Hmmm.... Phase 1 was in itself a collection of blogs! :D
Now moi was in next step - still preparing for US visit - finding out about US & RTP, food (which would be the best safest bet), packing and bags (whats a cabin luggage, how much allowed, where I can get a good suitcase or can I borrow one), forex (how much per day and how much I can surutify - thats wot ppl told me :D ), flight schedules (some say Brit airways, some say Jet, some say Lufthansa, some say Delta), hotel to stay and services, time difference details and effects, jet lag stories, things to buy and places where u wud get em - for US trip (2-3 pin plug converters, ready-to-eat MTR packs, and other necessary paraphernalia) and during US trip (tips as to where to buy and what like clothes, gadgets, cosmetics, and most imp., how can I leave chocolates out). Travel agency from office does booking of hotel and flights - but then its always better to find out whats best. Also informed my friends and people who mattered the most to me about my 2 week visit, now that things were confirmed completely. Was very jittery since it was the first time I would be flying international and staying away from home on my own.
Much thanks to my friends and colleagues, esp. my best friend, I somehow managed all that in the last min smoothly. Believe it or not, I did my packing for a 2 week stay in the last possible minute. My sis and best frnd helped me out indeed.
All set, I am bleary-eyed hours before my time to leave home for the 6:45 Brit Airways flight. Butterflies fluttering, I wait for my best frnd to come from Hennur by a private cab and pick me up at 3am. Whichever godforsaken cab this one booked gave haath in the last min - fellow says "Ivathu pick maadbekitha? Sorry. Marthoythu. Innu 10 nimisha call maadi. Ready aagbittu horadtheenee" Call him after 10 mins and he has switched off his ph. :D What rotten luck! My frnd tells me to wait for some more time and then book a cab on my own and come to Hennur all the way instead so that this nutcase can accompany me from there to BIA. :) Well, sounded crazy but then I did just that. :) Cab comes, I leave home with bleary-eyed parents and sis bidding me bon voyage. I call my friend for online company, just to be safe during a 3 am all-alone cab journey! I don't even know where Hennur is. :D To add to this confusion, my other close frnd and his cuz call up in the last minute offering to pick me up. I somehow managed to stall those two sweet nutcases since I was already implementing the other plan. I just wish those two nutcases had volunteered earlier. I wudnt ask anyway. :) Not my thing yet. Anyways, I pick my friend from Hennur and we go to BIA.
Wotte surprise awaits for me at BIA - Brit Airways was delayed by 7 hours to 3pm in the afternoon due to some technical snag in the aircraft. :D I was numb with shock, not disappointment. Sigh. I was already a bundle of nerves but this just peaked the whole event. I enter the airport terminal section all alone with my baggage whilst my frnd offered to wait outside. Standing in the long queue, I run into a not-so-familiar colleague - meeting him for the first time - pure rayil sneham sort company. We wait and wait. Brit Airways does not assure anything about the connecting flights from Heathrow (London) to JFK (NY) and JFK to RTP. Also, answers our queries very rudely. I call up my manager on my friend's advice and bug her at 4am on a Sat morning. Poor thing. She actually picks my call, listens to my woes and tells me to wait until 11am for office travel desk to come to work to see if they can do something. I tell this to my frnd - get an earful - realization dawns about the connecting flights confusion. Sigh! My friend is the one who made me realize about the connecting flights confusion. Else my coll and I would have waited to board the 3pm flight. I was frustrated, my friend was telling me the sensible things I needed to do. Coll was ready to wait for eternity until Brit airways flight started at 3pm and convinced me to wait too in the queue and talk to the officials before heading home. I did wait, which added to my friend's frustration at my manager's suggestion. I was doing my balancing act to convince my manager and coll. Sigh. I call back my manager and repeat whatever I was told to tell. :) Told her I would go back home and contact the travel desk at 11. They could arrange whichever worked out. I added that this didn't feel right, being my maiden international experience and would prefer to sleep peacefully. God, sounds ridiculous but thats wot I did!
I come bk home for my parents to find me returning from my trip so quick. :D Slept half wide-eyed, sent mail to travel desk, got Jet flight schedule, called my other close frnd to drop me this time in advance to airport, enter the airport on my own, board connecting flights, wonder at the clouds, sleep continuously and soundly, watch movies, go thro security checks with metals and no metals, eat canned food etc.
Ritesh tags along with me and I head back home with my friend. The cab had thankfully waited for us during this drama. We reach my friend's place and cab driver realises that Ritesh's suitcase is missing. Goofie had put it on the roof and driven at mad speed. His brains went to graze, I guess. We go back and search, no success. Drop friend at his place. Then driver gets an earful from me and poor Ritesh who still had not come out of shock. (My initial reaction at the goof driver's realization was a loud laugh which I controlled on time. :P ) Then dropped Ritesh at his place and I come back home, much to my parents' surprise. :D Cab driver took a very low fare and pleaded that I should not complain to the agency. Whatever.
