Yale vs Harvard: The Rivalry 20/11/06

These prestigious Ivy league universities have seen a historic rivalry. It's similar to TN DT rivalry in AIESEC India ;-)

I went to this Football match at Harvard between Yale and Harvard. It was a very important match for Yale to win the Ivy League Championship. It was the last chance after Yale lost to Princeton last weekend. So there was huge excitement and the stadium was packed.

The history says in total Yale has scored more than Harvard in total. But since last 5 years only Harvard was winning. So Yale had less hopes this year as well. The rivalry between Harvard and Yale is for the prestige of the institutes and it's like their own ego which clashes quite often ;-). Almost everyone at the match was wearing something cursing Yale or Harvard. Here are some of the clips:-

I myself was definitely more loyal to Yale as I love the school. Also they are richer I guess ;-)... hehe. Yale has this wonderful architecture which Harvard can't even imagine to build. I was quite disappointed by it's conventional architecture. So I did not like it too much. Some stereotypes about Harvard are they party less and study more..I could see it when they closed a party at 1 am :-(

So the match began next day and it turned out to be damn exciting. Yale build a lead quite initially only and continued it till the end...beating Harvard by 34-13 !! Voahhhhh !! This was awesome. A Victory after 5 years. People went crazy and they were jumping in the stadium from their seats. I was feeling as if people are crossing the berlin wall...hahah ! It was enormous!!

Another intesresting fact is MIT always tries to play some prank at Yale-Harvard matches to mark their presence. Last time they did it in 2001 and they did it this year as well, So I was lucky to see it !! The nude man ran in the ground in the middle of the game with MIT written at his back..it was hilarious !!! hahaha

It was great fun to be in Cambridge and visiting Harvard, specially the stay at Erin's place (Juli's room mate). Her house is magnificent. This was an amazing place...I mean I donno but this was a beautiful house. I took a picture of almost every corner of the house. My dream house will be like this only ;-)

and yeah ...there's a famous roll call by Yalies:-

Harvard Sucks..
and Princeton doesn't matter !!

Kudos to Yale !!!...hahaha

Most expensive appointment of my life ; Adventure on US highways... 16/11/06

I am extremely sad at the moment...but will still write the entry with enthusiasm.

So one of our ICX members here fixed an appointment with a big company called "Mortgage lenders network". Her name is Michele. Since the company was exceptionally big and we did not want to loose this opportunity to raise a TN, I was making documents the whole night before and next day was busy since morning preparing for that. Wore my suit and took all the printouts etc, called up a taxi to reach at 1pm near Phelps Gate(Place in New Haven). Michele and me took the taxi and after 45 mins reached the place. This is a very small town called as "Middletown" There was a huge business complex where the taxi dropped us. Now guess how much was the bill for taxi??....fucking $60...Rs.3,000 !! I never took such an expensive taxi even in my life ! hahah
So the appointment went good and he was extremely interested and very nice gentleman. He was very friendly (COO of the company). In fact luckily we took all the great documents to satisfy his questions. He even showed us Middletown from his window when he got to know that we will go back in the evening time by a bus. He pointed some nice restaurants and the river side etc. Its looked a beautiful small city.

So we came out and were really happy with the appointment. Now thought of travelling somewhat in Middletown. It started raining like in next 5 mins so while walking we found this random community centre and we thought it might a good place to stay for a couple of mins. So went in and I never saw such a good community centre in my life before. It was awesome with all those old archaic paintings and nice furnitures , rooms etc. The lady in there was extremely polite and gave us a tour of the centre and then invited us to stay there as long as we wanted. We stayed for some time, reviewed the appointment and made the follow up sheet.

