Wow.. it snowed here in Kingsport this weekend, and its the first time that I saw a snow fall. Yes… its a thrill to see it for the first time, but after that, I know its a pain :)… anyway, from what I have heard and read, it snows very lightly here in Kingsport during the winter, not like the northern parts of US where the entire place is covered with snow for months together!
Here are some snaps…!
View from outside my house - Click to Zoom
Snow Outside - Click to Zoom
Appartment Complex View - Click to Zoom
Appartment Complex View - Click to Zoom
Appartment Complex View - Click to Zoom
Snow on Cars - Click to Zoom
Now its a bit sunny, but still I can see some light snow showers!
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February 5th, 2006 at 08:56pm
Its nearly six days now since I landed up here in US. And everyone seems to be asking just one question. How are you finding US ?. Quite natural!
Well, my answer is… so far so good. Its a nice and different experience all together. Everything is new to me. The culture, the society, the system, the food…..everything is different and new. But, the best part is, its good.
The place that I am at is very scenic, but its not a place for youngsters who would like to have fun etc… But its a very peaceful and beautiful place.
Here are some pics that I managed to take…
Kingsport - Click to Zoom
Horse!! - Click to Zoom
Road Uphill! - Click to Zoom
Kingsport itself is a very small place in Tennessee. Actually there are 2 more towns close by. One is called Johnson City, and the other Bristol. These three cities together are known as “Tri-Cities”.
Well, talking of change… its a totally different lifestyle out here. But its not a shocking change for me. May be I was kind of ready for it and had heard about this lifestyle from multiple people. Its only that I am experiencing the change now!
Ok. Somethings I would like to make a note of in random order…
- The people out here are generally very very friendly. They are ready to help you if you ask for help. People respect your privacy, and the same is expected from you!
- The Infrastructure is just top notch. May it be roads, power or whatever. Its just great.
- People follow rules. That’s really good. May it be traffic/road rules or any other public rules.
- Everything is big! From roads to shopping ‘malls’, and every other shop is part of a chain.
- You ‘must’ have a car to go around. There is nothing called public transport at least at the place that I am at. (There is some bus service, but its ..something very very very very basic).
- Every mall or shop or office has solid parking space. That’s because, everyone owns a car!
- There are lot of places & systems that just work on trust! And people live up to it!. That’s one thing which really surprised me.
- Most of the houses are made up of wood.
- Paper is used royally here. No one uses Hankey! Tissues are used for almost everything.
- Almost all the houses (apartments for rent) come with basic stuff even if its unfurnished - fridge, oven, surface heating (electric hotplate - as known in india), dishwasher. Hot water is always available. AC - cooler and heater.
- The place that I am at, the temperature outside is pretty low - around 0 to -3 C at nights and around 15 C during day. But, you won’t feel it when you are indoors. May it be office, or house, or shopping or in car. Everything is temperature controlled.
- SSN is the most important thing to have with you. Drivers ID is the next most important document. Without these two, its very difficult to manage!
- You must have a credit card with you when you are here. One… since its accepted at almost all the places and Two… it helps you build something called as credit history.
- Its not easy to get a credit card! (which is totally different compared to India, where one is forecibly given a credit card!!!)
- To get a credit card, you should have a good credit history. And to have a credit history, you must have a credit card! - Perfect chicken and egg problem.
- So, the way out is, you need to go for something known as “Secured” credit card. Its something like, you have to deposit some money in your account, and that becomes your credit limit. Its not a debit card!! Its still and credit card. :)
- Without a SSN and Credit card (and so…credit history), its difficult to get services like telephone, mobile etc. If you need those services, you need to a good sum of money as deposit (refundable in most cases). I had to pay deposits for the apartment, and the power supply.
- Getting a Mobile phone connection too is not so easy!. Its a must that you have a good credit history to go cellular. Where as in India, every tom-dick and harry has a cell phone now!. The cellphone air-time charges too are quite high out here compared to India. Prepaid connection is way too expensive compared to postpaid.
- Day to day things/supplies are pretty cheap out here. Electronics stuff is cheap. Stuff related to kids is expensive! What i mean is, there is value for money. Specially in the southern states. Not sure about areas like NJ or Bay area.
