Interesting Facts about New Zealand Part Deux

#6 Natives are called Kiwis, not after the fruit, but after the bird

#7 Mauris are the indigenous group

#8 Giving (monetary) tips is not part of the culture

#9 New Zealand is famous for its outdoor adventures and importance it gives to its environment

#10 Clothes are really expensive for some reason, but pizza is really cheap.

#11 Kia Ora means Hello, Good Day

#12 Mauri way of greeting is to touch the tip of a person's nose to another's and breathe in the same air signifying (I think) the dual ownership of the air and land around them. For children, it's a peck on the cheek.

#13 Not really about NZ, but I went snorkling, kayaking, and sliding on a luge (cement, not ice) for the first time in my life here. And I was part of a CPO- Controlled Purchasing Operation- where I went to 4 pubs in one night to uncover those selling alcohol illegally to minors :D

Interesting Facts about New Zealand

Because there are too many things for me to write about on a personal level and I can't put it all down here.

#1 Mosquitoes are called 'mossies'

#2 End of day is usually between 4 to 5 pm...even stores close at that time!

#3 Bread slices are thicker

#4 'Oh yeah' is not a question, but in fact an acknowledgment that I don't need to respond to

#5 They have wet summers. So girls are in dresses getting wet and guys in shorts when it's pouring outside.

Goodbyes

I don't know what to title this post because it's going to be a lot of things. I don't want to give the impression that I've been really affected by my grandfather's passing away or that I've been moping around. I lived with him for almost half my life and there are warm memories for me to cherish. But that was a long time ago and like everyone, I can hardly remember my infant years. More than anything though, this is one of the times where I regret being an expatriate.

My paternal grandfather passed away on Thursday. I guess it came as a shock to all of us because it was my grandmother whose health had been ailing and doctors were warning us about. It seems like my grandpa was up early in the morning to use the bathroom and suffered from a massive heart attack. It wasn't until later when my grandma woke up and noticed he was gone that she went to check and called for help. Among other things that bothered me, I right now really wish I were in India. I wish I could've seen my grandpa a few more times. Of course I'll feel this way now that he is gone I guess? But more than anything, I wish I were there with my family right now. I miss the rituals, I miss the coming together of family members to say goodbye, I miss being able to cope with the empty feeling with others. Thousands of miles away here, besides being shocked, it's hard to come to terms with the fact that he is no longer on this Earth anymore. It may sound weird to people who have been to funerals, but I actually wish I were there for this one so I could confront the loss and try and cope with it among close ones who are going through the same feelings.

The Job Search

I just came back from my day of interviews and had to find a space to vent..so here goes:

My first interview was for a healthcare company. I arrived on time..there was a written part which took me a little longer than expected because directions were kind of vague. But I managed to finish it and thought I did pretty good. Then there was the 'panel' part. Which, you know, by the sound of it, you would think consisted of these top notch officials looking to see how passionate and qualified you are for the job. But no, it composed of two other interns I would be working with and two other people, one of whom didn't speak at all and the other asked only a few questions. I introduced myself and did everything according to the book: setting up the context, explaining why I'm interested, qualifications, etc. But it was awkward. The so called 'panel' felt very inexperienced in these things. They didn't know what questions to ask, there were silences when I didn't know whether to initiate something or not. This might seem full of me, but I honestly felt older than the other two interns, more mature, and like I've been through more. Maybe I wasn't prepared for the interview because I couldn't really find material on the internet and didn't know what to expect, but I honestly came off feeling good about it. And then I met with another person...older and I'm guessing in charge of the project. She event told me that I did fine on the written part and interviewed well. So how did that make me feel? Good! Until a few hours later when I get the email that though I did well on the test and interviewed 'really well', they couldn't offer me the position.

I am irked. Mostly at nobody's fault, but I have to vent. One for the last lady who had raised my hopes of getting the job. Another for the interns who, looking back, might have felt almost (for lack of a better word) threatened by my answers? I don't know. But I feel like I did a mistake by interviewing so well! Like maybe I shouldn't have been so elaborate on my descriptions to make it seem like I have done so much? Should I have played it down so they would think I'm more capable of a data-inputting job? Maybe they think I'm overqualified? But I have to start somewhere! I'm sorry, I feel really mean saying this, but how could the interns who interviewed me get the job when I couldn't. Of course I'm just bitter about it so I'm not thinking properly but I'm so sick of jobs on the one hand that say Masters degree required and on the other hand reject me like this. I mean, what is a girl supposed to do??? :(

Starbucks

After almost two years of boycotting Starbucks, I had my usual drink today- Java Chip Frappucino with 2% milk.

It started in my Global Poverty & Practice class when I learned how companies like Starbucks and Nestle are driving coffee prices down in Africa where as the value of coffee has increased rapidly over the last few years. So basically, farmers are getting paid less and we, consumers are paying more, resulting in the middle men- companies like Starbucks making a huge profit. The conspiracy- where in the big companies come together and force down the market value- has had such a big influence that it is causing famines in parts of Africa. Some farmers were forced to switch to other, more cash producing crops like tobacco, knowing very well how bad it is for health and society. What choice did they have?

So, I decided to boycott Starbucks. Why should I support such a corporation? Their drinks are expensive and unhealthy anyways so I was actually gaining. For those who knew me then, I loved Starbucks. I was an avid fan and had my signature drink- Java Chip Frappucino. So it took some motivation and discipline to give it up, but I was proud that once I had decided, I never succumbed...until now I guess.

But I began losing conviction though. For one, almost all companies, I'm pretty sure, are involved in the conspiracy. So if I really wanted to stop supporting corporations, I should just stop drinking coffee altogether. And let's face, I love coffee and I'm not going to give it up. And especially now that McDonalds has entered the coffee business, I'm sure their standards are even lower than that of Starbucks. So at one point, it came to the point where I was just boycotting because I had lasted this long and wanted to see how long I could go.

The other day, my uncle started laughing again when I said I wouldn't go and it really got me thinking as to why I'm still doing it. On the one hand, I guess I just wanted to continue, as it wasn't healthy and it was expensive. But on the other, I'd rather be supporting Starbucks than McDonalds (not that I know details about much of McDonalds history, but just going from their reputation thus far), and if I really wanted to boycott every coffee company that was involved, that would have to be pretty much every company.

So today, after almost 2 years, I drank Starbucks, each sip filling me up with guilty. I felt guilty that I finally succumbed, that I was losing my Berkeleyan spirit, that I was giving in to another part of the mass, commercial, convenient first world way of life....only to realize that I actually don't like my drink as much as I used to before! Surprisingly, I found it too sweet, watery, and not nearly as good as when I used to drink it. So I guess I won't be frequenting Starbucks as much as before anymore, but now the question begs, should I just continue with my boycott? Why am I feeling this guilty?

This post is just a way of me trying to find reasons I guess?

Dilli

This post is a long time coming, I should've written about it as soon as I got back. But internet here is not constant or dependable. Better late than never I guess.

Delhi was in a word awesome. I was really impressed with the city's ability to keep it's historic feel in tact. There were so many monuments, from different times in history- it was fascinating to learn about the different emperors, dynasties, monuments, tombs, etc. The architecture was even more amazing. The intricacy of he work and the deep history within each was so humbling. For example, every flower in the Taj Mahal is apparently faced down, to signify mourning of the dead queen. It was fascinating to be surrounded by so much history and try to imagine how the kings and queens lived so many years ago. Not only tombs that signified love on a large scale, but the artifacts of wars were amazing as well. I'm usually not the one to be fascinated by battle or wars but to see the Forts, standing magnificently tall was humbling. I've seen movies where a fort is surrounded by water and the bridge that connects the fort to the road is drawn up during battle, where warriors stand on top and shoot arrows, and heard about secret tunnels, only one of which successfully lead to the outside, but it was something else to see it in person. Suddenly these surreal things seemed so real. I am, and our generation is after all, just a tiny tiny piece in the history of humans. Even more than that, I was impressed with the city's ability to evade modernity/commercialization, which currently Bangalore is not able to. Maybe it's that the population density isn't as high as it is in Bangalore, and Delhi isn't the center of the IT and biotechnology worlds but there were no high rise buildings or towering apartment buildings. After every visit, I feel like Bangalore has been slowly losing it's innocence as it embraces modernity and opens it's doors to the capitalistic world...so it was nice to see that there are cities who have evaded this step. Whether voluntarily or not, Delhi succeeded in retaining it's native feel.