Now since this taxi was extremely expensive and we had lil money left (after eating for $11), it was a good idea to take a bus back. So after figuring out there was only one bus back at 6.40pm and starts at a place 5 miles away. Now the challenge was to figure out this 5 mile away place to catch the bus. In between I was very happy coz it looked like a great adventure and I guess Michele too ;-)..hahaha ! Almost after 20 mins we could not figure out this place and then we went into this shop to ask them the address of the place to get a bus and to my surprise they do not speak english (not good). Here Michele comes to the rescue as she speaks Spanish...this was a such a lifesaver !! wow !!...Spanish helps in US too. In fact it helped us again in our adventure 2 hours later...keep reading ;-)
So the shop people helped us to find a bus to reach that 5 miles away place. We took the bus at 5 pm. Now since we had no clue where to get out of the bus we told the driver to drop us this place called "exit 20" where we need to catch another bus to New Haven. Now bus after a 30 min ride stops at Meriden. Michele got up from seat and says "lets go, here we are". "Okay". We go out of the bus and crossed the street and was waiting for another bus to pick us up at 6.40 pm to New Haven. Its been hardly 20 sec and the bus we got out of is still in front of us. I said" Michele you sure this is the place?".."yes it is" "Are you sure?"..."You can ask the driver again". And I don;t know why I just ran across the street and asked the driver again "Is it Exit 20?"..."NO"...what???? I almost shouted "Michele come backkkkk " Fuck now imagine this place..All dark on some highway and not a single person out there..if I had not come back again. We had been waiting there the whole night, which is not safe at all in US.
So finally the bus dropped us at Exit 20. Now we still had 1 hour for the bus to come. This place was on a major highway and there was Park & Ride Lot nearby. So we went there and sat for like 45 mins. Out of boredom Michele told me this fucked up game called "Sally does not like..." Ohh god I can't play it again ever in my life. I could not figure out this game and couldn't handle it any more. I was literally running on the road to stop Michele from this game. It's too much of stress and madness...hahhah !
Now almost 70 mins have passed by and the bus has not come. We got worried...infact Michele got not me ;-)...I was still in a adventure mood. ;-). Alsmot 90 mins passed by No bus !! So Michele called up the bus service and asked them about it. They said, Bus has already picked up people from there??? What the fuck?? Impossible, How is it possible? But on Michele's request they sent the bus back..WOW !! isn't that cool. Michele says they have to send it back !!...thts so coool !! hahha
Now there is this couple at the same place and there car broke down. They were also waiting for someone and then their friend comes in a car to pick them up. The coolest part is they offered us a ride to new Haven, which is really far. So we said No no it is very far. To my surprise they also did not speak good English. So here comes the rescue. Michele converse in Spanish..and bingo they tooo !! hahah Spanish is the language to learn. So we took a ride with them and called up the bus service to not send the bus. This was a family from Ecuador. During the whole conversation in the care everybody was speaking in Spanish...so couldn't understand word. Finally we reached at 8 pm back in new haven sound and safe. The total cost of the appointment came out to be $75 in total...fucking Rs. 4000 for one appointment. US is expensive!!! hahahah
This was such a great adventure though was not safe at all (in US people generally get mugged up easily and frequently)...but still I had faith in my luck somewhat that definitely we would not die so soon....hahaha !!
Cheers!!

Coincidence with Nandan Nilekani (CEO of Infosys) 16/11/06

This was sooo random !! How can you expect something in the middle of the day...when you are not expecting anything...nice rhyming ;-)...hahah !! It was a weekend and we had a cool AIESECer Saad from NYC and the most motivated AIESEC member here at Yale, Sally. We were walking on the sideways and going to this amazing fest being organized by South Asian Society called as Roshni. So we are walking and this man passes by me in opposite direction. We looked into each other eyes for a click and he moved away his glare and we just moved, this all happened in a click almost. Something struck my mind! Do I know him?? Have I met him somewhere?? Who is he?? Sally who was this guy?? "I don't know" says Sally. I have seen him somewhere!! I guess I know him. Sally - "Go Ask him!" I was like "No, I don't know him, I donno". Saad says man go ask him he will be gone then...run fast and ask him. I don't know what happened to me and why did I run...I ran back and stopped the guy and asked him "Have we met before?" ..he says confidently "No". Me- "Are you from India?" He says "Yes!" Me- "Are you Nandan Nilekani?"and he nods !!! Fukkkkkk I met Nandan Nilekani walking on the street. My face suddenly grew big and smiled like never before in last few days I guess ;-)..hahahha !! Sally and Saad came running and I introduced them and myself. I asked "How come you are in Yale? I mean in New Haven?" He says" Well my daughter studies here..She is a freshman." Wow !!! That's amazing to know !! So Nandan Nilekani's daughter is in Yale ...isn't that cool?? ;-) He name is Jahanvi ! He was in kind of a hurry so we said bye and I thanked him.
So then we went to Roshni for the cultural fest. To my surprise he is already sitting there in the front row. So I didn't miss opportunity as well. On Sally's motivation again went ahead and talked to him for like 3-4 mins. Asked him why he got off AIESEC's board. He said a lot of work, so no point if I can't give my best. He asked me What I was doing a Yale and I explained him I came through AIESEC and it has given me so much. It's a great organization. Though there were not too many thoughts that were coming in my mind due to excitement ..hahah ;-).
I still can't believe that it happened and I met him...wow !!

