In the Engg. days, I never thought much about coming abroad or anything,,All I was thinking of was a JOB(thinking of a small town boy). Once I joined the rat race in Indian IT Hub "Bangalore" - probably after two years, I seriously started thinking of ONSITE - to earn some quick money. But due to various reasons(lottery rejection, recession, etc etc), it took me so long to fulfill that[my great luck:)].
And now, here I am Santhosh Chikurambotla spending my 96th Day in "United States of America" :)
May be due to that little waiting period, lost most of the curiosity/passion, but still having fun so far.
Been thinking of summarizing many thoughts over here from many days, and somehow, got the mood to write some words.
First thoughts after stepping in US:
Did not feel much difference in the airport except, lot of foreigners around[sorry I am the foreigner by now and they are the locals :)]. Some Pakistani cab driver came to me and took me to the hotel. Watching the city from the Windows was a great different feeling. It was as though I was watching those Hollywood movies from the window screens. After reaching the hotel and talking to receptionist, slowly it was sinking in to my brain.
I came during the end of winter over here. The temperature was around some 5 Degree Centigrade[The lowest my body has been in 28 years :)]. The trees around and whole envi around was awesome. The images r permanently flashed to my memory,,
It was by then more than 24 hours I had been mentally alone except for the fellow passengers. It was getting on my nerves. Luckily, a friend came by within 2 hours of checking in to the hotel. Went out with him for the rest of weekend. That made a huge difference. Saw couple of stores, a mall, couple of restaurants, met his friends and spent great time with them all.
With all that, the whole abroad thing got sunk into my mind.
Earlier experience of working at client locations had helped me. So, at least that part was not new to me except for the new country.
Have a big bunch of Wiproites over here. And all of them very helpful. From then, it was all cool.
Things I love here:
- - The travel journey to and fro from apartment to office is around 20 minutes. So, suddenly I had around one and half hour more time every day[to waste J]
- - Everyone has a car, and u always travel in car J
- - The facilities in the apartments make life very easier(gym, kitchen with refrigerator & stoves, washing and drying machines). So, even though we cook ourselves and wash our clothes, it is not as much a pain as we do in our place.
- - The variety of food to try. I always like to try new food items. Here there r probably endless varieties to try(Mexican, Italian, Chinese, Indian, Pakistani, Ethiopian, pancakes,,,,,). So, it’s a good place for foodies. But definitely can’t try out daily. The stomach graves for a routine of Indian food J. All the above r only once in a while to break the routine,,
- - Everything is very properly planned over here:
- The streets, roads, traffic, flyovers, highways, offices, stores.
- - The Unity In Diversity principle applies even here too. There are just so many different kind of people in this country(Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Indian subcontinent, some European, middle east and native AMERICANS ). It’s just good to see such a wide variety of people all staying as a community.
- - These were on the top of my mind. But if I think more, I may add some more. May be later.
Things I don’t like here:
- - Not great public transportation. We can probably say NO public transportation. So, until you have a car, you are not on your own. Coming from India, with such a great n huge local and intercity public transport, this will tie your legs.
- - Definitely miss all the friends n family. If by any chance, the Bangalore, Hyderabad n Chennai gang was here, the FUN WOULD HAVE BEEN AT PEAK. But sadly, it is not possible and that’s life. lol!!. So, again realized that, happiness just does not come with money or some other things, u need people to share with J
- - The mobile devices are cheaper, but the carriers charges are huge. They even charge for incoming calls and even even for incoming messages J
- - For safety reasons, can’t walk alone outside after sunset. Again, in Bangalore, I was happily walking on the roads at 1:00 AM or 3:00 AM. Never felt feared. So, have to live with it.
- - That’s all I can think of as of now.
Santhosh
