Starting a journey to the US is not unheard of. Every other guy living in the streets of Bangalore can vouch for that. But as far as I can tell, everyone has their own adventure. Few ever pen it down and they don't have the opportunity to go back and say, 'This was I did this. Its all about photos and videos now. But I prefer to pen it down. Old though it is, I find it more personal and painting a picture in one's mind was how I grew up. So it began: a journey of a lifetime riddled with a lot of obstacles regarding the bank loan, SBI almost taking away the chance of giving me an education loan and then giving it back. Obtaining the VISA wasn't so tough as I expected, but I guess other people might have been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Not dwelling too much on the consequences of what could have happened if I had caught on that boat, I moved on to the best part of my US journey yet, the shopping. Damn: I got the best jeans, corduroy, casuals, t-shirts from every possible sale, toiletries, etc etc basically stuff to setup a new life here. Packing was not so simple, but then, when you have the expert and your girlfriend, I don't think you are required to do much except to just pass things for them to arrange. It was a fun few days I spent. Chatting, friends dropping by to check how things were going. And then, it happened. The last day. I cried, damn, a lot. Some might find me weak, but I really don't give a damn. I just had to let it all out. I did have a lot of support though and the right kind, so I didn't really feel shy or ashamed. Packed, ate a bit of cake, had friends paste it over my face and all. The drive to the airport was given some extra spice and food(literally) by my mother vomiting all that we had for dinner(Travel sickness you see). And then, I met my cousins, aunt, uncle and a friend who has always kinda been the seeing-people-off-at-the-airport kinda guy(he has come to the airport nearly 10 times just to see my friends off). Anyway, a quick measure of my bags got me in a spot of bother as I found out that it was heavier than expected. I removed 3 shirts and the weight was set.
Leaving them all
The moment of separation fast arrived and I hugged 'em goodbye. And then, I had this weird crystallizing moment where my mind was miraculously clear. I knew that it was a beginning and an end. So, I just left, leaving my parents and relatives happy, except grandma who was crying. But I knew she was happy too.
The airport
Simply stating, it was nice. It was my 1st time flying, so I went in open to anything, checked my baggage and the typical Indian mentality of stupidity came through. An idiot at the Lufthansa baggage counter told me that my cabin bag weight was high but he was willing to let it go through, under 1 condition: "Namage yean kodthira?". Fricking prick is what I thought to myself and told him that its my first time and I don't want to do anything stupid, so he just let me through. Getting boarding pass and going up the stairs, I found myself waiting in line in front of 4 counters. I was warned by my friend about opening my bag and showing all my stuff, but I really didn't have a choice. I had not packed my i20 in the backpack, so I had to open the wheeley. Finishing the security check, I found a guy traveling to Frankfurt and there to Dublin, Ireland who spoke kannada. The guy had utmost disrespect for India and I couldn't help but notice that he was an idiot too. Listening to his crap made me realize that I was fortunate enough to be acquainted with my own heritage and its value what I would be carrying to the US. I finished all formalities and had to wait for an hour until the boarding began. Thankfully, the idiot's seat was away from me and I was secretly happy about it. Once I boarded the flight, I just called my parents, switched my phone off and looked around. It was a pretty sight, a few big planes standing next to each other like buses was a sight to see. The flight started to move and within the limited movement of my seat, I was able to enjoy the speed of the Lufthansa LH755, a boeing 747. Looking outside the window, I could see slow moving lights at first. Suddenly, the plane stopped moving and I kinda got confused about what was happening. And then it happened: I turned to ask my neighbor what the issue was, when I got a jerk and was thrown in the back of my seat as the flight gained speed, the lights merely fast glimpses flying by and the next moment, I was off the ground. You get a weird sensation in your stomach when you are traveling like that and I know exactly what it is: a mixture of sadness, excitement, apprehension and mostly, you feel like vomiting(its true). My "bon voyage" as many of my own told me had started.
