First Impressions

I have arrived.

DSCF0543.JPG

The weather is fantastic. I certainly don’t miss UK weather, where one has the impression that people are being watered like plants. However, I understand that in a couple of weeks the weather will turn sharply for the worse, and I may be envying the UK their drizzle.

The work is hard, but not impossible. It’s not quite what I expected, which is pretty much what I expected. I’ve been learning a lot about strategy from the perspective of marketing and economists so far. To be honest, it been a treat to find out what strategists actually DO – that was an open question just a couple of weeks ago.

The biggest and most exciting thing here so far has been the United States itself. It’s so different to the UK – not better or worse, just different.

Wonderful: families. Children seem to be everywhere, and they seem to be everything to their parents. Everyone smiles when they see one in public.
Wonderful: connections. It’s clear that talking to strangers (especially in London) is simply incorrect. Here you can talk to anyone, and anyone will talk to you. I feel like I’m using a muscle I haven’t used for a long time.
Wonderful: colleagues. Regardless of the diversity of the students, they are common in their energy, sagacity, and eagerness to help.

However, there are some things I miss about the UK.

WTF: environment. I don’t have a car, but it seems difficult to function here without one. It’s not impossible – I can get away without one, but it teeters on the edge of impossible, which is just annoying. The city here is fairly spread out, and to buy anything you need to sit for hours on a bus. Specifically route 208. More specfically, there seems to be nowhere in Evanston to buy a toaster. I pine for an Argos or a Robert Dyas.
WTF: time. There is no time to do anything in this environment – there’s simply more to do than there are hours in the day.
WTF: nomenclature. People seem to keep calling crisps “chips”. This is incorrect.

There are also some oddities.

Odd: every street is lines with neat grass. Where does it all come from? Who cuts it? Who waters it in the dry season? Is the city employing an army of invisible gardeners?
Odd: wildlife. There are squirrels everywhere, and they are almost tame. I’m sure I could just grab one on the way into college. Also, I have seen a skunk. London has foxes, we have skunks.

Odd: baseball. I have now been to a baseball game at Wrigley Field. Nobody watched the game. (The photo is of a freakish moment when everyone was looking in the same direction by chance.) Everyone was just chatting amongst themselves. For the english readers, baseball is almost exactly like rounders, and you’ll be pleased to know that football is getting a lot more popular here.


Comments

6 responses to “First Impressions”

  1. Mangoslice

    Hi Shahid,
    Have been following your blog for some time now,and i need some advise. Seems like im going down in the GMAT Bschool boat :), can i mail u?!

  2. Sure thing – check your inbox!

  3. Shahid,
    Not sure if your toaster woes still exist, but if they do, check out a walgreens. They have inexpensive kitchen items. Cheap, but functional.

  4. Thanks Rahul – I haven’t spotted one in Evanston as of yet. I’ve now got my bank account up and running, so I think I’ll just use to web to order stuff en masse.

  5. Well, well… look at you!
    Is there a “Central Perk” near here?
    How is you taste in coffee, freshley squeezed OJ (Not from concentrate) and toast so bit you can’t get it through the door?

    A.

  6. Aantika

    HI Shahid i and my friends are waiting to see u

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *