It was someday in March 2009. I was sitting in my cubical in a shipyard in Nantong, China. My company in India had sent me here for a 3 months industrial training. It was winter and temperature outside was negative 8 degree Celsius. I was sipping my favorite green tea from Hangzhou and chitchatting with my other Chinese colleagues. Suddenly my phone rung, my parents were trying to reach me from India. My life was about to change for next 2 year!
They informed me that they have just received a letter from MUN and it has accepted my application and has granted me funding for my masters. I obviously became very excited and this news was on Facebook within few minutes (Yes, there are ways to access Facebook in China!). I took my time to digest this news, half heartedly finished my leftover training, returned to India, quit my job, spent 2 months with my family and then came to Newfoundland.
As an international student from India, first thing I noticed about this place is it’s extremely low population density. In the first few days, the silence of the landscape was almost haunting. The population density of Mumbai is estimated to be about 22000 persons per square kilometer and for St. John’s, it is about 225 persons per square kilometer. So imagine almost 100 people in place of every single person you see in St. John’s and that is how Mumbai looks like! It took me a lot of time to adjust to this general quietness of St. John’s and only recently I have started appreciating it. Newfoundland took time to grow on me but when it did, it made me it’s own.
You have to come from a far away land to fully appreciate Newfoundland. Recently I visited Upper Amherst Cove, a small coastal community of around 25 people located approximately 3.5 hr drive from St. John’s. A friend of mine who grew up there told me that in summer, sometimes the whales in ocean next to her house would make so much noise that they would look outside the window and swear at them. Most of the houses in this community are occupied by artists who go there looking for inspiration and solitude. How romantic is the idea of living this kind of lifestyle?
In a place as remotely located as St. John’s, I am thankful that there is a thriving international student community, food is available to suit all tastes and people are remarkably nice and warm (especially locals). I am thankful to George Street for being the ultimate “Rue de la soif”, I am thankful to Signal Hill for providing the ultimate beautiful view within a walking distance from my home and I am thankful to MUN for providing cheapest good quality education in Canada.
These days I do not get surprised when I meet a random person in a bar and realize that we have mutual friends, I take full pleasure in cursing the weather and I obsessively worry about vitamin D deficiency. And when I run into a friend downtown, I say “Whadd'ya at b’y?”.
Oh Newfoundland, I love you!
………………..
Karan Bhawsinka