The people of Delhi though, told another story. I did not feel the closeness, the friendliness or the sense of community between people that I feel here in Bangalore. Here, though we are all strangers to one another, there is a sense of brotherliness that is really empowering. It's not always one man for himself here, they do care about helping others. Of course this could entirely be because I've lived in this city for so long that time has given me the opportunity to witness this sense of community, and that couldn't really happen in Delhi because I was there for 4 days. But I did feel that sense of competing against each other, one man for himself, that I often feel in places like the United States.

The food was a total let down. I have heard so much about food being great in North India, and as a person who loves North Indian food and always orders it when I go to restaurants here in Bengaluru, I thought my taste buds would have a blast in Dilli. Boy were my expectations let down. Not only was the food almost twice the prices in Bangalore, but it was so not worth it. I am really sad to say that I had better North Indian food once I came back to Bengaluru than I did there. Maybe we didn't go to the right restaurants. Or maybe the North Indian food we eat here in South Indian isn't the legit kind and my tongue is just used to it but the food was not as good as I had expected it to be.

All in all though, I am still in love with Dilli and can't wait to go back. Even though we were there for 4 days and took advantage of every hour as we could, I feel like there is still so much to see. And I went without really reading about the history and was humbled by the richness of history and tradition. It was amazing to learn about the past, how people lived, to realize how far and how not so far we've come. We've come far in technology but still have battles and wars and death. I am falling more and more in love with traveling. I thought 4 days wouldn't be enough to see all the things I wanted to, to soak myself in Dilli, but I already feel like I went below the surface. Maybe now I am more open to traveling as a tourist...something I've always been opposed to my entire life.

Hong Kong Firsts

Hello! I feel like I need to address the few people who do read my blog and want to hear about my travels so far :)

I'm in the city now. We landed here on Sunday and left for the farmhouse on Monday- so it was pretty hectic, not to mention a drastic change. I went from tech savy US and HK to Bangalore city and then to the farm house in no time. As you can imagine, it was a little hard to adjust to the new environment- with basically no internet, constant electricity problems, and self-imposed house arrest because I'm afraid of dogs (I can just feel the eyes rolling here). But we had a notebook drive- where we donate books to public school children who can't afford them- which helped make the farm trip more interesting and relevant to me. I had mixed feelings of the trip...so many that it's probably best saved for another blog entry...but I wanted to blog about our Hong Kong adventures here. We didn't really stay in HK, we were only there in transit. But since we had like 10 hours, I was determined to venture out of the airport.

We initially had serious trouble finding our way. We didn't know where to get our visas, if they would give them to us at all, where to store our hand luggage in the meantime (with 4 of us traveling, we had quite a bit), whether we should go out at all and what not. But we ended up figuring it out and decided to take the taxi from the airport to the Peak. The Peak was awesome...you really can see all of HK from there. Personally for me, the view was a little bit too commercial. There were tall buildings everywhere! (But I'd love to study or come to HK for business trips) We took a taxi down..asking the driver to drop us off in a shopping center. And guess where he dropped us off? Next to a giant poster of Megan Fox and some football player and all these big named, posh stores. I guess, me with my gym wear, frizzy hair and oily skin didn't give off the poor people look like I thought it did. But we were able to find our way to the less developed, more authentic parts of HK. And this is something I've always wanted to do. In every new country I visit, in addition to seeing the developed parts with all the tall buildings and fancy stores, I want to see the underdeveloped areas as well. I want to see how the country was before commercialization. I want to see how the not so opulent people live. I've wanted to do this in every new country I visit- I've seen it in India and seen and heard of it in the US- but not many other countries. Walking through the crowded streets with road-side vendors, guys cooking shirtless, seeing all the fake electronics, I realized that I can finally check off some of the things I've always wanted to do in foreign places.