So, thats about it for now! More as and when I find time! :)
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February 3rd, 2006 at 08:02am
Hello! I am finally done with my travel. Reached here yesterday afternoon at around 3.30 PM almost 15 mins ahead of time. Three of my colleagues had come down to the airport to pick me up. The entire travel was pretty much on schedule, but a lengthy one.
Started off from Mangalore on Friday afternoon to Mumbai via Jet Airways flight no 9W 432. The flight was pretty much ok….reached Mumbai at around 5 PM. Found that there was one more colleague of mine traveling along with me upto Detroit. We got along and moved to the international airport. By around 6 PM we were there.
My next flight was at 1.20 AM to Amsterdam on Saturday. NW 41, i.e., Northwest Airlines. The north west counter at the airport opens only at around 8.30 PM. So, we had to wait. By around 9 PM, the NW counters were all open and we checked in at around 9.30 PM, followed by immigration check. After which me moved to the international departure lounge. It was pretty good with comfortable seats on which we could almost sleep. I got a nice small power nap. Slept till around 12 PM. By then, they had started security checks prior boarding to our flight. So, at around 12.30 AM, we went in, and at around 1.30 AM or so, we took off.
The Mumbai to Amsterdam flight was not that great. But I managed to get some bits of sleep. Landed in Amsterdam at around 6.45 AM, local time. i.e., around 10.15 AM Saturday India time. The Schipol airport at Amserdam is pretty big, but luckily, our connecting flight was parked at the adjacent gate. So, we quickly moved to the next gate, since we just had a 1hr 20 min stopover at Amsterdam.
The next flight was NW 39 to Detroit. This flight was much better, with some cool in-flight entertainment consoles for individual users. And it was more comfortable compared to the previous flight. We took off sharp at around 8 AM Amsterdam local time. This time I had a window seat. But after reaching cursing altitude of 38k feet, nothing much was visible outside, except for the clouds. This flight was for a duration of around 8 hrs, and I fell a sleep for the first two hours or so. After getting up, I played around with the in-flight entertainment console, did some R&D, and time pass. After that I filled up the forms one needs to fill up before entering the United States (I94 etc). Soon we reached Detroit. Around 15 mins ahead of schedule. i.e., around 9.45 AM EST.
Did my immigration and customs clearance, and then checked in my luggage back to the next flight. We had around 3 hrs with us to explore the Detroit airport. Its pretty cool, with an express tram and all that. Me and one more colleague of mine went around the entire length of the airport, and had some snacks at McDonalds
Detroit Airport - Click to Zoom in
At around 12.15 PM or so, I moved towards my departure gate, where I had to catch my next flight to my final destination, Kingsport. The last flight was a pretty small one…. 34 seater aircraft. Propeller driven :). It had only 6 people including me on board. The flight was for an hour and a half, and I slept for nearly an hour!. Touched down at Kingsport at around 15.30 hrs EST. My colleagues were very helpful, and helped me with luggage etc. Currently I am staying with one of my friends at his apartment. I would be soon moving to a separate apartment in a couple of days.
Here are some snaps of the appartment complex that I am going to stay at….
Allandale Appartment Complex
Will post more later!
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January 30th, 2006 at 04:21am
All set, and ready to fly. I would be starting today, and would reach kingsport, TN on Saturday afternoon (EST). So, this would probably be my last post from Mangalore, India before I fly.
So, my next post would be from Kingsport, TN once I settle down. Hopefully with some pics!.
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January 27th, 2006 at 01:16pm
As I had mentioned in my previous post, I would mostly be travelling to our client location at Kingsport, Tennessee, United States on an work assignment. If all goes well as planned, I would be starting on the 27th of this month, and reaching there on 28th.
So, now the race against time has begun!. Lots of things to do in the next couple of days, and the checklist of “things to do” is ready. The “doing” part has kind of begun. Today, came back home early from work and went out for shopping. Bought a big VIP travel bag. Also bought a carry bag which I can use for cabin luggage. And then a couple of jeans. Did some other minor tasks. Lot more shopping and “To Dos” planned for the next couple of days.
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January 19th, 2006 at 12:28am
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