Halloween and the Superman! 7/11/05

You are walking on the streets and you see ppl wearing random funniest clothes ever, ppl havin pooch, having green blue red hair, spidermans, batman, dracullaa !! and not to forget damn mini mini skirtsss....first time ever i thought US girls are hottt !!! hahaa

So its HALLOWEEN !! A crazzyy US festival. Its some old relevance where people wear scary dresses to freak out the witches. and they carve this funny pumpkin...which is like a lantern people used to put to scare the witches as well.

and I was dressed up as SUPERMAN...which was the cheapest option due to the fact that i had a superman t-shirt gifted by somebodyy !! ( I never thought it will be so usefull...thnx ;-))



Here are some more pics to show how people were dressed crazziilllyyy !! blaaahhh

At midnight there was this amazing event where whole yale community was gathered..t was this big hall and a music band...called Yale Symphony Orchestra (yales most prestigious bad)..it was rockiiing for sure..some cool dance performance and wacckky ppl !!

My first halloween...unforgettable..and embarrassing ;-)...hahahaha

Flannery's Bar 23/10/06

This is the best experience so farrr !!! I am just damn excited to write it here...fukk i love AIESEC !!


So we came to NYC from New Haven for this AIESEC US Gala Event for completing their 50 years. The event is tomorrow. So today we have this AIESEC Yale alumni get together. So I met the last LCPs Pat and Art who are working in Goldman Sacs and Bain & Company. Had some beer in the Pats Place and then Saad and Izaaz (from AIESEC Baruch) comes over there and say lets go to this Bar called Flannery's Bar.

So Now I am standing in front of this Bar trying to figure out how US Bar would be like and guess what I see SHANTANU standing outside the bar...what the hell?? where from suddenly he was there?? So surprised and same time glad to see him as well. So then I move inside and its this real crowed bar no space to move. Looks Nice. So I moved my eyes around and I saw a familiar face!! Now guess what?? This is TORI ANDERSON...ex MCP Pakistan. I hugged her tightly...You cant imagine my excitement. And next to her is standing RIPUN JAI MEHTA and next to him is ANUPAM YOG.....fuk what is this place??? So the secret is everyone in this damn crowded bar is an AIESECerrrrrr !!!! Shittt....it cant get better than this !!! Here comes AMIT DESAI.....then comes CARLY (MCP US)...and then PETER (AI VP ER)...Sarah (US MC)...and I dont know hell lot of people...it seemed so much familiar to an IC party. I was on the top of world !!! The best leadership from AIESEC countries have come for this event !! It will be fun !!

Even the people who are singing and, the guitarist, the drummer is also AIESECer...everyone is an AIESECer !! I am wondering are these bartenders also AIESECers?...hahahha!! Now there is this another person I have seen..but dont know his name...So went to him and introduced myself and it comes as Mr. Jagdish Amin (37 degrees.com) and next to him is Arjuun Bhagat !! It just cant get better than this !!! Voahhhh !!!

Had a blast in the party there..we should some of these kinda bars in Jaipur as well...hehe!!

