posted on May 27, 2011
After a week long wait, finally I got a call from FedEx today, and that too during my exams, so it went to voice mail. They had failed to locate my address (curse my location), and returned the package to the center. Unable to withhold my patience, I looked up their center address, and went off as soon as possible. What really astonished me was the fact that, for one of the best couriers in the world, the Kolkata office is merely a small apartment. FWIW, I got to see the really cool gadgetry they use to pack, sign the packages, kinda reminded me of the movie “Cast Away”.
Anyway, I got the package, hurried back home and opened it. Except the pen which had fallen out of it’s packet, everything was in place (good job FedEx). The package contained a cool GSoC notebook (probably to write code on), a pen (to write code with) and of course, the much hyped Citi prepaid Visa card, activated with 505$. It was a breeze to activate and set the pin on the card via a free Skype call (thanks to others on the ML), and register it on the Citi website. Now I got to figure out how to exchange the money and wire it into my bank account (have to look into services like xe).
All in all, the welcome package is awesome. Though I’m disappointed it didn’t contain a Nexus S or a Portal 2 DVD (surprises are part of the next packages I think). Thanks to Carol and all the awesome people working behind GSoC for making this a legendary experience.