Buckeye, the international way + its Summer!!

So what does it feel like to come to Buckeye-land as a complete stranger? The reader really doesn’t have to care about any of this. This article is shaped by my opinions and experiences. Yet if you are curious a little, maybe; read on.

The first thing that strikes most international students is: Freedom! Just like any other freshman, this is one of the first real tastes of freedom. Yet for us it’s far more; we are freed from more than just sweet but omnipresent parents. We have a fresh start in a new world where we can be who we want to be. It’s a time for adventure and exploration and much like dogs in a new home we set about sniffing our way around (sometimes literally!). We try to make new friends with all the people we meet and grapple with the challenge of overcoming, sometimes significant cultural barriers. For now (the first few months) most internationals have this much in common. Yet we are people too and we each have different reasons and expectations to be here. So as the going gets tough and the novelty wears out, we crave to go back at least in a sense to the life we knew. I mean, it can get pretty crazy if you hear soccer and have to picture football and while wanting to say football, make a conscientious effort to say soccer. More importantly people miss their own languages, cultures, slangs and social conditioning. We do the obvious, we group up. It does save a lot of the pain; think about it. You can go around being a normal OSU student, talking with classmates and stuff. When you need to unwind, you can do it the way you want to and have always done at home.

Some come here to get a good education, grades and a job back home. Then well, the socializing time isn’t really a needed thing anyways. It’s so much easier to make a nice homely bubble, filled with food, friends and a life reminiscent of home. The rest of the time is better spent in the labs or the library while you race yourself to success. Yet, this is the story of the majority. What happens to those who do try to come out, and why do they try if there is an easy way out? I’ve got to add here, that I make it a point to not over express the dynamics (emotional or psychological) even to my closest friends. Yet once in a while, when I get the time to think about it, and home I do wonder. What the hell am I doing here (Columbus, OH) instead of a sweet summer back home? Sure the place is great and the weather was great, but home’s home, right?

I think the biggest reason (for being where I am) comes not from reasoning or need but from a character trait. As there are people who refuse to consider living outside Ohio, some live to explore the unknown. Call it the explorer gene; I love making it sound foolishly romantic, but hey! Makes me feel good! It’s a gene that can do wonderful things to you: It can make you an extrovert, let you have fun doing different things. It can lower inhibition, make you try baseball and even rock climb and watch soccer game with people who’re devoted to football. It can also keep you at the SEL at 4 AM while doing astrophysics, drinking Starbucks and writing a blog. However, it can also put you in difficult situations and ask difficult questions. Understanding the American bubble system, the social norms, relationships and culture are a few (and trust me, you make so many mistakes and slip so many times as you try to understand). I’ve actually had to consciously try to get savvy on basketball (well, I like it) and tried to on football but decided against that. MLS is a definite yes, but still something new to learn. The biggest problem though, is not the new things you’ve got to get used to. It’s the old things that you miss and families definitely on that list.

 For those who make the bubble of home or go back every year, they get a reprieve. It’s not just the people but also the physical home and its surroundings that help. Like, during summer most of us are bored. Friends visit and we do hang out but it’s not like college. Yet the when you’re home a vast amount of your time is distracted in doing family stuff. From talking with the people, to going around the house to playing video games; normal stuff which we take for granted. The sheer familiarity of the whole setting gives a relief and keeps us occupied just like a Harry Potter or paperback novels. So an international student could actually have a far more interesting and in fact exciting summer than most but it’s going to feel pretty empty and hollow sometimes (like reading Macbeth for the first time).

So why am I here? Well, I want to be. It’s hard sometimes but it’s also fun. You push your ingenuity to discover more things to do to make your life richer by the day. You bike, climb, write posts, do research or just sit on the oval with Pandora on. Pulling an occasional all-nighter, counts; you’ll be judged. I trust if I can embrace the challenge then the strength of character and mind gained will be worth it. On the flip side, it will put a question mark on what’s home for the next few years. I’m afraid it’s going to make me less caring person.

Nearly done!