My sis was updated about this whole series of drama as and when it proceeded eventfully but parents got to know only the Brit delay story. Didnt want to unnecessarily scare the hell out of them. Poor sis, she could not sleep coz of all this. Thankfully, it was weekend.
I reached home and tried to hit the bed. But alas, started getting phone calls from manager, travel coordinator, Ritesh, travel desk and had to login too to reply about confirmation of flights and hotel booking. Flight got confirmed on Jet airways - BIA -> Chennai -> Brussels, Belgium -> NY -> RTP. I was fine since it was from Chennai and not Heathrow again. Was and am against Brit airways. :(
Also, came to know that Ritesh somehow got his bag back, thanks to some noble Good Samaritan soul - an Indian who was coming back from US to Bangalore and noticed the luggage lying in the middle of the road. He even promptly sent an email to the email id mentioned in the luggage with his number. Ritesh saw the email and called this noble soul who was asleep then. Almost there again, but delaying Ritesh's luck - met him eventually to hand the luggage. God bless him and how lucky could Ritesh get?! :)
Updated my best friend with all the schedule and trip plan changes, emailed AM the same. And then called the other close friend (the one who offered to drop me initially in the last min) and updated him with this drama. He laughed so hard - his typical reaction. I usually gear up with an alternative solution and then narrate my funny stories to him, lest he mock me more. :D This time, asked him to drop me. :) Did not want to trouble my best friend again. Neither did I want my parents to spend a bomb on travel just for this. Sweet fella, this one did accompany me all the way with my baggage on my second visit to BIA and dropped me safe on time for my maiden international flight. :D
Check-in on my own - managed it smoothly - but was still a nervous wreck. Felt thrilled to be actually on my own in the airport security terminal. My friend waited till I went to the check-in lounge. Met R again and rayil sneham started. :) Got a window seat to Chennai. So did R. Enjoyed the takeoff and final sinking realisation that I was on my way to US. Chennai airport was another interesting learning with customs & immigration experience. Filled the forms and got thro smoothly till terminal. Felt at home still. :)
From Chennai to Brussels, R and I were at different rows in the flight, not in the least nearby. :)I was assigned an aisle seat in the middle row actually, next to a family - mom and two teenage sons. The dad springs up when I reach my assigned seat offering to swap to his 2 seater aisle. I was anyways disappointed that I dint get a window seat. So accepted his offer - why separate a family. :P I was excited that I was getting a window seat but aisle turned out to be a blessing. Window seat belonged to uninteresting Belgian guy but he was fine as a company. No talking other than exchanging few necessary pleasantries. I was relieved. :) I had my freedom to move for loo breaks or stretch in that 9 hour journey. Believe me, I actually had not realised the convenience of the aisle seat yet. This flight was uneventful but peaceful for me, a first-timer.
Brussels to NY, quite interesting. R had befriended a Tamil IT ponnu Vidhya. She gave us moral support and company till NY. Walked us thro all the way till our terminal in Brussels, had coffee with us during our transit flight wait and gave few gyan about food, NY, US culture etc. Gave me a tip to not wear a belt with steel stuff while on flight journeys. Else you have to undergo extra round of security check apart from the usual laptop, check-in bag, jacket, shoes check. Ugh! She was quite a sweet thing. Even complimented my sis' gift - the handbag and we even did chocolate shopping together. R swapped his window seat with me on our way from Brussels to NY. So Vidhya was my companion but more a sleeper. :D I was gazing out of the window continuously and thanked R many times. He he. Had wine too. ;) On reaching NY, just before we entered the customs section, Vidhya allowed me to make a call on her phone to AM to inform about my arrival. That was a good thing to do since AM had not checked her emails and did not really know when I was arriving. Goofie me had only bothered to call her and inform about Brit airways getting cancelled but didnt call again to update about Jet schedule. Trying to save money, I presume. Or it just dint strike me with all other chaos around. :D God bless Bindhu (or is it Vidhya... God bless that IT ponnu! - He knows.)
AM wanted to know the flight number and time I would arrive. I kept walking with these ppl to the Immigration section and rummaging thro my bag for the flight details. All I could tell AM was the time and lo, I could not use the phone anymore since there is no network coverage at Immigrations section and its not allowed. :( Plus, this was Vidhya's phone which I had borrowed. I was feeling torn apart but just managed to tell the time and it got cut. She waves goodbye and goes off on her way to meet her friend for a 2 day stay and then head to Boston where she works.
