Meanderings of an over-active brain.....

One month to the date.... I graduated with a masters degree. It somehow hasn't sunk it yet. I wonder.. why is that? Is it because I have some special bond with where i studied? No. Its most likely because I was so overburdened with work, with worrying about the consequences of slipping up even a bit, of what would happen if I didn't get a "job" or a "visa" for that matter.. (the irony of all that is, I don't have that much coveted visa and I am still very much here!) to gain the experience of a world class university.

I am wondering, how should I view my 2 year stint? When I was back in my country, I used to complain in frustration at the lack of engineering education. Undergrad was a joke. But during those four years, I made hay.. while the sun blazed.. roamed the state to participate in all the festivals, wasted monumental amounts of time arguing with my roomates only to reach no conclusion about anything!

Well... I did get exposure to engineering education as good as it gets anywhere. It was backbreaking.... I don't know where I found the motivation to get through it. In fact, I was so narrow minded, it started to scare me. I couldn't wait to get it over with.

Now comes the funny part. I got an opportunity to intern firstly at a place I initially thought wouldn't be a good fit for me. In fact, the bigger irony is, I almost didn't make it. I have since then continued to work full time at the same place.. and find myself doing something utterly different from what I learnt. And I liked it. Period. Or do I?
There are times when I hate it, there are times when it drives me. Often I wonder where its taking me? Am I doing this with a purpose or am I doing it because I need to work for a living and I am good at what I do? I wonder... does everyone else who claims to like their professions feel the same?

Here I am.... getting into the "work" routine. Sometime back when I was complaining to a friend that I had to start work... she promptly said " welcome to the real world!". Hmmmm.. the real world. Do I want to go to work everyday in the morning, come back in the evening, watch some TV and relax during the weekends? Or do I want it to be chaotic and without order? Do I look for a girl who I can live with for the rest of my life? Or is it too much trouble? The rest of my life.... there's quite a bit left. Should I keep renting accomadation or think about buying a house? Or forget that.. I love cars! Should I get me a new one? Will I still be able to repay my education's financier in decent time? bah!.. too many mundane decisions to make...
Maybe I should start a company that does just that!... makes the mundane decisions of life for them... sound crazy? well... I don't see why. If a person can willingly get his taxes worked out by someone in a different country halfway across our lovely planet... why not this?

Its past midnight, I need to get up for work tomorrow... darn.. the "real" world is catching up with me.. Period.

Goodbye LA??

three weeks on the dot.... I drove out of the city of angels with everything to my name stuffed into a podgy looking car... half jetlagged.... was I leaving for good?
Before I drove out that day, I went over to my uncle's cafe (The Rose in Santa Monica... all u readers shud check it out!) on his insistence for lunch.... then hurriedly met with my cousin to say bye-bye and then hurriedly met with another buddy.. and all the while it seemed as if I was just temporarily going out of LA for a while.

I was late for a long 6 hour drive and as I hurriedly drove out after saying bye-bye to my buddies, it suddenly struck me that I might actually be leaving for good. Whoa!... I just spent one and half yrs in this city and I was suddenly just leaving for good. Why wasn't I having any sense of belonging to the place? I wasn't sad about leaving the place... nor was I happy.

And now its been 3 weeks since.... I've found an apt, car blah..blah and have got set into the mundane routine of a techie in the silicon valley... and I am really liking the place! I discover a new an awesome cuisine and restaurant every 2 days!... Its so strange that when I've lived here for just 3 weeks, I've started to like the place so much .... although I know so few people here... and on the other hand, I've lived in Los Angeles for so long and I don't have any sense of belonging to it.... in spite of knowing so many people there...
weird!!... or is it??