Cloudy days and Mondays don't get me down :)

Monday, Sept 27, 2010

30 minutes to the next day; its 12 degrees, Wavin' Flag on the radio and a potato-sandwich (its potatoes 3rd day in a row) thanks to the 2.5 kilos purchased last week. Haha. Plus I have just gotten back from watching 'Eat pray Love' with some girls from school.

Its a whole new business model out here multiplex-wise. There are the highest rates for normal people; read, those who are neither students nor aged. There are special rates for students only on Mondays; like they thought we'd be free Monday evenings? :) Then, if the movie is longer than an average German movie; which is perhaps 1.5 hours, they charge you around a couple of Euros more. And if you want to watch the long movie on any other row apart from the 1st 2, please pay an euro more. Having said all this, I like the clarity that is offered to a customer. For me to compare that with a show at PVR-Phoenix Mills and pay almost the same rate and not know why I was charged so much, its interesting.

Its been a great start to the week, so far. First, I managed to complete a presentation due today at 1 p.m. by 12 p.m. Close but not too close :) Honestly, a 1-year course is rather intense, to say the least. And right now, we have just 1 subject at a time. Tomorrow is when the sparks will fly; its 2 and then 3 subjects at 1 go. Plus an assignment from the previous one that is due. Also, German classes begin Wednesday mornings at 7 a.m.! Oh my God!

Today, our professor of Financial Accounting gave me a lot of insights into life. For one, he demonstrated the power of a great teacher; there's just 1 pre-requisite- lots of patience and listening skills; Ok 2 pre-requisites. The way he handles us is just amazing; for one he just addresses questions to us at random. Although a tad unnerving initially, it is a lot of fun later, coz it ensures you pay attention and you want to not look stupid in front of the class. Fun, in a different way :) However, he is an amazing teacher, with immense knowledge in his field. He went so far, as to state that 'He is in love with Accounting and that Accounting is sexy' . :) He hopes that we fall in love with accounting as well; I think we just might.

In preparing for my 1st submission over the weekend, I learnt that Nothing beats intense preparation; except a walk in 12 degrees through the streets, when its all getting too much. You come back refreshed and with a lot more ideas than before.

Today was also the day, I carried dabba to class :D Basically class was in the afternoon, giving me time to make the potatoes into something edible. So potato-sandwich it was. Plus, the day ended with the movie; I'd give it a 2.5 / 5, but it was still worth it somehow.

Since I am into a bit of writing now, let me recap my weekend quickly. It started on Friday evening; the last day of our 'Decision Analysis' class. Decision Analysis was a 4.5 day course that is intended to help us take better decisions in future. Initially it was a lot of theory, however things became progressively clearer, with cases and examples and group-work. Friday evening, on the way home, I popped into the city-library to stock up a bit. Sure, I love my decisions and finances, but a little Nora Robers always helps. So, there I was, in my idea of heaven where I could stay for a year at a price of 6 euros, take with me 50 servings of good-reads, browse/ read all day long, so browse I did, although for just about 30 minutes. Too bad, since the library was closing; but 30 is better than none. These servings are all mine for the next 30 days. The check-out process, by the way, is totally automated via a kiosk. However, I felt the urge to converse with the librarian, so I clarified the returns-process and  asked her for some recommendations. Ja, ja, auf Deutsch :)

There are 2 large shelves devoted to English fiction; yes HP, LOTR, Rohinton Mistry, Georgette Heyer, Salman Rushdie, Patricia Cornwall, Nora Roberts, and some others. Basically, this should last me awhile :) Plus, around25 shelves of German fiction; of which I picked up the tiniest possible one by Thomas Mann (recommended by a friend), then 1 shelf each of Russian, French and Greek literature. Then shelves devoted to Fach-literature (subject-matter literature) by category- sports, theatre, pedagogy, history, geography, science and a row dedicated to travel!!! I could live here!!!

So, I moved from shelf to shelf; met a very cute person (tried to act intelligent, yet charmant) lol, continued to browse  lovingly through the shelves and reached home with the following:

Bed of roses by Nora Roberts

The black moth by Georgette Heyer

The farmer wants a wife by Maeve Haran

Meine gruene Wiese by Guenter Grass,

Joseph und seine Brueder by Thomas Mann, and

A German grammar-practice book :)

On the way back, I kept smiling unaccountably for some reason; maybe it was the 'charmant' effect or just the effect of my idea of heaven. A warm croissant later, I was back in my other idea of heaven; home, settled in and looking forward to 2 days of bliss.

