Rewind: Recuperating from loneliness and feeling home-sick

For students like me, who haven’t been abroad for studies and are traveling for the first time, things can really be challenging and the first few months can really be strenuous. There can be too many things happening at the same time, coping with the totally new surrounding, adjusting with the new culture, understanding and following the U.S classroom culture and academic expectations, and at the same time doing all the necessary things for your banking and housing, grocery shopping, and other additional errands. I have been lucky enough to have found supporting people around me and this has helped me cope with my initial anxiety, and feeling homesick. There were several occasions, where I would suddenly blank-out; I’d feel lonely and miss my home. But rather than focus on my homesickness, I choose to engage in my studies and class work as a means of keeping myself occupied. Initially I would keep to myself, but soon realized that it made me feel all the more depressed and lonely. It is necessary to socialize, to help revive your energy after a long week of hard work.

The best way to socialize is to join a group or club and participate in other events organized by your college. I’ve found this to be the best way of meeting and interacting with other students and developing a social network. It is safe and economically feasible. Participating in the International Student Organization (ISO) and Asian Association events not only has provided me with a social outlet, but also helped me resolve some of my difficulties.

Rewind: Fish Training Project

As mentioned previously, for one of my classes I am to train a fish. Having never had a fish for a pet, I was happy for the opportunity, but equally nervous. Finally, after collecting enough information about different types of goldfish, I purchased two goldfish during the first week of October. I named them Nemo & Khubbie (means foodie in “Hindi”). Nemo and Khubbie have kept me busy observing and exploring various ways of training them. I have been excited to observe and record their behavior, as they learn different ways of responding to me and my roommates to receive the food. It’s been three weeks and I am already getting attached to them--as strange as it seems, I can’t imagine my day without feeding Nemo and Khubbie. Watching them swim and play in the tank has become a favorite pass-time for me. It rejuvenates me from my everyday long tiresome days. (Orange – Nemo and White – Khubbie)

Rewind: Classes Begin

After much preparation and anticipation, my first day of class at The Chicago School finally arrived. I was full of enthusiasm and zeal to meet the course professor and my classmates. However, I was also nervous, as it was my first class and I was totally unaware about the classroom culture in the U.S., except from what I had briefly learned at international student orientation.

My class was located in the Merchandise Mart, a huge multi-purpose building across the street from the main building, so it took me more than 15-20 minutes to locate my classroom. Although I had left for class with extra time to spare, I ended up arriving 5 minutes late. When I entered my class, students were introducing themselves, their background and why they chose the program they were in. I was surprised by the sociable and gracious conduct of the professor with his students. It recalled a conversation I had previously had with a friend in India who had told me the classroom culture in the U.S. is more student-led and less instructor-led than in India... She was right!

I also got to personally experience the comfort level U.S. students have with their instructors. Professors are addressed by his/her first name, unlike in India where that is not considered acceptable. It was a bit of a culture shock, but I found it an interesting experience. I think it is good for students to have more of a voice in class as it helps them to develop a greater level of self confidence.

Rewind: Banking

After International and New Student Orientation, I had one more week to explore Chicago before classes began. The week passed very quickly, as I was quite busy moving into my new place, getting a cell phone and mattress, and picking up necessary groceries. Additionally, I was preoccupied with trying to find a bank to deposit my traveler’s chueque and Demand Draft. I finally settled on Chase Bank, which has been a pleasant experience so far. I have discovered that policies may differ widely by bank. As such, it is advisable to visit the bank’s website and gather some basic information about the available options before visiting bank personally. Some banks accept the passport and copy of SEVIS I-20 as proof of identity, which is required to open an account; other banks require a U.S. Social Security Number (SSN), for which most international students do not initially qualify. This made things very frustrating. Nevertheless, once I got settled into my new apartment, I felt much relief.
Sleeping on my own mattress again was wonderful!

Here are some of the important websites for getting settled that I found very helpful:

www.att.com (This is a website for atnt mobile services, lot of good offers for students)
www.dealsofamerica.com, www.buy.com, www.bath&beyonds.com (Best site for buying basic home utilities, mattress, bath, etc)

Rewind: Orientation

After exploring Chicago for 2 weeks, looking for an apartment, shifting and settling, I was excited to attend the International Student Orientation, which would be my first orientation at the school. I was curious to know about other students, meet students from different parts of the world, and share my experiences. The orientation was on 21st of August 2009. We had to reach at 9:30 in the morning. When I entered the reception counter I was pleased to meet Beth Tinkham, the international student advisor--a great support system for international students. I got to know her closely during the admission process and subsequent emails about visa procedures. She is amazingly empathetic, enchanting, and an exuberant person. She takes effort to understand students’ problem, will do her best to help students; and is extremely patient and approachable. And, she looked exactly the way I had thought she would--amicable, serene and pleasant person.

The orientation started with nice breakfast of pastries and hot coffee. After checking and breakfast, we went through an introductory round. I was thrilled to know that there were students from all over, and I was glad to meet couple of students from India too. The orientation was very informative. It covered all important-to-know topics for international students like: immigration rules, visa status, work opportunities and work rules for international students. I was very excited to interact with other students (second and third year students who were helping with orientation) and learn about their experiences in dealing with immigration issues.