Then went to this Sheesha place called Luxor which was cool!! Had some 5 different types of sheeshas and tried my best to make those circles with the smoke ..bt its not easy ..hehe !!

AIESEC seems to be such a small family!! Everytime you think you know it..you discover more....

Friday, October 20, 2006

Cooking???...eeeeee

This was so much difficult! I almost spoiled it...But I am sure if nothing else i will surely learn some good dishes for the better half of my life...hahaha !!

First Appointment in US.

So here are the caarparateess !!! ;-)

Getting ready for our first networking event in AIESEC Yale history by Chamber of Commerce. Its the Annual Award Lucheon. The cost was $85 for one person. But I somehow got free invitations for it...after all we are non profit organisation...hehe !!

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Walking with leadership lessons...

Shannon took the picture of mine when we were walking down a street. This was one of the sessions in RoKs 06.

Yale University

Its interesting that before getting selected for AIESEC yale, I never knew that Yale is one of the best universities across the globe.

I first impression of the university was...I am sure Harry Potter is shot in Yale campus !!..hhahaha

Its has a old architecture. They have extremely big. Major part of New Haven has been owned by Yale. Its toooo bigg...i must say. They have all the systems that one can imagine of. Everything is controlled electronically. So pretty much a high end technology fit into a fort !! hehe !! It has the best students from US studying..bt its damn expensive like $40, 000 a year !! Shitt I can never study here.

The best part about Yale is they has numerous number of organization inside the campus only and they have these unlimited activities going on. So its a great place to learn about different things and make a well rounded personality. I am trying my best to attend some of them...hope I see some changes in myself..haha ;)

I think I got a real nice opportunity to come to Yale and see the life out here !!

Thnx to AIESEC !!! :-)))

RoKs 2006

So here comes the Regional Kick Off Seminar 06 !! I am officially the chair for the conference. Its same like NLDS in India. So I was already anticipating extreme fun at the conference, which indeed was there.

I went along with Juli & Shannon to NYC. I was standing in front of this International College called Baruch, and suddenly a man..long hair..india look comes and hugs Juli !! She goes Crazzy to see him. She introduced me..so He was Izaz! VP Sales & Servicing in AIESEC Baruch. In next 10 mins there was 20 more AIESECers standing besides me and I could not fathom if I was in AIESEC US actually. Its felt so greatttt !!! AIESEC exists in people !! It brought back the spirit of AIESEC !! Though I felt like a star coz I was the chair and everybody was eager to meet me ;-) There was this another guy called Saad..who is form Pakistan..really cool n smart guy. Costa was the team leader of Facis...an extremist kinda guy...does gymnast...he was walking on his hands upside down in the conference. impressive isnt it??...ugly..may be!! ;-)...hehe

So reaching the venue..it looked good. We went straight into the board room for the meeting for the agenda for running the conference. They spoke the whole agenda and I gave my feedbacks for the same..I also suggested that I would like to take a session and they were more than happy to say YES !! :-))

The conference began next morning with Chair introduction. which was good coz Shannon exaggerates a lot of things..hehe !! So I went across and shouted HEYYYY AIESECCCC...and if you dont know in AIESEC US..they shout HEY WATSSSS !!! At the same time it reminded me my NLDS and got the idea of YO BITCH !!! So I said it loud to use the same !!..and as always people went crazyyy they simply loved it !!! I am still receiving scraps sating Yo Bitch !! I tried to bring a whole sort of energy in the room...coz I guess AIESEC US does have that strong AIESEC culture. So had a lot of fun, punishments...and to your surprise..I was teaching Jives!!! hahahah...can you imagine??? I was so fucking feeling confident about them..hehe ;-)

The weird thing in US is this SEXUAL HARRASMENT POLICY. So I could not give those sexual kinda punishments. not even coin ones...this policy sucks!! Actually ppl in US can sue for anything..so if someone does not like it they might sue AIESEC US. Though it would not happen with AIESECers but it may happen...so cant take the risk. I was kinda pissed but cant help it.

