Waiting for Godot

An intern into our group was supposed to arrive in the evening today. Since he was to be staying in the same dormitory as me and was expected to arrive after the office closed, they asked me to take his key in the morning and to hand it to him in the evening when he arrives.

There was a small problem however - namely, it was not certain whether the information about that had reached him. So - my best bet was to wait for him outside at about the time he should arrive.

Some notes:

One does not want to try to practice bass in a cold weather - the strings are made of metal, after all.

In-ear headphones really do have good bass reproduction though.

One has trouble reading a book when he should be on the lookout for someone and there is general traffic around.

Doing nothing for 20 minutes is also somewhat strange.

Most importantly, however - one should always first check whether the person being waited for has already arrived.

In my case he had. So I gave him the spare key I had and asked whether he had had anything to eat yet (as I know what long trips are like and what one would usually want after them). He did not, so I asked him to come to the kitchen and I microwaved him some noodles with vegetables (which I had prepared for my own dinner, making sure there was enough left over for him too). I also asked whether he knew how to get to the university in the morning.. and offered to show him the way there tomorrow morning.

Getting started in a new place can be tough.. especially when you come from a culture so different as India. It helps if, on arrival, you at least get a friendly greeting.. and a good meal :)