Day 62

I've been living in India for two months already. Two whole months. Honestly, I haven't really had time to notice. So far, I have had more than 200 hours of lectures, had 32 graded evaluations and gotten food poisoning four times. And I am enjoying it. There are moments, of course, where I wish things were slightly different. Like during that last point, I sometimes wish I didn't live with two others who can hear everything that is going on in the bathroom - but except from that, life is pretty good.

Maybe I should have been posting more about all those fancy places to visit in India, but so far, I have basically not had time for it. I moved here to live like everyone else here, not to for a long holiday.

Of course I hope to get time for traveling too, but life as an indian doesn't really include impulse trips across countries and fantastic attractions every day. Many of the students here have actually never been outside of India at all, both because India on it's own is a really big country, but also because it is very expensive to travel. Compared to bak home, traveling is still cheaper here, but since the indian salaries are lower, it becomes quite expensive. Therefore many of my fellow students takes the train when going home - even when it takes more than 24 hours to get there.

India is extremely different than back home, but still I am somehow adjusting to it, and it does feel a little like home now. At least a little. I am, for example, still so exhausted after 12 hours of class and four evaluations that I almost fall apart, but I am starting to be able to tell myself that that is perfectly ok too. It is extremely frustrating to not perform absolutely maximally perfection-like on everything, but I am starting to realize that it is ok to be happy with my work as long as I tried my best.

I am even starting to get used to the curfew. Well, I mean, I don't like them, but at least I am able to come home and sign in before the red line appears under my name. Everyone else has to do it, so after a while it has just become a part if it,

And there are a lot of things I have come to appreciate. Like the way indians appear to be open ti accept things (and each other) just the way they are. And they really are them selves all the time, there is no need for analyzing what the person just meant. Back home we tend to wrap things into polite phrases, we are afraid of being rude in public, even when things aren't good enough and we tend to try not to bother each other to much. Those concepts doesn't seem to exist here. As a result, you come really close to people quite fast. My room is always filled with people, something that drives me completely nuts sometimes, but it has also made me capable of telling people to get out this instance when they I need to study for those three exams I have in the morning. And it doesn't make you rude. Amazing. People seems to be more genuinely aware of the need ti function together, they are used to be together all the time, in a more intense way that I am used to, so it also takes a lot more before they are offended by things than back home.

Oh, and yes, I am getting a lot tougher I think. I am pushing for things more, and I am getting better at being reeeeally clear about what I want. If nit, nothing ever happens here. I live in a country where people say yes to everything, or just doesn't answer - and there is absolutely no guarantee it happens. In Germany, you would get it right in your face if someone disagreed with you, so it's been quite a transition. Here, there is no such thing as being nice and polite and waiting for your turn if you need something. You will wait forever.

It is really weird to notice these changes. I think I am handling it s where between partially to mediocrely well so far. I am so thankful I have Abhimanyu and Praveen (the two Indians who came to Berlin last year) around though. They know how it is on "the other side", and know why I get frustrated from not getting responses on my emails, from eating vegetarian food all the time, from all the sugar you will find in everything and from people steering at me all the time. They let me complain about it for a while, try to explain why it is the way it is and lift me back up. Without their Europe/India translation, I suspect I would have jumped out of a window by now,

Ah, man, I have to get back to class though. Two presentations and lectures till eight thirty is waiting for me. Phew. What a life huh? But some say you only live once, and if it's true, it should probably be filled up well, right?




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27,5 hours of birthday

One of the big advantages of living in a country far far away from home is the timedifference on your birthday. This thursday I turned 25 (uah..) and it kind of lasted for 3,5 hours extra this year. Not only did it last longer, it was celebrated differently too. Indian style. Man, I was a little worried about how it would be after seeing them being celebrated the last month. How it was? There was cake in my face, hair, arms, in my stomack (at least a little) and on everyone there.

 

In addition to my birthay, that thursday contained an exam and ten hours of lecture too, så there was no big shebang this year, but it was still an incredibly nice day. In the evening when I turned 25, the girls from my dorm, the boys from Berlin and a crazy group of guys from my class was there - together with an enormous amount of cake that was thrown og everyone and used to drown me in.

 

Birthdaysongs were sung in English and Hindi, and I got presents and hugs and everything. Back in my room that evening there was even more cake, and this time we even got to eat a bit of it. And when we entered, my part of the room was decorated by the girls too. Loved it!