The conference was really wonderful...People have great passion for AIESEC. I actually met a lot of cool poeple and loved them company. It was cool..coz as chair all the people know you so you just need to go to them and say Hi..hehe..no need of introduction ;-) !! I loved chairing this conference. or rather couching this conference.

Chair conferences and Live Life Kingsize !!! hahaha

NE Beast Rockssss !!!

First 30 minutes...

Its interesting ! My Host Shannon whose the LCPe of Yale has a Class of Cultural Anthropology. So she wrote down all my reactions when I came here and presented it in her class. Here it goes...

We ascend the stairs, I explain to him “Okay, this is it.” We enter, and he saws “Wow, this is nice. I did not expect this much space.”
“Welcome,” I reply “You must be exhausted! How long was the flight from Jaipur? –Or did you fly from Delhi?”

I ask him if it is first time in the US. I try to communicate interest along with my enthusiasm. “First ever,” he responds. I ask him what his first impressions were. “You know, there are so many machines. You have machines for everything. I did not know how to use the phone. I asked some lady and she gave me coins. You have so many machines.” “Wow…” I respond,

I quickly transfer the conversation back to my effort to make him feel at home. “You must be thirsty. Can I get you something to drink?” I step into the kitchen and open the refrigerator. “I have milk, orange juice, water?” He shifts his weight as he answers, setting down his backpack.“Just water, I guess would be fine.” As I hand it to him I ask, diplomatically, “Okay, just to clarify, how do you pronounce your name?” “Oh it’s Amit” he responds. I hear the final t as a hushed “d.” I try to recreate it. “No it’s not a T at the end.” I imagine he’s said this before, and I wonder if his chapter of AIESEC has received any Americans who have also butchered his name. He repeats it: Amit. I try three more times, my attempts don’t seem to satisfy him. “It’s okay,” he aquieseces, “Amit” is fine. “Oh come on,” I respond, “I’ll get it by the time you leave.” My “Oh come on” is voiced as banter. Perhaps it is my inability to pronounce his name that puts me in the mindset of friendly competition at that moment. “Now you try mine…” I deliver the challenge with a smile, and a revived intensity. In my minds eye, my delivery indicates that he won’t be able to hold it against me that I can’t pronounce his name if he also cannot pronounce mine. “Is it Shannoon?” “Shannon, I correct. Then I repeat it quickly with an emphasis on the pronunciation. “Shah-nun.” He tries to recreate my name and does a fair job. “Pretty good.” I tell him

Amit knocks lightly on the white wall of my home. Then he knocks again, harder. “Wait,” he says. “This wall is made of wood.” He looks abruptly across the room at the other wall and walks quickly towards it. In transit he says “Is this whole house made of wood?” His accent seems to thicken at the word wood.
Amir knocks on my other wall. “Oh my God.” He exhales in rush and with a smile. His sudden respiration seems part laugh, part gasp. “Oh my God. This whole house is made of wood!” He exclaims it. This is the first time Amit’s voice has varied from his formal monotone. “Like, how can you make a house out of wood? Aw. It’s impossible.” Again, the traditional accent glares in the word “im-poss-ib-ul.” “Like, what floor is this? Fourth? Come on, doesn’t it fall?” Amit jumps, and the ground reverberates slightly. “Oh my God, the floor is made of wood!” His word are pepperd with early 90s English slang in the repetition of “Like” and “Oh my God.” But Amit’s delivery is far from “valley-girl” style. The word “like” is enunciated always in the same heavy accent with the same pause before the next word. “Oh my God. How did you not know this house was made of wood. Why did you buy it?” He laughs. I smile, awkwardly enchanted. “I didn’t know it was, I guess…” I trail off.

...you looking for what happened then?? I am sorry..it doesnt come in first 30 mins..thts what shannon says ;-)

FLYING ACROSS THE WORLD...

