Your First Day in America

Nice thread !

I came here on a cold winter night in 2008.. Actually, winter was supposed to be at its tail end when I landed in Feb. But unfortunately for me, it was COLDDD ! Coming from Bangalore, my friends said I would be able to
' adjust ' !! :spin

I landed at 8 pm and was soo excited as my hubby had last told me when I left London early that day that he couldnt wait to see me ! He even told me to request the pilot to drive the plane the fastest he could ! Funny man :bonk So here I was running my way to the exit after immigration and series of Qs as to what is rasam powder and the sweets i bought ( My mommy was not too sure wether daughter dear could cook well.. so she made sure I had easy cooking atleast for a few days ! Now she takes recipes from me ! :thumbsup ) and the moment I saw my hubby was all in tears.. He hugged and we went to the airport exit.. This man gave me a coat and I said I have a sweater.. :spin I said I shall wear it when I ' really ' feel cold ! Call it stupidity !

I still remember the way I ran back inside as soon as my first step was out ! My hubby laughed at my face ! He said - I told you ! I still feel the chill ! Wondered how can a place be this cold ? I thought Blre was enough ! I was jittering respite the coat and ran to the car.. cursing him for parking it that far ! :rant I was shivering soo much and couldnt relax even when he switched on the heater !

Was soo excited to get into MY HOME ! Lovely simple dinner was all ready at home cooked by him and we smiled at each other as we got in ! Celebrating love and the beginning of living with each other !

 

hi medha

I came to US same day u came, but i landed in Newark International Airport, with 2 kids, one 6 year old and 1 naughty 3 year old boy.

I came by British Airway flight, which had 1 hr halt in "Heathrow" airport, which was suppose to land at 6.30 pm, and my connecting flight from Londont to "newark was around 7.30 pm.

When i got in Mumbai Airpot, i asked the airhostess, how long it will take for me to go to the other terminal and whehter 1 hr is ok, she said the "Heathrow" airport is very big, and she is not sure.

So started my anxiety, i asked them does they provide any bus serice she siad know, i was wondering how i am going to manage with 2 kids.

I started seeing indian faces in the flight, and was thinking somebody must be taking connecting flight to Newark, but i couldnt find anyone.

And my worst fear came true, the flight was delayed by 15 minutes in "Heaththrow".

I had one laptop bag, one trolly bag, handbag and 2 kids, god what i am going to do, i was just wondering, so beofre the flight was going to land, i was ready with kids, bags to rush, out first, saying pls le tme go, i have to catch Newark flight, then one Aunty aruodn 55, she was behind, me, she said she too is goint to Newark.

Gosh i got releived, somewhat, but then the time was less the distance was long to go to other terminal, but she like a good samaritan, took my laptpop bag, she wanted guidance how to go, i needed someone to hold my things, so we all started just running, my daugther who is 6 yeras old was dragging the trolley and runnign with me.

First we went upstair one escalator then down, then hae to take one train, then up again one escalator then security checking. Here they stopped me becoz,by mistake my son put one water bottle inside the backpack, then again througuthly checked my bag everything, i thoguht now i msised my flight, meanwhile i said to aunty u pls go ahead, but she waited for me,


AGain, after that we started running, down one lift, they have almost closed the gate, we dashed towards the gate, and they took us in bus to our flight.

Finally we made it.

I got a great experience of life, "never ever travel with 1 hr transit flight, even if you are adults and without kids"

So finally when i landed in Newark, i am totally exhausted, it was night 12 pm, i just remember coming in car, my DHs friends came with him to pick us up, within 30 min we reach home, and after that i remember just sleeping soon.

love

 

This is quite long . Hope you all don't mind .

I came here 2 years ago on student visa. I was afraid of travelling alone abroad but thankfully one girl I knew had got admission to same university so we booked the same flights .

After reaching Charlotte , I was stopped for baggage check. They asked "do you have seeds in your bag ". I said no but still they started checking the bag . I thought they were shouting at me and I was scared (Now I know they were not shouting , it their style of speaking) . I kept thinking " let them remove whatever they want to ,but dont ask me to pay fine because I don't know how to pay fine in this country. " Finally they took out moong dal packet and asked me many questions about it. Aso they admired one of my dupatta in the bag , saying " this cloth is so beautiful "! . After coming out from there we went to the exit .We expected someone from the Univ to be standing with our name on a paper . All we saw was huge crowd and no Indians and many exits !After some time an Indian boy came to us and said " I am your senior. I have come to pick you "

When we reached the apartments , there were about 20 building all 2 storied , looking exactly the same. he took us to one apartment saying" you can stay here till you find a place of your own". There were 2 girls inside. They had landed in US the day before . The house was totally empty with only their suitcases inside. There was no food since they had moved in just few hours before. Then the senior said dont waste time come or the agent will go away , it was past evening already. We went downstairs to meet the agent who leased apartemnts in that area . Instantly we signed the lease for an apartment (We were so foolish!)! He said you need to give security deposit and first month rent right now. We didnt have that much cash , so he drove us to ATM and we withdrew cash. I remember putting $1500 cash in jeans pockt (not even wallet! )I would never do it now.

After the lease paperwork we came back home . Again there was the problem of no food ! We had some snacks and sweets in our suitcase and 1 ready-to-eat pav bhaji packet which we 5 girls shared . It was night time and we didnt know anythign about the area , so we were scared to even go out,forget looking for a restaurant . Since there was no furniture we slept on the carpet in living room and used jeans as pillows !

Same eating and sleeping pattern continued till we moved into our apartment.Then we bought groceries (discovered walmart ! ) and utensils and mattresses .And after one week , a tea - addict like me made her first tea in US (even took photo , I got so sentimental )

Thank you for this lovely thread .