On a side note- the humidity was unbearable for my kind of hair! Whatever I did and put in it, nothing could prevent it from turning into curly friz in that weather.

We then took the Airport Express back, wanting to get off in the middle station, but realized our ticket wouldn't allow it. So we just got off at the airport and took the bus to the Giant Buddha. People kept saying we take cable cars...and the San Francsican in me obviously thought about the type back at home. But wrong! I guess HK cable cars are ski lifts...that take you from the city to the Giant Buddha located on a hill through air. Not only did I not expect this at all, but I realized that this has been another dream/goal of mine. To go on a ski lift. I know it sounds kinda lame..but I've never been on one and can't ski to save my life so I wasn't sure when I'd get an opportunity to.

Added to that, the Buddha statue itself was awesome. Sitting on top of a hill, literally in the clouds, it was breath taking. More than a religious person, I'm spiritual. So to see a giant statue, in the clouds, I was kind of in awe- not that I have any knowledge of Budhism whatsoever, but I felt like Budha would've liked the place of his statue. They make you pay for the view..you have to climb 200 steps to get to the top. I was exhausted...having taken the mcats that morning, and then having sat through a 14 hour flight, my legs were going through bursts of prolonged silence and vigorous activity. But I was determined to climb them..they weren't that bad...and I bet I looked gross by the end of it, but it was totally worth it.

We finally went back to the airport (on a double decker bus, which was another first), ate something really quick (I'm so sick of most airplane food by now) and were escorted to the gate- running with the flight attendant because we were so late. We were the last passengers to get on the plane..but we made it. It was so worth it. Even if the trip lasted only 10 or so hours, we got to see so much and do so many of the things I've always wanted to do in a foreign place....It only confirmed my interest in traveling.

Graduation...dun dun dun!

As many of you know, I will be graduating in less than two weeks with my Bachelors degree. And as some of you know, I feel like I'm more unsure now of what I want to do in life than I was two years ago. I feel like I've spent this whole semester trying to come to terms with that...trying to find the right inspiration to do work when I was not interested, trying to decide what I want to do during my year off when I wasn't getting any call-backs, and so on...
I feel like I still have so many interests that have remained unexplored over the past 4 years. One of which is policy, like working in the government. I've always been interested in policy...ever since I was a child, I dreamed of becoming the President of this country or the Prime Minister of that but did not really do much beyond that. For some reason, it always took the back seat. Like for example, in middle school, I had the option of being in the student council or an advanced math class but as they were at the same time, couldn't do both. And not surprisingly, you can guess which one I chose. I could've taken a political science class here in Berkeley, but apparently I could opt out of it with my AP credit. And because I changed my major and decided to do a minor only during my junior year, I had to take that offer. And so on and so forth, somehow, this interest of mine has always taken the back seat.
Don't get me wrong, I don't regret the path I've chose over the past 4 years. I have always been interested in health and helping people and my time at Berkeley not only helped me sort out how I want to pursue this field, but also helped me see how I don't want to (lab research is so not for me). So though I am happy about what I have accomplished, I guess what I'm trying to say is that there wasn't time to pursue all my interests.
As such, when it has now come time for me to decide what I want to do next, understandably, I have been very hesitant. I think I have complained to some of you how I can't see the end of the tunnel anymore, how I am not able to inspire myself to put in my best into school. Basically, it hasn't been a very heartfelt or passionate semester, I feel like I'm just breezing by on the surface. But after many politically driven movies (or maybe I'm just noticing the political undercurrents more?), and many you-tube videos, I have come to realize that it is okay to feel this way right now. It is frustrating how I now seem to be more undecided than I was a few years ago but that is probably because now I have to make a decision. But just because I can't seem to point a finger down any path and say "Yes, this is where I want to go" doesn't mean that I should just settle for any path. Coming from a traditional family, I think I just need extra time to accept this fact. And I think I finally have (mostly)...that it's okay to be unsure and that I shouldn't do something that I don't feel entirely confident about.
So with this sort of enlightenment, I think I am going to stop beating around the bush as to what I should do during my year off and take this time to explore that interest of mine which I have never given the opportunity to- public policy. And even if this means that I have to volunteer, yet again, then fine. But I am going to stop thinking about how this will fit into my future and what might enhance my application more...because honestly, I don't even know what that future looks like at this point. So I am going to do the best I can in these finals, because some of the classes I do like, and the rest, well, I need to do good in them for when I do apply to school. Because whatever I decide on doing, it most probably will involve some sort of graduate school and that means my grades matter. Though I don't really know what I am working towards, I know that doing good in these classes will help me at some point in my future. And so, I will work hard just to get good grades...however shallow that might sound. It's okay that I'm so unsure about these things now..because I'd rather it be now than half way through a career. So although I'm not as excited or as sure of myself as some of my graduating friends are...I'll figure it out...I will :)

