4 states in 4 days

I started of on Friday the 24th October 2008 from the Washington DC international Airport (IAD). It was interesting since this was the first time I was flying in a 4 seating aircraft, the only problem was that even my hand baggage wouldn’t fit in the overhead locker. This was the Air Canada flight operated by United Airlines and the trouble started from the word go, when we were sitting in the plane on the runway for close to one hour and then had to make a delayed departure from another runway.

I was flying to Chicago O’Hare Airport and was supposed to take a connecting flight from New York LaGuardia airport. The planned transit time was 1hr 15 mins but because of the delay I just made it to the Gate for the O’ Hare Airport in time, I think it was just 15mins in time. The flight to Chicago was a pleasant one, I shared my row with two ladies, one probably in her 40s and another one my quite my age. I had a feeling that they were delighted to hear that I was travelling to US from England and wanted to know more about the English country and their ways. Ahh I could sense where they were going so I had to cut their chase and tell them that although I came to the US from England but I am not English in most ways and that I come from the far east. It would be wrong to say that their enthusiasm deflated completely but my Asian origins did have some influence.

Chicago was good fun, from the architectural tour of downtown, witnessing Chicago’s simple solutions to their massive problems (EL – the train passing through the post office building, another one sliced through to create a road) to getting on top of the Sears Tower standing at a whopping 1450 ft and 108 storeys high. The view from the top of Sears is magnificent,with the earth and all that it has on it looks exactly the way it looks when an airplane has just taken off.

Tickets for the Sears Tower and the Architectural-Tour Boat Ride

Sears Tower

Lake Michigan is another wonder, bounded my 4 states in the US makes it the largest lake entirely in one country. I have never been to the sea, but standing on its banks perhaps gives you the closest feel of a sea, you see water and just water till the eye meets the horizon and it surely is breathtakingly beautiful. There are many other places of tourist interest like the Aquarium and 6 Flags but it wasn’t for me I guess.

Lake Michigan

The journey back home today was equally adventurous. My day started of at 4 O ‘ Clock in the morning and I was in time at the terminal at 4.30 AM for my 5.45 AM flight to Philadelphia. It was all fine till I was told after waiting in a security queue for half an hour that my terminal has changed. It was a nervous moment I can tell you but I managed to reach the other terminal in 10 mins, only to discover that some Black women at the counter perhaps pissed off with someone didn’t want to let me check in even though as per rules written on my e-Ticket I should have been allowed to do that even 10 mins before the actual flight departure. Anyway to cut the long nervous moments short, I printed my boarding card at a Kiosk and thanked the lady for her kindness (yes she wan’t happy). The adventure ended right there and rest of the journey was smooth. I look my final leg at around 10Am from Philadelphia to Washington DC and was there in DC on time.

The Demons from back home

Electricity failure and power cuts is a common feature of my part of the world. In fact it is something quite expected and life without a power failure would seem alien.

Now here is the twist …. I was sitting back on the coach and enjoying some television and oops the electricity goes! Yes nothing fused in the house, I checked through the window and there no total darkness in the whole residential area. I was asking myself if it was me or the demons from back home that caused the power failure in this part of the very developed world. Turns out there was some repair work going on and hence the power cut.

It was a nice experience to experience home away from home :)

Seat belt on...

I had been waiting for this time, had already got my IDP (International Driving Permit) sorted and ensured I had it on me when I came to the US. Yes this is the first time I am driving a left hand drive (right side of the road). I had thought that it would be confusing and difficult, it wasn't for me though I am occassionally inclined towards the left side of the road.

It is good fun to be driving again after a long time. I have my car back in Kashmir, but ever since I came to England, I seldom got a chance to step into cars let alone drive. Especially London is so congested most of the times, its faster and better travelling by TUBE (metro/underground/trains). Even if people have cars, many places in London have a congestion charge and parking fee is also on the higher side. I am so fond of bikes and cars that it is hard to keep my hands away from them. I think I am fortunate that my uncle is being a good sport in letting me drive all the time (you might think a little crazy, but he isn't). I am already eyeing his SUV, hopefully soon.

