Diary of an inquisitive teen- Cricket and Baseball

Cricket and Baseball

January 16, 2015
Mesa, Arizona (USA)

It has been 5 months since I came to the States and now I feel that I’ll never be back home again, because part of my heart will always be here roaming around in the land of the 5 C’s and the grand hole. Oh, I haven’t visited the Grand Canyon yet. Anyways, it’s on my calendar. I have much on my plate of life to taste giving me a life lesson very often. It comes with the necessity of managing the limited amount of time which is yet another skill needed to succeed.

So, the spring semester in school has started with the chilly mornings and the Mondays everyone hates. I went hiking to the Superstition Mountains when it was snowing over there and it was incredible to touch real snow in my life for the first time probably. Cactus and Snow alongside seem to be a paradox for people; but everything is possible in Arizona.

Snow and Cactus! It's Arizona, baby!

I just started volunteering at the i.d.e.a. museum and it’s really fun to engage with the kids and learn from them. The “oh-so-happy” moment for me recently was the news of my selection to the Civic Education Workshop at Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. from 22 to 28 this month. This opportunity will provide me with a more profound understanding of the American system of governance and civic participation.

Arizona is beautiful

The most amazing thing I am dying to tell you is that we had Lochy from Australia staying with us for two weeks. He was here on an educational travel exchange between Mountain View and his school back home. It was an indelible experience; for our house had become an international conference with delegates from India, Australia and of course, the United States. Lochy went to school with me for a day and everyone there was blown away with the fact that a foreign exchange student was hosting one another one. I had a hard time understanding his accent and quite often, I misunderstood his "A" for "I". Now, let me tell you a fact most Americans don't recognize- Everyone in the world has an accent for some person from another part of the globe. 
 

Mountain View High School, Mesa Basketball game 

People in picture: From Right Patrick White, Me, Toro Mascot, Lochy, Brandon

Being "Australian" and "Indian", we shared a common interest in cricket. Cricket is Australia's national sport. It's India's national pastime just like baseball is of United States. To give you an idea of our love for cricket, it is often referred to as the religion of the Indian subcontinent.  Cricket World Cup, which takes place every four years, is the third most watched TV event after Olympics and FIFA world cup. The 2015 world cup would kickstart soon in the Australian continent. The Indian Cricket Team is defending their champion title this year. Lochy brought me a related souvenir, the official T-shirt of the event.

ICC Cricket World Cup official T-shirt in USA!

If you are not at all familiar with Cricket which might be the case, it's a bat-and-ball game like baseball to give you an idea. If you are someone from India reading this, you might not be knowing about baseball. Both have their own unique styles of playing and they share similarities as well quite contrasting differences. Unlike the cute shape of a baseball field which is like a pie ready to be served, cricket grounds are elliptical. The bats in cricket are flat not rounded. I'd encourage you to Google it rather than reading my idiotic amateurish explanation....ha-ha. Bye for now & see you soon right here on our own JeevanMag.com

Image 1 Credit: Cricket Vs Baseball (ESPN)

Read the first installment of DIARY OF AN INQUISITIVE TEEN here;  http://www.jeevanmag.com/2014/10/diary-of-inquisitive-teen-delhi-to-dc.html

Read the second installment of DIARY OF AN INQUISITIVE TEEN here; http://www.jeevanmag.com/2014/11/diary-of-inquisitive-teen-life-in-america.html

 

Don't forget to drop me a mail at akashmanofsky@gmail.com; for I am always more than willing to answer your questions and listen to your suggestions.

(Akash Kumar is the Editor-in-chief of JeevanMag.com 
A Senior grader at Mountain View High School in Mesa, Arizona (USA), he is India's youth ambassador to US on a Department of State program. He hails from Motihari, Bihar, India.)