Author Archives: Bala

It’s has been a long time since my last post. What was I’m doing on earth without being online?

I was up in the air,

Miles away from home,

Out of my comfort zone.

My Onsite travel was confirmed and i’m supposed to report Cincinnati office on April 17 2012.

I was terribly busy last week and was sick as well(102 degrees, fever). In the same week, I had spent till my credit card limit for shopping and now I’m broke 🙂

My ticket to Cincinnati, Ohio was confirmed just a day before my travel. My flight was on a Sunday night.

I had to catch three flights: Chennai – Dubai – Dallas – Cincinnati. The travel was unpleasant as I wasn’t feeling well.

Here we go…The journey to the US.

Chennai, India – Sunday night:

My mom, bro and my cousin Raj and few relatives came to the Airport to send me off. I waived bye to all and went to get my boarding passes while my family waited inside the airport. I straight away went to immigration where i was not allowed to go back to the waiting room. So I just called them and said bye. My mom instructed me to call whenever possible. I said yes moved forward.

After the security check, I had 45 minutes of waiting time and called few of my friends. I have not informed most of my friends about my travel. I have not called them even in the airport, I felt tired and just sat idle.

Chennai to Dubai:

I sat between a tamil guy and a foreigner. The tamil guy spoke well since we are from the same place. We talked a lot. he talked more about G Force, turbulence etc and sounded like an IIT student, but he is not  :D. He also advised me to drink rum and few hot drinks to get rid of cold and fever 🙂 and continued his drink when I said no.

We reached Dubai 30 minutes late. The airport was beautiful and he took photos and videos. I said bye and started moving towards my gate.

Dubai to Dallas:

I was ok till I went in to the flight, but my body temperature raised high in few hours and I fell sick again. I covered my head and slept. when I got up I felt better. I switched on the display and tuned to Air show which shows the location of the flight. I was shocked, It just moved an inch from Dubai. I still have 12+ hours of travel. I drank a lot of hot tea which I’m not used to.I watched movies and slept in all different dimensions. Finally I reached Dallas after an awful 15+ hour journey.

I landed in the US.

The first place I visited in the US is Rest room and the first thing I did was Vomit.

That’s a great way to start right 🙂

Dallas Airport:

My next flight to Cincinnati is after 8 hours.

I waited in a long queue for immigration. I was very tired and even thought of siting on a wheel chair 🙂

I dropped my documents several time while waiting in the line. People looked at me as if I am drunk.

I finally appeared before the immigration officer and got my I-94 stamped on my passport.

Then I took the skylink – train to my terminal. Now I still felt sick and cold. I bought a doughnut to eat and could not finish it. It tasted so bad. I wanted to talk to my mom. I was not able to use my indian sim card here so I purchased a prepaid calling card for 20$, but was not sure how to call :).

I found an old guy standing at the help desk. He looked like James bond wearing a tuxedo hat. I approached him and enquired about my flight. I also asked him on how to make a call with the card I have purchased. He was not sure about that too. So he gave his cell phone to make a call.

I did not want to make a call to india from his cell so I just called my colleague and informed that I have arrived Dallas and will be in Cincinnati around 9 pm.

Then I roamed through the terminal to buy a Hoodie. I found a shop and the girl inside the shop looked beautiful, she looked like an indian but sounded like an american. I went inside to buy the Hoodie. It was imprinted with the words TEXAS,Dallas and USA.

I wanted to try it and approached the girl. She asked me to try right there over my T-shirt and to check the mirror. I liked it and bought it for 22 dollars. I also asked her about the recharge card and she explained me well. Then she asked where I’m from India? I said, I’m from TamilNadu. She smiled and told me that her origin is Kerala and her husband is a keralite too.

My guess was correct 🙂 But she’s married 😦

I moved out of the shop and still 5 hours left. I found a place to sit and fell asleep. I did not care about my luggage. I slept like a monster and got up just 30 minutes before my flight depart time.

I ran to the help desk and they wanted me to go to another gate.

Dallas to Cincinnati:

I boarded in to the flight and it was a short journey. I finally landed in Cincinnati and called my colleague niraj from the pubic phone. He said he will reach in 15 minutes and wanted me to call him again.

I waited near the exit. A man was busy with his laptop and smiled at me when I saw him. I then went back to the public phone to call my colleague, but I did not have enough coins to make a call.

The man saw me and asked ‘Do you want to make a call with my iPhone’ I wondered why people say iPhone instead of just Phone? I said yes and he dialed the number from his phone sorry iPhone 🙂

After the call, I thanked him for his generosity. He asked me which is the largest city in India. I was not sure, but I said Mumbai. He smiled and welcomed me to Cincinnati.He is a gentle man. My colleague Niraj came in few minutes and picked me up. I first wanted his phone to call my MOM. he said its unlimited to India so you can make any number of calls. I just grabbed and called my MOM and informed about my arrival.

That’s all about my journey.

I slept well in the night and went to office the next day. I wake up daily and my colleague will pick me up in the car and drop me in the evening. It has been 5 days in Cincinnati and I have not walked out of my room till now.

So how it is going to be here…Let me see!!

And…this is my 100th post. Great! congrats to me!!