From New Haven

I never took a flight before I got into this one for US. But to your surprise I was not at all excited to get into a plane. So got into my plane and it flew over Delhi, it was great to see earth from up there at the height of 35000 feet. It looks like a artificial architectural model. I thought it will be so easy to count people form up there, but trust me you can see a single of them ;-)

The food was quite good inside and to my surprise there were video screes besides each of the seat. I saw some of the movies like x-men and other random. I could also see on a world map where is plane right now. So we crossed Afghanistan and other countries and got over Europe. I looked outside my window down there and saw windmills!!! It was a shock for me. Are they so big that I can see them from this height?? Wow !! and the first country that came to my mind was Netherlands. Looked straight into the map back and yess indeed we were over Netherlands!! Though I could not figure out the AI office ;-) One more interesting observation over Europe was its not safe to go over Europe..Why?? .. I saw out of window and saw so many other planes passing across above my plane or below my plane. There were jets, cargo planes of UPS and Aitalia and Canada Airlines ...theese are the only ones i could see the names of. Shitt there were so many planes flying at the same time...they can seriously crash into. So take your insurance along...hehe

We were over London in a few hours. It was the best view of any country you can get over. London looks beautiful!! I simply loved the country and already made in my mind that I will live there only ;-)..hehe

We had a break at Heathrow airport and then flew for NYC !! My Final destination. It took 7 hours from London to reach over US. The continent looked cold and foggy. You cant figure out if there is land down there below all these dense cloud, but I was hoping that there is some ;-). I could finally see the NY Airport. Its kinda big and when it landed you can see every airplane possible on this earth at this airport. I got through Security Clearance and then went to collect my baggage. I want some kinda trolley to take my luggage on. So I went the place they had all the trolley stacked and I pushed one of them. I think it was stuck a lil hard, so i put more pressure but it did not come out and then some officer form behind came and told me you have to put $3 into it for getting it out!! I was like WHAT??? $3 for a trolley?? Shitt thts like Rs. 150 for me and tht was expensive. I think that was my first interaction with the expensive United States ! But I guess I got safe and sound and was ready to start my amazing experience in US. WORLD IS SO SMALL. I LOVE AIESEC....

About Me

Name: Amit Kumar Agarwal

Location: New Haven, Connecticut, US

View my complete profile

Links

• AIESEC
• Orkut Me
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Previous Posts

• Yale vs Harvard: The Rivalry
• Most expensive appointment of my life ; Adventure ...
• Coincidence with Nandan Nilekani (CEO of Infosys)
• Halloween and the Superman !
• Its Frozennnn...
• Flannery's Bar
• Cooking???...eeeeee
• First Appointment in US.
• Walking with leadership lessons...
• Yale University

Archives

• October 2006
• November 2006

---

Cooking???...eeeeee

This was so much difficult! I almost spoiled it...But I am sure if nothing else i will surely learn some good dishes for the better half of my life...hahaha !!

First Appointment in US.

So here are the caarparateess !!! ;-)

Getting ready for our first networking event in AIESEC Yale history by Chamber of Commerce. Its the Annual Award Lucheon. The cost was $85 for one person. But I somehow got free invitations for it...after all we are non profit organisation...hehe !!

Yale University 25/10/06

Its interesting that before getting selected for AIESEC yale, I never knew that Yale is one of the best universities across the globe.

I first impression of the university was...I am sure Harry Potter is shot in Yale campus !!..hhahaha

Its has a old architecture. They have extremely big. Major part of New Haven has been owned by Yale. Its toooo bigg...i must say. They have all the systems that one can imagine of. Everything is controlled electronically. So pretty much a high end technology fit into a fort !! hehe !! It has the best students from US studying..bt its damn expensive like $40, 000 a year !! Shitt I can never study here.

The best part about Yale is they has numerous number of organization inside the campus only and they have these unlimited activities going on. So its a great place to learn about different things and make a well rounded personality. I am trying my best to attend some of them...hope I see some changes in myself..haha ;)

I think I got a real nice opportunity to come to Yale and see the life out here !!

Thnx to AIESEC !!! :-)))

RoKs 2006...19/10/06

So here comes the Regional Kick Off Seminar 06 !! I am officially the chair for the conference. Its same like NLDS in India. So I was already anticipating extreme fun at the conference, which indeed was there.

