Family

I felt really bad when my father and brother left me alone with my mother back in 2001. There were four member in our family including myself. We always used to take care of each other. I think I got most attention from my family. We were like attached to each other. I've never experienced how it feels living without my father and brother. The year was 2001. That year I was in 4th standard. I was always busy in playing and wasting my time. Actually the time I enjoyed wasting was not wasted time. One day I came to know that my father had to go for work outside of our country. Which wasn't good feeling. First he was going Singapore and then Saudi Arabia for year and half. So he was leaving us in 1 month. I couldn't spend that much time with him before leaving. Finally the day arrived we had to say good bye to him. After he left our home was like quite. That time I tried to spend more time with my mother and brother. After couple months later I saw my elder brother was very with his study. He was about to complete his graduation. My mother was really happy to see him graduating. After graduation he was thinking to move somewhere else for higher education. Then I saw him to applied in couple abroad universities. He was waiting for reply. I was thinking if he also move somewhere what will happen to me. Though I can't remember all, I knew he got his visa and saw him talking with my father about leaving. Finally the day arrived of leaving. Me, my mother and few relatives went to the airport to see him off. I wasn't expecting just in seven months everything will be changed. Me and my mother when reached home it was very silent. I never expected that our home will be that much quite. That was the time I understood living without a family member how hard it was.    

                                                       How I got my License
                                                   
                             

      Driving in my country it was very unique. I used drive in my city the way I want. It was easy to drive a car very roughly.  No one used to follow the rules that much.  I got to see every day on the newspaper about accidents. Road crashes were very common in my country. But when I came here I knew it was not going to be that easy to get my license here.

      I had to go to the driving school first. It was a nice way to meet new people. I saw most of the students were from different country. Like me they were also there to learn about the laws of here. It was really long class though. They showed us couple video clips. So that we can gain some idea. Then for the next class I had to prepare myself for knowledge test. I gave couple exam online so that I don't made any mistake in the test.

     I did few mistake in the exam was confident to go for the DMV knowledge test. Finally the arrived, I had exam in DMV. There were a lots of question which I knew. There was also some tricky question too. Somehow I managed to get my Permit that day.

      Now I had to wait 3 months. Again I had to go back to the driving school. I took couple of lesson. I spent about 5 hours behind the wheel. After 3 months I had to go to DMV for the road test. I was very nervous that day. The instructor was very strict. He told me to do park the twice. It was really a long drive. He took me from narrow streets to highway. But I did only one mistake that was when I reached an intersection i didn't look to my left. That's why he failed me. I was so depressed. 

      I took again an appointment for the road test. I had to take the license before winter. Again I spent couple hours behind the wheel so that I don't do any mistake this time. I was prepared and nervous also at the same time. This time different instructor took my exam. He also asked me to park the car twice. It was friday. The road was very busy. While I was driving I had check everywhere. Then we reached in front DMV. I thought I didn't make it this time also. But the instructor said I did good and asked me to come inside to collect my License.

                         Much awaited trip to Washington and New York




            I love to travel around the World. Since I came here to the US I haven't gone outside of the Connecticut state. It’s been a long time that me and my cousins have been planning to go somewhere. Everyone was very busy with their own thing like – working,studying or sleeping. One night we were watching a soccer game and I thought we should go somewhere to relax. A few cousins were excited and a few didn't want to go to spend money. Somehow convinced them and decided to go Washington D.C. We had been thinking to go there by bus. Though we change our decision later. We booked an SUV from a car rental company about a week before the trip. So those who worked on weekends took altogether five days off.

      The last night we were all busy packing our bags. As expected, when we somehow managed to get out one problem, we easily got into another problem. One of our cousin's was supposed to bring the car but he forgot. Then we woke up early next morning and went there to pickup our car. But when we got there,the car we booked wasn't available. So from that company they actually gave us a more comfortable and spacious SUV. We were happy that we still had to pay the same amount because the car we wanted wasn't as spacious.
        Then we brought the car back home to pack our bags and we flew. Finally our road trip started. Less than a hour later we reached New York state. About 20 minutes later I started seeing a couple of tall building and when we were very close I saw Manhattan skyline it was just great. Then on the way to Philadelphia we stopped to take some rest. We even took a break in Philadelphia. After a five hour's long journey we reached one of our aunt's house. It was great being there from outta all kind of problem.

White House

     I always wanted to see The White House, Washington Monument, National Cathedral & Museums. Next morning we went there to visit all those places. We left our car on the road & started walking. We had a great view when we got there. That was really a beautiful place. The White House was great. I couldn't believe that I was standing in front of that enormous house. I was thinking that I wish I had a house like that.








I could see the Washington Monument from very far. It was very tall. When I got there I saw American flags surrounded by it. That place was really wide open. I could do 360° turn easily. The same day we went to see the National Cathedral. It was enormous and magnificent. It is the sixth largest Cathedral in the world. I was amazed to see all these amazing gothic architecture. Like us, there were lost of tourists.








