I have not been blogging for a while. I need to get back on the blogging wagon once more. A lot has happened since I went to New York and came back. I celebrated a birthday. I was in Texas for 2 weeks on work. I made some big decisions relating to my life. Canada and the United States both celebrated their birthdays.
So here it is. I'm officially 28. That's scary. When I was a kid I always wondered what it would be like to be an adult. Well, here I am, adult enough, yet I am not sure I have an answer for that question. I know what it means to be an adult in some ways... you are responsible for all sorts of things: rent, food, laundry, you have to work for a living, your friends get married... but surely, there is more to being a grown up than all that. I somehow feel cheated, its like there is this list of awesome things adults do, but I am not aware of them or have not encountered them. Maybe getting drunk is what being an adult is all about, who knows. Still, there is one tangible benefit to being an adult and that is having the ability to drive a vehicle.
Anyway, this last little while, various circumstances have precipitated themselves and I have made some big decisions in life. I have decided that I have had enough of this adventure in America and I am going to move back home to Vancouver. When I think back to the time I decided to move to DC (and you can go back and check my blog from 2006), I had a lot of expectations. I am not sure I met them all, but I have gone as far as I can go here. I need to be home with my family and friends. The good news as far as that goes, I get to keep my job (or so says my manager and his manager), I will have a roof over my head as soon as I get home, I'll be able to start the next stage of my life.
Of course, this brings about a lot of work before I leave. I need to pack and ship my stuff back. I started on some of that by getting estimates... and its EXPENSIVE! I can't believe how expensive it is to ship my possessions across the continent and cross a border! I also have to pay someone to come pack the bigger things (because I don't know how one packs a glass top table properly). I went through the process of rationalising what to do... do I ditch everything here and buy everything back home and take the financial hit? But then who is going to buy a used bed? And what would I get for my TV? It didn't make sense to sell all these things for a fraction of the price I spent and the go home. One the other hand though, I will have saved some cash. What if I rented a truck and drove across the country? I considered that... but then again, I will need someone to help me with that.
What else? I was in Austin for two weeks. I spent time there eating LOTS and LOTS of good Texas BBQ, learning lots of good things about our product and how far we can push them and generally working 16 hours or so every day (even the weekends). I got to hang out with a couple of awesome co-workers for parts of the stint, including one awesome evening stumbling from bar to bar on 6th Street while admiring and cursing the heat at the same time. It was well after midnight and it was still a balmy 35 degrees! I don't know if there are any vegetarians in Texas, but if there are, I give them credit. I would have succumbed to all the awesome goodness of brisket, ribs, sausage and steak by the first week! I'd also like to say that I got to work with an exceptional team of people at Dell. I am a big fan of those guys.
I went to the Canadian embassy on Wednesday to celebrate Canada Day. I met some nice Canadians including the guy who let me into the venue despite me not having an RSVP. The official volunteer fellow was being a hard ass by not letting me in... but this guy, he sounded Canadian enough and let me in when the official looking fellow wasn't looking. Thank you, whoever you are. I consumed some food and stood in a beer line for Unibroue paid for by people like my mother (Canadian tax payers). I dont drink beer, I just stood in line so someone else could get another one without standing in line again. I also met a charming lady from Vancouver of all places, who is a student at UBC and is doing a stint as an intern at the embassy in DC! It was nice to hang out with Canadians. I missed out on the singing of the national anthem and getting a chance to chat with Ambassador Wilson, but I had to get back to work and attend meetings with my manager.
I also watched the American Independence Day celebrations on TV with the concert and fireworks on the National Mall. It looked like a lot of fun. I would have loved to go see it in person, but somehow I didn't feel like going by myself. You see, most of the people I associate with here are Canadians and... they're all back in Canada! Oh well. Normally, I would say there is always next year, but I know that is not the case. I remember Independence and Republic Day celebrations back home in India; they were a huge deal. I guess when you are a young country like the modern Republic is, you take your freedom seriously. We used to parade around in our uniforms and watch the raising of the flag and what not as part of school activities. Nothing that formal seems to exist out here and I think it would be too far out of place or deemed overly nationalistic or something akin to that here... but I have to say, it was fun as a kid. I always enjoyed watching the big parade in New Delhi where various military hardware made it across Rajpath. Someday, I will go see that live. That and the Beating of the Retreat 3 days later.
