Vignettes

Life at Penn State has its ups and downs but is quite colourful.

I took a cab back to my apartment from the airport, and the driver struck up a conversation with me. He said he was considering applying for a degree in EE at Penn State, then went off tangentially on how Professors tend to mentally classify their students as smart, not-so-smart, and dumb (the phrase "good, bad, ugly" came to mind!). He said that he felt work ethic was more important than innate intelligence. I told him about IITians getting flak from the rest of India, with people saying that there is nothing special about IITians, and just because they got good scores in JEE it doesn't mean they are super-intelligent humans and etc. Of course, they conveniently forget that we IITians never claimed to be super-intelligent and being an IITian is as much about hard work as it is about intelligence.

As soon as I stepped into my apartment it became crystal clear to me why it is an excellent decision to move out. It was the most disgusting, dirtiest place I have ever set foot on. Apparently my roommates had to rush to other states on internships soon after their exams and in their hurry they didn't even bother to clean the dishes - or even transfer them from the living room table to the sink. Moving is hard work and shopping for a new apartment is vexing work but I couldn't be happier doing it. My new apartment isn't perfect - the kitchen in particular is lacking a few amenities I am used to taking for granted, like a gas stove rather than an electric stove - but it is clean and spacious and has free cable TV :)

Dropping by at my friend's apartment carrying edible goodies from home, I was witness to a poor american girl backing up her car and going smack into a parked car behind her in the parking lot. There was a sizeable dent in the other car and she broke the taillights on hers. She seemed like a young undergrad not used to such stuff and seemed extremely nervous about what she had done, and appeared to have no idea what to do about the situation. So I stopped for a minute and told her what needed to be done - having been at both ends of similar incidents in the past myself. One time, a driver skid on the icy driveway and smashed into the rear of my car. Another time, I was backing out of Starbucks and grazed the rear bumper of a brand new BMW. It was only a paint smudge, so I settled things with him and we kept my insurance company out of it, lest my premium go up - but that was the first time I had caused any kind of damage to any other vehicle, and was quite nervous myself. Full sympathies to that girl!

A cup of coffee at Starbucks costs three times as much as coffee at any other place, but it also tastes three times better so I often choose the slightly longer walk and the extra two dollars to get that perfect cup of morning coffee. Coffee in hand, I was passed by a Pakistani woman and her little girl, who stopped at the pedestrian crossing and pressed the button. Seeing no car in sight, I started crossing the road without waiting for the walk signal, and the woman with her daughter started crossing with me, and said "Thanks!". I asked her why she was thanking me, and she said it was easier to break a traffic rule when you are doing it with some other person :)

What can I say, it feels good to be back in State College.

Cheers,
Prashanth.