When I came to America, I had expectations and dreams that were bursting to be realized. I recognize I’m a dreamer and a naïve one at that; so the results weren’t too surprising… or disappointing. As far as it goes, I definitely have no regrets when school is in session. When it isn’t, I guess I have to toughen up and make C-bus as homely as possible. After all, I can still do whatever I want to and no one knows. Mischief managed! 

Go Bucks! (42 days left)

Friends I knew

Let me post something a little more personal for once. This post was long in the making. That’s because it has touched me the most and deals with something close to my heart. It deals with several of my closest friends. I see them as part of my family. They changed me and they taught me things I might never have learnt.

We make lots of friends in our lives. Each time we meet someone new, we can’t help ourselves but try to understand them. There is something in us, as humans that make us wonder and wish to meet people of our kind. Even the Spanish conquistador, Cortes tried to understand the Incas before he vanquished them and their empire. In a country as diverse as India I meet tons of different, yet similar people. They are different because they come from different backgrounds, communities, regions and religions but they all share a common culture and understanding. Yet there are often so many misunderstandings within my country. Imagine an Indian who goes to an international forum. He must be a public menace, right?



This is probably true of other large countries. On the October of 2009, I was lucky enough to take part in the World School Forum, Japan. I and two of my compatriots boarded the plane with different notions and ideas. We might deny it now, but I distinctly remembered worrying if the Australians would find us ok (there were lots of race riots in Oz back then). Now you can ask yourselves, why would we even want to bother to go through these programs? I’ll come to that at the end.

I reached my room in Tokyo at past midnight. I was sharing it with a kiwi, Chinese and Japanese. India fought a war against China, and the Japanese plus, I didn’t know much about New Zealand. Of course all this was the last thing on my mind back then. I got into my room awkwardly enough. Tomoki (my Japanese mate) insisted on carrying my bags. I tried to apologize to the guys for waking them up. I slid into bed.



The first day, we broke barriers. We sat with our own countries but during the first break, we broke ice. I guess we were so curious about the others that we just couldn’t control ourselves. We were super excited and that brought inhibitions crashing down. I chatted up with some South Africans who loved cricket, kindred spirits. I met some awesome Canadians; my Asian brothers from Korea, Japan and Indonesia. I spotted my neighbors from Sri Lanka and the second best debater of Romania. I found a Fin and we talked about Stalin and met a New Zealander who loved Japanese Manga. I also ran into a very crazy but intensely lovable Aussie. It was a wildly awesome day.

We learned many different things from each other. As the theme of the forum was food and value, we understood a lot about the food cultures of the different countries. That was not the end though. Anything from games to movies, sports and dances was talked about or (in case of dance) tried. So with every day we kind of grew closer and closer, till the final day when we didn’t want to leave each other.



So why did we do it? What’s the point of these forums and meets?

There is this one thing and it’s called diversity. Its importance is not often realized and most often misunderstood. Exposure to diversity allow us to see problems from a variety of perspectives. It lets us use the diverse knowledge of different people to solve common problems. Take for example Japan’s problem of an aeging population. India with its strong family value system faces the reverse problem of too many young people and over population. Perhaps both countries can learn from each other and obtain solutions to their respective crisis. Again, when you try to find a solution to cut global emissions you need a personalized method for every nation.


Another thing we learned or rather experienced was what you would call the appearance of the Globalism . We communicated effectively amongst ourselves because most of us spoke English. Those who did not understood the importance of this particular language. We had common interests in music, bands, clothing and some foods (The Italians won with their pizza and spaghetti). We even face the same problems of terrorism, pollution, environmental degradation and economic meltdown. This does not mean we were completely alike. Rather each of us added a different flavor to the forum that just made it sweeter.

The best thing was the most personal. It dealt with how each of us looked at the rest as outsiders and someone different. You realize how pointless it is to worry about meeting and mingling with people. Different races, customs, languages and cultures coexisted together and worked on the forum together. In our pursuit to fight problems and work towards common goals (even in the football game) we found that our best allies were ourselves.



We have learned that and we need to live that. We make choices that do not cause prejudices. We work to make other s understand this. And we never let the friendship die. While we are students we have got to work hard to get good grades, because when we grow up we have to meet again. Then we will do more.