I can never forget the first time I saw AM at the airport with her daughter with my name placard - waiting to pick me up, drop my colleague and then me. She is a lovely lady.
My RTP stay in her words -
You'll be able to tell everybody how to pick a pumpkin, what a heron does to its prey, what you see on a hay ride, what crazy things happen when you ride a mechanical bull, how you won a basketball, how to shop efficiently at Southpoint Mall, which Indian restaurants are the best in RTP, how to talk to the sales clerks at Best Buy, how good the cheesecake is at Cheesecake Factory, what the lettuce wraps are at PF Changs, what martini glasses are, what you do at a picnic in the US, what girls talk about at girls night out in the US, how to swing a baseball bat, how to fight for chocolate cake, what Byron's team meetings really are!!, and so much more!
Believe it or not, we almost choked when I had to say bye to her on my last day of stay in RTP. She broke her ankle during my third week in RTP and still worked sooooo much to cover the release since I somehow became slack coz I was homesick and wanted to travel to NY desperately wen I had the chance. I even got slower in doing my share of documentation work even after few weeks of my return. She stood by me silently like a great pillar of strength and gave a great feedback for my appraisal. She is still my mentor, though distant. Thanked her with gifts for her, her boss, her boss' daughter, her daughter, my boss. Her team too tried to befriend me but I was so dazed. Dev team was quirky mix of ppl but engg manager was so sweet. I shall always be thankful to God for making me meet such nice ppl. I tried to show my thanks by remembering AM's birthday in 2009 and sent her a card by snail-mail. She loved it and I was so satisfied. Waiting to work with her again and again. I am sure we will get to do so soon. :)
And my NY trip gist from my reply to JFK -
All that I saw in NY were definitely interesting - right from the culture and economy change from NC to NY, me booking online for the hotel on my own, getting links from you, planning and replanning the trip, you generously offering to come along, that dumb old man offering money, me shifting rooms and getting so scared, bugging you over those phone calls and chats, colorful bus and metro train rides, your GPS getting drunk and you not believing the sight of such less crowd at Empire or Statue of Liberty, air show, Wall Street, McDonald lunch and TGIF dinner, NASDAQ and my movie mania related to Empire State Building, shopping for souveniers, walking along those streets endlessly and wondering at everything and nothing, trading Swiss knife for Statue of Liberty, the ceiling of Grand Central Station of constellations and you never having noticed it till date, our unintended initial disappointment on seeing Statue of Liberty and Empire State (well, cant stop admiring them now - took its time to set its incurable admiration fever on me).
The journey - I got an aisle seat in the middle row until Chennai and was trying to get my last few glimpses of NY sky-line. Not to be exaggerating, but the last glimpse I saw was of - you can guess - Empire State building and Chryssler building and I was so satisfied. :) Its good that I got the aisle side, realised its worth as you mentioned in such long hour journeys. Plus, interestingly, Sadagopan Ramesh was on the flight from Brussels to Chennai and I had a question-mark look on my face when I saw him (since I wasnt sure it was him). He did notice it. Two men were initially sitting in the row next to mine - aisle and window. After I woke up from a short nap, I was surprised to find Sadagopan Ramesh (SR) sitting in the aisle seat, next row to me. (No, I wasnt dreaming... I am sure of that.) I was wondering where those men vanished. I aint sure if SR thought I would strike a conversation with him - I aint sure why he was there....I wasnt going to anyway... Dunno how to start all that plus I am nil at cricket GK. He was acting funny - ordered the same dinner as me - Chicken dish and red wine (not that he shouldn't... I found it queer since I had ordered it just before him), walking around and sitting in the aisle for a while and then later, vanished bk....
Overall, the whole trip was a wonderful experience. RTP made me feel very warm and secure including the work strain, thanks to RTP team with teensy-weensy times where I did feel lonely. New York was a very short visit but I could feel the high energy city life vibes in it.
Coming to think of the trip, I realise I had reacted a lil too much about everything to you sometimes (you can say - no no, always... - I was always commenting rite from the people there, me being homesick and food etc.) It seems so silly and minuscule when I think of the amount of time you have spent abroad away from home. :) Stupid me, but well, am a spoilt brat. :P
It was an expensive trip with NY stay - 15-20k, phone bill coming to *0k talking stories to my best frnd, family (who reduced my homesickness in minutes) inspite of my sweet younger cuz bro loaning me with a calling card (upto $20). Mum was giving me tips to get rid of boredom by watching tamil channels or read tamil magazines. :D Her world is so small. :) My college friend D from Atlanta tried to make me feel at home just like my cuz. So did my frnd from MTP gang. And most of all, JFK and AM. :)
Very pleasant memories and learnings. Thank you, God! :)
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