By mid-December we were done with a very important assignment and mid-term exams were a month away. Our exhaustion needed a vent, which came in form of a road trip to the renowned beaches of South Wales. Whether it was Barry Island or Gower or Pebbles Beach or Swansea Waterfront - each coastline had a different story and something unique to offer. Our car full of friends made the most of these two days by posing for craziest of photographs,eating weirdest of foods and making our mark on the beautiful beaches of Wales. The soft lemony tar breeze, the icy cold waters of Atlantic ocean, the nippy weather and crazy friends contributed to an ideal & memorable holiday!
Winter gradually enveloped the capital of Wales with arms wide open. Such were the cold chilly winds accompanied by rains that it became normal to wear layers and layers of clothes and look like footballs walking on the street. To make matters worse - by 4pm it was pitch dark and remained so at least till 7am the next day. The cold, the gloom,the wind and the scary UK winters worked as deterrents for studying with concentration, which was now becoming essential with the approaching exams in the first week of January. Midnight snacks became our source of break and entertainment! On charged up nights we had feasts and on other serious nights we survived on cereals! It was amazing how concepts were understood and discussed with so much vigour and enthusiasm in group study - which until then I never had confidence in. If all this did not keep us awake - one thing surely did. Building 16 and 17 of our Talybont South residences had a notorious reputation of fire alarms in the death of the night. So it was a regular feature to run down floors sleepy eyed and drowsy in weird states of dressing (there was a time when a girl came down wrapped in her blanket alone!) and shiver in the cold outside while the firemen came and fixed the problem (which more often that not was caused due to some moron smoking in the corridor or kitchen) Aarrgghh!
Christmas made the mood festive and cheerful. The celebrations in London & Cardiff were a class apart - brightly lit up Oxford street, City Centre, goodies, gifts, cakes, carols n more! The only thing missing was the snow to make it a WHITE CHRISTMAS. Towards the end of the year came the Boxer's Day. The day when clothes, shoes, perfumes, gadgets, etc. would be available at 50% discount or even more! This was my opportunity to see Britain wake up at 4am, queue outside shops for the mega sale and shop like maniacs once the stores opened at an unearthly hour of 5am. Here I waited for 1 hour on an early frosty morning, with my aunt and as soon as the shutters opened - there was a marathon, grabbing, pulling, pushing and so many things at once, that I was transported back to a Big Bazaar sale back home! And to see the haughty British do the same made me realise with a sense of satisfaction that - DISCOUNTS & SALES have no religion or nationality - shopping makes EVERYONE mad. PERIOD. :)
Shopping for us students, however was more frequent than that. It was a weekly affair. But it was not luxury shopping - it was essential shopping. So TESCO Extra became our favourite hangout/shopping/entertainment/necessity destination. The vastness of its size and the availability of food options enthralled me, as I had never seen supermarkets of colossal sizes before. It was easy for a tiny little me to chug along with a trolley of my own get lost in the alleys offering pastries, breads, cookies, yogurts, ice creams, chocolates, ready-to-eat foods, cans, cereals and whatnot. Running a tight budget helped me cut down on a lot of fatty things, which I would have otherwise bought. But my friends can vouch that there was a huge similarity between me and a balloon by the end of the year. Blame it on the extraordinary fruits and desserts! If I did feel guilty about my size, I would walk it up both ways to City Centre from my hostel (which was quite a considerable distance) for some work or the other, feel proud about saving 2 pounds for the return bus journey, but put back all the calories by spending the saved money on Veggie Delite @ Subway and GUMMY BEARS! :)
On New Year's Eve, we went to the one place that all students in Cardiff would have gone at least once in their lives - CREATIONS - a lounge bar. It was hilarious when we observed the native girls high on alcohol walk around the streets in skimpy outfit & tiny skirts and compared them to our state - covered from head to toe with overcoats, jackets, gloves and hats!
One day, in early January the temperatures dropped to minus 10 degrees Celsius. I was stuck to the heater like a leech and going to college was next to impossible. That very night it SNOWED for the first time that year in Cardiff. Its was so spectacular and white outside...at times huge flakes came down and other times the sun came out to shine upon the world giving a glittery gold effect.The chilly mad wind blew across my face as I peeped out of the window that morning and the world looked like a newly adorned bride - roads, trees, rooftops, cars alike carpeted with tonnes of snow! For a snow lover like me it was PARADISE.
The best thing about Cardiff was that after every tedious studious experience, there came a time of thorough enjoyment and fun. So after our difficult back to back exams it was time for the grand MBA Dinner in the City Hall. This was an occasion to address to the students, the progress of the school, where boring old men came and rambled on till everyone in the audience fell asleep. It was a 5 course meal, with food that looked greatly garnished and royally served but hardly palatable. The interesting part for us was, the dress code of the event - national costumes. On that frigid night, we girls were clad in thin chiffon saris like bevy of glacial Bollywood beauties, and kept smiling through the event, when sitting in an oven looked like a more attractive option. Look pretty or die!