Now, I simply MUST get back to poring over my books, so more soon!

Till then, read some, its lovely :)

Bis bald,

Anya

Mein ersten Montag in Mannheim- My 1st Monday in Mannheim

13th September 2010

The dress-code for Monday was business; so very business-like, I took out my lovely new black skirt from Park Avenue, my green top and my black jacket. The jacket, incidentally was bought from Deutschland itself a few years ago and has it stood the test of time! Some yoga, a glass of milk, a certain amount of hair-adjustments and Catwalk shoes-on-feet later, I was ready to go!

And go I did; the orientation from the day-before helped and I was there at 8.45 a.m. We were all  warmly welcomed into the fold, so to say by the program coordinators and wore our name-tags and found our places in the 'MBS Lecture Hall'. Now, The University of Mannheim and the Mannheim business school are run out of 'Der Schloss'; i,e. the Castle of Mannheim, which also has the unique distinction of being the 2nd largest baroque castle in the world. As I type this, I realize I don't quite know what 'Baroque' means... So here it is, courtesy our friends Page et Brinn! 'The term baroque can be applied to an artistic style from the early 18th century. It is usually art or decor that is very ornate or ostentatious with contrasting objects. Sort of an overkill on decorating ideas.' Well, once I post the pictures of the castle and its surrounding areas, you can decide for yourself. Baroque or not, I believe all rulers of the days gone by, the world over, were into major overkill in terms of creating their palaces/ castles/ homes.

We are a class of 58, and all 58 of us were in our respective seats a little before 9. I guess, the German efficiency rubbed off on us a little bit :) The day began with an introduction to the program by our Academic director. Around an hour and a half later, we spread out into the coffee-area; where I couldn't wait to have my favorite 'Heisse Schokoloade' (hot Chocolate). Trust me, hot chocolate, like you find in Europe, cannot be found anywhere else in the world! We also introduced ourselves to one another and started the process of getting to know each other a bit better. Then we were taken around the campus and were shown the various facilities; the administration offices, the library, the MENSA (Cafeteria), etc.

Lunch was on the house, and we dug into open-face sandwiches and coffee. Oh wait, just before lunch, was the all-important 'honor code signing ceremony' and the address by our President. It was a nice thing to do; we basically promised to abide by the basic rules of life; courtesy, honesty, integrity and respect. Quite a profound way to start one of the most important journeys of life. We also had other presentations; career services, alumni, the student association, etc. and finally, a joint dinner at a local restaurant. Here, we continued to meet other classmates and get to know one another. The day ended for me at around 10 p.m. and somehow it never felt like I had to look at the watch too many times.

Things that will stay with me:

1. The coming year is a window of opportunity, open it wide.

2. The school has taken great pains to recruit the kind of people, who know how to take care of people. (This surely reflected during the entire admissions process; in terms of clarity and responsiveness to our queries.)

3. This school, while it pays attention to its ranking in various forums/ magazines, does not believe in doing just about anything to improve its rankings. Its a lot more important for it to get there by quality and long-lasting quality at that.

I was feeling a lot better by the end of the day; my pangs of anxiety at starting over, in a way, reduced significantly. It is people that make all the difference all the time.

I MUST: Get to know my classmates a lot more; the target is to speak to all 58 of us by the end of the week.

I WISH: that I had brought along some ready-to-eat; it kinda slipped my mind, but never mind. The additional 100 grams may have prompted the AI-personnel (Read my previous post) to have charged me 4000 rupees and 50 paisa; lol

Bis morgen,  Viel Spass!

Anya

Eine Woche lange in Mannheim!

As I write this, it is Sunday, 19th Sept 2010, 11.19 a.m. Mannheim time. It’s also officially 1 week down at the Mannheim business school for me. It’s been long enough for me to think of 'M' as in 'Mannheim'; previously it used to be 'M' for 'Monkey'. :)

So, here then, is Anya reporting from Mannheim. Since I continue to be quite the lazy-person, most of these posts are back-dated. However, I really hope to do a better job of posting on time; there's nothing like the first impression.