That time of Year

It's that time of the year again. When the excitement of coming back from India is wearing off, and I long to go back. For years, I've noticed that during and right after break is the time when I get really homesick for India. I don't know what it is- I've tried to pin point where these feelings come from but have never succeeded...

For one, I think during winter break is one of the few times of the year where in I have no set agenda and can relax. And as I come to terms with my mind, I just have more time to think about how I'm feeling and why. So maybe it's just that I am homesick throughout the year but am becoming aware of it only now?

Or is it that by the start of the Spring semester, I'm burned and just need a change of pace and place? In summer, I make it a point to do things non-school related so it serves as a nice break from the usual papers and midterms. I feel refreshed and energized to go back to school in the fall. But in winter break, I don't usually do something out of the ordinary. Just hang out at home and a lot of the times, search and decide what I'm going to be doing in the summer. So maybe I'm just not as refreshed by the time I go back to school in the Spring?

But what makes me specifically pine to go back to India as opposed to some other place? Since it is the one place we regularly go to every summer, maybe I equate vacation with India and hence think of each other interchangeably? Or is it the relatives whose constant attention and care I crave? Maybe it's constantly being the center of attention of a large family that is so different than my small one here that I miss?

Which really makes me wonder if this is just me or is this the story of every expatriate? On the one hand, I spend most of the year wanting to go back to India. But when I do go back, I am not able to stay for 3 months straight. I am at this point where I hesitate when someone asks me where my home is...will I ever be able to call a country home again? Can I ever be in one country without longing for another?

Wedding Daze

I just finished watching the relatively old, not so popular movie 'Wedding Daze' and can't get over how hilarious and yet meaningful it was. Each character/couple in the movie put on a facade like they are perfect and content with their lives, in search of this perfect wife/daughter-in-law/etc. but you see how each have their guilty pleasures and imperfections. But that is what makes life...life...the interesting, weird parts right? We are all imperfect, but as long as we are happy with someone who can bear our imperfections, what more could you want?
And I loved how not cheezy and overly romantic the movie was. I'm not the kind of person who can outwardly express her feelings...well, most of the times at least...and so it's always nice to see other people have the same difficulty as me ;) It comes out weird and in awkward situations, but at least it comes out.
I think I liked how dysfunctional each relationship was and how far from perfect each character is but still they are able to be happy with each other and in the end, that is what matters. Maybe it's just me being excited about watching a semi-decent movie after a long time or just me being able to relate to the characters, but I'm glad I watched this movie...even if I'm going to sleep at 5am by doing so.