With a dream of becoming a successful marketer, I left for the United States for my MS in Marketing on 08/08/08. The day holds a special significance for me because I began my journey for some good reasons on the day, which comes once in a millennium “A triple 8 day”. This is the reason why China had scheduled its Olympics’ opening ceremony on the same day. Number 8 is considered a lucky number in China.
I had not been to other countries before except my neighboring country India, so I was very much excited to be in the United States, the country where many people in the world want to be. I have seen big cities of America in movies but to experience those being here myself is a different excitement. During the flight, I was lost in my own imaginations of America. I had not thought that America would be so far and the Earth would be so big. It is because information and communication technology (ICT) has brought the world closer.
After about 11 hours of flight from Japan, I finally landed at Chicago airport. I knew that Chicago airport is one of the busiest airports of the world. Every minute many planes take off and land. As soon as we landed, we were informed that Chicago customs’ computers were crashed and we would not be allowed to get out of the plane until the system was fixed. I was surprised to know that even system get crashed in the United States!!! What we generally think is that the United States is a perfect country. Everything works in a perfect manner but yes, these things happen once in a thousand times.
We were finally allowed to get off the plane in about 45 minutes. There were hundreds of people in the immigration department queuing up for the immigration process. Looking at them, I realized that I would definitely miss my connecting flight to Columbus. The same happened as I envisioned. I had to take another flight and I finally reached Columbus at midnight.
With no friends and relatives in this new place, I was very much worried that whether my host family would come to receive me at midnight or not. Franklin had arranged 3-4 days of my accommodation with them. What if they didn’t come? Where should I go? How should I go? Hundreds of similar thoughts came in my mind. As I was collecting my luggage, my eyes kept looking for them. “Ah! There they are with my name plate.” I had a sigh of relief. Dave and Lois are associated with International Friendship Inc. (IFI) and volunteer for arranging accommodations to international students. “You have a friend in the USA!” says IFI and helps international students.
I haven’t experienced the time difference earlier. Amazingly, I used to feel sleepy at two in the afternoon and generally used to go to bed at five in the evening. Sun was shining there, everybody was working and I was lying in my bed. How ridiculous?
Dave and Lois are very helpful. They helped me a lot in finding a place to stay. I still recall that day when Dave and I were tired of looking for apartments. We were frustrated with the same question “Do you have job?” for which my answer would be always “no”. “Unless you have a job we can not rent you an apartment” is the common reply to my answer. We also went to apartments for students near Ohio State University but most of them were already occupied and some of them were not furnished. Dave understood the pain I was going through and consoling me with the hope that we would found it soon.
I like the way Americans make a pray before they have their foods. That night Dave and Lois prayed to God for finding me a place to stay. Surprisingly, the next day I found a place to stay in the house of a very nice and helpful landlady. We are now four people staying in the same house. We do not only share our cultures but also share our foods. It is like being in a family and having a home away from home. Had I stayed in an apartment, I would have definitely become more home sick because I found people living in apartments strangers. Though they live in the same apartment building, they hardly interact with each other. Living a lonely life in the group of people!!!
There was a power outage in Columbus few weeks ago. It is again the same thing as “once in a thousand times”. In Nepal, we are having 35 hours of power cut in a week and I experienced the life without power here in Columbus as well. Life is really difficult without power. I still remember the day when there was sudden power shut down in New York in 2003 causing losses of billions of dollars.
Now life seems going in a normal way. Classes and assignments are regular stuffs. With classmates and friends from different walks of life, I have gradually adjusted to the new place. I often participate in programs organized by IFI where I can make lots of international friends. Recently, IFI arranged Columbus tour for international students and I enjoyed it.
Life is not always the same. You have to lose something to gain something. That is why I am here in Columbus to become a successful marketer after my graduation, and to realize this I have to miss my families and friends. I know this distance between me and my family, friends is only for few years. Everybody knows that time flies. It is already 50 days I have been here!!!
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