Just completed a month here in US. As of now it has been treating me well.. lets hope it remains the same way. :) I had least expectations from this place and hence had to suffer no disappointments. I do not have any friends here and since its an unknown town in an unfamiliar country, I did not expect to make any. Though my colleagues here are very helpful & friendly, making me feel as much at home as possible. Feedback from all the people who had been to this town before was pretty consistent.. small town.. no friends.. no entertainment.. boring life.. Being a person who doesn't allow herself to get bored, I was sure I would find ways to keep myself ticking. And till now I have had no time to feel bored.. Touchwood!!
The first thing I did here, was rent an apartment.. :) yes.. I have an apartment.. a nice cozy 1bedroom flat.. its on the 1st floor( 2nd floor by US standards ).. has a balcony too.. The next thing I did after getting an apartment was shopping, shopping, shopping & some moooooooooore shopping. Got a TV.. (need to keep myself occupied.. m staying alone with no friends yaar.. ), DVD player, Laptop and a Digicam(to share pics with my friends). Got all of these things during the Thanksgiving Sale. Arre its such a big event here. The day after Thanksgiving is known as "Black Friday" and you have amazing discounts in all shops. Shops open late at night.. somewhere around 2am-4am and there are big queues of people trying to get their hands on good deals. People here start planning for this day well in advance. Papers on thanksgiving day carry a lot of ads about all the good deals available. I also went to Circuit City around 4 o clock in the morning. Got my laptop on a discount of $350 on the original market price.. and that too with lot of free accessories like printer/scanner, wireless router, security software,etc. Had one helluva experience.. :) After this I got myself subscribed to TimeWarner cable service. So I have cable, phone & internet and I'm all set.
Can't tell you what fun shopping is. I am not a shopoholic except when it comes to clothes, they are never enough.. ;) I am an impuslive shopper who values a thing by the amount I am ready to pay for it.. So it may happen that I won't take a good bargain just because I don't think its worth it & I may well end up getting an otherwise expensive thing just coz that's worth that much for me.. I know thats stupid and foolish.. but can't help it.. an incorrigible trait!! Here I am slowly and steadily getting used to WalMart, HarrisTeeter, Sears, Macy's and the likes.. Grocery & food items are too costly compared to India and I do make comparisons often.. guess will stop that after sometime.. You get varieties of things though.. have seen atleast 5 kinds of potatoes.. normal(the one we get in india), yellow colored, purple, fibrous & sweet.
On weekdays I generally don't get much time. Start for office around 8.30-9 and come back by 6-6.30. Rest for some time, watch TV, then I start working on my dinner. After dinner, I call up my parents. Log onto net, chat with friends, check my e-mails. Then I read something and go to sleep anytime between 12.30-1.30. This is my normal "routine" on weekdays. Weekends I sleep till 12 or later.. :D.. Sleeping is one of my favourite hobbies.. Afternoon go out with my colleagues for shopping, buy groceries for the week, wash my clothes, try to clean the apartment and do similar small things. Go out for lunch/dinner. Last weekend, we went out for lunch in a Mexican restaurant, then went to a book shop "Barns&Noble" and bought some books. At night, went for a movie "Apocalypto". An overall fun day!
Lastly, before signing-off, here are a few things which I am getting used to:
The first thing I did here, was rent an apartment.. :) yes.. I have an apartment.. a nice cozy 1bedroom flat.. its on the 1st floor( 2nd floor by US standards ).. has a balcony too.. The next thing I did after getting an apartment was shopping, shopping, shopping & some moooooooooore shopping. Got a TV.. (need to keep myself occupied.. m staying alone with no friends yaar.. ), DVD player, Laptop and a Digicam(to share pics with my friends). Got all of these things during the Thanksgiving Sale. Arre its such a big event here. The day after Thanksgiving is known as "Black Friday" and you have amazing discounts in all shops. Shops open late at night.. somewhere around 2am-4am and there are big queues of people trying to get their hands on good deals. People here start planning for this day well in advance. Papers on thanksgiving day carry a lot of ads about all the good deals available. I also went to Circuit City around 4 o clock in the morning. Got my laptop on a discount of $350 on the original market price.. and that too with lot of free accessories like printer/scanner, wireless router, security software,etc. Had one helluva experience.. :) After this I got myself subscribed to TimeWarner cable service. So I have cable, phone & internet and I'm all set.
Can't tell you what fun shopping is. I am not a shopoholic except when it comes to clothes, they are never enough.. ;) I am an impuslive shopper who values a thing by the amount I am ready to pay for it.. So it may happen that I won't take a good bargain just because I don't think its worth it & I may well end up getting an otherwise expensive thing just coz that's worth that much for me.. I know thats stupid and foolish.. but can't help it.. an incorrigible trait!! Here I am slowly and steadily getting used to WalMart, HarrisTeeter, Sears, Macy's and the likes.. Grocery & food items are too costly compared to India and I do make comparisons often.. guess will stop that after sometime.. You get varieties of things though.. have seen atleast 5 kinds of potatoes.. normal(the one we get in india), yellow colored, purple, fibrous & sweet.
On weekdays I generally don't get much time. Start for office around 8.30-9 and come back by 6-6.30. Rest for some time, watch TV, then I start working on my dinner. After dinner, I call up my parents. Log onto net, chat with friends, check my e-mails. Then I read something and go to sleep anytime between 12.30-1.30. This is my normal "routine" on weekdays. Weekends I sleep till 12 or later.. :D.. Sleeping is one of my favourite hobbies.. Afternoon go out with my colleagues for shopping, buy groceries for the week, wash my clothes, try to clean the apartment and do similar small things. Go out for lunch/dinner. Last weekend, we went out for lunch in a Mexican restaurant, then went to a book shop "Barns&Noble" and bought some books. At night, went for a movie "Apocalypto". An overall fun day!
Lastly, before signing-off, here are a few things which I am getting used to:
1. Doughnuts: I can finish half a dozen doughnuts in 2 days.. and then I go and get more. And you must have guessed.. I am gaining weight.. :( .. but what the heck!!
2. Chips: Anytime u come to my place, u'll find atleast 1 big bag of lays chips. Actually at times u can get 1 bag each of 2-3 different flavours. The tagline for Lays couldn't have been more apt, "No one can eat just one".
3. Cold weather: Its quite cold here and believe it or not, I haven't sneezed even once yet.. that's quite a remarkable feat.. :) my friends can vouch!!
4. WalMart: For basic shopping. It's open 24x7.
5. TV Ads: The Ads shown on TV here are so kiddish & stupid. Majority of ads are either for medicines or legal counsels. And its not at like the ads back in India, which are so witty and humorous. Here they explain things like u would to a 4 yr old.
6. Clean air/environment. And I mean CLEAN!!
7. Sound of horn: Or you can say the absence of it. I have been here a month and I haven't heard it yet. Bizzare, right?
8. Listening to statements like "Hi! How are you doing?", "Have a good day" and that too from strangers. Don't know why but everyone greets everyone here.
9. Christmas decoration: Houses here are really beautiful. Small and cute. And most of them are decorated for Christmas. The holiday season begins as early as Thanksgiving. :)
Have a great day!! and advance wishes of a Merry Christmas!!