      The next morning breakfast was awesome. I ate alot. I couldn't even walk after that. Then it was time to leave D.C. We started our journey back home around 3p.m. On our way we decided to spent a couple of hours at Times Square.  It was busy & very crowded. That was the best place for shopping. Though it was a nice place to spend some time. We stayed there for 1 hour. We ate some street food also. From there we went to central park. I saw there was a nice fountain.

     Finally we reached home after a long journey. Although it was really a nice experience for me. I wish we could spend more times like we did everyday. Being with my cousins I made this road trip a memorable one. 

                 
                                                                                                                 
               Memorable Journey

              It's been a long time since me and my cousins have gone anywhere except traveling to New York and Washington D.C . It was a snowy stormy night. While we were playing carom board suddenly one of my cousins stood up and said, "lets go somewhere". Actually all of us were getting bored staying at home. So we decided to go somewhere else... but where? A few of them started saying "let's go Spain, New Zealand or the Netherlands". Then we decided we were not going outside of North America. We had never been to Canada before. So we decided to go there. There were too many places to go so we thought why don’t we go there and let's see what happens. We used to do everything without planning.

              

That was our Train

            I love to travel around the world. It was a great opportunity for me to visit Canada with my cousins. First we thought to go there by bus. Though it wasn’t a good idea cause we needed to relax. So we booked train tickets. Tickets were so expensive. That cost $121.00 per person.

            
          Our journey started from Penn station. The train left the station at 10 p.m. Surprisingly, I had never taken an overnight train before. I was quite excited. The simplicity of the boarding process, the lack of invasive security checks, the ability to get up and walk around- we found it to be the most enjoyable way to travel. As the train began to pick up speed, the entertainment host gave a briefing to the guests in the observation. He asked the group where they were coming from and where they were going. We weren't surprised, we were the only Asians in that compartment. Most of them were from either western Europe or the southern United States. That night we started playing cards and a few cousins fell asleep. 
                                                                 

           
           Next morning was really good. Breakfast was served on a first come, first serve basis. The menu was limited but it offered the traditional options you’d expect, such as eggs, toast, and fresh fruit. After finishing our breakfast we started walking. We met a few people who were from Finland traveling with us. On the way we saw mountains, remarkable scenery, just one word "EPIC".

           

            Lunch was served by group seatings. Those who ate breakfast early received the first lunch seating, followed by the second and third seatings. I guess we got the very last place because we woke up late. During lunch, the train conductor announced that a black bear was spotted on the right side of the train. Everyone in the dining car stood up and looked out the window. Within 5 seconds we spotted the big black bear about 10 meters from the train tracks. We even saw big waterfalls.

            After a long journey we reached our destination - Toronto, Canada. Although 18 hours of travel sounds like a very long time, it actually went by quickly. Being with my cousins I made this train journey a memorable one.

                                             Did I make the right decision

          Moving to a foreign county was really hard for me. When I started my new chapter here in the USA it wasn’t that easy for me at all. Everything was new for me. Coming here in the summer time was a really good idea. When I arrived in JFK people looked at me like I didn't belong, maybe I was tired and sleepy.  

        
        Immigration gave me a hard time and it took so long for the process. It was quite hard to find my luggage because there were so many bags. Somehow I managed to get myself out from there and found a man spreading his arms wide open. It was my cousin who was waiting for me. I was really happy to see him after a long time.       
       

       English isn’t my first language. So, it was quite hard for me to communicate with other people when I came here. When I used to go outside to get to know the city I had to talk to people. There were a lot of people who also spoke just Spanish. My God it was very hard to understand what they were saying and they talked very fast. One day my cousin took me in to a restaurant. He knew I didn't speak Spanish so he asked me to order for food. Basically he was having fun. Then the waiter came and said something to me. Though I did not understand, I showed him the menu and I said, "could you bring those for us?" Since then I have started learning Spanish so if I go somewhere else and my cousin is not there at least I can get out that particular situation. 

   

              Since I arrived here I have missed my family. I had never been anywhere without them. Without them I felt really alone. They used to take care of me very well. I had no interest in cooking but I realized that one day I would have to do it for myself. Then my cousin helped me out from this problem. Whenever she used to cooked I tried to stay with her. Then I started writing down the recipe. I learned that living alone without my family was hard but I started learning.

       When I somehow managed to get out of one problem, I easily got into another problem. That’s what kept happening with me all the time. I used to live in a warm country. I never felt that extreme cold when I was in my country. I didn’t expect it was going to be that cold. It was like I couldn't even move. Once I had to catch the bus to go college. While I was waiting for the bus I felt how freezing it was being outside. I missed the bus so I had to walk all the way to downtown. When I started walking and I fell on the ground a couple of times. I was shivering very badly. I couldn't take the cold so I went back to home. 

       Though I had spent some good times with my cousins. We used to play carom board starting from midnight till 4a.m. it was great. I thought I was the only one who could stay awake till 4 o'clock in winter. I was never been so wrong in my entire life. My cousins were crazy. They never slept. Even on PS3 we used play Soccer that was the best part.

          Its always good being surrounded by cousins and friends. Whenever I am in trouble I could count on them. One day, we will look back to this and say wow those were the days.