After being fed with Cheese, butter, sugar, soda & chocolate multiple times, I was very much at peace with myself while landing at Portland International airport, feeling the happy li’l gal that I have started being these days!
Hours passed and I was counting minutes as the excitement in me, flying for the first time ever in my life had crashed, as you all know I am not a person who would sit in one place for more than an hour.
I need someone to keep yakking with all the time..... lol ....... and Vinod being this very calm & composed guy who is to himself most of the time decided to rest for the last leg of the journey which politely meant he had enough of my nonstop nonsense (no doubts he calls me 'Nimhans Queen') and here I was all to myself. As we were inching towards our destination. Only a couple of hours left for our final destination, We got offered some cold drinks, while people started sulking and kept constantly looking at their watches..... atleast I did, Babies started crying, food was fast depleting, toilets had begun to stink (or was that my mind working overtime), used headsets were passed on, in-flight entertainment was turned on, movies were repeated, and finally the ‘excitement’ in me died! I was bored, hungry, irritated, hurting and willing to jump off the plane! I walked up and down just to give my lazy swollen legs some exercise, watched 3 movies almost twice over, borrowed some magazine from a stranger, looked around repeatedly at people, and finally confessed to myself, that this is the most I can take as ‘excitement’ & ‘adventure’!
After 24 hours of continuous flying, Just as I was about to cry out loud–‘arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrghhhhh’ there was a dreamlike announcement made, And I say ‘dreamlike’, cuz it indeed brought a sigh of relief to everyone eagerly waiting to get off ! My ears tingled with pleasure & anticipation as I heard the captain say - Ladies and gentlemen, we are landing and welcome to Portland - The city of roses.
So, just as all our fellow country men, women & children started queuing up near the door as if willing to jump off the plane even as it was still taxiing on the run way trying to find parking space, the aircraft moved to its parking, and we got off!
As luck would have it, it was not about to end here… in fact it was only the beginning.. or was it the end.. yeah the end.. cuz we were at the end of the LONGEST queue at immigration, then the longest queue at the baggage claim section and finally the longest queue at the rental car desk !
Thank God for Portland’s smooth traffic after this. If it were like Bangalore’s, I’d have preferred to fly back home!
Hours passed and I was counting minutes as the excitement in me, flying for the first time ever in my life had crashed, as you all know I am not a person who would sit in one place for more than an hour.
I need someone to keep yakking with all the time..... lol ....... and Vinod being this very calm & composed guy who is to himself most of the time decided to rest for the last leg of the journey which politely meant he had enough of my nonstop nonsense (no doubts he calls me 'Nimhans Queen') and here I was all to myself. As we were inching towards our destination. Only a couple of hours left for our final destination, We got offered some cold drinks, while people started sulking and kept constantly looking at their watches..... atleast I did, Babies started crying, food was fast depleting, toilets had begun to stink (or was that my mind working overtime), used headsets were passed on, in-flight entertainment was turned on, movies were repeated, and finally the ‘excitement’ in me died! I was bored, hungry, irritated, hurting and willing to jump off the plane! I walked up and down just to give my lazy swollen legs some exercise, watched 3 movies almost twice over, borrowed some magazine from a stranger, looked around repeatedly at people, and finally confessed to myself, that this is the most I can take as ‘excitement’ & ‘adventure’!
After 24 hours of continuous flying, Just as I was about to cry out loud–‘arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrghhhhh’ there was a dreamlike announcement made, And I say ‘dreamlike’, cuz it indeed brought a sigh of relief to everyone eagerly waiting to get off ! My ears tingled with pleasure & anticipation as I heard the captain say - Ladies and gentlemen, we are landing and welcome to Portland - The city of roses.
So, just as all our fellow country men, women & children started queuing up near the door as if willing to jump off the plane even as it was still taxiing on the run way trying to find parking space, the aircraft moved to its parking, and we got off!
As luck would have it, it was not about to end here… in fact it was only the beginning.. or was it the end.. yeah the end.. cuz we were at the end of the LONGEST queue at immigration, then the longest queue at the baggage claim section and finally the longest queue at the rental car desk !
Thank God for Portland’s smooth traffic after this. If it were like Bangalore’s, I’d have preferred to fly back home!