MBA abroad usually gave so much exposure to different cultures, lifestyles and work styles of people round the world. Something which would naturally and obviously occur to me, was not so obvious for all and vice versa. Through a series of presentations and dialogues, in a project called Business Plan, some interesting insights were revealed about setting up any business in UK with the help of imaginary 1 million pounds and planning the entire launch, marketing, finance, human relations and strategy of the business right from conception to profits. It was a unique concept, which weaved in all management subjects studied throughout the year spiced up with practical experiences and ideas emerging from a melting pot of ethnicities .
Spring brought in a riot of colours and the sun decided to leave its confinement and beam upon us. It was that time of the year, when suddenly 12 degrees Celsius became 'HOT' and the lawns outside my residence, Talybont resembled the Bondi Beach of Australia. Almost everyone except the Indians (who still found jackets useful in late April) applied sun-tan lotion, sported shorts, bikinis and sun-glasses and studied outdoors in the sunny weather. It was quite a panoramic sight and suddenly Talybont became a favourite destination for most boys.
Spring also brought in electives and main exams. Many of my friends tell me, that I was busy studying and unaware of so many gossips happening around me, regarding friends. Maybe I was. For the next few months, I gave in my best effort for it to be a fruitful MBA. After 9 back to back core exams, 2 elective exams and hugely long and scary dissertation and a part-time job (which helped me buy my ticket back home on my own :)) I was done with the mammoth course. Visibly fatter, rounder, sleep deprived, exhausted, richer in friends and experience and 5th in a class of 300 odd students from across nations!Quite a fair deal I would say...
I am sure a lot more could be done, many places were left to discover, there were some regrets with respect to the job scene and placements, etc. But I really do not want to paint an unhappy picture here, because what I gained was immense and what I have now is really priceless. I learnt so many things living away from home, which I probably never would have thought of bothering about back home. I realised that a lot depended upon me and what I should do and should not do to maintain a healthy lifestyle. So whether it was doing the laundry, cooking food, keeping house clean, buying groceries, paying bills, handling bank transactions, studying, working and maintaining finances - it all boiled down to an individual and invoked in me, a sense of responsibility that was dormant earlier. I also learnt the importance of people, relations and family in my life. Its natural for us to take so many things for granted when at home, but we learn to appreciate them much more when away.
So, along with imparting critical lessons for life, my year at UK was when I was the happiest of all. It was one of the most fantastic years of my life - full of independence & responsibility, life-long friendships, international bonding, global academics, delightful experiences and memories to last me a lifetime!Cardiff is truly, NOSTALGIA REVISITED. A year for which I would trade almost anything in the world..to get it back! As the Welsh would say it... Hwyl Caerdydd (Goodbye Cardiff)!
Winter gradually enveloped the capital of Wales with arms wide open. Such were the cold chilly winds accompanied by rains that it became normal to wear layers and layers of clothes and look like footballs walking on the street. To make matters worse - by 4pm it was pitch dark and remained so at least till 7am the next day. The cold, the gloom,the wind and the scary UK winters worked as deterrents for studying with concentration, which was now becoming essential with the approaching exams in the first week of January. Midnight snacks became our source of break and entertainment! On charged up nights we had feasts and on other serious nights we survived on cereals! It was amazing how concepts were understood and discussed with so much vigour and enthusiasm in group study - which until then I never had confidence in. If all this did not keep us awake - one thing surely did. Building 16 and 17 of our Talybont South residences had a notorious reputation of fire alarms in the death of the night. So it was a regular feature to run down floors sleepy eyed and drowsy in weird states of dressing (there was a time when a girl came down wrapped in her blanket alone!) and shiver in the cold outside while the firemen came and fixed the problem (which more often that not was caused due to some moron smoking in the corridor or kitchen) Aarrgghh!
Christmas made the mood festive and cheerful. The celebrations in London & Cardiff were a class apart - brightly lit up Oxford street, City Centre, goodies, gifts, cakes, carols n more! The only thing missing was the snow to make it a WHITE CHRISTMAS. Towards the end of the year came the Boxer's Day. The day when clothes, shoes, perfumes, gadgets, etc. would be available at 50% discount or even more! This was my opportunity to see Britain wake up at 4am, queue outside shops for the mega sale and shop like maniacs once the stores opened at an unearthly hour of 5am. Here I waited for 1 hour on an early frosty morning, with my aunt and as soon as the shutters opened - there was a marathon, grabbing, pulling, pushing and so many things at once, that I was transported back to a Big Bazaar sale back home! And to see the haughty British do the same made me realise with a sense of satisfaction that - DISCOUNTS & SALES have no religion or nationality - shopping makes EVERYONE mad. PERIOD. :)
Shopping for us students, however was more frequent than that. It was a weekly affair. But it was not luxury shopping - it was essential shopping. So TESCO Extra became our favourite hangout/shopping/entertainment/necessity destination. The vastness of its size and the availability of food options enthralled me, as I had never seen supermarkets of colossal sizes before. It was easy for a tiny little me to chug along with a trolley of my own get lost in the alleys offering pastries, breads, cookies, yogurts, ice creams, chocolates, ready-to-eat foods, cans, cereals and whatnot. Running a tight budget helped me cut down on a lot of fatty things, which I would have otherwise bought. But my friends can vouch that there was a huge similarity between me and a balloon by the end of the year. Blame it on the extraordinary fruits and desserts! If I did feel guilty about my size, I would walk it up both ways to City Centre from my hostel (which was quite a considerable distance) for some work or the other, feel proud about saving 2 pounds for the return bus journey, but put back all the calories by spending the saved money on Veggie Delite @ Subway and GUMMY BEARS! :)
On New Year's Eve, we went to the one place that all students in Cardiff would have gone at least once in their lives - CREATIONS - a lounge bar. It was hilarious when we observed the native girls high on alcohol walk around the streets in skimpy outfit & tiny skirts and compared them to our state - covered from head to toe with overcoats, jackets, gloves and hats!
