First Day of Class and Shopping in Bangalore - June 30th and July 1st

As we all began to settle down into life in Bangalore, we began our respective courses. The first course I am taking during my time here is Globalization and Engineering. This course focuses on global business and how companies evolve from domestic to international business and the way business operates in various countries. Along with this is a look at specific companies, business throughout history, and analysis of growing markets. Excitedly entering the class, we met the professor, a former electrical engineer who worked primarily for TATA, an Indian company who works with everything from cars to consumer electronics to food goods and even aeronautical engineering and satellites. We discussed various companies such as Saab, Nokia, and Nutella and countries such a Singapore and China in order to get a glimpse into the complexities of globalization and how companies and countries are effected by globalization. The remainder of Monday was spent by grabbing a North Indian meal from one of the school cafeterias, grabbing the necessary supplies for our classes and starting to work through the course material. We were also able to meet some of the local college kids who were excited to discuss the US and our thoughts on India, while giving us tips on where to shop and eat while we were here. Being mostly separate from the actual students on campus, it was fun to chat with them and see how their life at the university is. One of the major differences that seemed shocking, but unsurprising given the close family structure of India, was that students’ parents are directly informed about absences and poor grades compared to the US where students have the choice to inform parents of their grades and many students regularly skip lectures.

On Tuesday, we ventured into Bangalore and began exploring and shopping. Waking up early, we found a packed restaurant where we ordered sodas for breakfast. Standing up at the tall metal tables in the restaurant, we dug in, tearing off pieces of the dosas and dipping them in sambal while we watched outside as a herd of cows passed by in the street causing traffic to divert. Taking a tuk tuk into the city, we reached the commercial section of town. Walking along the street, we were bombarded by drivers offering to take us to cheaper shops that their friends own and streetside merchants offering us their various goods and foods. Simply approaching one of the temples along the street caused a group of people approaching us offering to show us the temple and pray for us in exchange for American dollars. Glancing at a shop would cause the merchant to attempt to drag you in and impress you with the quality and value of his goods. After looking at a few shops, a couple of students retreated off to McDonalds to both escape the heat and to get a quick fix of American food, one eating their first full meal since arriving on campus. Looking around for a little while longer, we took a tuk tuk home and spent the evening relaxing and meeting up with other students to grab dinner.