Last week in the US for a year

In one week, I will be leaving the United States for a year. I have been in the States for the past 11 years and have never left it for such a long time. Many of my formative years have been here and I can't help but get nostalgic.

I got my first job here (as a research assistant) at UCI. I got my first real job here at Englekirk Companies. I got my first car (A 1980 Chevy Nova) here. I got my first home here. I got my first apartment here. I got my first and hopefully only wife here. More about her later! What has made this somewhat difficult is not being physically close to my parents.

I came here as a naive undergraduate from Mumbai on the 15th of July 1998. I landed in LAX and remember thinking that I would never be able to drive in these 6 lane highways. My uncle and aunt actually made me feel so welcome in the US that it was a breeze to settle down. Young Christopher, my cousin was only 5 months old. Boy, what a joy it was to spend time with him..Catherine came along a few years back and the joy just doubled.

Started school and did pretty well. Classes were relatively easy. Got a job at Englekirk and stayed with them until now. More than a third of my life in the US was with them. I've designed 5 star resorts, multiple level residential

towers, retail complexes, schools, office buildings e

tc. It gave me special pleasure to see my buildings go up. What started as a blob of dirt became a working, breathing building. I've had the pleasure of working with decent individuals who will remain friends for the rest of my life.

I've spent time volunteering at the Legion of Mary. I've had the opportunity to teach a bunch of people, whether they were engineering students at Cal Poly Pomona (Go Broncos) or professionals trying to pass the PE exam or professionals trying to make heads or tails about the Seismic test or professionals trying to get LEED AP. I've also had the chance to help some professionals prepare for their GMAT.

I am looking forward to my time at INSEAD this year. I will be trying to blog regularly

to keep you posted on my stint there.

I leave for Frankfurt on the 6th of August. I will then be in Munich for a few weeks with my darling wife. I will then head to Fontainbleau.

Stay in touch all and keep reviewing this blog set often...

Photos of many events in our life in the US can be found at http://picasaweb.google.com/paulkagoo