When I landed in the US

         I had mentioned in my first blog post that life as it is funnier than you think. That is how I feel when I think of the day when I landed in the US. I had this long flight of 15 hours or so direct from Mumbai to New York, out of which for almost 10 hours I had the sunrise. I mean as I was going from east to west, the sun was kind of following the airplane. So it was dawn for me for like 10 hours when I looked out through the window.

          So, I landed at the JFK airport in New York around 9 in the morning. It was raining in New York on that day, which was kind of disappointing because it was cloudy all the way when the plane was nearing New York. I had heard that we could see the statue of liberty when you are nearing New York. But I doubt if I would have been able to see it properly even if it was a clear day because we were required to strap down to the seat putting the seat belt a good one hour before landing.  They said that it was some safety measure after the 9/11. 

  

          So I got down the plane, stretching and all that after a long flight and walked in the direction where everyone was walking and finally got to a big hall - the immigration check at the port of entry to the US. There was a long queue for the immigration check and I was standing there, listening to almost all the languages of the world, checking, re-checking, re-re-checking whether I have all the documents, which I know for sure is in a folder in my bag. 

            I had seen a lot of american movies, american T.V shows, so I was confident and it did not cross my mind that I would be having difficulty in understanding their accent in the real life until I reached the immigration counter. "Werrugonaskul"..? the immigration officer asked. "What..?" " Where are you gonaskul...?". O.K I understood the first part of the sentence, but what the hell is the next part of the sentence...? But of course I couldn't tell him that, so I asked again politely, "Excuse me..?". Now he was clear; too much clear for comfort like he was talking to a kindergarten kid...."Wheeereee are youuuuu going to schooooooool...?". "Oh.. I have already finished college..." I knew I have said something stupid immediately after I said it. Because over here, school actually means college. Like how football means over here something that you play by throwing the ball around with hand. Anyway the immigration officer gave up on me and stamped my passport, which was all that I needed.

              I picked up all the baggage, used the american dollar for the first time for getting the trolley for taking the baggage ($5 for that) and used the trolley for walking like 20 metres. (If I had known that the baggage check in for the next flight was so near, I would not have taken the trolley. But then you will never know. That is how capitalism works...) So I checked in the baggage, got into some kind of inter- terminal train service and got down at a completely deserted place where my terminal is supposed to be. Now I confess I was kind of lost because I am standing in some kind of station alone with no visible means of exit. One end is the elevator which takes you straight to the street, out of the airport and on other end is a restricted area. Now, I did not want to try my luck with the restricted area, so I went out of the airport hoping to find someone who would guide me, which I did not find.

              After shuffling around for like 10 minutes (I don't know how many security cameras would have been noticing me as a suspicious person during that time..), I finally found out that you have to actually get OUT of the airport, cross the street and get in again at the other end. I mean, I never expected that I have to go out of the airport to get to the next terminal and there were no helpful signs anywhere. Well, I finally got to the right terminal and took the flight to Detroit after a wait of 5 hours. Well, that is how I landed in the US. It might not be an interesting read for me now, but I am sure I will have a few laughs when I read it after some years. That is what I am writing this blog for anyway.... To preserve memories.......