Flight, Frankfurt and Chicago
After the initial excitement, it just became boring. Sitting in an economy class window seat can be frustrating too, as you can't really see much outside, that too at night. Its just a lot of bright dots down there and a whole lot of cotton in the sky. Time rolled by and I got my 1st drink and some biscuits. The same thing kinda continued throughout the night and for the next 9 hrs. I was able to talk to my neighbors a bit but I couldn't get the irritating boredom off me. No amount of movies or books could compensate for what I was going through. I wasn't sad though, just pissed. As we neared Frankfurt, I was able to get a glimpse of that beautiful city and boy was it a sight to see. Systematic, clean, structured: I could make out what a building was from over 10,000 ft. Tell me that isn't a good thing. So, yeah: I could make out the skyscrapers on one end of the city and the other end consisted of houses and driveways which could have been made in a toy shop and blown into regular size. It was that good. Taking in these sights, we finally descended to the runway and stopped at the terminal. Walking out of the plane, I found myself with the 2 cohorts I was supposed to meet in Bangalore. But anyway, we met and like the 3 musketeers, we made our way through the airport from exit to the next entry through a connecting rail. DAMN, that airport is huge. 1 terminal of that airport is the entire BLR airport. That's really puts a difference on the development of BLR eh? Anyway, I found the entry point of our next flight which was an airport shuttle (bus to take passengers to the runway). Sat in the flight and the same drill began. Only this time, there were too many americans and germans but few brownies. I guess it was a good thing, or not. Either way, I was really pissed that I got a window seat again and next to 2 north Indian girls who were grumpy the whole time. I don't really know why. Couldn't move my legs without catching a dirty look from them like I was trying to show off my legs or sth (I was wearing a dark jeans for god's sake). Anyway, I tried to sleep and was unsuccessful. The food and beverage trolleys kept showing up with pastyfaced airhostesses. Damn, they should be awarded the best fake smile award. I dunno how they sleep at night (probably apply a pain balm to their cheeks). I cant understand how one can keep smiling. My head would hurt if I did that for so long. Anyway, too many distractions, clock moving too slow and eversmiling beverage offering air-hostesses did not really help matters. But then, what was I gonna do, take a stroll on the wings??? I was really glad to touch the O'Hare Intl airport, Chicago at 2:30 PM local time. Walking out of the airport, I felt the 1st bit of American soil under my feet and it felt pretty good, for the moment atleast.
Cancelled and royalty
The port of entry being Chicago was really crowded. A huge airport with a lot of people. We were really confused as to where to go. We finally ended up asking the flight crew of our flight itself for directions (hilarious I know). After walking for what felt like eternity, we went to the customs area where we were asked of our purpose and were again asked to show the passports. It was a long procedure and there were so many people that I nearly slept waiting for my turn. Finishing up, we moved on to explore the airport since our flight was not until 8 PM. It was still 4:30 and we were all feeling really hungry. We found a McDonalds there and decided to buy what we liked. Feeling adventurous as usual, I ordered a Double Cheeseburger
Leaving them all
The moment of separation fast arrived and I hugged 'em goodbye. And then, I had this weird crystallizing moment where my mind was miraculously clear. I knew that it was a beginning and an end. So, I just left, leaving my parents and relatives happy, except grandma who was crying. But I knew she was happy too.