So, here goes:

My journey to Mannheim started off on Saturday, 11^th Sept; 18.30 hours IST in Mumbai. My family, Sriram (my cousin) and Kshama (my friend) came to see me off at the airport. I had 33 kgs of check-in baggage, 1 hand-luggage of 9 kgs and a laptop bag of around 6 kgs. (Including the charger, CD pouch, etc.)

This was a Mumbai-Frankfurt flight on its way to Chicago. I was among the first 5 to check-in, just so that the baggage should not be an issue. However, the AI-personnel tried to throw his weight around; Check out the below conversation, post-weighing of the 2 check-in baggage, totalling to 33 kgs. The allowable weight was 30 kilos.

AI: So, your baggage is 3 kilos above the allowed limit.

Moi: Hmm, yes, actually I am a student, so there are some books etc.

AI: Hmmm, (major pregnant pause, as if he is about to decide a significant part of my future.) See, we already have given you 10 kgs extra as student, now you want 3 more kilos. Let me weigh the hand-baggage.

Moi: OK, sure.

AI: this is 16 kilos! I cannot allow it. You do know, that you are allowed only 8 kilos including the laptop?

(This was when I knew for sure, that he was just trying to rile me. So, in my best professional voice, I go…)

Moi: I was told that I could carry a hand-bag of 8 kilos + a laptop separately.

(Now, he realizes that I may be a student, but I know my rules. So he scans through my passport and probably looks at my other visas).

AI: Yes, but that still means only 12 kgs. You have 16 kgs in hand-baggage.

(At this point, I had to betray the love of my life; Dell and say the following)

Moi: You see, sir, this is a DELL and itself weighs about 4.5 kilos.

AI: (Still trying to rile me) Well, so what do we do now? I will allow the excess hand baggage. But what about the excess check in-baggage?

Moi: (in my best ‘I have travelled quite a bit, haven’t you heard of excess-baggage payment?’ voice) I could pay the excess baggage allowance.

AI: So, you are willing to pay 4 thousand rupees?

Moi: hmm, Duh, Ya

AI: hmmm, (Still trying to decide my fate) OK, don’t tell anyone my name, but I’ll let you go.

Moi: Oh, thank you Sir. ( I mean, I didn't even check his name!!! )

Jeez, this is SO annoying. The AI-personnel sure need training. All he had to do, in this case, was tell me the excess baggage charge, let me pay and go, without all this unnecessary talk.

Now, contrast this with my non-conversation at German-immigration at Frankfurt airport. People prior to me had to answer at least 2-3 questions. When my turn came, I showed the officer (very, very cute) my visa. He took a look at it, at me and let me pass with no questions asked. This, then, is the power of a student here. Or so, I’d like to believe. Either ways, it felt good to be acknowledged as a student and with respect.

Anyways, back to my journey to Mannheim. I breezed through immigration, security and then reached my favourite coffee shop in Mumbai airport while waiting to board; The Coffee bean and Tea Leaf Company. There is something deliciously sweet about waiting at the duty-free area, waiting to board your flight; just sipping a sinful ‘double-loaded chocolate’ with skimmed-milk (no fat-free pour moi) and watching the world go by. 

Which, in this case, was a very cute Russian family; 2-year old in tow, several IT-looking-people (TCS/ Wipro is my guess) en route to Chicago, tonnes of Singaporeans (there was a flight to Singapore at the same time), many single-person tables (both men and women) looking very very cool (am hoping I looked cool too; lol) and a certain travel-buzz in the air. While I messaged and chatted quite a bit, most of my time was spent just chilling. Am glad I didn’t eat anything; nothing can quite compare to a double-loaded chocolate :D

Boarding was fun as always; AI trie to bring about the process of boarding aisle-by-aisle. So, they announce ‘Rows 40-52 please come up for boarding. Others please remain seated’. Of course, my good ol’ friends in rows 1-30 have not much patience, so almost everyone is standing. Lol. There was also an excessive amount of security. My boarding pass and passport got checked by 3 different people before boarding the flight; senior AI officials, airport security and the Indian police. Did not like the way the direction our world is taking one bit :(

