First impressions

I have been in the US for two weeks now and haven't yet posted a blog entry which is weird. So I thought I will put in some words here.

First thing that surprises me in the US is the size of the parking lot :) ... If it were Bangalore , I am sure some one would have build an apartment over there :)...

Secondly, the food habits in this country are way too weird for me. They eat a lot of junk (pizza, burger, bagel , donuts, cheese and lots of it ). Yesterday, a colleague and I went to watch INCEPTION and ordered some nachos with wine for dinner. We were surprised to see the amount of cheese spread on those nachos. I barely ate a few.

Third , the approach of the people. Everyone is so nice and courteous. Everyone asks how are you ? / how are you doing today? but I don't think they really care for a response from you. For ex: we stayed at Marriott over the weekend when we went to Washington DC. The receptionist asked us how we were doing. Washington was burning that weekend and we said the same. She didnt even bother to respond and asked us if we had a booking. :-) ... strange.

The organization is highly meticulous and people follow processes as if it were a crime to break rules. Traffic signals are respected. Bills are given for every dollar spent and queue is maintained. How often have we seen people jumping ahead of the queue in India or rather we ourselves have jumped ahead.

People enjoy their life. Traveling over the weekend to another city isnt an uncommon thing.

Credit checks / criminal background checks for housing surprises me. But I guess it is for the good.

And finally, this is a country of various nationalities ... sounds paradoxical , but I work with Indians , Americans,a Slovekian, a Brazilian who are all actually PRs or citizens here. That I think is a great thing about this country , you are accepted if you are useful (sounds a bit like matrix :-) )...

Dday - 1

-- All set for the trip.
-- Packaging done.
-- got calls from home wishing good luck and asking to be careful . I suspect my mom cried somewhere in the middle (they are always like that)
-- tickets, forex and visa are ready.

--Essays have been released for Cornell , Kellogg and Darden.
-- completed Duke essays
-- Ross is under review


-- Need to visit Shishu Mandir one last time. May be get them some chocolates. Will really miss the saturday program.
-- Need to do some last minute shopping.

c'est la vie (such is life)

Got my L1 visa today. If anything had disappointed me since the start of my career in 2006 (there are quite a few) it was the L1 visa rejection in 2007. Usually unperturbed my disappointments , some how I gave into it. It did impact me quite a lot and kinda hurt my confidence. So when I was presented for another US project I felt it is time.

The interview was over in a flash. There were no long lines of people and I was asked three questions.

1 ) Who is the client ?
2 ) How are you going to help the client ?
3 ) How did u specialize in this technology.

VC : Your visa has been approved. Your passport will reach you by a courier.

me : Thanks mam ....

So it settles the score I guess. waiting to go to pittsburgh.