You will start noticing differences right from the moment you step out of the plane. It feels weird to see things so clean and well kept as we are not used to such cleanliness in India. Our international airports and local railway stations all look the same. There are people chatting and laughing/crying loudly, the place is heavily crowded thanks to a family of 15 people coming to leave one person from the family who is going abroad. People waiting for their flights even spread their blankets/newspapers on the floors and go to sleep there itself. While in India we are asked to move quickly like bred sheep, we are welcomed with polite smiles here. But what we also get to see is a stark difference in culture. People here get intimate without bothering about who is watching and the fact is, this is all so common here that no one actually bothers. Except people like me.
Needless to say, the roads and traffic system here are several notches above ours. I have yet to get used to the ‘Right Hand Drive’ rule here and always look at the wrong side before crossing the road. Obviously, as I am looking at the wrong side, I notice that no one is approaching and hence, have been just saved from being killed twice in one week already(The average speeds are 60kmph or above). One HAS to cross only on the zebra crossing and can’t run on the roads like we do in India. The fine for walking on the roads and not on the zebra crossing is a hefty 250$.
Even the education system here is very different.
Lecturers NEVER take attendance. Even if you walk in one hour late for a hour and half lecture, they won’t complain.
Only thing is that they will remember your face and then give you low grades later. For my course, we get assignments that are supposed to be submitted online. Even the questions we get are through email. Americans are VERY strict when it comes to plagiarism. We had a 2 hour lecture only on what consequences we will have to face if we are caught copying and/or plagiarizing. Both professors and students are videotaped during the lecture. Then these lectures are available online for the ones who were not able to attend due to some reason. Till last year, it was free but since students(mostly Indians) stopped bothering to go to classes and started watching them online itself, the faculty decided to charge 20$ per lecture that is viewed online.
We have free transport facility anywhere in the state. We have local buses called ‘Hops’ for University students’ drops and pick ups. We check the real time schedule of buses online and then get ready and reach the stops at the specified time to find that the buses are always bang on time. Boulder is a very safe city with crime rate as low as 0.4%. The only time we hear sirens here is when a cat is trapped on a tree. Girls walk back from college at midnight without any fear whatsoever (except for that of the freezing cold).
The people’s nature here oscillates from extremely friendly to extremely rude. Sometimes, they are just plain weird.
Many times, we find heavily drunk people muttering to themselves at one moment and yelling out loud, singing songs and asking weird questions to anyone around at the next. One also has to be careful not to hurt sentiments of anyone (like blacks or transgenders). Even if they might not be able to understand our language, they can certainly understand the tone and gestures. Sometimes people are so friendly that if we want to reach a particular place, they will actually accompany us to the destination. I have noticed that one thing they DO NOT like is we saying that we wish to stay here and work.
No matter how friendly or nice, they do not like aliens progressing in their country.
In general, Indian students here have a bad reputation because of lack of credibility. If a Indian student commits that he/she will go for PhD after completing MS and hence gets a funding from a professor and then later goes off to work in a company as soon as he/she finishes MS, the professor will think twice before granting aid to any other Indian student in the next session.
Many Indian students have done such things like not living up to promises and ditching the teachers in the past and hence have left the lecturers as well as the future students in a lurch.
Everything here works on the basis of trust, which we Indians tend to take advantage of. There are cola machines everywhere and you can just go get a glass and pour it for yourself. However, it is expected that you pay at the counter before you pour it. I have not yet bought cola ever since I landed here because it costs 1.25$ and my mind immediately and involuntarily converts it into INR(No, I didn’t drink it for free either). Maybe soon I will recover from the Fear of Forty. There are many such little things about which I can write about on and on. But considering the lack of space and reader’s Resistance Of Boredom, I will stop here.
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good post..
sunilreddy
January 19th, 2008
Nice Post…
its really interesting knowing about US Cultres….
i appreciate ur efforts to let us about them,,,
THANX MANJIRI
Gaurav
January 20th, 2008
The blog kinda looks like after-grad-ms.com but i really love reading ur posts guys. Fit or unfit, it doesnt matter, do keep blogging.
Vipul K
January 22nd, 2008
this is truly a one of its kind blog and i have loved all ur posts including this one. if there r more such things to share, however insignificant they might seem at first i wud really want u to share them.
nidhi
January 24th, 2008
Nice work…couple of things I would see from a different perspective: 1. It has been mentioned on site that americans dont like aliens progressing on their soil..I beg to differ…americans have no native culture of their own and they openly admit it…America is what it is, only because of aliens progressing on their land. Profs in general try and convince students(not only Indian or international) to do a PHD. It is their job to promote the research in their field. Now most of the Profs have projects that atleast 3 yrs long and hence they offer funding only to those students who committ towards a PHD….
