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.