Moving to America – Settling in

My expectations of service in the US are not high, but still I am surprised. The movers unpack at top speed and actually leave a piece of my bed propped behind the assembled bed. In their rush to finish, they  stack a heap of packing materials in front of the fire exit (the building manager speaks to me sternly about this on my very first morning in this new abode). When I raise these issues with the moving company, I am told someone will return to rectify the problem on a working day at 10 am as, they don’t work weekends! However, I have been in this country eight weeks now and my diplomatic and accommodating self has given way to a direct and no-nonsense one. I inform them that, since I will not be taking off from work to fix their mess, they need to come over on a Saturday morning at a time that suits me. Eventually the job is done and I am gratified to receive an apologetic letter from a VP in the moving company. I stay realistic and remain braced for the challenges that lie ahead, as I begin the green card process with the doctor’s visits, the tests and vaccinations, the documentation and more.  

When I look back at these early months in retrospect, I am convinced that not all the pain was necessary! Perhaps I had more than my share of difficulties. Perhaps I was more vocal about them. Perhaps many people were not as outspoken as me. Certainly I could have been better-prepared; the ‘cross-cultural training’ could have been scheduled before my move instead of after!  Some days I did wonder if the cons of this change outweighed the pros. Some days I felt the effort outweighed the advantages. But as I settled in, I grew to love so many aspects of America. I grew to love my work, my friends, my travel experience (but more on that later). Above all I grew to love the wild, whacky and irreverent American sense of humor and the innate goodness in so many people that I met…