The upside – the weather was Horrible at that moment. It was just slightly hotter than the hottest and hence the AC is on again (there is a huge story behind the AC in the car being on all the time which only Vinod, Mummy n Daddy-in-law and I relate to hehehehe......:-p)
The downside – We drive and drive and drive, hence I get hungry, and since I’m hungry, I eat. And this time its not the cheese & butter & sugar & chocolate, Its Portland's very famous South Indian restaurant "Chennai Masala" which made me burst out of my clothes
The upside – I have an excuse to go shopping :P
The downside – We drive and drive and drive, hence I get hungry, and since I’m hungry, I eat. And this time its not the cheese & butter & sugar & chocolate, Its Portland's very famous South Indian restaurant "Chennai Masala" which made me burst out of my clothes
The upside – I have an excuse to go shopping :P
Two more weeks, and it will be a month since I have been here in Portland.
What I hate about Portland:
* It is atleast 7 times more expensive than in India
* The food here is always salt missing in it and full of sugar, cheese, mayo and butter
* People here are more uptight and detached than in India. I made ‘friends’ loads of them in India, here – I am very far from it and I think will stay that way.
* The food here is always salt missing in it and full of sugar, cheese, mayo and butter
* People here are more uptight and detached than in India. I made ‘friends’ loads of them in India, here – I am very far from it and I think will stay that way.
What I love about Portland:
* The way its planned – The city is organized into zones, and if you are good with reading a map, you can almost get anywhere. The maps are easily available, you just cant get to the wrong place, except if you get the destination wrong, However, you will still be heading in the right direction
* People are extremely well-behaved, polite and humble here and though they eat so much cheese and butter and sugar, you would find 80% people in extremely fit conditions. I have only seen about 20% fat/obese people so far!
* The traffic ofcourse – The traffic respects the traffic rules and the pedestrians.
* Pedestrian way of life – You do end up getting atleast some amount of exercise even involuntarily, cuz you walk to office, else, atleast walk to the train station!
* Managers/Senior Managers + - Absolutely no one has a false ego about things like how you travel to office. People who do not have the time to go running or gyming, find it extremely comfortable and pleasurable to walk to work, Now that is something that is supported by the roads, weather and the traffic here.
* The apartments that I have seen have no paint chipping off, all have modular/German kitchens, top-notch furniture, dryer, washing machines, microwave, oven, geyser, and the works. I know apartments in Bangalore have all of this as well, but can each one of us afford them?
As for what I have been eating – Thai food, Chinese food, English breakfast, pizzeria, Mexican food, Italian food, jamba juice and all the junk in this world – yeah done almost all the foods! Over the weekend, Little bit of cleaning for sure as the cleanliness freak in me keeps kicking, lots of sleeping, little bit of cooking, lots of eating and outing is what I spend my weekend doing.
* People are extremely well-behaved, polite and humble here and though they eat so much cheese and butter and sugar, you would find 80% people in extremely fit conditions. I have only seen about 20% fat/obese people so far!
* The traffic ofcourse – The traffic respects the traffic rules and the pedestrians.
* Pedestrian way of life – You do end up getting atleast some amount of exercise even involuntarily, cuz you walk to office, else, atleast walk to the train station!
* Managers/Senior Managers + - Absolutely no one has a false ego about things like how you travel to office. People who do not have the time to go running or gyming, find it extremely comfortable and pleasurable to walk to work, Now that is something that is supported by the roads, weather and the traffic here.
* The apartments that I have seen have no paint chipping off, all have modular/German kitchens, top-notch furniture, dryer, washing machines, microwave, oven, geyser, and the works. I know apartments in Bangalore have all of this as well, but can each one of us afford them?
As for what I have been eating – Thai food, Chinese food, English breakfast, pizzeria, Mexican food, Italian food, jamba juice and all the junk in this world – yeah done almost all the foods! Over the weekend, Little bit of cleaning for sure as the cleanliness freak in me keeps kicking, lots of sleeping, little bit of cooking, lots of eating and outing is what I spend my weekend doing.
I finally got some indoor games, so I am going to start play house and keep myself busy.
Now this is the most important part of this post.
You know you're in THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA when...
Now this is the most important part of this post.
You know you're in THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA when...
You start faking an accent.
The most often used part of your car is the horn.
You think a zillion times before stepping into a "Beauty Parlour"
Plastic money pouring out of your wallet.
Your ID is the most essential.
Communicating with people on the road only takes one finger.
You think a zillion times before stepping into a "Beauty Parlour"
Plastic money pouring out of your wallet.
Your ID is the most essential.
Communicating with people on the road only takes one finger.
