I get a promotion!
There is a notice announcing the availability of a resident supervisor position. A batch of Saudi Arabians have come to Evanston to undergo a quarter of training in Traffic Control. They are to be housed in Kendall College and they need a resident supervisor.
I went and talked to the person in charge and was immediately hired. The terms: free room on the same floor as the Saudis. I was to be the "lead Supervisor" and will have another Graduate Student from Poland to be the "Assistant" supervisor, under the same terms. Now I get a full room all for myself! The room is about as big as the one I had at 1221 Forest, except it had a more comfortable bed.
Now that I save on my room rent, and as I know how to eat in the hostel cafeteria, I decided to pay for eating at the Kendall College Cafeteria and quit the dish washing job. I just retained the weekly house cleaning as a "back up!"
*****************
When they say it is a pretty day here, it is a pretty day (compared to most of the gloomy days)!
**************
I have become "fully Americanized!"
I had bought a used suitcase from a nearby resident who had put up an ad in the Daily Northwestern. When I moved to Kendall College, I abandoned the suitcase I had brought from India.
Now I do not have anything except my black dialled wrist watch (my wedding present by my brother-in-law), and a 35 mm SLR Camera (borrowed from my retired uncle) from India.
Thus I have become "Americanized." I even caught myself dreaming in English one night!
***************
| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Tabloid |
| School | Northwestern University |
| Owner(s) | Students Publishing Company |
| Founded | 1881 |
| Headquarters | Evanston, Illinois |
| ISSN | 1523-5033 |
| Website | www |
Kalyanasundaram says: Will it be better if the date of the happenings of episode is given in each blog, that will show me, for instance, which year was the Kendall college .
ReplyDeleteReply to Kalyanasundaram: Good Idea! Will try. My Chicago/Northwestern U/Evanston period was Jan 77 to July 78; each quarter was 3 months, Winter Jan to March, Spring, Summer, Fall. I was in Kendal College during Fall (Autumn) 77
ReplyDeleteKalyanasundaram says: I enjoyed the line, "I caught myself dreaming in English one night!"....😄
ReplyDeleteReply: That happened a lot later on; now I have mixed dreams - just like our day-to-day conversations: converse in Tamil with our folks in dream but also cionverse in English with locals! In the early days at Guindy (1956) a set of us among the new students used to walk all the way to Saidapet to eat our morning tiffin. Once during such walk one of our classmates was telling how we are not able to say a full sentence in Tamil without mixing English phrase. Remember this was when most of us have had our education in Tamil medium. Another person (Seshadri) interjected saying (in Tamil of course) why not (ஏன் முடியாது?). He was challenged by the other person to try. Seshadri started "ஏன் முடியாது? If we have the determination..)" by then he realized he has failed and all of us had a hearty laugh.
ReplyDeleteAnantha Sundaram says:
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed this. I really liked the line "... there is always something falling to keep people busy". I think even outside of those contexts (US, seasons etc), it is true. If we are not busy dealing with what has fallen, we are busy coping with what has befallen us. Somewhere in there, if we are lucky, we understand our own agency between those two. Poignant recollections that bring out these inter-woven threads. Thank you.
Anantha, Thanks for your observation. It is your innate ability to read and reflect that has brought out this fact of human life! Remarks, observations and comments like yours are the stimulants for a blogger like me.
ReplyDelete