I went along with Juli & Shannon to NYC. I was standing in front of this International College called Baruch, and suddenly a man..long hair..india look comes and hugs Juli !! She goes Crazzy to see him. She introduced me..so He was Izaz! VP Sales & Servicing in AIESEC Baruch. In next 10 mins there was 20 more AIESECers standing besides me and I could not fathom if I was in AIESEC US actually. Its felt so greatttt !!! AIESEC exists in people !! It brought back the spirit of AIESEC !! Though I felt like a star coz I was the chair and everybody was eager to meet me ;-) There was this another guy called Saad..who is form Pakistan..really cool n smart guy. Costa was the team leader of Facis...an extremist kinda guy...does gymnast...he was walking on his hands upside down in the conference. impressive isnt it??...ugly..may be!! ;-)...hehe

So reaching the venue..it looked good. We went straight into the board room for the meeting for the agenda for running the conference. They spoke the whole agenda and I gave my feedbacks for the same..I also suggested that I would like to take a session and they were more than happy to say YES !! :-))

The conference began next morning with Chair introduction. which was good coz Shannon exaggerates a lot of things..hehe !! So I went across and shouted HEYYYY AIESECCCC...and if you dont know in AIESEC US..they shout HEY WATSSSS !!! At the same time it reminded me my NLDS and got the idea of YO BITCH !!! So I said it loud to use the same !!..and as always people went crazyyy they simply loved it !!! I am still receiving scraps sating Yo Bitch !! I tried to bring a whole sort of energy in the room...coz I guess AIESEC US does have that strong AIESEC culture. So had a lot of fun, punishments...and to your surprise..I was teaching Jives!!! hahahah...can you imagine??? I was so fucking feeling confident about them..hehe ;-)

The weird thing in US is this SEXUAL HARRASMENT POLICY. So I could not give those sexual kinda punishments. not even coin ones...this policy sucks!! Actually ppl in US can sue for anything..so if someone does not like it they might sue AIESEC US. Though it would not happen with AIESECers but it may happen...so cant take the risk. I was kinda pissed but cant help it.

The conference was really wonderful...People have great passion for AIESEC. I actually met a lot of cool poeple and loved them company. It was cool..coz as chair all the people know you so you just need to go to them and say Hi..hehe..no need of introduction ;-) !! I loved chairing this conference. or rather couching this conference.

Chair conferences and Live Life Kingsize !!! hahaha

NE Beast Rockssss !!!

First 30 minutes...19/10/06

Its interesting ! My Host Shannon whose the LCPe of Yale has a Class of Cultural Anthropology. So she wrote down all my reactions when I came here and presented it in her class. Here it goes...

We ascend the stairs, I explain to him “Okay, this is it.” We enter, and he saws “Wow, this is nice. I did not expect this much space.”
“Welcome,” I reply “You must be exhausted! How long was the flight from Jaipur? –Or did you fly from Delhi?”

I ask him if it is first time in the US. I try to communicate interest along with my enthusiasm. “First ever,” he responds. I ask him what his first impressions were. “You know, there are so many machines. You have machines for everything. I did not know how to use the phone. I asked some lady and she gave me coins. You have so many machines.” “Wow…” I respond,

I quickly transfer the conversation back to my effort to make him feel at home. “You must be thirsty. Can I get you something to drink?” I step into the kitchen and open the refrigerator. “I have milk, orange juice, water?” He shifts his weight as he answers, setting down his backpack.“Just water, I guess would be fine.” As I hand it to him I ask, diplomatically, “Okay, just to clarify, how do you pronounce your name?” “Oh it’s Amit” he responds. I hear the final t as a hushed “d.” I try to recreate it. “No it’s not a T at the end.” I imagine he’s said this before, and I wonder if his chapter of AIESEC has received any Americans who have also butchered his name. He repeats it: Amit. I try three more times, my attempts don’t seem to satisfy him. “It’s okay,” he aquieseces, “Amit” is fine. “Oh come on,” I respond, “I’ll get it by the time you leave.” My “Oh come on” is voiced as banter. Perhaps it is my inability to pronounce his name that puts me in the mindset of friendly competition at that moment. “Now you try mine…” I deliver the challenge with a smile, and a revived intensity. In my minds eye, my delivery indicates that he won’t be able to hold it against me that I can’t pronounce his name if he also cannot pronounce mine. “Is it Shannoon?” “Shannon, I correct. Then I repeat it quickly with an emphasis on the pronunciation. “Shah-nun.” He tries to recreate my name and does a fair job. “Pretty good.” I tell him

