November 7, 2008

My first six months in USA !!! (19 April 2008 to 18 Oct 2008)

Hi all,

A strange topic to write about - right. But I want to share my thoughts & experiences about my first six months in USA. I had never even imagined I will be ever coming to United States in my life. It was like a dream come true !!! The best part I came here with Prashant - my hubby. It is difficult to get adjusted to the culture & the systems here. But Prashant made it a lot easier.

I left India on 13th April 2008 for Switzerland with Prashant after a few days of my marriage & reached USA on 19th April 2008. The first challenge was making food. I had never before in my life cooked anything for myself or anyone. I knew one thing making tea. I had my recipe book which I had made in consultation with my Mom. And that was my key to the lock to make food. Pooja helped me a lot in the process. I use to often call her up & take tips from her and ask lots of questions to her. But now I am very comfortable with handling the kitchen but sometimes do feel bored to make any food.

The second challenge was learning to drive. This was a challenge for me because I hated driving in India & never did driving in India at all. I used public transportation all the time or would bother my Dad or brother Pratik to drive. Most of the time I used Auto Rickshaws - the best transportation in Mumbai. But learning driving here was much easier. My guru was Prashant, he spend lot of time training me to drive here and it was very helpful. I gave the practical exams three times but finally now I have my license & can drive anywhere in USA now. I have my GPS which is the most amazing technology which takes me anywhere I want to go.

The third challenge is finding a job in USA which I am still facing it. I started my job hunt with lot of enthusiasm to be agle to work in USA but the current economic conditions are making it very difficult to find a job right now. Well even this challenge will be solved soon.

Well apart from all the challenges that I faced these first 6 months have been great. Travelled to lots of places - Washington D.C., Austin, Orlando, Miami, Chicago, Michigan, California, Colorado & Arkansas !!! Meet lots of new people, learned Tennis, took tutions for Spanish, learnt Poker.........and missed my family & friends in India a lot !!!