First post from The Netherlands :)

Hello dear readers,

First of all, i hope you all are having an amazing time in your life :) Second, i apologise for not updating my blog for so long. A lot has happened since my last post. I finished my masters at Memorial University in Canada, went for a 40 day vacation to India so that i can spend some time with my family and friends and on 31st of January, 2012, I came to a small city called Wageningen in The Netherlands to start my new job. I will be in Netherlands for atleast coming 2 years, as that is the duration of my present contract. I will be working as a project manager with a hydrodynamic consulting company called MARIN (http://www.marin.nl/). 

So first of all, let me highlight the fact that tough i am super excited about my coming 2 years in wageningen, i really really miss St. John's and the people i met there. I made some quality friends there and i consider them a part of my family now. Ewa, Cristy, Saima, Ranjeet, you all are very special to me. Ewa, you are special because you taught me how to care for somebody you love, cristy, you are special because you are the most freeking cheerful person ever :), saima, you are special because of your cooking skills :P (just kidding) and because you are an awesome sister, and ranjeet, man you are special because i have never met some one as true as you. These pictures are for all of you guys!. St. John's would not have been same without you. 3 cheers for all those cooking together nights, those sentimental moments, those long walks, those birthdays, those parties :) :)

The Gang :)

Cristy @ Holi :P

Ewa, the sexy bunny ;)

Ranjeet @ Signal Hill 

Saima, so happy on her birthday :)

In India, it was a whole another story! I was visiting home after almost 2.5 years. That was the longest i had stayed away from home and i was really looking forward to meet everyone. My parents came to pick me at Kolkata airport. 

Papa, mummy and bro @ our home terrace in Sitamarhi 

It was a bit awkward moment to say the truth. I just didn't knew how to react when i saw them. 2.5 years is way to long to stay away from home and I highly recommend any one who is living away from their parents to visit them atleast once a year. Anyways, things quickly became normal and i was in Sitamarhi in no time. It was clear to me that Bihar is not going to be the same in coming few years. The pace at which infrastructure is developing in Bihar is tremendous! It was good to be back home :) I was lucky that immediately after i reached home, many of my family members from different parts of India visited Sitamarhi for winter holidays. For few weeks, our home in  Sitamarhi was packed with people. It was such a blast. 

Apart from all the fun with family at home, the another major thing that was going on (and is still going on back in Sitamarhi) was construction of papa's clinic. I was there for a lot of time just to over see the construction workers. The ground floor will be ready soon and papa will start practicing there after a big pooja (religious ceremony) which is planed sometime in coming April end. 

Papa's new clinic

After staying for a while at home, I had to make a trip to Delhi to apply for my Dutch visa. In the same time, I and a bunch my friends made a quick trip to Ranthambore National Park, a famous tiger reserve in India. It was great to meet everyone after so long!

Me, yogi, steel, havas, gangwal and madam @ Ranthambore fort

And the best things about travelling in India? The mighty Indian Railways and the sense of freedom it gives:

     

Onboard some train from Delhi to Muzaffarpur

The soulful music that you find in every corner:

Rajasthani musicians playing at out hotel in Ranthambore

And the unlimited variety of street food!!

en-route from Muzaffarpur to Sitamarhi, we took a stop for some street food, literally :P (in the pic is upender ji, our driver, eating some sugar cane) 

Well, eventually my trip to India came to an end. I took my flight from Delhi, landed in Amsterdam and came to Wageningen by train on 31st Jan 2012. I found a nice apartment here which i am sharing with a Belgian post doc student of Wageningen University (one of the best in the world for life sciences). 

My apartments living room

Don't be fooled by the blueness. It is a clever dutch trick. The sky is always grey here :P 

New city, new friends :)

So lets see how life unfolds in Wageningen. Apart from work, I am learning Dutch and Salsa and I have started playing Squash. That keeps me busy at the moment and intellectually simulated as well. So I hope i gave all of you a brief account of my past few months :) As i explore the city and the country and have new experiences, i promise to keep you all updated. 

I will sign off now as its already 1:00 am here and i have to wake up tomorrow at 7 to get ready for work.

Peace and Proost :)

Karan