Amit knocks lightly on the white wall of my home. Then he knocks again, harder. “Wait,” he says. “This wall is made of wood.” He looks abruptly across the room at the other wall and walks quickly towards it. In transit he says “Is this whole house made of wood?” His accent seems to thicken at the word wood.
Amir knocks on my other wall. “Oh my God.” He exhales in rush and with a smile. His sudden respiration seems part laugh, part gasp. “Oh my God. This whole house is made of wood!” He exclaims it. This is the first time Amit’s voice has varied from his formal monotone. “Like, how can you make a house out of wood? Aw. It’s impossible.” Again, the traditional accent glares in the word “im-poss-ib-ul.” “Like, what floor is this? Fourth? Come on, doesn’t it fall?” Amit jumps, and the ground reverberates slightly. “Oh my God, the floor is made of wood!” His word are pepperd with early 90s English slang in the repetition of “Like” and “Oh my God.” But Amit’s delivery is far from “valley-girl” style. The word “like” is enunciated always in the same heavy accent with the same pause before the next word. “Oh my God. How did you not know this house was made of wood. Why did you buy it?” He laughs. I smile, awkwardly enchanted. “I didn’t know it was, I guess…” I trail off.

...you looking for what happened then?? I am sorry..it doesnt come in first 30 mins..thts what shannon says ;-)

FLYING ACROSS THE WORLD...19/10/06

From New Haven

I never took a flight before I got into this one for US. But to your surprise I was not at all excited to get into a plane. So got into my plane and it flew over Delhi, it was great to see earth from up there at the height of 35000 feet. It looks like a artificial architectural model. I thought it will be so easy to count people form up there, but trust me you can see a single of them ;-)

The food was quite good inside and to my surprise there were video screes besides each of the seat. I saw some of the movies like x-men and other random. I could also see on a world map where is plane right now. So we crossed Afghanistan and other countries and got over Europe. I looked outside my window down there and saw windmills!!! It was a shock for me. Are they so big that I can see them from this height?? Wow !! and the first country that came to my mind was Netherlands. Looked straight into the map back and yess indeed we were over Netherlands!! Though I could not figure out the AI office ;-) One more interesting observation over Europe was its not safe to go over Europe..Why?? .. I saw out of window and saw so many other planes passing across above my plane or below my plane. There were jets, cargo planes of UPS and Aitalia and Canada Airlines ...theese are the only ones i could see the names of. Shitt there were so many planes flying at the same time...they can seriously crash into. So take your insurance along...hehe

We were over London in a few hours. It was the best view of any country you can get over. London looks beautiful!! I simply loved the country and already made in my mind that I will live there only ;-)..hehe

We had a break at Heathrow airport and then flew for NYC !! My Final destination. It took 7 hours from London to reach over US. The continent looked cold and foggy. You cant figure out if there is land down there below all these dense cloud, but I was hoping that there is some ;-). I could finally see the NY Airport. Its kinda big and when it landed you can see every airplane possible on this earth at this airport. I got through Security Clearance and then went to collect my baggage. I want some kinda trolley to take my luggage on. So I went the place they had all the trolley stacked and I pushed one of them. I think it was stuck a lil hard, so i put more pressure but it did not come out and then some officer form behind came and told me you have to put $3 into it for getting it out!! I was like WHAT??? $3 for a trolley?? Shitt thts like Rs. 150 for me and tht was expensive. I think that was my first interaction with the expensive United States ! But I guess I got safe and sound and was ready to start my amazing experience in US. WORLD IS SO SMALL. I LOVE AIESEC....