Anyways, once inside, I was more than pleasantly surprised. For one, I was able to place my cabin baggage on my own, very confidently, as if I do it for a living :D And 2, both the seats next to me were empty. And 3, ooh, AI now has personal in-flight entertainment! Yay! As I was settling in myself, and hoping the seats next to me stayed empty/ some very interesting people sit there, the passenger in the rear seat looks up to me and asks me whether the seats next to me were empty. I said ‘Yes, I suppose so’. He then goes, ‘Great, So I just might join you’. Oh well, I wasn’t exactly jumping for joy: D The flight took off at around 01.30 a.m. , a bit delayed but it was all right in the end, I ate some, watched some TV [ Date night, no FRIENDS :( ], slept tonnes and we reached Frankfurt well in time; around 6 a.m. on 12^th September.

I collected my check-in baggage, breezed through entry-into-Germany and now had to take the train to Mannheim. Now, here, I realized the importance of listening to instructions. Based on my discussion with the information desk (In German, of course ;)), I was told to go 2 flights (of stairs) up. I entered the lift to reach the 3rd floor, and another couple did too; I somehow followed their lead and went 1 flight down instead of 2 flights-up. Where, there was a reasonable amount of chaos; a long line of 30 people at the DB-Reise Zentrum (Train reservation desk) and travellers from various places with baggage of all sizes and assortments. There were also 2 kiosks to buy tickets from; 1 for local and the other for inter-state. I tried them both, for about a ½ hour, also tried using my Citibank credit card which got rejected. Now, why would they not allow cash-based transactions, crazy and how!

Finally, after an hour or so of trying to complete a self-service transaction, I gave up and went 3 flights up to the original platform, as told to me by the Info-desk. Over there, I paid cash across the counter, and got myself 1 2^nd class ticket to Mannheim, in less than 5 minutes. Yay! A croissant and bottle of water later, I waited for the train am Gleis 5 (Platform 5). Now, I had 5 baggages and only 1 me. And thankfully 1 helpful co-passenger who helped me move the baggage inside the train in the 3 minutes it waited on the station. Point to note: I did not have to reserve a seat. In European trains, when you purchase a ticket, you don’t book a seat. You only book yourself a place on the train. Reserving a seat is usually 5 euros extra. Now, since the total journey time from FFM to Mannheim was just an hour, I did not have to reserve a seat; that way, I could have got into any of the 2^nd class compartments and sat on any of the spare seats. They usually are :) The only journeys where seat-reservation is mandatory is on night-trains. Anyways, since I had reserved a seat, I had to run a bit trying to find my coach/ seat. Thank God for friendly co-passengers.

I reached Mannheim train station at around 10 a.m., and had quite the scene trying to carry my luggage on my own via the escalator to the main entrance. Imagine a little person with a laptop bag on her shoulders, walking with a 4-wheeler baggage combined with a handbag. Then dragging a 2 wheeler baggage combined with an overall on its pulley. Quite the scene! Anyways, I called up the janitor of my apartment, who thankfully reached on time and, check-in formalities completed; I was officially home at 10.45 a.m. 

Now, first impressions first. My room is slightly larger than my bedroom back in Mumbai, a wardrobe to the right, an open cupboard to the left, a little further down- a bed right by the window. Next to the bed is my study-table, Then a slight partition that neatly divides the kitchen-area from the rest of room. Here, a little dining table facing the window [This is where I have my tea :)] and a mini-fridge and the cooking range. A little to the right is the bathroom. The walls are bare, the flooring rather basic, but once I unpacked and got out my magnets, 3 extra kilos of books, cards, knick-knacks, my trusty Dell and the coconut-barfi from home, it felt a lot more homey :) 

A hot water bath later, I made myself some Maggi, got the internet set-up done, logged on to the virtual world and was ready to settle in. A walk around the town made me realize it was a Sunday, so all stores were closed. I walked down to my college, just to get myself oriented, called home, walked to the station to get milk/ bread/ eggs, met an alumnus in the evening and made myself a very strange omelette/ scrambled eggs. The original idea was to make a boiled egg, which didn’t boil very well, so I scrambled it into an omelette with ginger-garlic paste. I packed my bags for day1 at college and slept off around 11 p.m.

Mannheim, I am home.