From June 1st through November 4th, I'll be taking a leave-of-absence from St. Olaf to attend Christ College in Bangalore, India. The campus is home to over 8,000 undergraduate and graduate students from every state of India. Although this program is not conducted through St. Olaf, I'm not going alone. I'll be attending the college and sharing an apartment with my close friend Joey Fleming (a fellow St. Olaf student). Our apartment is about a 15 minute auto-rickshaw ride from campus. Auto-rickshaw is the main mode of transportation in Bangalore; you can see a photo here.
As noted, I'll be done with school on November 4th, but I might not come home right away. I may continue traveling in India or the neighboring country of Bangladesh.
I assume that I'll be pretty enveloped by everything while I'm gone, so I'm not counting on having plenty of free time to write home to everyone individually. I created this blog to keep you updated. If you'd like to receive e-mail notifications that alert you when I post, please email me at robia@stolaf.edu and I'll add you to my mailing list.
My contact information is at the bottom of the right-hand column. The phone number listed was the number provided to me by the program I'm traveling through. I don't know if it's my apartment number or some office number, but I'll let you know when I find out. I'll also get a cell phone when I arrive. We can have voice and/or video conversations for free using Skype. If you don't have Skype, you can download it here. My Skype name is "mr.robia".
I'd love to hear from you while I'm gone. In addition to the any of the listed means of contact, you can comment specifically on any of my posts. Your comments are not displayed publicly.
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Information of Note
TIME DIFFERENCE
US CST is 10:30 hours behind the time in Bangalore. When it's noon in Minnesota, it's 10:30pm in Bangalore.
ABOUT BANGALORE
Bangalore (Bengaluru) is the capital of the Indian state, Karnataka. With a population of 7.2 million, it's the third largest city in the country. The city is commonly called "the Silicon Valley of India" due to its leading role in the IT and financial service outsourcing boom in Asia.
According to the 2001 census of India, 79.4% of Bangalore's population is Hindu, 13.4% is Muslim, and 5.8% is Christian. While the Christian population is much larger than in other places in India, the population of Hindu and Muslim citizens is fairly typical.
Due to its high elevation (3000 ft), Bangalore usually enjoys a cooler climate than many other cities in India. It receives rainfall (33.8 in on average) from both the northeast and the southwest monsoons, with the wettest months being September, October, and August.
The literacy rate is about 86%. While Kannada and Hindi are commonly spoken in Bangalore, a large majority of residents speak English. At my school, all the courses are taught in English.
OTHER TID BITS
The city of Bangalore...
As of 2005, held the record of highest growth within a span of 20 years.
Has the highest number of 2-wheelers in the world.
Has the highest number of 2-wheeler thefts.
Has the highest density of traffic in the world.
Is the city with the highest number of breweries in the world.
Was the first city in India to receive electricity.
Is the home of the Lalbagh botanical gardens, credited to have one of the most diverse man made collection of flora.
US CST is 10:30 hours behind the time in Bangalore. When it's noon in Minnesota, it's 10:30pm in Bangalore.
ABOUT BANGALORE
Bangalore (Bengaluru) is the capital of the Indian state, Karnataka. With a population of 7.2 million, it's the third largest city in the country. The city is commonly called "the Silicon Valley of India" due to its leading role in the IT and financial service outsourcing boom in Asia.
According to the 2001 census of India, 79.4% of Bangalore's population is Hindu, 13.4% is Muslim, and 5.8% is Christian. While the Christian population is much larger than in other places in India, the population of Hindu and Muslim citizens is fairly typical.
Due to its high elevation (3000 ft), Bangalore usually enjoys a cooler climate than many other cities in India. It receives rainfall (33.8 in on average) from both the northeast and the southwest monsoons, with the wettest months being September, October, and August.
The literacy rate is about 86%. While Kannada and Hindi are commonly spoken in Bangalore, a large majority of residents speak English. At my school, all the courses are taught in English.
OTHER TID BITS
The city of Bangalore...
As of 2005, held the record of highest growth within a span of 20 years.
Has the highest number of 2-wheelers in the world.
Has the highest number of 2-wheeler thefts.
Has the highest density of traffic in the world.
Is the city with the highest number of breweries in the world.
Was the first city in India to receive electricity.
Is the home of the Lalbagh botanical gardens, credited to have one of the most diverse man made collection of flora.
Contact Information
John Elliot Robia
c/o Christ College
Hosur Road
Dairy Circle
Bangalore 560 029
Karnataka, India
Cell Phone Number: 011-91-98-8631-5197
Email: robia@stolaf.edu
Skype Name: mr.robia
c/o Christ College
Hosur Road
Dairy Circle
Bangalore 560 029
Karnataka, India
Cell Phone Number: 011-91-98-8631-5197
Email: robia@stolaf.edu
Skype Name: mr.robia
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