PDJ....a polished version of personal diary

This is somthing I have to submit every quarterly while im here, its a kinda of a dairy wer i have mentioned most of the things i hav experienced so far rite here in NYC. Hope ul like it too


Personal Development Journal
It's a new world -
it's a new start
It's alive with the beating of young hearts
It's a new day -
it's a new plan
I've been waiting for you Here I am
- (Song by Bryan Adams)
Was the number I was listening to when the plane just landed at the Newark International Airport, in the United States of America. And ‘Yes’ I have been waiting for this day since a long long time. All the exhaustion just seem to disappear and suddenly I couldn’t help but smile for making it here. Friends, family, workplace, people without whom I wouldn’t do much; I had left them all and come here to start afresh. I still remember the way I was noticing each and every small thing while we were on our way to the hotel. The roads, the buildings, the people, I was mesmerized by every little thing I saw. How different it was from my home country, India. And here I was telling myself, “I’m going to make this the best year I’ve ever had.”

“One block from The Empire State building” was how I described the location of the hotel to my family where I was accommodated for the first two weeks. The stay at the hotel was a memorable one especially because of the company of two lovely people in my room. Sitting and watching T.V. with them, learning history of the episodes of some programs which I was watching for the first time, besides that also sharing our day to day knowledge of Manhattan gained by the daily visits to almost every known place in that region. We three got along so well that we also did the scavenger hunt together. This was the first time I actually wondered through out New York. Starting from the Woolworth building which has one of a kind architecture inside, then passing through the famous Wall Street which consists of Who’s Who of corporate America. Then covering the not so famous places but yet unique in their own way are SoHo and Chinatown. I’m sure I’ll be returning there once again but that time not with an intention to discover the place but to shop. We also gave a small visit to the Statue of George Washington in union Square as he too was a part of our Scavenger hunt questionnaire. In this one day I am sure I must have covered almost one fourth of New York.

Then one day I made a visit to Central Park to see Mr. David Blaine, the great magician doing his ‘hanging upside down over Central Park for 60 hours’ stunt. Back in India I would watch his shows with my younger brother who just admires him and today I got to see him live in front of me. I called up my brother that very moment and could very well sense how excited he was to hear that. The walk to Central Park itself was enjoyable in itself as we passed by some of the great shops and buildings of all time, the ones I had only seen on T.V. till date. Famous Statue of Atlas, Rockefeller Center, Trump Towers, Versace, Louis Vuitton showrooms and the place known for its gadgets, Apple Incorporated.

Everyday was just getting better than before, even work for that matter. Most of my friends were not that eager to start work, but I was. For me more New York was not one of the glamour and commercial call, but I saw it as the core of Business through out the world. And it proved so when the Wall Street Crisis started showing its effects the world over. Though back in India I used to check how the market was doing everyday, but here in the past few days the frequency of refreshing the Google Finance site was done in every 5 minutes. Everybody shouting on the floor, “Dow 500 points down”, “Lehman files for Bankruptcy”, “Merrill is sold”. Everybody tensed about their job, not only here but also back in Mumbai. My mom would call me up asking if everything was fine at work. She doesn’t understand much about the market but the news which was going around was enough for her to figure out that America is in trouble and so are the jobs of the people living here. My involvement in knowing how things are in the financial world was so deep that it also made me earn the title of ‘Analyst’ by my colleagues at work. I never expected that I’ll be able to get along so well and so fast with these people. Leaving aside the personal interests my official training was also not that difficult. I was aware that what I was going to take up here was completely different from what I did back in India, but I had done my homework, so to say. Still I never hesitated bugging my trainer with my doubts whenever I had them.

What I admire the most about the Americans is their attitude towards their work and their life. During weekdays stating from 8 in the morning till 5 in the evening these people work. I mean real serious work. But one also would not fail to notice their enthusiasm on Friday. ‘Thank God it’s Friday’ is what you get to hear from almost everybody on the floor on that day. Leaving from office they all directly head to parties which go on till early morning. I wished we followed the same practice in India, but I also know seeking permission from my parents for the late night outs would be a difficult task.

For me things were going well at work and also in my apartment. I enjoy the company of my flat mates and especially the time when we three girls encourage the 2 guys who are busy competing against each in a Wii Nintendo game. Also the time when I have the late night chat with my room-mate is very special to me. Showing each other pictures of our family and friends, flaunting the latest things we shopped and sharing our frustration in completing the assignments are few things which we do very often.

There are so many things that I’ve done so far which I would not have dared to do at home. For example there is this crazy thing we did one night. Five of my friends and me decided to go to Staten Island that too at 12:30 in the night. The journey was not bad if one ignores the freezing wind which was blowing right on our face. Path till WTC, then a walk for about half an hour and then a ferry ride which lasted for almost 25 minutes was how we made our way to Staten Island. Though we didn’t get to see much of that place in the dark but it was the Ferry Ride which was the best part of the trip. It was on that ride that I had the privilege to see the ‘Statue of Liberty’, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. It wasn’t a great view I agree but it wasn’t bad either. On our way back we also found the famous Stock Exchange Bull all alone an all of grabbed this opportunity to have ourselves clicked with him.

What I am going to write now, is a recent addition of my Halloween experience. Racking my head so that it comes out with a nice costume idea since the start of the Halloween week and surfing net to see what all crazy things people have actually done so far just added on to my excitement for Halloween. Finally when the day arrived, I didn’t do much but still wore a dark make up and had put on some junky jewelries to not to look the way I usually do. We then finally reached the ever so crazy, wacky parade I have never seen in my life before. People dressed up to look as scary as possible, girls dancing away to glory on the vehicles, camera flashes seen almost every second was what made the parade so out of the world. It looked like the horror characters from all the Hollywood movies decided to make their appearance at the parade. Not only them there were ‘n’ numbers of Obama and Palin too begging people to vote for them.

Everything till now just been so spectacular and truly memorable and I know future is just going to get better. I’m anxiously looking forward for the coming months and with things like Thanksgiving and Christmas in queue it’s difficult to hold the excitement. Having completed just a little more than a month, I’ve had so many experiences that 1500 words fall too short to describe the time I’ve had so far. For me I know that this is just the beginning and the way Robert Frost puts in words I shall also say, ‘And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.’