One day, in early January the temperatures dropped to minus 10 degrees Celsius. I was stuck to the heater like a leech and going to college was next to impossible. That very night it SNOWED for the first time that year in Cardiff. Its was so spectacular and white outside...at times huge flakes came down and other times the sun came out to shine upon the world giving a glittery gold effect.The chilly mad wind blew across my face as I peeped out of the window that morning and the world looked like a newly adorned bride - roads, trees, rooftops, cars alike carpeted with tonnes of snow! For a snow lover like me it was PARADISE.
The best thing about Cardiff was that after every tedious studious experience, there came a time of thorough enjoyment and fun. So after our difficult back to back exams it was time for the grand MBA Dinner in the City Hall. This was an occasion to address to the students, the progress of the school, where boring old men came and rambled on till everyone in the audience fell asleep. It was a 5 course meal, with food that looked greatly garnished and royally served but hardly palatable. The interesting part for us was, the dress code of the event - national costumes. On that frigid night, we girls were clad in thin chiffon saris like bevy of glacial Bollywood beauties, and kept smiling through the event, when sitting in an oven looked like a more attractive option. Look pretty or die!
MBA abroad usually gave so much exposure to different cultures, lifestyles and work styles of people round the world. Something which would naturally and obviously occur to me, was not so obvious for all and vice versa. Through a series of presentations and dialogues, in a project called Business Plan, some interesting insights were revealed about setting up any business in UK with the help of imaginary 1 million pounds and planning the entire launch, marketing, finance, human relations and strategy of the business right from conception to profits. It was a unique concept, which weaved in all management subjects studied throughout the year spiced up with practical experiences and ideas emerging from a melting pot of ethnicities .
Spring brought in a riot of colours and the sun decided to leave its confinement and beam upon us. It was that time of the year, when suddenly 12 degrees Celsius became 'HOT' and the lawns outside my residence, Talybont resembled the Bondi Beach of Australia. Almost everyone except the Indians (who still found jackets useful in late April) applied sun-tan lotion, sported shorts, bikinis and sun-glasses and studied outdoors in the sunny weather. It was quite a panoramic sight and suddenly Talybont became a favourite destination for most boys.
Spring also brought in electives and main exams. Many of my friends tell me, that I was busy studying and unaware of so many gossips happening around me, regarding friends. Maybe I was. For the next few months, I gave in my best effort for it to be a fruitful MBA. After 9 back to back core exams, 2 elective exams and hugely long and scary dissertation and a part-time job (which helped me buy my ticket back home on my own :)) I was done with the mammoth course. Visibly fatter, rounder, sleep deprived, exhausted, richer in friends and experience and 5th in a class of 300 odd students from across nations!Quite a fair deal I would say...
I am sure a lot more could be done, many places were left to discover, there were some regrets with respect to the job scene and placements, etc. But I really do not want to paint an unhappy picture here, because what I gained was immense and what I have now is really priceless. I learnt so many things living away from home, which I probably never would have thought of bothering about back home. I realised that a lot depended upon me and what I should do and should not do to maintain a healthy lifestyle. So whether it was doing the laundry, cooking food, keeping house clean, buying groceries, paying bills, handling bank transactions, studying, working and maintaining finances - it all boiled down to an individual and invoked in me, a sense of responsibility that was dormant earlier. I also learnt the importance of people, relations and family in my life. Its natural for us to take so many things for granted when at home, but we learn to appreciate them much more when away.
So, along with imparting critical lessons for life, my year at UK was when I was the happiest of all. It was one of the most fantastic years of my life - full of independence & responsibility, life-long friendships, international bonding, global academics, delightful experiences and memories to last me a lifetime!Cardiff is truly, NOSTALGIA REVISITED. A year for which I would trade almost anything in the world..to get it back! As the Welsh would say it... Hwyl Caerdydd (Goodbye Cardiff)!
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