Farewell to Spring (Semester and Season--both)

Today was the last class day of the Spring semester. Well, the semester has not yet ended officially, the final exams are yet to come. But since I have no finals this semester, the semester has ended for me.

This semester was a real fun. I must say that of all the 6 semesters I have had here so far, this one was the most enjoyable one for me. The entire 16-week tenure got partitioned into two distinct halves, almost equal, and more than that, without my knowledge!

The first 8 weeks went away in preparing for the Qualifying Exams. All the students who have come here in US for higher studies know the importance of Qualifiers, or nicknamed as "Quals". It is like the qualifying matches before the FIFA World cup. Clearing this exam is just like getting the pass to participate in the main event. Actually, this exam marks the beginning of the "research work" people do here, at least officially. I cleared the exam somehow, although I must admit that on the day of the declaration, I experienced the most tensed 3-4 hours of my life so far, watching Amitabh-starrer Sharaabi, with my fingers crossed!!

Since I was supposed to study "hard" for my exam(which I didn't), I was allowed to enrol in only two courses in this semester, although the original requirement is 3. The courses required 2-3 hours of study every week atmost. So, I got into a lot of trouble once my quals were over. Then I planned something new to spend the remaining 8 weeks.

As I have mentioned before, I have been watching a lot of movies since I came here. This time, I decided to watch some Hollywood movies! Those who know me can imagine how weird this idea is! But, I was determined this time. I gathered the names of some notable movies, and started watching them, one by one. To my surprise, I started liking them (only thing is, I need to pay more attention while watching) . For the last one-and-a-half months, I have watched quite a good number of Hollywood movies, and have become an admirer of Tom Hanks and Kevin Spacey! I do not like the action movies, rather the Drama genre attracts me more. I am hoping to gather a better knowledge of Hollywood movies as time goes by.

The Spring season is also bidding farewell it seems, alike the semester. It is raining consistently almost everyday for the last 15 days or so. I think this is the time of monsoon in this area. Rain always makes me nostalgic, walking in the rain without an umbrella was one of my favourite activities back home, which is continuing here as well.

Last, but not the least, every meeting must end with a delicious eating. The classes ended today, and tomorrow we are having Lunch in the department. All is well that ends well.

Bon Apetite!