My Fulbright Experience in USA

Tour Diary – Fulbright Visiting Lecturer – Michigan State University – Michigan, USA

15^th September 2012

Most productive day so far. Got up late (intentionally) at 8 a.m. Bright sunny day. Very pleasant weather indeed. Day started off with a small walk. Did laundry (washing and drying at the community laundry centre). Came back and prepared breakfast (Bread toast and bulls eye) and had it around 11 a.m. Spoke to Ramlootha and Bappa while at the laundry centre. It seems Umma had sustained some minor injuries (thanks to a push from Dad) and they are currently at Ramlootha’s house for a medical check up on Monday.

Proceeded to University to get the bike which was left at the international centre (after the Saudi students association’s Eid celebrations) on previous night. Pedalled little bit in the campus and had couple of photographs nearby the river. Came back and joined Valencia for a trip to Meridian Mall (Big, but the usual kind of malls in India too. Malls never  impressed me very  much, though some places were good for shopping) by bus. Experienced bit of bus travel. Met Stephen, who dropped us back in his car. Americans, both white and black, are quite open minded and interact freely. Returned home at 3 p.m. Cooked rice and had it with left over curries in the refrigerator (Chala soup, potato subji from Pushpa, pickle and curd – thanks to pushpa again). Nice lunch indeed. Had a short nap and then joined Trupti jain to witness the Tailgate party at University.

Tailgate part, before the football match (American football, a kind of hybrid between soccer and rugby) was indeed a great experience. Nearly 80000 people on campus with full of tents, barbecue, drinks and dance. The ambience was great and to be experienced to believe it. INSERT IMAGES. The party starts almost 3 hours before the match and it is great fun for American people. People of  all ages in groups enjoying food, dance and occasional simple games.

Returned home at 8.15 p.m., had a shower, finished namas and tried to learn chemistry. Spent nearly 4 hours studying the basic principles of chemistry. Went to bed at 12.30 midnight.

Occasional Lecture Trip to Richland Community College, Decatur, Illinois and Millikin University, Decatur, Illinois on 28^th September 2012

Started from East Lansing on 27th September. Boarded Amtrak Train No. 365 at 8.27 a.m to Chicago. Prof. Padmanabhan came to see me off. Reached Chicago Union station at 11.45 a.m (accounting for -1 hour difference between Lansing and Chicago). Did not do any reading as I was more interested in seeing the topography of the land, which was not as varied as in my home state Kerala, India (one of the most biodiverse region in the world). Had a tuna sandwich and banana at the Union station and boarded train no. 321 to Springfied, Illinois. Reached Springfield at 5.25 p.m. Dr. Sangeetha Srinivasan came along with her daughter Vidhula to pick me up from the station and stay was arranged at their residence at Chatham. So nice of them to extend a very warm hospitality. The residential area was quite sprawling with large tracts of farm land around. I liked the quite ambience at this place very much. Had a small walk during the sunset time and took couple of pictures. Dr. Srinivasan joined us at 9 p.m and we had dinner together. Spent quite sometime recollecting the olden days at Bharathiar university, which was indeed golden era in my academics.

Got up early in the morning, did some final touch up to  the presentation  material. Had breakfast at around 9 am and proceeded to Richland Community College. Dr. Srini drove me though Decatur town and explained me how globalisation took away some of the jobs from the locals and things like that. Reached Richland community college at 10.30 a.m and met Prof. John Curdlack, Dean, mathematics and biology. He gave a warm welcome at his office and informed us that Vice-President Dr. Todd Treat has arranged lunch for us at nearby hotel. Dr. Srinivasan took me around the institution and explained the nature of community colleges. At 11.30 we three, Dr. John, Dr. Srini and myself proceeded to the hotel, where Dr. Todd joined us and we all had a typical American lunch. It was bit heavy for me and could not eat the entire meal. Since it was tasty the remaining part was packed in a container and handed to me by the waitress.

The lecture on ‘Arctic odyssey – experience sharing of Indian Arctic expedition’ took place at the seminar hall at 1 o clock and attended by nearly 40 students apart from Dr. John, Dr. Todd, Dr. Srini  and couple of other faculty members. There was very good interaction from the  students and staff at the end of the lecture and I really enjoyed the interaction. The lecture was well appreciated by the audience and Dr. Todd sent a specific mail to Dr. Srini and Dr. John for inviting me to the Richland community college. The content of the mail is copied below.

date:	Sat, Sep 29, 2012 at 6:55 AM
subject:	FW: Fulbright Scholar visit
mailed-by:	richland.edu

Cc: Srinivasan Durairaj; John Cordulack
Subject: Fulbright Scholar visit

Dr.  Saunders,

Today, our new faculty member, Dr. Srini Durairaj, welcomed his colleague, Dr. A. Mohamed Hatha, a Fulbright Scholar at Michigan State University who gave a wonderful presentation to his class on “An Arctic Odyssey- Experience of Indian Arctic Expedition.” He is an Associate Professor at Cochin University of Science and Technology in India.  Dr. Hatha spoke about his research in 2009 in the arctic circle, focusing on topics of interest to our students.