 

The poster over my bed, with greetings in Hindi! Saving it forever

 

Me and (almost) all the girls in my hall

 

Straigh out of the shower, with almost no more cake and glitter on us

 

 Calling everyone to thank them for greetings and presents

 

 

The celebration comitee

 

 

As I mentioned, almost the entire day was spent in school, and with an exam the day after as well, the night of my birthday was spent quite calmly in our dorm. We ordered pizza and Indian food for everyone and ate on the floor in our room. You don`t really need more than that to have a great evening with your friends.





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Me and my batch

Here we are, the guys I study with and I. We are 53 students in the marketing specialization, and in adition to us, there are three other batches; supply chain, HR and Finance. Ours  is obviously the prettiest.

For the first time in my life (I think) I was not told to stand in front cause I am too short to stand in the back. God I love this country.



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Studying in India

I wrote the first post about studying in Berlin after living there for about a month, and almost without realizing it, it turns out I have been living in India for even longer already. The days really fly by here. Anyways, I figured it is about time to write a post about how the studies are in India as well, in case any of you are considering to study here at some point. For the rest of you who are in here, kind of just to spy on the life of that weird blonde girl you once knew who suddenly moved to India; that is ok too. I know Big Brother would be able to see me anyways, if he wanted to.

I will just assume that you understand that it is just as different to study in every college in India, as it is back home, but here you will at least get some sort of a peek into my version; The life as a foreign exchange student at Symbiosis International University, at the outside of the little Indian city, Pune, with only 3,7 million (registered) citizens.

Symbiosis International University is the common name for several schools or colleges under carrying the name of Symbiosis. One of them is called Symbiosis Institute of International Business. There you will find somewhere around 1500 MBS students, and one of them happens to be me. And just to clarify it; I am here as part of a double degree program between this college and my school in Berlin, Germany. I might tell you more about that arrangement some other time.

Before that, I will tell you how it is to be a student at SIIB. Because even though I am all new in this huge country called India, there is no difference between the other students and Wowa (the other German student) and me. Since day one we have been expected to participate in presentations, groupwork, exams, and to write hand ins like every one else. I think that is kind of nice actually. We were a part of every one else from the start. But that work I just mentioned? It is quite a lot. Just have a look at some of the tests I will be having in the upcoming weeks. In addition to this, there are and ins and presentations too.

It looks quite different from the exam schedules back in Europe, huh? And why that is? In Europe the classes are usually worth 5-10 credit points, which leaves us with something like 3-6 classes each semester. Here the classes are worth 1 or 2 credit points, and 18 classes. Each class has it`s own three hour lecture every week, and 4 evaluations on average. 

The lectures are held in English, as most of the higher education is in India after what I have been told. India har more than 20 official languages, and even though most of the Indian children now have Hindi in school, there are several students in my university that can only communicate with each other in English. Quite a few people have asked me how I am dealing with the Indian version of English, and I have to admit I am struggling a bit somethimes with following it. Especially when they are eager; they talk incredibly fast! But usually it really isn`t an issue at all, and I don`t exactly speek perfect Oxford-English either so I`m just trying to get used to it. 

Most of the lecturers have all these fancy jobs outside the university, and therefore they have a lot of good stories to tell about life in the real Indian world. I am learning a lot about Indian brands and work culture as well, and I love it. I know so much more about it than I could have ever learned back home now. But even though I am enjoying most of the lectures a lot, I am unable to stay awake through most of them. I am pretty sure my body just isn`t made for sitting down for that many hours and just listen to information every day. Luckily, it turns out I am not alone though: 

And it is not like it is aaaall work and no play here. Even though it is a lot of work, all of the students here are really impressing me with their energy level. We usually have lectures for eight hours every day, pluss stuff to read, and still they seem happy and energized most of the time, and they are participating in all kinds of extra curricular activites when they get beck to their rooms after class.

Because, yes, we live in dorms by the school. The girls have theirs, and the boys have theirs. No entering the other one pe-lease. We are three girls in one room, and I don`t know..maybe 60 girls on each floor. Obviously the door to our room is never shut for long. Living in a dorm is quite OK actually. There is a lot of talking and a lot less studying, but I didn`t really move here just to learn from textbooks - I want to get to know the people too.

How it is to live this close to people? It is very different and unusual for me, definitely. You are never really alone for long. Sometimes my head is so full of thoughts I am waiting to think through till I get time for my self, that it feels like it is about to explode. But I have been so lucky with my roommates; they are so sweet and caring, I couldnt have done better.

