Ice Cream Social

Having spent almost three weeks in US, I discovered one common practice among Americans which they use to socialize new people among themselves. It's by inviting people for a sponsored ice cream party. This is a party where people come and get to know others when they are enjoying cups of ice creams. When I say cups you must have comprehended the meaning that it's unlimited! One such happened in my apartment where the owners of the apartment invited the guests of each home for the party during one fine evening. We were able to talk to other neighbours whom we couldn't meet otherwise because since it's a place where graduate students stay who are always studios, meetings like these provide a good opportunity to know about each other a easier job.

The second ice cream social was at International Student Center of my University. It was to bring all the newly enrolled graduate students together. We had students from China, Russia, Uruguay, Taiwan, Middle East and of course India. The organizers conducted some cool games which were entertaining and at the same time helped students of one country know the students from other countries better. Games like saying hello in the language of foreign language of any other foreign student brought cheers to students. There were also prizes for small events. The prizes were like free tickets to fun events within the college. Everyone of us had good scoop of Strawberry, Vanilla and Chocolate ice cream. Later we parted our ways, but only for the evening and to stay together for at least two years.

Independence Day celebration by ISA

The Indian Student Association of Kansas State University arranged for a flag hoisting ceremony followed by a dinner at Long's park at Manhattan, Kansas. It was the first get together of all the Indians associated with the University and I was extremely happy to meet them all so soon at a very special occasion. There were two flags, American and Indian. The American flag was hoisted by an American Professor and the Indian flag by the Head of the Department of Computing and Information Sciences. The glad thing was that we had many Americans participating in this function.

The dinner served after the ceremony had something special in it. The dishes were raji ma, pakoda, jeera rice, some side dishes and Pepsi . These were prepared by some Indian students and Indian home makers in USA. They were so good that we felt like we are eating Indian food. There was one retired Professor from Vet-Med who sang a song about Mahatma Gandhiji. Everybody listened with patience and appreciated the song after it was completely sung.

There were also other performances like guitar by a Masters student from Mechanical Engineering, song by a small Indian girl and a group song. There were some prizes distributed. They conduct ISA cricket tournament. There were winners and runners-up. There were other events for which prizes were awarded like badminton, table tennis and so on. I met all the seniors of all departments. Luckily met three people from Tamil Nadu. Then met all the current year students. Finally the evening ended saying adios amigos to all the Indian and American friends.