Packing:
Keep the luggage as light as possible. Its usual and normal tradition that mom packs some
delicious food for you and when coming to US, she may even pack some fruits like mangos.
Remember, US department of agriculture does not allow anyone to bring the seeds, fruits,
plants, insects, animals,birds etc. This is to protect American farmers from some unknown
weed or fruit or tree, destroying their farms. ( You must have seen Parthenium( also known
as Congress!!) weed in India, that is spreading on every acre on land, killing
grass. That came to India from abroad. And US does not want such things to happen to
them). Do not bring any food items. Its also very common to pack a bottle or two of
pickles and other spices. In US , in most US cities, you will find Indian Grocery stores,
and you can buy all these items, for nominal prices. So if you can avoid these heavy
items, do so. You get all common medicine in US, do not bring them from India. In case you
are bringing some medicine with you, bring doctor's prescriptions for those medicines.
This is important, as you may get into trouble for possessing prescription ( controlled)
drugs without prescriptions!!!.
About utensils carry a pressure cocker from India you can buy rest of the things in
US.Pressure cooker is very handy tool that will assist you very much in the daily cooking.
Here are things you want to bring.
a. Audio Cassettes/CD : Bring as many as you can. Get all your favorites. Hindi, Kannada,
English,Tamil ,Telagu any thing you like. Bring them here. And if you want to hear
someone's (e.g your beloved) voice, may be you record those voices and get the cassettes.
You can get most of the cassettes in US, but you may not find that favorite of yours and
they can be expensive.
b. Books: Books are heavy. But they are worth bringing. If you have some books in Indian
Languages, you may want to bring them. You don't find Kannada book stores in US. Technical
books, that's your choice, you can buy them here, get them from library. But if you want
to bring them do that.
c. Photographs/Autographs
If you are coming to US for a stay of six months or more, then photos of your good, old,
golden memories will be helpful.
d. Copies of your certificates, degrees.
If you are planning to change job once you land in US, get photo copies of your degree
certificates and photo copies( i.e xerox copy) of all mark sheets.
e. Learn car driving and get an International license. If you don't know how to drive, you
will feel like person without legs and you wont be able to move anywhere in US. Don't
depend on your friend, you knows driving....Once in US, you have to be independent, for
you and your friend to enjoy.
e.Keep all the valuables, important documents ( Passport,
Visa papers) in the "Carry on" luggage. Carry On luggage( typically a brief
case) will be with you all the time. Other big bags will be "checked in" and
they will sit in the cargo of your plane. You wont have access to your "checked-
in" luggage till you reach destination. Most airplanes allow one carry on piece and
two ( or three) check-in pieces per person. Check your tickets or travel agent for details
about weight and dimensions of the luggage. Keep a sweater or jacket with you, because you
may feel chilly inside plane.
f. Know the exact address of office where you are going to work and stay and get the
printout of maps, directions to reach those places from airport. You can get all these
from Internet(e.g www.yahoo.com)
2. Booking Tickets:
Most of you don't have to worry about booking tickets, as its handled by your office. But
in case, you have to book tickets,
contact a travel agent ( don't book tickets directly with the airline, they are more
expensive!!) and tell him your travel plans. Ask him for the rates for travelling on three
or four different dates. This is because travelling on Friday, Saturday,Sunday will cost
you more. Also try to book tickets atleast 15 days in advance. Also while booking the
tickets, tell them what type of food you want. Veg , non-veg etc. If you are vegetarian,
tell them you want "Hindu - vegetarian", because "Asian vegetarian"
will have fish !!!Once you have tickets in your hands, call airline , couple of days
before travel, and confirm the travel plans. Arrive at the airport 2 - 3 hours before the
departure time.
3.Arrange such that somebody picks you up in the airport.
Give your flight plans to your friend who is picking you at the air port. Keep all the
contact phone numbers handy. Keep always some changes(35 cents to make local calls).
Indians are rich people, they always carry 100 dollar bills BUT at most places, 100 dollar
bills are not accepted !!. Carry smaller denominations, if you want to make a phone
call, you will need 35 cents ( 25 cents + 10 cents). Carry some change. They will be very
useful in case of some trouble. Also never carry more than 100 dollars in cash. Carry
money in form of traveler's checks. They are accepted at most places, when you show your
Photo Identity card like Passport, Driver's license etc.
3.Once you are inside the airplane:
Be calm and try to get some sleep. You have a very long journey ahead of you. Americans
put ice cubes in everything they drink, like water, orange juice, coke etc. And if you
don't want ice, say "water with NO ice please". Don't say, "water
with OUT ice." There will be stack overflow!!!!
By default coffee will be without milk & sugar. You have to ask for ask for milk
or cream and more sugar. Pick up some 5 or 6 packs of sugar. Indians drink
"sweet" coffee.
If you are waiting for next connecting flight don't go too far from the terminal. Most of
us look and sound rude to air hostesses ( but we are not!!).These are most common
conversations,
AirHostess: Would you like to have something to drink?
You say : Yes Please. ( don't just say, yea or yes)
AirHostess: What would like to have sir?
You say : Can I have coke with NO ice please?
Airhostess: Sure You can sir.
You say :Thankyou.
And now sit back , relax and enjoy coke. If you remove all pleases, thank yous, you will
sound rude to hostess.
In toilet both inside airplane and at the terminals, left side tap will be always be hot(
boiling hot) water, right side tap will be cold( almost freezing ) water. You
can also see H/C on the taps. Be careful with the both of them. Some of us have burned
palms and some get chilled out........ On international flights alcohol is free so drink
with caution. But once you land in US, it costs money.
5.Once you land in airport stay at
the terminal and let your friend pick you from the terminal. If you have told him
the flight number and airline, he will be at the terminal, so in 99% of case, you will
find your friend , as soon as you exit from the plane. In case,( however remote that may
be) your friend does not show up, don't panic, wait for 15 - 30 min, he may be stuck in
traffic.Proceed to baggage claim area, collect all your checked - in luggage and make a
phone call to your friend or call the other contact phone numbers you may have. This
is where your coins will be come handy. When you are sure your friend cannot come then
call taxi or a cab. You can get the phone number from yellow pages(or it will be
well marked in the air port) otherwise ask security officers for help. Once you get the
cab go home/hotel, don't be scared about cab drivers or fare, usually they are reliable
and will cost approximately $2 per mile. Its customary to give tips to driver.
If you are staying with your friend he will take care of
most of the things, if you are staying at hotel then you have to find out an
apartment your self.
I will compile the things you need to know once in US, next
week.
