A long Journey

My experiences from a long journey to Victoria, Canada during Summers of 2015.

It was the end of November'14 when I got a confirmed mail of my selection to Mitacs Globalink Internship Programme at University of Victoria(UVic), British Columbia, Canada. A research internship on Cognitive Radio Networks under Dr. Jianping Pan. I jumped with joy internally and informed my parents about it. They congratulated me and advised to further apply for better places, however, I didn't apply anywhere, as I was feeling accomplished from this hard and stressful job. I had got support from my friends at every step, especially I am very thankful to Ankit and Abhijeet. It is very pleasing to know that all of my friends get a great internship and doing their best at their place.

Whatever God does, is for one’s good. One should do one’s best, but should not have high expectations about its results.

   I completed my 6th Sem Exams (with consistent grades) and started preparing for Canada. My mother had full preparations for all kind of utensils and food items. I just got one day to stay at home, then I had to leave to Delhi. My flight was on 1st May at 5:20 AM. I was accompanied by my father and brother to the airport, with a 50 kg luggage. They were awake the whole night at the airport worrying about me for a safe journey. "Don't worry he won't need help, instead he will help others", a guard consoled them.
   Everything went well and I got into Air India AI-115 for traveling to London. I had two more flights ahead to reach my destination. I met some friends from IITKgp on the flight who were also traveling via London. After getting comfortable in my seat, I felt relaxed and informed my relatives. My seat was middle one, next to the window seat where a girl was seated, She was going to Toronto(via London) for undergrad studies. Eventually, the air hostess offered me to sit on next empty seat. I could not ask her name :P. It was very early, morning time. She slept on her seat. I saw the plane running on the airstrip, gradually lifted up and started gaining height. It was like riding on a big swing. The glimpse of the buildings, rivers, and greenery from the pane of window inspired me to think about my motherland.

Whenever, wherever I'll go, I have to come back for the love, peace and affection with someone who lift me up to this position. 

   I was feeling sleepy, but due to the excitement of my first flight, I couldn't sleep. Outside, after crossing clouds at about one km height, the sky changed its color from violet, reddish to dark blue with sun appeared as a white plate. I was 11 km above ground traveling at 900 km/h.

Air India

The outside temperature was -60'C. Blanket and headphone were provided with a small TV attached to the back of the front seat. Most of the time was passed watching movies. Breakfast and meal were served on time. It was typical Indian food. After 9 hours of long journey, I was 7300 km away from home. The plane has to make several rounds in the air before landing due to heavy traffic at London Heathrow Airport. The yaw, roll, and pitch of the plane can be experienced during the holding time. The big farms, long roads, and unusual buildings look indelible through the glass pane.
   Aah... after a successful landing, I stretched myself and walked out to the airport. It was 10:30 AM in London and the weather was perfect---little sunlight with a cold breeze. I had 4 hours to explore the new place before boarding the next flight. I walked slowly, taking photographs at every place, used the free wifi for facebooking.. Thanks to Abhijeet for informing my parents about my safe journey.

London Heathrow Airport

at London Airport

Air Canada

   The next flight was Air Canada, at 3 PM from London to Toronto. Again, I got a similar seat but captured some selfie before other passengers arrived. This time there was a British on the window seat and an aged Punjabi on the other side. It was a better experience in Air Canada. I learned how to use TV remote and call Air-hostess. Pasta and Sweets in dinner were delicious. We had to fill a declaration form to declare whatever we are carrying to Canada. The British helped me to fill it and in turn, I helped that Punjabi. After 7 hours of tiresome journey, we arrived in Toronto at 5:40 PM (Again local time). Tiredness was suppressing the excitement as I had to stand in a queue for an hour at the airport to get the work permit and had to take my luggage from the Baggage carousel to shift it to the next flight. It was a cold evening and the sun was about to go to rising in India. 

     After 3 hours of stay at Toronto, I left towards my destination- Victoria. It was a local Air Canada flight---not that luxurious---but had a TV for entertainment. I got the windows seat and watched the beautiful city glowing in the dark. It took 5 hours to reach Victoria at 11:15 PM. My mentor Xiwen Wang was waiting for me at the gate. We had already shared our dress colors, so we easily identified each other. After collecting my luggage we went out to search for the transportation. It was too late to get the bus. Cabs were very expensive, but we had no other choice. 

    A dark and cold night with utter silence on the street, except our Taxi. Xiwen was explaining about the city and I was watching out of the window, passionately. We arrived at Turtle Hostel, a hotel already booked by Mitacs for a night.(I had to shift to UVic the next day). Few minutes after check-in, I was in a deep sleep on a fluffy bed. 

    With a cold breeze, light was falling on my face through the glass pane, when I woke up. It was 9am in the morning. I went to the balcony to capture the felicitous moments, but the cold doesn't allow me to stay longer. Xiwen was busy that day, so she told her friend, Samantha to take me to my residence at UVic. She managed to get a monthly bus pass for me and we moved towards UVic in a double-decker bus. It was a well-organized city with very low traffic, clean air and a lot of greenery. Samantha showed me some iconic places on the campus, like, Mac Pearson Library, Student Union Building(SUB), University center and some places to eat. Then, I collected my room keys and arrived at my apartment. It was a family house with four single room and a common kitchen. I quickly cooked some khichdi to stop the Tom-and-Jerry in my stomach. 

   The weather was very nice, hot sun, but the cold breeze made it more comfortable. I was the first intern to arrive at UVic, walking on the street alone, solving mysteries and adventures with the GPS as the only friend.

  

My residence at UVic 

My room at the residence

Engineering and Computer Science(ECS) Building (My Lab)

Working in my Lab :)

Later, the fellow interns arrived and we had a big family. We are improving our cooking skills and spending every weekend at some awesome places including Walmart for weekly shopping.

Our team: America, Harshita, Ish, Anurag and Swayam - at Cadboro bay