Anyway, Happy Birthday to my dear Dominion and to the United States. Its time for bed.
So here it is. I'm officially 28. That's scary. When I was a kid I always wondered what it would be like to be an adult. Well, here I am, adult enough, yet I am not sure I have an answer for that question. I know what it means to be an adult in some ways... you are responsible for all sorts of things: rent, food, laundry, you have to work for a living, your friends get married... but surely, there is more to being a grown up than all that. I somehow feel cheated, its like there is this list of awesome things adults do, but I am not aware of them or have not encountered them. Maybe getting drunk is what being an adult is all about, who knows. Still, there is one tangible benefit to being an adult and that is having the ability to drive a vehicle.
Anyway, this last little while, various circumstances have precipitated themselves and I have made some big decisions in life. I have decided that I have had enough of this adventure in America and I am going to move back home to Vancouver. When I think back to the time I decided to move to DC (and you can go back and check my blog from 2006), I had a lot of expectations. I am not sure I met them all, but I have gone as far as I can go here. I need to be home with my family and friends. The good news as far as that goes, I get to keep my job (or so says my manager and his manager), I will have a roof over my head as soon as I get home, I'll be able to start the next stage of my life.
Of course, this brings about a lot of work before I leave. I need to pack and ship my stuff back. I started on some of that by getting estimates... and its EXPENSIVE! I can't believe how expensive it is to ship my possessions across the continent and cross a border! I also have to pay someone to come pack the bigger things (because I don't know how one packs a glass top table properly). I went through the process of rationalising what to do... do I ditch everything here and buy everything back home and take the financial hit? But then who is going to buy a used bed? And what would I get for my TV? It didn't make sense to sell all these things for a fraction of the price I spent and the go home. One the other hand though, I will have saved some cash. What if I rented a truck and drove across the country? I considered that... but then again, I will need someone to help me with that.
What else? I was in Austin for two weeks. I spent time there eating LOTS and LOTS of good Texas BBQ, learning lots of good things about our product and how far we can push them and generally working 16 hours or so every day (even the weekends). I got to hang out with a couple of awesome co-workers for parts of the stint, including one awesome evening stumbling from bar to bar on 6th Street while admiring and cursing the heat at the same time. It was well after midnight and it was still a balmy 35 degrees! I don't know if there are any vegetarians in Texas, but if there are, I give them credit. I would have succumbed to all the awesome goodness of brisket, ribs, sausage and steak by the first week! I'd also like to say that I got to work with an exceptional team of people at Dell. I am a big fan of those guys.
I went to the Canadian embassy on Wednesday to celebrate Canada Day. I met some nice Canadians including the guy who let me into the venue despite me not having an RSVP. The official volunteer fellow was being a hard ass by not letting me in... but this guy, he sounded Canadian enough and let me in when the official looking fellow wasn't looking. Thank you, whoever you are. I consumed some food and stood in a beer line for Unibroue paid for by people like my mother (Canadian tax payers). I dont drink beer, I just stood in line so someone else could get another one without standing in line again. I also met a charming lady from Vancouver of all places, who is a student at UBC and is doing a stint as an intern at the embassy in DC! It was nice to hang out with Canadians. I missed out on the singing of the national anthem and getting a chance to chat with Ambassador Wilson, but I had to get back to work and attend meetings with my manager.
I also watched the American Independence Day celebrations on TV with the concert and fireworks on the National Mall. It looked like a lot of fun. I would have loved to go see it in person, but somehow I didn't feel like going by myself. You see, most of the people I associate with here are Canadians and... they're all back in Canada! Oh well. Normally, I would say there is always next year, but I know that is not the case. I remember Independence and Republic Day celebrations back home in India; they were a huge deal. I guess when you are a young country like the modern Republic is, you take your freedom seriously. We used to parade around in our uniforms and watch the raising of the flag and what not as part of school activities. Nothing that formal seems to exist out here and I think it would be too far out of place or deemed overly nationalistic or something akin to that here... but I have to say, it was fun as a kid. I always enjoyed watching the big parade in New Delhi where various military hardware made it across Rajpath. Someday, I will go see that live. That and the Beating of the Retreat 3 days later.
Anyway, Happy Birthday to my dear Dominion and to the United States. Its time for bed.
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