Naturally your first thought is, "He's been singing this tune for years now. How many times can we raise our hopes only to see them dashed to the ground like flower pots thrown by demented secretaries?". But, ladies and gentlemen, the facts are a little different this time. If i may...
1. Admission letter
2. Scholarship
3. Housing (I am told the scholarship agency will attend to it and therefore i can consider a done thing. So they say)
Now, do you see? It is all happening this time. No? Really? Ok, i give. I'm a tad sceptical about all this myself. But on the bright side, d-day is 2 weeks away. So there's not much more of a wait left. Secondly, thanks to the scholarship, my visa was free, i get chauffeured home from the airport (in Paris), i get a butt-load of cash every month, my insurance is paid for, and considering that my tuition fee is practically nil, all the afore-mentioned cash will go towards getting myself a sweet pad (or whatever else kids call it nowadays) and general merriment-type activities.
Fun, fun. One might almost expect me to be dancing in the rain. Or singing. Whatever. But... there a few things preying on my mind. Small. Tiny. One might almost say "petite".
1. Housing, is still not done (yes, yes i know what they're saying).
2. There are a mind-boggling number of formalities to be completed on reaching Paris. And i have heard way too many horror stories pertaining to this subject. Homeless indian students on the river banks, offering to entertain you with vedic math tricks for food.
3. I am the first and only indian in my department (maybe the university).
4. Also one of the few foreigners there. Therefore the international student support is sketchy at best.
5. This campus isn't much to speak of. Although it is the HQ. (But I suppose that's the price to pay for living in Paris.
6. I have to understand the language, the lectures, take notes, and various classroom activities. Did i mention that the course is in French?
7. I have to understand the subject(!!). I haven't been in engineering in two years. I haven't been a student in two years.
8. General freak out. Promoted from Major freak out.
9. There's shopping and packing to be done.
10. Stupid Air France has cancelled the baggage concessions for student visas. So i'm going to have to leave the idli-maker and grinder at home. Damn.
I shall cease here for a breather, since the list appears to be degenerating into random yammering.
Which of course, brings me to my biggest fear. I like having new friends. Who doesn't? But i hate making new friends. All that initial awkwardness. And this time in a foreign tongue, no less. But I also get clammy at the thought of ending my France stay having sat silently in a corner and spent the time staring at a spot on the wall.
Which only leaves one option. Bite the bullet and
I think i'm going to go lie down, take some deep breaths, and hyper-ventilate.
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