This is a two-years-old mail which recounts my first two days in this country. Was reading this and trying to figure-out if my writing style had changed.
hi all,
since i am one of the first few people to reach SB, i thought i'd share my experience of the last 2 days with you guys.
30th aug.- i landed at LAX at 12.50 pm. my thoughts were - ok, so now i'm at amrika...but hold !!! i still have immigration and customs to clear before i am allowed to set foot on amrikan soil.
Immigration and Customs - so with slight bit of trepedition, i stood in the HUGE queue of the immigration counter. struck-up conversation with a Japanese guy who was going to Seattle from LAX. it was almost one hr. before my turn came, and i was standing in front of a stern-no-nonsense looking lady immigration officer. she gave a cold smile (i guess there guys at immigration are trained to look at everyone with suspicion), took my finger-prints, scanned my visa and passport and took almost 5 minutes, looking hard at my details that rolled-up in front of her computer screen. and my thoughts were - well...now what ?? pls dont ask me to turn my backk !!! but she seemed to have taken her time and satisfied herself. it took just 10 min to clear immigtation, but it felt like an eternity. ! but thank the lord !
went to the baggage-counter and surprisingly got both my bags in record time (according to my standards because in India, i am inexplicably one of the last few people to get my baggage). this was the very first time i had to heave two 32 kg. bags onto the trolley..and boy !! my spine almost split into 2 !
Customs - i had ticked on 'Food' item in the form. so the officer just asked me about it. i gave him my best possible innocent expression and said - ready-to-eat VEG stuff. that seemed to have satisfied him and with a large-hearted smile he said - welcome to the united states ma'am ! it felt good :)
LAX to SB : my friend was there at the arrival, was meeting him after a long time. he helped me with my trolley and we went out and waited for the SB airbus. at about 3.40, the bus came. the driver was a big-guy with a bellowing voice and a wide smile, he put my bags inside the belly of the bus and asked me to follow him inside the bus. paid $ 46 and went inside and sat. felt like taking the entire 2 seats and lying down after the tiring 26-hr journey, but resisted the urge to do so.
the drive from LAX to SB is a beautiful one, mostly beside the ocean. but i was too tired to notice the beauty and was fighting to keep myself from falling asleep, trying to make myself admire the passing landscape - the farms, factories, ranches on one side and the ocean on the other side. made a call from the bus at the first stop to Poornima saying i was on my way. at about 7 pm, i reached SB - last stop at Thornwood drive.
Poornima was there with 2 other people with cars - my 2 gigantic suitcases need a car each :)
@ SB: from 30th evening till today (Sept. 1st) - i am staying with Poornima and a third person at El Colegio Road.
31st Aug - Day 1- Poornima took me to her dept. and gave a print of the UCSB campus map. she also made a sketch of the direction to the apt. where we are staying. so from her dept., i set myself to the OISS. the campus map being my bible. reported at the OISS, where apart from Luz Maria Cabral , who was at the desk, i was greeted by the Director Mary Jacob - a tall imposing lady with a wonderful way of talking to people. it so turned-out that her husband was from Bengal. So my conversation with her went beyond the usual - hello-welcome-to-UCSB....
from there, i navigated myself to the University Center, where we get our student card. all you need is your name and perm no. they take your instant photo and give you the card in about 5 min., unless there are people ahead of you.
in front of the university centre, was accosted by an elderly gentleman and a lady (am not using the word "couple" because they were not married to each other). it so happened that they had set-up a free-for-all temp bookstall for bible. although i had nothing to do with that, i thought - what the heck ! i wont lose anything by chatting with them ! so after some wide-eyed exclamations of how i looked like a seasoned student (???) even though i had been here for less than 24 hrs., i managed to get myself away and went to the library and sat at a computer terminal. for about 2 hrs., was bombarded by friends/relatives alike about how i was, how was the place etc. after assuaging their queries, realized that my tummy was grumbling for lunch.
there's a subway-cum-departmental store in front of the library. took a subway sandwich and a bottle of mineral water ( total of 3 holy dollars !!!) and got myself a seat in the open-air seating area. tried to look like a seasoned student having s regular meal...dont know how successful i was
post lunch, went to the registrar's office to clear a couple of doubts. most of the people were not there as they had already started their 3-day weekend (monday being holiday because of Labor Day).
at about 4 pm, decided to walk back to the apartment. now, although the walk is a 10 min one, this was my first alone-venture outside the campus, hence it took almost 45 minutes to get back to the apt complex. managed to lose my way twice before asking about 4-5 people. once inside the complex, it was a further 25 min. before i located the holy door.
decided to take a nap, but sleep was elusive, although i still felt tired. Book-5 of Harry Potter decided to give me company till Poornima was back. She made an awsome dish of tomato pasta and i had my first taste of American Corn..its such a sweet corn !
after filling ourselves, we watched indian idol on youtube, listened to bollywood songs...sang our heart out too !
and before long, my first day at SB was over. turned-in at 12.00.
1st Sept.: Today, the campus is almost deserted as its a 3-day weekend. i am one of the few people, sitting in front of the comp and typing-away to glory.
will go back after a while, lets see if i revert back to subway or cook-up something on my own !
One thing i would say - Please dont worry about getting here and going about this place. it probably will taking longer for others, but having a map of the area is an ultimate necessity. armed with that and a good dose of confidence, SB is easy to go around !
take care and safe journey to all who are yet to cross the threshold...
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Observation: my tongue-in-cheek writing style hasnt changed much. But my choice of words would be slightly better ;)
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