O what a Life

It is funny when I think about it. I came from Kashmir to England and from England to USA and its here I get chased by Dogs :)

I had a fun day and decided to go for a walk with my aunt, it was kind of dark and I heard the barking and then fast moving footsteps and this heavy breathing near our legs. It was two big dogs seemingly about to have a big bite from our legs, it wasn’t that I learned. My aunt told me not to make any noise, move my arms around and not to look at the dogs, apparently if you ignore them, they will ignore you. They did, perhaps bored of our behaviour. But I tell you I was so scared, feeling like…. ok here come the bite…haha I survived.

Then I shared this story with my uncle and he said they weren’t even chasing us, they must have expected us to pat them and play with them and thats why they came chasing. I was so scared I wanted to call 911.

Jet Lag

There is a decent 5 hr difference between London and US east coast time zones. I was a bit tired and finally managed to sleep from 5:30 PM till 8:30PM, had some nice dinner and called off the day. I woke up at 5AM this morning, reminding me of the time when I first arrived in London, where I used to wake up at 4AM for the first couple of days.

I discovered that the UK electricity plugs and sockets are different from the US system and my laptop battery had just died on me. Fortunately my uncle had some spare cables and I used one of them as input for my laptop adapter and so I am happy again :) taking to my family and friends.

7 Hours and 45 Minutes...

OK here I am, started off at 5am this morning and boarded the birtish rail from Ilford station at 6:09 am and then 1hr and 30minutes of a train trip to the heathrow terminal 5. I had already printed my boarding card at home (yes you can do that, like you can print an e-ticket), and the baggage checkin and security clearance was fast. It was a rountine, keep all your hand carriage baggage in a tray for x-ray, yes you have to remove your shoes too. I heard Israel has developed a new security system where in the passengers might not have to remove their shoes for security clearance.
My flight is due to depart from London at 10:50 am and since it is 10 minutes to 9 am there is no sign of the gate I need to go. I found a very interesting place here, it is called the Multi faith room - " a place for prayer and reflection", I like it.

Its 9:20 AM and call for my gate, I have to take a Terminal Service to my boarding gate or a 15 minutes walk (a healthy option but not for me). Its 9.30 am and I am at my gate waiting for further information to be displayed soon (I hope sooner).

Its 10:42 am and I am inside the plane now, pretty sleak so far. People are still walking about finding their seats or maybe just for the heck of it. I have a window seat and the gentleman next to me has been busy on his blackberry ever since he boarded the flight, you know what that means :) I guess its time to logoff now and enjoy the flight, see you soon.

The terminal looks clean and sleak and as long as I don't lose my luggage I am all praises.

11:35 am (US time), 4:36 PM (UK) Back again! I am trying to have a nice time here, watching the inflight movies, drinking orange juice mixed with lemonaide, atleast a nice way to spend the time. The view outside hasn'd changed for a long time now. We are still flying over the Atlantic ocean at about 40,000 ft and almost approaching Halifax having passed over Sydney some time back (relax, we were not flying over Australia...I am talking 'bout Canada).

1:30Pm (US): The flight just arrived right on time and it has been a pleasant journey. It took me another hour for immigration check and luggage clearance. The actual immigration time was just around 3 minutes but the ques are so long it takes time.

I just had a shower and am trying to rest for a while now. The laptop battery it seems won't last long and the charging unit doesn't fit the US system, so that is the first thing I need to figure out. Second, my T-Mobile UK prepaid sim doesn't work here, although it was supposed to be on roaming.

...and why am I so calm?

My MBA studies have finished now, infact a month back and I am still not in a panic mode for a job. Unbelievable? Yes even my friends seem to be wondering why am I suddenly so calm about things. Personally I think everything is linked by a chain of events, and each link needs to be taken care of before you can reach the next one (yes there are some shortcuts too, but we won't discuss them now). I am currently into that phase of dealing with these links one at a time and hence I am not that worried or should I say I am calm.

Its been quite some time since I updated my blog. I am on a short trip to America from tomorrow and I hope I will have things to share and perhaps more stories to tell.