Having a Fulbright Scholar visit Richland Community College is a great honor and testament to the quality of faculty we have here. I appreciate Srini and John's efforts to bring Dr. Hatha to visit.

Tod

A photo  of John, Srini and myself taken at the office of Dr. John is also included.

After completion of the lecture at Richland Community College myself and Srinivasan proceeded to Millikin  University for a lecture  on ‘Microbial diversity  in the Arctic’ at the biology department. The lecture was scheduled at 4 p.m and was attended by most of the faculty members as well as nearly 50 students. Here again the interaction was excellent and people were really happy to see the research initiatives at the International Research Base at Svalbard, Norwegian Arctic. They also took special note of the Indian research initiatives and appreciated the same very much. The chief of biology division, discussed the possibility of academic interaction between Cochin University of Science and Technology (the university in India to which I belong) and Milllikin University. We ended the discussion on a positive note and returned to Dr. Sini’s residence at Chatham.

Dr. Srini arranged a visit to President Lincoln’s home at Springfield and it was indeed a memorable experience walking through the avenue and the home he has built. It is maintained in an impeccable manner reflecting the times of President Lincoln. I picked up a few inexpensive memorabilia from the souvenir shop, especially for my father, who is avid supporter of Lincoln and his efforts in American civil war. We returned to Srini’s house, had lunch and proceeded to Chicago in his car.

Reached Chicago at 6 p.m. Visited with one of Dr. Srinivasn’s friend, Mr. Srinij and we had dinner with them. Incidentally his wife Chitra was an alumnus of CUSAT and felt very happy at my presence. His parents who belong to my state Kerala were also there. Had a short visit to see the illumination of Chicago city at night. Visited Buckingham fountain at the city centre and had a look at the vast Lake Michigan. The full moon highlighted the ambience and it was indeed a memorable evening. Stayed at Mr. Sasis (who did his M.S and Ph.D at MSU) apartment. A very nice guy who fixed us tea and prepared Upma for the breakfast. Returned to Srinij’s house and then proceeded for Chicago city tour along with Srini.

Took Architectural cruise from 12 noon to 2 p.m. An excellent way to look at the architectural beauty of the high rise buildings at Chicago. Thoroughly enjoyed the cruise and had a life time experience. Majestic view of Sears tower as well as many other sky scrapers were just imposing. The ambience of cruising along the waterway amidst huge high rise buildings was indeed breathtaking. When the clouds were moving against the backdrop of highrise building it was felt that the entire building is  involved in a kind of gliding motion.

The view of majestic Lake Michigan was also fantastic. It was almost an ocean like expanse and it is hard to believe that it is a freshwater lake.

Fulbright Enrichment Seminar at Reno, Nevada – 31.10.2012 to 4.11.2012

Started at 6 a.m from Spartan village along with trupti Jain. Taxi driver was an Iraqi, nice guy. Trupti could not proceed as her ticket got cancelled. However tried to sort out the issue with Eileen Grench.

Lansing – Detroit – Salt Lake city – Reno. Started at 8.15 a.m and reached 4.30 p.m (plus two hours difference between Michigan and Reno). Fulbrighters from Uganda and Morocco gave good company. Met more Indian Fulbrighters at Salt lake city.

Accommodation at Siena Hotel, star hotel with good facilities. Registered and got the kit involving a water bottle, folder, pen and a Fulbright pin (best of the lot).

Welcome dinner was a great mix of so many people from different parts of the world. The talk was OK. Meeting got over at 9 p.m.

1.11.2012

Day started off with early breakfast at 7 a.m. Not so great, though more than sufficient. Scrambled eggs, Potatoes, Croissants, fruit juice, tea/ coffee.

Walked to the Reno city council. The mayor and few other spoke of the organisation as well as the challenges. View from Mayor’s room on 7^th floor was very good. Weather was very fine at Reno. Also had Q&A with local election panel. It was good interaction. I too raised some questions about lack of mentioning of India in foreign policy debate by the presidential candidates.

Lunch at Siena hotel followed by panel discussion on state of education in Nevada. Tea break at 3 p.m followed by speech by Sheriff of Reno. Excellent speech and productive interaction.

Came to know about the death of Cheriyelappa (after a brief illness) through a call from Lukh (it was early morning on 3^rd Nov. 12, Friday). Very difficult to accept fact, as he was a regular and active presence in the family. May God bless him with heaven.

Dinner was arranged at local host’s residence. There were 5 members in my team which included one Croatian, one from Poland, another from Tanzania and one from Cyprus. Served Bread, baked potatoes, chicken, pork and wine. There were two families at hosts residence and we had a long interaction for nearly 3 hours.

Returned to hotel at 10.30 p.m and slept immediately.

2^nd Nov. 2012