I’m not a big Quora user. But once when someone requested me to answer the question “As an Indian, how was your first experience in the United States?”, I started typing out my answer instantly. Either the experience was fresh in my mind or it was too funny to be forgotten. That was my first Quora post. Which garnered a few thousand views and a request from a user for elaborating it into a blog post. While this post isn’t an elaboration on my original answer but simply a copy-paste, I want to put it out here so all my content is in one place. Hope you enjoy reading this.
Alright, so I’m going to list down some points that constituted my first experience in the US, in random order. Some of them might seem trivial or cheesy, but hey, at least I’m being honest.
As soon as I landed in the US and started living day 1 (in Hanover, NH, where the Dartmouth College campus was located), I was impressed by how clean and green it was, all around. Maybe it was that town or my bias, but that was the first thing I just noticed.
I immediately felt like the US was a land of choices. From a FedEx center to a retail store, you could choose from quite a lot. My first visit to a cafe in the US was scary. My roommates and I went to the “Dirt Cowboy Cafe” one evening, and it was my turn to order. I was overwhelmed with the number of options because I’d never seen so many (generally speaking) back home in India. Or maybe I hadn’t been to enough cafes. Either way, I proceeded and asked for coffee. A young blonde lady probably in her teens asked from behind the counter with a nice smile:
- Lady: “Would you like some cream?”
- Me: “Umm, sure.”
- Lady: “A shot of espresso or two?” (I had no idea what Espresso was, I’m not kidding! I thought it was like Cappuccino – obviously it isn’t – but I was too embarrassed to ask)
- Lady: “I generally go with one shot, you should like it.”
- Me: (after some hesitation) “Sure, make it one shot.” (Phew! I guess I’m done, I thought)
- Lady: “Would you like some Cinnamon?”
- Me: (heart beating even faster) “Umm, uh, you mean separately?” (I was thinking of cinnamon sticks, actually! Because that’s how we generally bought Cinnamon in India)
- Lady: “No, I can just sprinkle it on top.”
- Me: “Sure.” (So much for choices!)
Everyone around me seemed to be obsessed with fitness and very good-looking. They loved running, even in rains!
I was impressed with the variety in brands of cars I saw around me. I always stopped to look at cars I’d hardly ever seen in real life – Lotus, SAAB, Lincoln, and plenty more.
That’s all folks – those were some tidbits from my Day 1 in the US. I feel I could write a much longer blog post about this. But that’s about it for now.
Before we end, I’d love to know about your first time in the US or any other country. What did you like, or not like? How did you feel? Feel free to drop a comment below or share this post with your family or friends.
The first time I went to the US was during the fall so my day 1 in DC was mostly spent trying to figure out how many layers of clothes to wear (such erratic weather) and how much food to order (they serve so much food it lasts for another meal or two!). Not surprised, but I was still impressed (almost fascinated) by just so much space all around (being an Indian) – clean and broad roads – people running or cycling around the National Mall and just minding their own business.
Thanks, Cheshta for sharing – very interesting read!