I loved the presentation done my one of the senior students. She spoke about cultural differences between countries and how such differences can make it challenging in adjusting to life in the U.S. Overall, I found the orientation very interactive. It was a good experience as other students were warm and social. I made couple of friends too that very day. We were also taken for a tour of the campus, which was great since I hadn’t previously had a chance to tour the school.

At the end of the day, students had the option of going on a Chicago River/Lake Boat Cruise. What a great way to end the day and see the city. I was mega-thrilled by the sky-line view from the cruise. It was one of the most wonderful days of my life. I could not have asked for a better start to my experience at the school.

Rewind: Getting settled

Before coming to Chicago, I gathered lot of information about accommodation options in Chicago, going through Google maps
(http://maps.google.com/help/maps/transit/chicago/#utm_campaign=en&utm_medium=ha&utm_source=en-ha-na-us-sk-trs&utm_term=chicago). I had also discussed my accommodation options ahead of time with my friend, who lived in Chicago. She offered to let me stay temporarily at her apartment when I arrived, but also suggested that I move with her into her new apartment in a month. She tried to explain where it was located, but I was quite lost. I had lot of questions for her, but I knew that I will get my answers only after arriving in Chicago.

I reached Chicago on the 14th of August, about two weeks before classes started. My friend’s place was a good temporary refuge, but it was difficult to have to do without my own mattress, closet or a cabinet for the first few weeksL. I did not even unpack my bag for days. I had to share my friend’s mattress, which wasn’t ideal, but when you are left with no other options, you take what you can get. After a long tiring journey and overwhelming time on the Chicago airport, my friend’s room and her mattress was a transitory relief. It took me 2 whole days to adjust to the situation.

Looking for an apartment was a big challenge. Being an international student and unfamiliar with the city, I was completely incapable of selecting what was the best location for me to live. My budget was constantly on my mind. Like every other student, I wanted a reasonably priced, but decent place to live. Finally after running around to consider my options and checking out Craigslist (www.craigslist.com), I chose to move into with my friend in her 2 bedroom apartment on the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) campus, near Taylor and Ashland. I travel on the El via the pink line to my school, which takes me about 20 minutes to get there.

Since arriving in Chicago, I have found the city has very good public transportation--quick, safe and easy to use. The city has its own systematic arrangement using different colors to distinguish betweens different train/bus lines. Although Chicago is thought to be an unsafe city by many people, I have found through my experience of the last 2 months, staying and commuting in the city has been safe and pleasantJ. I think it is natural for us humans to be worried about mishaps. However, any corner of the world can be unsafe. We need to stay aware and vigilant and take charge of our own safety. This is one thing the city has taught me. Nevertheless, ever since I have been here, I have seen Chicago police 24-7 on patrol, which has been very comforting.

Well, I am sure every international student has his/her own experiences about this city. Some have a good start, whereas some have a tougher time in their initial days. We all learn from each others’ experiences. I benefitted because I had some guidance and support from the people who had directly/indirectly faced similar challenges. I am glad to have got this opportunity to pen down my experiences for future students.

Coming back to the Pink-Line reference: Well, The city, like any other cities is divided in to 4 main zones North, East, South and West. The CTA buses and trains are two main transits for commuting within the city. The CTA trains are color coded according to the direction. http://www.transitchicago.com/

CTA train color bars


F.decorate(_ge('photo_notes'), F._photo_notes).notes_go_go_go(3310631998, 'http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3625/3310631998_926e05ac6a_t.jpg', '3.1444');

I created this tonight. Each bar represents one of the train lines of the CTA. The width of the bar represents the length of each train line.

Rewind: Overwhelmed at O’Hare

After months of hard work, preparation and anticipation, just arriving at the Chicago airport felt like a big achievement--almost as if it was my final destination. However, I soon came to realize that it was actually just a starting point of much that I would have to learn. Although many international students have previously had opportunities to travel internationally and/or spend time in the U.S. before they begin their studies, I have never been to any other country before. As I was soon to find out, this would result in many unexpected, but not insurmountable, challenges.

When I first stepped into the Chicago airport, I experienced a state of mixed emotions. On one hand, I was feeling excited about reaching Chicago. At the same time I was feeling overwhelmed by a number of unanswered questions in my head: What will my school be like? What kind of people I am going to meet? Here I was surrounded by hundreds of people, but suddenly I felt all alone in this strange land. While Chicago was where I always wanted to come, I found myself constantly comparing it with my home town in India.

As I was walking out of the exit, I impatiently looked for my friend, the only person I knew in this country prior to my arrival. After 15 minutes, I thought I should try to call her and began looking for the public phone. I managed to locate a payphone, but quickly realized that I didn’t have the appropriate change to make the call. To make matters worse, I couldn’t find anywhere to make change. There was only one food counter, which had a big board hung outside stating that they didn’t give change for dollars. I felt helpless—I had no phone to call anyone and no way for my friend to get in touch with me.

Determined to get the necessary change, I chose one corner of the airport for my rescue, waited there for couple of minutes trying to look for an approachable person from the strange mob of people passing by me. I finally found one young college age girl. She was waiting few steps away from the corner I was waiting. I gathered all my courage and spoke to her. She took one dollar note from me and handed me lots of different looking coins causing me to panic as I had no idea which one was a quarter. I was too anxious to even think to read the coin and so I asked the girl. She smiled and pulled out two quarters from the handful of change she had given me. I eventually managed to get a hold of my friend, but from this silly experience I learned not to take such trivial things, such as familiarizing myself with local currency ahead of time, for granted.