MY DUMB EXPERIENCES IN THE USA
Visiting a foreign country is quite an experience, especially when you are visiting a
country that you know very
little or nothing about. Working in a foreign country can be compared to relearning your own
work with a different
perspective. Every country has a unique way of managing its system. To a foreigner at times,
something may appear
totally strange, while for the local it is quite normal. Experience and knowledge does make
a great difference in these
types of situations.
After finishing my degree in occupational therapy, I worked about seven months for a
non-profit organization
in India, then got an opportunity to work in the USA for a rehabilitation company.
In 1993, I left India with little knowledge about America and having no formal experiences
in life
of my own. As I entered the plane after saying goodbye to my parents, things began to
change. It was my first
experience on a long international flight and my first experience of going somewhere all by
myself at the age of
twenty-two. On the plane (Delta Airlines) when the waitress brought meals for the
passengers, she asked me for my
choice of food. I did not understand the different names of the food items she said, so I
asked her to repeat the
names and finally settled on chicken, the only familiar name to me. The way the chicken
was prepared was
completely different than I was used to, and I missed my home already.
After reaching North Carolina (USA), I went directly from the airport to the hotel with a
company representative.
My real adventurous life started from that very moment. I was very tired but had to struggle
for sleep, because of the
twelve-hour time difference between the two countries. In other words, I was trying to sleep
during what would have
been daytime in India. It took me about a week to adjust my internal body system to function
properly. It was quite
funny for me when I found out the reason for my irregular timing (#2 nature's call).
I went through two weeks of orientation at the company's headquarters. I was amazed to
find out how different
things were in both countries. At first I was confused and overwhelmed by the amount of
documentation (paper work). I felt that I was
going to spend most of my time doing paper work, rather than actually treating the patients.
During orientation I found
difficulties in communicating with others. Mostly it was because of my Indian accent, so
sometimes I had to write things
down to express myself. To overcome this obstacle I tried to observe other people's
conversation and modify my
accent gradually and at the present I am still learning. For example, in India we pronounced
letter "P" as "pee" but in the
USA I learned to pronounce it as "phe". My first experience at my workplace, which was a
nursing home, was hilarious.
I was taking medical history from a ninety year old woman following her stroke, and during
our conversation she
mentioned that her boyfriend would be there to give more information if it was needed. From
that response I come to
the conclusion that she might be little confused following her stroke. I burst out laughing
when I came to understand
the concept of boyfriend and girlfriend in the USA.
While I was struggling with my new work environment, I consoled myself by saying that
things would get better
as time went on. On the contrary, things got worse when it came to my daily routine. I was
unable to eat hardly any
food for a couple of months because of the way it was prepared and not knowing what the
food contained. For example,
one day I went to a fast food restaurant and ordered a cheeseburger to avoid any possibility
of eating beef. I was
expecting a sandwich with cheese but after the first bite I came to know what a cheeseburger
really was. I was scared
when it was came to driving. It did not take me long to figure out the map reading, but it did
take a quite a while to get
confident about driving on the right side of the road. Making a right turn at the traffic light was
the most horrifying
experience for me. Another big learning experience was the self-service concept. This
learning experience can be
compared to a baby-asking questions about exploring the world. There is always someone
in India to help with any
type of consumer related service with only a few exceptions. Here I had to spend quite bit
time at places such as gas station
and grocery stores reading instructions before I could get any service. My first experience
at a Laundromat was quite
funny. I carefully followed the instruction on how to use the washer but forgot to add the
detergent after soak cycle,
because I was so busy reading the instructions. I had to wait for all the cycles to finish and
then start over again.
Well, I think that's enough about me. I hope you have enjoyed.
ANNOUNCEMENT, We welcome with love Dolly's little brother 