I remember the day I got my visa. One of the happiest days of my life. I have dreamt of studying in United States since I was a kid. I knew about the education system, the professors, the study pattern and all. For hours and hours, I did a lot of research about the culture, about education pattern.
I connected to many people from my university I was planning to take and before leaving India, I knew I was all prepared to conquer this new world. I reached to USA, into my new apartment, met my new roommates, roamed around my university, met my professors and attended various welcoming event. Life was just perfect. But I was unaware of what was coming next. This so called ‘Honeymoon Period’ lasted for about a month and the reality of this new world starts to kick in. So in this article, we will discuss what to expect.
-
Day to day chores:
We do day to day things while in India too. But here it is different. Most of the time you don’t have similar schedule like your roommates and sometimes you end up doing all the work alone. In India, you can people to do things for you but in United States, these kind of help is expensive.
-
Part time job:
There are various different types of part time jobs available on-campus. All the jobs are library assistant or graduate assistant. Sometime you land up a job at food court. Well, it doesn’t matter what type of job you do, sometimes it becomes tiring. Especially when exam time is near and you have multiple assignments to submit.
-
Dollar vs rupee:
Till you start earning, everything seems expensive. Whenever you go for shopping even it is grocery the dollar to rupee conversion starts. Even a simple one dollar thing is Rs 60 for you.
-
New culture:
People are usually frank and welcoming. Sometimes in the morning when you are going for a class or a walk, expect someone crossing by you saying ‘Hello’ or simply smile.
-
Homesickness:
In India, you get to meet your family during almost every occasion. But when you are thousands of miles away, you don’t get to meet your family and friends.
Once you get settle with some of these hurdles and make good friends, they become your new family. You will be surprised to see that Indians in United States, celebrate all the occasions with love and joy.
