Sunday, August 26, 2007

Sweet Life in Windy NJ


I am here in NJ.I am staying with seniors for the time being.The place is called cedar lane and is more or less filled with indians.NJ itself has an excellent desi population.You step out into the city and you always spot ppl who look definitely indian.Almost everyone here is in ECE.Civil,machanical and metematical finance are definitely a rarity.Almost everyone has booked apartments here in cedar lane and will be moving in september.the apartments come with fridge,heating,dishwasher,hot/cold water and a balcony.You should see the place it looks like a hotel or something.the whole city seems to be landscaped.There are trees everywhere and a humongous park/reserve next door to cedar lane.you often spot deer and dozens of geese/swans are frolic in the football ground.
Life certainly is different here.So many things are differnet.You see a car turn and almost expect it to turn into a different lane, but it doesnt coz of the right sided traffic.You cannot just cross the road.that called jaywalking and is an offence and can be fined 100$.You have to go to the traffic signal and press a button and wait for it to change before crossing.In other places cross only at the zebra crossings.The drivers here are very afraid of accidents and will stop like 100 m away when they see that you want to cross.The people here are very polite too and ready to help.i am still to see the rowdy,swearing americans who you see on TV.There are such a lot of different cars here that you couldnt possibly recognise the models.You have to read at the back.There are even car companies you havent heard of, or at least i hadn't.The use of toilet paper is certainly an uncomfortable change and the water seal here is also very high.I used to wonder how they would dunk a guys head inside a toilet in hollywood movies and they would come out wet to the neck.The climate in NJ is very cold. i was told to expect slight rains.there was that and lots more.The whole sky was covered with dark clouds for a week.It was the the same from morn to evening so yu couldnt tell what time of the day it was by just loking at the sky.Friday was the first day i saw the wsky after coming here.
th evegetation and animals here are really different.The trees are coniferous type.And there huge ferns everywhere.The squirrels are called chipmunks coz they are not squirells.they are larger and less afraid and have a grey body.the campus has beautiful buldings and lawns.we have free bus service in low ride buses.There are three main campuses-Busch,Livingston,and cook/Douglous.We have classes at Busch only.There is also the place called College Avenue which houses all the administration buildings.The place actually looks like a village with houses housing(?) various offices.Its like the Rutgers ppl came and drove out the village folk, like the Others drove out the Dharma initiative in LOST.
these are like all the differences i could observe.there were man y thing s i was silently jotting down in my mind but now i cant pull them up.so i am gonna end my post here.

PS:you can drink water directly from the tap coz its treated.And that pic up there is my future apmnt.the one on the top left.

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