The voice in my head has an Indian accent

I find myself subconsciously mimicking the behaviors of the locals. Here, more commonly in the south, Indians do not nod nor shake their heads but rather they bob their heads. At first I was really taken back by it and worried that I did something wrong, but now, I understand. It is an expression of saying "I understand" on response to someones question or what they are saying. In addition, I notice that I am speaking more and more without conjunctions. My sentences are becoming more clear and concise because that is how Indians speak English and it is easier to relay messages that way.

Even more positively, the car rides are no longer nauseating and I am beginning to identify landmarks on my way to school. Also, my milaria pill is no longer causing sickness. So its a win all around. (Speaking of wins, fun fact, one of our courses is labeled "Winning in India", could it get any better?) Tomorrow I will take a video on my ride to school so that those in the states can get a feel for what it's like to drive in an area with no traffic laws and no speed limits. In the mean time, enjoy these photos complimentary of today.

Cool story: Today was the first time in my life that people have said "Happy Independence day" and my reply was "Thank you". Everyone here knows about the 4th of July. They also have an independence day from British rule on August 15th. That's TWO independence days I'll be missing!

By the way, you can click a photo to see it closer up.

The home size widely varies, from small huts to apartments to even palaces.

Yes, they do have american food!

The traffic won't stop for humans, cows are another story.

By whatever means necessary, people manage to get from A to B.

Celebrating our independence day with pizza huts cheese pizza (only vegetarian options here), garlic bread (literally like texas toast, not bread sticks), and chocolate truffle cake! YUM!

Chips taste like Mcdonalds fries

After being here a few days, we are starting to get adjusted to the food. Last night was basically the start of our food adventure when we arrived at the hotel buffet only to find that the restaurant was only serving one meal. I suppose you could say we were 'force fed' since we had no other option and refused to starve, but none-the-less it was good for us to not have any option because it made us try something new without fear of getting sick. Since then, we've eaten every meal provided, being a bit selective, but certainly getting enough to eat.

Today we also went to the law firm where we'll be doing our project. Unfortunately we'll be spending the majority of our time inside (class, working, or sleeping) but  we are getting six credits for this so work needs to be done, I suppose.

In other news, today we're missing all of the hot dogs, potato salad, posicles, and fireworks. My first (and believe me ONLY) independence day that  I'm missing. Happy 4th of july America!

I'm on the opposite end of the world

I'm not just referring to the geographic location. EVERYTHING is opposite here. Honestly though, aside from the fact that India is a strong democratic society (Learn something new everyday!), the things they do here are opposite, for example: They drive on the left side of the road, our night is their day, public doors are opened by pushing them, dinner is considered to be a small meal, the south is more developed than the north, road bikes are more common than cars, and pedestrians yield to cars. On that note, Carly and I tried crossing the street today... NOT doing that again.

We've met 5 students from the National Management School and they've been very hospitable to us and informative about random and interesting cultural norms. One in particular is very bright and tells us a lot about the comparisons of India and the U.S. during our car rides home. It is much either to understand India when you're contrasting it to the U.S.

Throughout the day, we learn lots of fun facts about India. Here are some fun facts:

• Appreciate paying taxes. In India, people pay even more tax and do not see any perks from the government. They're roads are not clean, traffic is not regulated, and as I mentioned earlier, there are no government assistant programs.
• Many people retire at age 60. The day you turn 60, the end of that month is your last day.
• Former british control left the people of Chennai feeling very belittled and inferior, even the most successful Indian is not given adequate respect in London today.
• Cricket is THE sport. Nobody knows what the heck baseball is.
• Young people stop living at home around age 27, some stay even after marriage.
• When saying a phone number, if there are two or three numbers in a row, it is pronounced double or tripple. (ie 44320006 would be "double four, three, two, triple zero, six)

And here are some fun pictures!

This isn't as common as you think, today was my first day seeing this.

We're afraid to go to level -1

NMS student ID

Everything is written in English as well.

$92 equals over 4,000 repees. The only time you'll see me with this much money, or this big of a bill.

An eastern sunset

Living like an uneducated Rockstar

From what I hear, Indians LOVE Americans... and it shows. Here we are waited on hand and foot. Our beds are made every morning and we are brought mineral water anywhere we are. There is a driver who picks us up everyday and takes us wherever we want to go (no we don't pay), he waits around for us as well. All meals are brought for us and set up in a traditional table place setting. When we finish our meals they clean up everything for us and laundry is taken care of when we need it. In this respect, it will be hard to come back to thee U.S.

