Goof up at USPS!

Last Monday I went to USPS (United States Postal Services) to mail an important document home. I gave my debit card for the payment, but to my dismay the transaction failed. To make matters more embarrassing, I did not even have enough cash with me to pay for the service. I felt terrible. I couldn’t even cancel the order as the order was already placed and was fed into the system and I had to pay. I inquired for nearby ATM and requested the lady at the counter to wait and I will quickly go and get the cash from the ATM. I reached at the ATM only to realize that ATM machine was out-of-orderL!!! I wondered how and what would be the best way to get quick cash; I was very confused whom to ask for help in such a critical state. I was pacing in the hallway of the building and I instantly ran to the Center for International Studies hoping to see Kayoko – the ISO coordinator and one of my fellow international students. To my relief she was available and only person whom I could have asked to borrow five dollars. She was truly a savior for me.
The next day, I headed to my bank and got the debit card issue fixed. As it turns out I needed to reset my pin number. What a relief it was to get this sorted out. Never before had I been in a situation where despite of having money, I was not able to use it. These easy quick electronic facilities can be very frustrating at times. I learned an important lesson– to carry at least 20 to 30 dollars extra so I can be prepared should something like this happens again.

Course work and Midterms

In the midst of celebration and enjoyment of Diwali last week, I almost forgot about my midterms. Although the week was very hectic with two projects and an exam, I survived. I am noticing, however, as the semester unwinds that sometimes life gets very busy with work and I get very little time for myself. Nevertheless, I am enjoying my courses—I’m finding they are both interesting and challenging. In particular, I’m really enjoying my Observation and Measurement class. It has a lot of new technical terms and in-class activities that are increasing my understanding about behavioral studies. The professor is very cooperative and so far I have been able to maintain my grades. I hope that I continue to do well in the class. Being a new student in the U.S., I have been facing some challenges in terms of using U.S. English in my writings, in lieu of , British English as we use in India. I can’t tell you how many times I have written “behaviour” instead of “behavior”! Hopefully by the end of this semester I will get use to writing in the US style. The writing course that I am taking this semester, which is required for all new students, has particularly been helpful in this regard.