You call an 8' x 10' plot of patchy grass a backyard
You start taking the road signs seriously.....very seriously......
You start taking the road signs seriously.....very seriously......
You cannot live without coffee (Starbucks)
You believe that being able to swear at people in their own language makes you multi-lingual.
You consider using words like Downtown, Restroom, Trash, "upmarket".
You think grass all over is nature.
You see nothing odd about people walking around half-naked.
You're paying $1,200 for an apartment the size of a veranda in India and you think it’s a "steal."
You've been to The Mall and got hopelessly lost all the time.
You pay more each month to park your car than most people in India pay in rent for their house.
You see nothing odd about people walking around half-naked.
You're paying $1,200 for an apartment the size of a veranda in India and you think it’s a "steal."
You've been to The Mall and got hopelessly lost all the time.
You pay more each month to park your car than most people in India pay in rent for their house.
You haven't seen more than two stars in the night sky since the day you landed.
You go to dinner at 9 and head out to the clubs when most Americans are heading to bed.
Your closet is filled with warm clothes.
You hear true absolute silence always, and when you don't, it terrifies you.
You pay $5 without blinking for a medium french fries that costs just Rs.30 in India.
You take haphazard dressing seriously.
You go to dinner at 9 and head out to the clubs when most Americans are heading to bed.
Your closet is filled with warm clothes.
You hear true absolute silence always, and when you don't, it terrifies you.
You pay $5 without blinking for a medium french fries that costs just Rs.30 in India.
You take haphazard dressing seriously.
Being truly alone doesn't matter anymore.
You have 27 different deserts in your buffet menu.
Going to the neighboring city just for a cup of coffee is considered a "Drive."
You take your car to get to your health club to exercise.
Your idea of personal space is no one actually standing at a 10 feet distance(even in a 'Q' lol).
$50 worth of groceries fit in one paper bag..
You have 27 different deserts in your buffet menu.
Going to the neighboring city just for a cup of coffee is considered a "Drive."
You take your car to get to your health club to exercise.
Your idea of personal space is no one actually standing at a 10 feet distance(even in a 'Q' lol).
$50 worth of groceries fit in one paper bag..
You hate to live in a building with a larger population of Indians.
You secretly envy people for their highly acclaimed American accent.
You think $7.00 for a veggie burger is a fair price.
You stress on the words Hello, Good, Thank you, Sorry, Excuse me and most of all PLEASE.
Your door has just one lock.
You consider eye contact an act of overt aggression.
You stand still when you see a flashing "Do Not Walk" sign at the intersection.
You're handicap if you don't have a driver's license.
You're willing to talk to strange people simply because you have no friends.
There is no Left and Right... It's North, South, SE etc.
You know the differences between all the different salad dressing.
You're not in the least bit interested in staying home on a weekend.
You're handicap if you don't have a driver's license.
You're willing to talk to strange people simply because you have no friends.
There is no Left and Right... It's North, South, SE etc.
You know the differences between all the different salad dressing.
You're not in the least bit interested in staying home on a weekend.
Your internal clock is permanently set to know the IST.
You can never find anyone bump into you.....
You cringe at hearing Americans pronounce your name wrong.
Stop signs don't annoy you.
The homeless are invisible.
When you are able to make a right turn at a red light.. you think it's the best thing ever.
You can never find anyone bump into you.....
You cringe at hearing Americans pronounce your name wrong.
Stop signs don't annoy you.
The homeless are invisible.
When you are able to make a right turn at a red light.. you think it's the best thing ever.
You wait safely on the sidewalk staring at the signal to cross the street unlike India where you wait inches away from speeding traffic waiting to cut through it.
Your local news is national news.
You think you know better than everyone else in the world.. when in reality.. well.. you do.
You order your dinner and have it delivered.. from the place across the street.
Lastly you never stop converting $'s into INR even after years of living here
Your local news is national news.
You think you know better than everyone else in the world.. when in reality.. well.. you do.
You order your dinner and have it delivered.. from the place across the street.
Lastly you never stop converting $'s into INR even after years of living here
The amateur blogger will, in the near future, ramble about efforts in settling here, observations of a culture different from the one I've been used to, raves and rants about a different city than in the past.
Now that the vision statement has been laid out I shall end this post here and wait till the next one to actually start reporting.
Now that the vision statement has been laid out I shall end this post here and wait till the next one to actually start reporting.
No comments:
Post a Comment