And that is obciously very important here, because there is a lot going on all the time. During a regular week I don`t think I am exaggurating when I say we have five hand ins, two presentations and two exams. At least it feels that way. In addition to that, there is always something extra that comes up. Sometimes I really think I might go mad from all the things that comes up in the last minute. Like yesterday, when my classes was supposed to last til 6:30, and my plan was to spend the whole evening reading for todays exam. In the afternoon we suddenly received an email from another lecturer telling us to write another handin and give it in by nine this morning. I almost jumped out of the window. Still, it always turns out OK here, and once you are done, your body is so full on adrenaline.

As I have written about earlier, a lot of things are very different from what I expected when I moved here, but a few things are just the way we learned about them in school as well. Like the way they the students and lectureres seem to relate to time. Every one of the lecturers except from one are notorically at least 15 minutes late to the lectures, some even half an hour. Like on saturdays; we receive all these strickt and angry emails telling us to be in class 10:40 at the latest, but I am usually all alone in that classroom till 11.00. At that time the students are usually there, but the lecturer is often missing 15-20 minutes after that too. 

I am somehow getting used to it now, and sometimes I am all happy go lucky crazy, coming a minute or two too late myself, and it is perfectly fine. Except from that one class that starts at 15:00 that same saturday. I seem to lever make in on time for that one. And this of course, is the one lecture that starts on time. I`m not all alone about that one either though, and I have been used as "the poor foreigner who doesnt know better" alibi already. It works too, and of course, when he lets me in, the others can enter too. 

The cafe in our school
By now I have become pretty good at ordering  black coffee, no sugar

The roll of Honor inside our school, the best student from every year is put up there, for all the future students to see. Quite a motivation, huh?

Well, I think that might be all I can think of about the student life in India right now. I know it might sound kind of busy, and it is too. But most of all it is incredibly nice, exsiting, fun and full of learning to leave here in somebody else`s everyday lives, lives that are so different from those I know from back home.


Have a nice week everyone


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Indian MBA: The thoughest education in the world

I remember during my bachelors, when I was in the student union, in charge of student rights and educational quality. I remember working towards the school board, arguing on behalf of the students that was told to take two exams in two days. I remember arguing about how tough it would be to read, and how mentally exhausting it is to deal with the pressure of it.

I wounder what I will remember when I think back on the three week period in october/november, when the external exams for this semester are schedueled:

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Indian festivals: Happy Onam

Before I moved here, I heard lots of rumors about all the Indian festivals. And it`s not an exaggeration to say all of them. There are so many of them, there is no way I can keep track of them. But this wednesday, we celebrated Onam, the harvesting festival of the state of Kerala. And what are festivals like here? There is colors, food, flowers, laughter and fun everywhere. 

And for the very first time I wore a Saree, that amazingly pretty dress the Indian women wear  when they want to show their prettiest side. And I felt sooo pretty too. I walked around the whole day feeling like a Disney princess. 

Food is served: 

And it comes on a banana tree leaf, and you are supposed to eat it with your fingers, uah 

I got amazingly good help putting the Saree on. My God, it`s a complicated process. I don`t think I would be able to do it my self if my life depended on it. And at this point, I think that is the only reason I can think of for why I will not wear one every day for the rest of my life. 

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The really really home sick day

Things I miss about home:


- I miss putting fish on bread in busy mornings and calling it breakfast
- I miss fried eggs
- I miss cooking my own food
- I miss sarcastic Norwegian humor
- I miss having Internet connection that let's me talk on skype all night if I want to
- I miss having a place to go where I know I can be alone for ten minutes
- I miss sleeping continuously for six hours
- I miss having days with "only two lectures"
- I miss having time to work out
- I miss being able to walk alone at night
- I miss not getting sick from what everyone else can eat
- I miss my dog
- I miss girls night with salads and pesto crutons
- I miss my dad's fresh out of the oven bread
- I miss drinking tap water
- I miss looking at food without being afraid of getting food poisoning. Again.
- I miss talking with my mum and my friends
- I miss having fish for dinner
- I miss not having to explain why I came back after 10 pm
- I miss waking up from my own alarm clock
- I miss big cups of black coffee
- I miss eating with a knife and a fork
- and raw paprika


God, I miss crispy raw paprika



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Radio Mirchi

Talentshow, indian style ?

Hindi-songs, Bollywood-moves, accordians, gitar, and a blond chick.

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My roomies

These are my two roomies Radhika and Aishwaria. Together we will be sharing 25 sqm and one bathroom. No problem at all when they are as sweet as these two: 

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Adventure Plus

Here are a few pictures from the trip to Adventure Plus, the adventure park we visited on wednesday. I Am sort of in class, so I`m afraid there is no time to explain what it was like. But I bet you will be able to tell from the pictures that we had a lot of FUN:

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