US Experience

                       Finally i have arrived in the United States of America after a long long Flight. There was a huge Queue at the immigration as 70 percent of the Immigration counters were not working at 4 in the afternoon. It took me 2 hours to complete the immigration and customs procedures. My flight to buffalo was at 9:40pm and hence i had to spend 3 hours at the O’Hare International airport and then board a flight to Buffalo,NY.  After 3 hours i boarded the flight to Buffalo, which was a small chartered flight with a capacity of around 30 people. I reached Buffalo around midnight and boarded a taxi to my seniors home.

                       I woke up pretty late the next day at around 9:00 as i was just recovering from the Jet Lag. My senior took me to the college to get my ID card and have a first look of the campus where i will be spending my next 2 years. The campus is a huge one and i have to take a campus shuttle bus which will take around 15 min to cover 10Kms. The campus has 6 full fledged food courts, lots of open landscapes, greenery and its own lake.It seems like half of Buffalo is UB’s. I dont think the Americans know how to build small things. Right from coffee to buildings everything in this country is enormous. The Roads inside the college are like the highways in India unlike NIT Trichy where the roads are full of potholes. My department is situated in a 11 storey building and it is shared by Chemical and Mechanical Engineering departments. The public in general are very helpful and kind. The professors here dont like to be addressed as Sir/Madam and instead want them to be addressed by their names( Very Strange for a student from India, where a hue and cry will be raised when a student addresses the professor by his name). I got a mobile phone connection in ten minutes and opened a bank account in 10 Minutes(Which is very fast).

                       Three days after landing in buffalo, me and my friends moved into a rented apartment(rent 250$ per head). Its a 4 Bedroom apartment, with a big Living rooms, fully furnished with Washing Machines, Dryers, Microwave Owens, Heaters, Couch etc. We went to Buffalo city to get the gas and electricity connections. That was the first time i got a feel of USA. We took a Metro rail from the university to the City centre where the gas office is situated. The metro in buffalo is an Old one with the underground sections serving high speed connectivity and then converting into a tram inside the City. Public transport is costly here  as the minimum ticket costs you around Rs.175. Our next priority was to get a Internet connection. The internet speed offered here is something that is out of the world for a person like me as i get only 1Mbps at home and here i am being offered a net connection with a speed of 15Mbps and that too for 5$. I think the internet connection is the only thing in the US that is Cheaper than India. When i asked the officer whether the internet usage is Unlimited, the officer gave me a strange look. Everything is in place in the house after a week of hard work and now we can relax a bit until the college starts.

Pre-Departure Orientation

 

                                      It is conducted by United States – India Educational Foundation for students going from INDIA to the United States. This session which i am going to write about was held on 30th July 2010 from 9 am in the morning to 2pm in the afternoon at Deccan Plaza Royapettah, Chennai. Personally i found this session to be very useful and i would recommend students going to USA to attend these sessions before going to USA.

How to apply?

                                     You can register to these sessions by visiting any of the USIEF centers in Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. You can get the address by visiting USIEF-Website. You have to take your passport, Visa and your i20 to the center and register by paying Rs.250. You will be given a Pre-Departure guide which is very informative and i would highly recommend that you read through the book once during your leisure time.

Session :

                                      I reached the venue by 8:45 am and i was asked to sit on the table which contains my state name in which my university is situated, I found this seating arrangement to be a very nice one. I think that it is better for students to interact and getting to know about students in the same region rather than say a New York student interacting with a Californian bound student though It is a problem if you are coming along with your college friends:P. The welcome address was given by the consular general of American consulate, Chennai, and he started by giving a few YOGA exercises, and he gave a brief introduction about the purpose of this gathering. After this there was a presentation given by Mr.Prateek who did had studied in the US and a MIT Alumni about the Academics in the US. They explained how the education in US is different from that provide in India and the Dos and Donts while doing assignments, attending class, research etc. The point which they stressed is that “If you are attentive in class then its like half the job done”, and specifically mentioned that the Assignments must be done Independently. Then they talked about the importance of internships, how to choose your internship such that you can show it as a course during summer so as to make sure that the internship comes under CBT and you dont end up consuming your OPT(optional Practical Training). Then they explained about the VISA Extension wherein you can extend your visa by 6 months for OPT(Optional Practical Training). If you are going to work on campus then make sure that you work “Less than 20 hours per week” and you will be monitored about how much time you work by using the SSN number. They emphasized the point of exploring and interacting with the people so as to gain experience which is very much part of your studies in the United states. Travel as much as possible as this will be the best time of your life.  

                                       The next session was about the Cultural aspects of living in the US. Here the panelists explained about the culture of the USA, How its different from the one back home, the need to know and get accustomed to their traditions like Halloween, Thanksgiving day etc. The main thing is that one should not be shy and try to mingle with the natives. One should not only be part of the Indian Association but also try to be a member of other associations as you will never be exposed such a diverse environment in the future. One of the major aspects of education in the US is the Experience you gain from interaction between people from different parts of the world. Its better to wear dresses that is common in US and to wear the traditional dresses only during functions. People in the US are crazy about Baseball and NFL like we are about cricket back home. You can easily start a conversation about Baseball and NFL and make a lot of friends. An important aspect in the US is Donot touch a Friend and speak or put your shoulders around your friend as you will be misunderstood as a Gay and they will rudely tell you to take your hands off.

 

                                       The next session was given by Mr.David from the consulate about the Donts in immigration and jobs. Its a crime if you work 20 hours or more per week in offcampus jobs with your F-1 Visa and the authorities can track about the number of hours you work by using the Social Security Number(SSN) and you will be Deported immediately.  The Documents you need to show in the Immigration counter are as follows, i20, form 94, Passport and Visa. You are advised to keep these documents ready and not to delay as the officer wont like it. It is advisable to carry a photocopy of your Passport and Visa wherever you go and keep the Original in a safe place as it is an extremely tough process to get your passport again and you will need to apply for your VISA again. Donot leave your laptops unattended as more often than not it will be stolen. Most universities will have Escorts for escorting students upto their off-campus home during night. Never go alone in isolated streets during night and it is highly advisable to go around as a group and check your city’s crime rates and crime localities.

 

                                      The Next session was about Foreign Exchange. The maximum cash you can carry is $3000 and totally $10000(Cash+TC+Card) and never keep these in your check in bags. Mini sessions were arranged by Matrix cellular, Tata calling cards and Tata Insurance. A nice Lunch was served to everyone who attended.