Rest all sounds good..neat work..cheers!!
Varun
January 26th, 2008
@Varun
Maybe what you are saying is right. But I must have spoken to dozens of people here, right from the bus drivers to shop owners. Not one of them failed to ask me when I was planning to go back to India. Though they admit that they have no native culture of their own, they still believe that we are parasites on their land. I hope I will be proved wrong soon.
Regarding the funding, it is not wrong that professors are encouraging the students to pursue PhD. What is wrong and unethical is students committing that they will do it and then run away as soon as they finish MS. What my point is that it is equivalent to stealing and should not be done.
Thanks for your comment!
Manjiri Keskar
January 27th, 2008
can anyone tell me how does an MS student survive if the funds r sooooo scanty for these guys??
is it really difficult for a ‘motivated-only-till-MS’ aspirant 2 get some decent funds (as usually most r sucked up for Phd business..) ??
Rishabh
January 29th, 2008
@Rishabh
It is important to select the right university if you are looking for funds. A lot of my class mates here will definitely agree to this.
Pratik Shah
January 29th, 2008
@Rishabh
It is not that only PhD-aspiring students get funding. However, the probability that they get funding is much more than those planning only MS because the professor(and the company) who is investing the money in his education will get equal returns by making him work for him, which is not very feasible for MS as it is a comparatively short term course.
Funding scenarios vary vastly from university to university. In case you need funds, please consult seniors and ask them about the situation at their particular university before applying.
Manjiri Keskar
January 29th, 2008
@ Mr. pratik, dhaval, Ms. Keskar
rite….
i do understand d a meticulous research on the fund story is advisable b4 zeroing on a particular univ….
thnx for all these nice posts….keep us updated wid more on dear ‘Umreeka’
Rishabh
February 1st, 2008
Though i hav a first hand knowledge of d above criteria, i jus asked dis outta anticipation coz i’m an avg indian who’ll definitely like to cover nearly half of the total costs while studying itself……
now doing so wid just a part time job is no viable option…it will cover only d living costs….
so gettin some cool funds is perhaps d only way out
dat way one can cover d livin costs + easily pay off a gud amount of fees, as a part of it is already waived/met thru funds & d rest can be managed thru watever extra u hav in ur pocket…..
this is wat i hav in my knowledge….
rest is on u guys 2 comment…..
Rishabh
February 1st, 2008
Hey manjiri, thnx 2 help students like me u nd ur team doing a gr8 job.
wel i m ryt nw in last year of E&TC engg. i m planning 2 write gre nd toefl in july nd i m going 2 apply 4 spring ‘09 so will it be ok or i will be late according 2 deadlines. and yeah i want 2 do M.S. in TELECOM MANAGEMENT. can u plz tel me name of some university which r good 4 TELECOM MANAGEMENT.
waiting 4 ur reply nd once again thank u very much 4 all ur post, its so informative.
kalp
kalp
February 1st, 2008
@Kalp
It is OK to take GRE in July. Make sure all your other documents are ready by that time. Apply as soon as you are done with your exams. Maryland College and CU Boulder have very good telecom programs.
Manjiri Keskar
February 2nd, 2008
Thanks a lot..
kalp
kalp
February 2nd, 2008
hello manjiri its so great that u r writing after coming to US write on and on.i have juz come this sem like you to the US at IIT,chicago.plz write more stand more and dont stop
vijaykumar
February 4th, 2008
hi manjiri… this post is really cooool…
i have a query which is…. if i plan to go 4 spring ‘09, wat all documents will i have to get ready by say, july 08… apart from passport.. plz reply
n can anyone plz tell me about some good universities for comp. science with data mining/ image processing/ mobile computing…..
sk
February 5th, 2008
@sk
You should be ready with recommendation letters, SOP, financial documents and your transcripts.
I have no idea about universities offering the course you want.
Manjiri Keskar
February 5th, 2008
its gr8 that Manjiri has written about her experiences in the U.S. Students coming here will atleast get an idea what to expect. There are a few points on which I differ, but I wont bother her much for now! Nice work Manjiri
Amol
February 10th, 2008
Hey come-on!!
the posts sounds like America Vs. India and ur siding with U.S…eventhough its very well written, the first post i read of yours was “the wicked counseller” and im a fan of your writing ever since.
geeta
March 1st, 2008
Nice work.
Keep going!
Arvind K.
May 2nd, 2008
Its fantastic… very useful for the students who want to go abroad
Ritika
June 16th, 2010