Settling in

So now that I can access the net free 24/7 from the MBS internet center (only for MBAs), I dont have to write the “from a borrowed lappie” thingy in front of my posts.

23/8 – I have had my fair share of artworks. I have plentiful of hobbies that I keep myself busy with from reading to guitaring and the likes. It was only when I got over my jet lag and somewhere felt the pangs of hunger within my stomach, I realised that I would have to go to the nearest supermarket, ASDA, to procure some eggs.
I bought some £20 worth of stuff, among which were half a dozen eggs.
An then I realised that boiling an egg was an art too. Just that, an art.
Being too naive, I just tried to do it the way it is supposed to be done. Take a pan of water, (thankfully the *bigg* community kitchen was clean, and the utensils were washed when I settled in), and put in the eggs and boil the water right? Nope. After the eggs burst in the pan and one in the microwave too, I made way to the MBS internet cafe to google “How to boil an egg?”. It was only then that I came to know that you have to put the egg in already boiling water to boil it. Also, if you take it out of the freezer, make a pinhole on the top to prevent it from boiling. With a victorious feeling of my newly acquired gyan, I made my way back to the kitchen and enjoyed my share of a boiled egg – sandwhich, topped with a pickle and some Doritos and cafe to go with it. Life couldn’t be better. My only flatmate as of now is a couple from India and they don’t cook and prefer to eat outside. Hence the kitchen as of now is guinea pig to my vicious experiments. End of day.

24/8 – Woke up the next day and forgot that the bedding was too soft. When I lunged a little to the side to put on the lights, I fell out of bed :-( I managed to cook an omelet for myself, adding some green peppers for the added taste. The taste was good, though the look of the omelet was far from being so. Went to the internet center again and checked my email. Made a couple of new friends – one of them, Lalit, a mechanical engineer just like me. In the afternoon, I went house hunting with Sabrina and Ni, (I already have a permanent accommodation, they don’t), and after we discovered that the apartment they had booked for themselves was *so* small, Sabrina was *so* jealous of mine !! The rest of the day we checked out the city itself. Although they say that Manc is the second largest city in the UK after London, it really doesn’t seem so. Primarily because the city is segregated into shopping and industrial centers, not to mention the separation of Indian food restaurants and nightclubs and pubs. End of day.

25/8 – For some reason that I didn’t care to find out, today is a bank holiday in the UK (or Manc, can’t say). But the implication is that all the banks will be closed and hence today would be a city-exploring day too. I went to the internet center and picked up my welcome kit. Apart from the usual stuff it had a map of the campus. Me and David, visited the Manchester Aquatics Center – its an indoor swimming pool that was built for the 2002 Commonwealth games and after that was opened to the public. They have a workout studio and a gym and even a pool side cafe !! We have to wait for the students’ registration on the 28th so that we have a card to show them to get discounts on student membership. The best part is that the Aquatics Center is a stone’s throw from the university.

Ah yes, the laundry is £3 per wash and drying, so I figured that it would be cheaper to buy a washing machine for 18 months. The only problem is that despite the Brobdingnagian (I just love that word) space, there is no water connection in my living room :-(

26/8 – In the morning we went to see the river Irwell and walked for miles along its course. It’s a pretty meandering river, especially the way it has been routed throuhgout the city, I must say. At one of the canals is a Museum of Science and Industry, where they have all kinds of prototypes of the first aeroplanes, the first engines and turbochargers displayed. We didn’t realise how big the museum was until we entered it. And, yep the entry was free although I think it was a recent change as there were notices on all the entrances saying “The entry is NOW FREE.”

In the evening David, Rashmi, Sabrina and I went to Stuccos’. Its a pub that is typically designed in a British way. The moment we entered a waitress broke a glass and to our amusement, the entire crowd in the pub started clapping and cheering. The British just love humor, when they can find it ! After a modest round of drinks we headed back home and thought that we would fix dinner.

An un-incident occurred on the way back home. We saw a great party being held in an open city square. The party was cordoned off and there were security personnel all around. Unable to dim my curiosity, I approached a person and told him that we wanted to join the party too. He first looked at me, then at David then at Sabrina then at Rashmi and then repeated the loop. “Well… if you insist…”, he started after he was done running the look-loop over to all four of us. It was then that we realised that to join the party I would have to go with David and Sabrina would have to go with Rashmi. It was a gay party. We decided against it and continued on.

UNFORTUNATELY for me and FORTUNATELY for everyone else, I was the only one who knew how to cook !! So David procured the veggies and the meat and we headed home just to find that he had forgotten to get vegetable oil. Rashmi had to “rush” down (no pun intended) :-P to the grocers to get a bottle. All in all, I cooked the veggie curry, David “cooked” the meat, (although what he did of it is another story), while the girls just hogged on the chips and coke. Huh !! We enjoyed our dinner, with soft music playing on David’s lappie. Though I know Sabrina was having a tough time gulping down whatever we had cooked. Around midnight, Rashmi did the dishes and we had our after dinner strawberry cake, and called it a night. End of Day.

27/8 – Went to ASDA, and my refrigerator is fast filling up. Peppers, onions, tomatoes, ginger-garlic pastes… The men who have come with their wives are luckier I feel; they can concentrate on their studies without worrying about the logistics of a kitchen a la grande. But not me.

Kudos to whoever arranged the “informal” get-together for MBA students for choosing the venue of the meet today. The Hilton Hotel, Manchester. I guess I was the only one who was under-dressed for the occassion. Tees and jeans – the usual. Typical bachelor ;) Thanks dude, never paid £10 for a spoonful of any drink in my life. The gathering looked more like a procession of 60 some people marching to the Hilton, but on reaching there we did not have a place to sit. Nevertheless, once everyone got to order their drinks, we made it into a buffet gathering and while we got talking, everyone just forgot about sitting or relaxing. Surprisingly everyone (some of the students whom I didn’t even know) addressed me as the “famous Arnav Sud”, not realising that my research and replies in the forums of the MBS intranet were more the result of maniacal panic rather than “fame”. Everyone, the students, their spouses and the tiny tots (them little imps !!) had a good time at the Hilton. One toddler used Celina’s camera to click some candid pictures. Mom Kelly, your daughter is an Ansel Adams in the making.

Me and Celina left the party early, as she had to grab her dinner from some supermarket, which when we reached there, was closed. She had to do with a burger from McDeez. When I reached my flat I cooked rajmah-chawal and re-discovered my hidden talents at dinner.

The free time during the days has been a cup of coffee, and a novel, read sitting by the window watching the city calm outside, or just some weird experiments done over the kitchen stove. Or maybe shifting things and furniture to my convenience in my room, or just clicking pictures at social gatherings. I still have to get used to opening doors with electronic cards and talking to vending machines (dunno)

Tomorrow the class of 2010 goes ahead with the formal registration !! Que Sera, Sera !! On the other hand I hope its Per aspera, ad astra !! ;-) Wish me luck !!

P.S. Yes FIRE members! The mission of studying the migratory patterns of Indian and foreign “birds” in UK is now in effect!! ;-)