Odd times, odd things

Wow, I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard who won this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. Gets me wondering if some people just jumped the gun, but then amongst the little great people around the world I know it had to be him or Moon. I trust the esteemed selectors were far more serious (than they would, were they selecting the last comic standing) and have chipped in their opinion in their best interest purporting their unprecedented wisdom. BBC seems to be cool about it. CNN, on the other hand, has most of her crew's jaws dropping a mile. They accept he is doing a great job, but the Nobel Peace Prize within less than a year of tenure as president? But I think it’s just fair, by the strides he has taken of late and letting the world know he himself is surprised.

Still, this could open rooms for options. Just like an architect who comes up with a great plan, presents the model and walks away with a grand prize, but later everything turns topsy-turvy as simple mistakes and multiple errors of judgment start getting uncovered. I mean I could always come up with a grand idea and win accolades but I won’t feel deserving until the job is quite well done. Whatever the norms, I believed in the man since I heard him on TV for the first time. Great things happen to great men, and he proved it. The magic man pulled an Obama again, didn’t he?

Talk about wonder and the picture is about how the western world isn’t failing to amuse me. Of course it came with a price. I had to return to my home for two days letting my urinary bladder hold as much as it could. Believe it or not my school has toilets for men and women together. The first day I caught sight of it I got confused.I gathered my guts and opened it, only to find a bunch of ladies inside. I shut the door and zoomed off from the spot. I did the same next day but a horde of ladies yet again. Only on the third day did I realise that it’s common toilet for both men and women. We just go in and wait for the pot rooms to empty. Whew! Anyways, even the folks from US and other countries are equally bamboozled by this cultural shock. We are getting used to it though.

A wonderful class yet again. 49 weird students from 25 odd countries. The lecturer walks in, rants for three hours and wants to know at the end of class if we think we learnt anything. A student shoots his hands up and says, “If you used some examples on your slides I would say your presentation would have been more SEXY.” Brings down the house but leaves the poor man red faced. Then more often than naught when the presentation gets interesting, someone starts gaping, “You ought to be kidding me, this is f*****g crazy!” It’s not just the students anyway. CEOs are hired to give talks to the class and one just goes, “Never assume, because assumption is the mother of all f*** ups!” He was a pass out from this school anyways.

Not to be outdone, the faculty sends in a young, beautiful, not outrageously beautiful but with a great sex appeal, to teach us a great subject. She gets the point straight, tells us about the exams. She wants us to write about the problems we faced back in office, basically ramble about how poorly our bosses performed. But it’s our turn to be open-mouthed now. “You write something direct like ‘My boss was a total A*H***’ and I will make sure you become one too,” she would warn through her lovely lips curled into a sweet smile. We are done with her class now, for good, but I am told she left a few broken hearts behind last year, and this year’s class too. Nah, not me, I came here to study, remember. I rather worry about food here than women.

Anyone ever tell you watch how much you are eating? Well, my college cafe tells me all the time. I actually have to put my food on a weighing machine so that they can determine the price. I pay between Nu 350 to 450 for a decent lunch. The lower amount when I get my calculation right and put food which does not exceed 1 kg (Oh that’s including the weight of the porcelain or glass plates by the way, but we are told we are not paying for the plates as well). Exceed a kg by a gram and one could end paying Nu 150 extra. Sshhh... But hell, I am trying to save for my next day’s meal here!

Anyways, things ought to be odd. Otherwise whatever about adjustment? Digest odd news, accept new culture, watch TV and sleep over it. Talking about TV, I got BBC and CNN. Rest are in local language so doesn’t make much sense to me. So I study till midnight to keep up with the demanding schedule of my class and assignments. Time for a break and flip some channels. Voila, you got porn! At midnight? You know, I just slept in the evening and I can go and study till 2 am, but now there’s a nice distraction... Hmmm, it’s half past midnight now. I better not touch the TV and rather go to sleep. Got to get up early and finish a 10 page write-up for my term paper. Living a lonely life, knowing there is free porn on TV and still going off to sleep... a terribly hard (but arguably, the best) decision.

Meanwhile, good night and happy weekend all.