Today we also had our first class. And I must say that is didn't go very well on our part. In America, the course work can be difficult and time consuming, and certainly we learn a lot; but I'm beginning to see why we're falling behind in our intellect and innovation compared to India. Here it is a ratrace. There are no social service programs and therefor if you want to get somewhere in life, hard work is the only way to go. The ones who have made something of themselves are always thinking outside of the box. Not only looking at what is or what was, but seeing what could be.

Our class is with the dean and during discussion he asked us several questions about America to which we were unable to answer (Who is the current Secretary of Commerce?). Then he discussed different scenarios to think about and what would happen (What is Puerto Rico became the 51st state? Where would you put the star on the flag?). While these seem like simple questions, it really showed me how little we're challenged to think for ourselves and think about the future. Maybe it's just me? But even so, this experience will be a helpful one. Our homework is to read several newspapers everyday and find issues about India. We need to discover the biggest issues, explain them, and discuss solutions and think about how that compares to the U.S. I really hope my time here will sharpen my mind to become a better critical thinker. Now I can see why Study Abroad is so heavily encouraged.

First day. Check.

As jetlag continues to pull me to fall asleep, my first day in Chennai is ending at an early bedtime of 8pm (Well by the time I'm done it will probably be 9pm). The first day was... ok. There are definetely some cultural differences that I need to get used to and my cold seems to be finishing up, so hopefully I'll be ready to go tomorrow.

So here are some notes  have compiled about my first day. Keep in mind that these are merely opinions/observations and no one should take these notes to be a 100% reflection of India. Chennai is just one part of India and all of the states operate very differently from food and music, to different laws and languages.

• The road frightens me a little. There is constant honking because nobody follows the driving laws so everyone goes whenever they please. The few rides I've had so far have been quite nauseating. 
• Despite the humidity, bottled water is preferred by the locals at room temperature.
• Everything is in Hindi... but everything is also written in English.
• Nokia is a monopolizing phone company over here like no other. And things here are very cheap. Today we bought a phone for 1,500 rupees, or $20.
• People stare. It's just what they do. Not just at us, but at everyone.
• The water here is safe for every part of your body except the inside (aka no swallowing allowed)
• Indian time is different, and I don't mean the timezone. If someone says 11am, that basically means 11am at the earliest, they may not arrive until 12:30pm. On that same note, there is no such thing as "5 minutes". It has no meaning because 5 minutes could be any length of time. I'm told that the companies we will attend will operate on the american time schedule system, but we'll see.
• Indian students aren't all that different. When asked what they do for fun, they replied: Go to the multiplex, the beach, and shop at the mall". They are very hospitable as well.
• The sunset is not anything special in the east, and today the sun set at 7pm.
• The younger generations of Indians are much more americanized than the older. I saw two "Angry Birds" shirts today.
• More clothing truly is more comfortable so long as it's thin cotton.

We are very tired and still a little sick, but are having a hard time relaying that to our coordinators. They don't understand why we aren't hungry and I think they're a bit offended. Even though we're speaking the same language, it is difficult to understand each other.

Oh and I almost forgot! As promised, here are some pictures of the room comparison (before, then after), as well as some other random ones. We weren't outside much today but hopefully can get more pictures tomorrow.

Moving on up

When we arrived last night, I'll be honest, our room accommodations were... a bit sketchy. It wasn't a bad part of town, but it didn't look like a nicer part either. It was ok. But I'm very excited because now we're being moved to a new location where we can go out more on our own and it's a nicer area/hotel http://www.rajpark.com/. We'll see how this one goes... but I definitely have to upload pictures of before and after.

Nearly 9,000 miles later...

I'm here!!! I arrived in Chennai at about 1am last night (Probably like 3pm in Michigan) and it is currently 10am here. I could go on and on about all sorts of things with the flight and arriving, but I'll try to keep it fairly brief.

Well to start, Carly and I were extremely  blessed with our flights. There was very very minimal turbulence and all flights were on time and landed smoothly. Unfortunately I've been sick since I left (the common cold of course) so my physical experience wasn't so hot (about 4 hours of sleep total and minimal appetite). However I was really impressed with the international flight overall, for those who don't know, this was my first time flying internationally.

Getting on the  flight, I didn't really know what to expect but figured it would be pretty accomodating. To my surprise, I got on to find reclining chairs, more than enough leg room, large TVs, and an overall comfortable atmosphere... then I found out I was walking through first class. I was pretty sad but honestly the accomodations in economy class were very nice also (I've never seen a nicer movie selection!).

Arriving here wasn't too scary, but it was definetely better having a travel companion. I don't know much about the city yet, so I won't post my assumptions, but I will be posting often (daily or every other day) so keep checking back!