I worked on. I worked at a stretch for 24 days without a break and wrapped of the visual bias effect to ACI. Then some readjustment of return date to India and some uncertainity. This was immediately followed by Berlin. It was the morning of 10th July that I left for Stuttgart airport from the Wilhelmstrasse bus stop in Tubingen. I didn't know what the next month and a half had in store for me. It was an intense and very interesting experience. I wanted to write all that happened in Berlin and beyond but just couldn't find time to do so. My time in Germany was over in another week with the last week devoted to finishing up the manuscript. I left Tubingen on the night of 21st July with a lot of things to do and a can of Red Bull. The Red Bull kept me going for 40 hours and 5000 miles! I can't sleep while traveling (especially in flights) and the Red Bull and "I Escaped from Auswitcz" (a fabulous book on the Polish concentration camp and how the author escaped from there) didn't allow me to sleep on the flight back.
Once in India, things were like a blur. I went to Kgp to get my degree and that week I just slept for 10 hours. Then I was off to Delhi next week for internship with Samsung. It was fun except for the fact that it was extremely hot and humid, and rained like hell! Well, on top of that I had to wait for 12hrs in the train at Dhanbad station, thanks to the bandh in Bengal. I came home with fever and a bad headache. But there was no time to rest and recuperate. I was to leave India for 4 years and I just had a few hours to pack my stuff (the effects became apparent when I reached Seoul!). So on 23rd August, I bid my final farwell to India and boarded my flight. I dread long haul flights but there is nothing worse than a long haul flight with fever and a severe headache! The Singapore airport lifted my spirits to some extent (its worth spending a few hours just looking around ... it awesome) but that hit the sea bed as soon as I took off for Seoul. The headache returned with renewed vigor and my appetite vanished into thin air. Those 6 hrs seemed to be eternally long and I was overjoyed when we reached Incheon.
The GSP orientation started on Tuesday and went on for 4 days. It was more like baptism by fire - 14 hrs of orientation a day followed by making presentation at night left me disoriented! But at the same time it was fun to learn and see so many things within such a short span of time. Finally, it was over and we (GSP 2008 students) came back to our apartments in Seoul. That weekend we had some time to go around Seoul and explore the city on our own. Its an awesome city and the people are very polite and helpful. The only thing that is inconvinient is the language. I hope that frontier can be conquered with time as well.
After the short weekend we got busy once again ... this time at the Seoul National University, where we'll spend the next 2 years ... and thus the journey called LIFE goes on ... and its all about transitions ....