The airport
Simply stating, it was nice. It was my 1st time flying, so I went in open to anything, checked my baggage and the typical Indian mentality of stupidity came through. An idiot at the Lufthansa baggage counter told me that my cabin bag weight was high but he was willing to let it go through, under 1 condition: "Namage yean kodthira?". Fricking prick is what I thought to myself and told him that its my first time and I don't want to do anything stupid, so he just let me through. Getting boarding pass and going up the stairs, I found myself waiting in line in front of 4 counters. I was warned by my friend about opening my bag and showing all my stuff, but I really didn't have a choice. I had not packed my i20 in the backpack, so I had to open the wheeley. Finishing the security check, I found a guy traveling to Frankfurt and there to Dublin, Ireland who spoke kannada. The guy had utmost disrespect for India and I couldn't help but notice that he was an idiot too. Listening to his crap made me realize that I was fortunate enough to be acquainted with my own heritage and its value what I would be carrying to the US. I finished all formalities and had to wait for an hour until the boarding began. Thankfully, the idiot's seat was away from me and I was secretly happy about it. Once I boarded the flight, I just called my parents, switched my phone off and looked around. It was a pretty sight, a few big planes standing next to each other like buses was a sight to see. The flight started to move and within the limited movement of my seat, I was able to enjoy the speed of the Lufthansa LH755, a boeing 747. Looking outside the window, I could see slow moving lights at first. Suddenly, the plane stopped moving and I kinda got confused about what was happening. And then it happened: I turned to ask my neighbor what the issue was, when I got a jerk and was thrown in the back of my seat as the flight gained speed, the lights merely fast glimpses flying by and the next moment, I was off the ground. You get a weird sensation in your stomach when you are traveling like that and I know exactly what it is: a mixture of sadness, excitement, apprehension and mostly, you feel like vomiting(its true). My "bon voyage" as many of my own told me had started.
Flight, Frankfurt and Chicago
After the initial excitement, it just became boring. Sitting in an economy class window seat can be frustrating too, as you can't really see much outside, that too at night. Its just a lot of bright dots down there and a whole lot of cotton in the sky. Time rolled by and I got my 1st drink and some biscuits. The same thing kinda continued throughout the night and for the next 9 hrs. I was able to talk to my neighbors a bit but I couldn't get the irritating boredom off me. No amount of movies or books could compensate for what I was going through. I wasn't sad though, just pissed. As we neared Frankfurt, I was able to get a glimpse of that beautiful city and boy was it a sight to see. Systematic, clean, structured: I could make out what a building was from over 10,000 ft. Tell me that isn't a good thing. So, yeah: I could make out the skyscrapers on one end of the city and the other end consisted of houses and driveways which could have been made in a toy shop and blown into regular size. It was that good. Taking in these sights, we finally descended to the runway and stopped at the terminal. Walking out of the plane, I found myself with the 2 cohorts I was supposed to meet in Bangalore. But anyway, we met and like the 3 musketeers, we made our way through the airport from exit to the next entry through a connecting rail. DAMN, that airport is huge. 1 terminal of that airport is the entire BLR airport. That's really puts a difference on the development of BLR eh? Anyway, I found the entry point of our next flight which was an airport shuttle (bus to take passengers to the runway). Sat in the flight and the same drill began. Only this time, there were too many americans and germans but few brownies. I guess it was a good thing, or not. Either way, I was really pissed that I got a window seat again and next to 2 north Indian girls who were grumpy the whole time. I don't really know why. Couldn't move my legs without catching a dirty look from them like I was trying to show off my legs or sth (I was wearing a dark jeans for god's sake). Anyway, I tried to sleep and was unsuccessful. The food and beverage trolleys kept showing up with pastyfaced airhostesses. Damn, they should be awarded the best fake smile award. I dunno how they sleep at night (probably apply a pain balm to their cheeks). I cant understand how one can keep smiling. My head would hurt if I did that for so long. Anyway, too many distractions, clock moving too slow and eversmiling beverage offering air-hostesses did not really help matters. But then, what was I gonna do, take a stroll on the wings??? I was really glad to touch the O'Hare Intl airport, Chicago at 2:30 PM local time. Walking out of the airport, I felt the 1st bit of American soil under my feet and it felt pretty good, for the moment atleast.
Cancelled and royalty
The port of entry being Chicago was really crowded. A huge airport with a lot of people. We were really confused as to where to go. We finally ended up asking the flight crew of our flight itself for directions (hilarious I know). After walking for what felt like eternity, we went to the customs area where we were asked of our purpose and were again asked to show the passports. It was a long procedure and there were so many people that I nearly slept waiting for my turn. Finishing up, we moved on to explore the airport since our flight was not until 8 PM. It was still 4:30 and we were all feeling really hungry. We found a McDonalds there and decided to buy what we liked. Feeling adventurous as usual, I ordered a Double Cheeseburger
