"Florida!" It was actually a week of celebrity status for Florida because the battle for the most powerful political position in the world turned into a cliffhanger only because of certain special events in this part of the country. The 2000 presidential elections were a great opportunity to observe the strong interest Americans carry for their democratic system. Nobody wanted to miss a second of the latest updates, and everyone was hooked to their Television sets and Computer terminals all the time not worrying at all for the major mid-term the next day. Not surprisingly, many of the Internet News sites actually received the maximum number of hits ever during the counting days. Amongst all this, I made it a point to take a lot of interest is the American political system which still is a mystery to many International students in US. It's bad, but the stuff is still undecided.

I could forecast at the beginning of last week that it was going to be one of the most eventful weeks of my stay here. The event that made my last week so eventful, besides the presidential elections, was the Homecoming at the University of Florida. Sports is one of the very prominent things that drives Americans (young and old) to action. American football is next to worshipped, just like the Indian Mania for Cricket. I am extremely fortunate to be a part of a University whose sports teams, especially the football team, is one of the most acclaimed in the country. The best way I guess to provide evidence for the American craze for football is actually the amount of premium on Football tickets!!

The Homecoming was an awesome event to observe the gushing American enthusiasm for the Game. We celebrated Homecoming with the "largest student-run pep rally in World" titled Gator Growl-2000, indicative of the name of the UF team - "GATORS". It was a gala event with the best of celebrities and comedians coming together to welcome the homecoming team. This was accompanied by awesome laser shows, fireworks, acrobatic displays, and cheerleading by some of the most beautiful cheerleaders in the country. The venue for the event was our Football stadium, which is one of the mind-boggling sports facilities at the University. Others facilities include awesome recreation centres, indoor stadiums, tennis courts, golf courses etc. All this is a common sight at most of the American Universities, which give equal encouragement to extra-curricular activity as given to academics.

Being in this part of the world and studying at an acclaimed University provides so many resources for witnessing few of the best things in the world which include performances by the best performers in the world, being a part of the most acclaimed research in the world, working on the most state of the art systems, and also travelling through one of the most amazing landscapes in the world (from the deserts of California to the beaches of Florida). It's only three months and I feel so good about it. There is still a lot to come!