Summer 18'

                                   

The journey began on May-20 with leaving India for the first time which wasn’t emotional until parting ways with my parents but mixed emotions creeped in once I took off from Chennai. The connecting flight happened in Dubai where I managed to rush to my gate in-spite of the midnight-drowsiness just half-an hour early to my boarding time…phew!! Wish I had spent more time staring at the grandeur of that airport…...Nevertheless the Emirates flight for Washington was all a smooth, less turbulent journey with good hospitality. Upon landing in the Capital city the immigration check happened with a shorter queue but collecting the baggage was a long wait. Finally, I reached the exit of the Dulles International airport that’s when this 20-year-old Indian boy saw America for the first time with all the flyovers, towering buildings and greenery all over. Next I checked in a pre-booked cheap motel closely.

The following morning, I took a bus ride to Blacksburg by Virginia Breeze. The five hour-travel route was really cool with mountainous countryside to look upon with gaze. Upon landing here in the afternoon at Alumni Squires, Virginia Tech I took help of my house owner to reach the room which I had rented. It was now that I realised that pain had started kicking in my body and slept like ghost for the next 12 hours straight.

The next day I officially met my faculty advisor and got myself a hokie passport/ ID-card (which I used illegally to travel in BT-Transit Bus) and access to my respective lab and Wifi. Initial days I struggled with even cooking basic stuff and started exploring various restaurants and relishing Mexican, Thai and American food in Downtown.(Phase of becoming too obsessed with the USDàINR conversion rate). I enjoyed devouring Haggen-Dazzs ice-cream tubs at an all-time high frequency. 

Along with attending the weekly meeting, I reached out to various buildings in the campus like Moss Arts Centre, Student Activity Hall, Drill field…etc. Mid-June I also got the opportunity to watch a popular local band-performance at a pub where I was literally bashed out by the thugs for not abiding my age bar restrictions and that was a narrow escape…. lol!! In free-time got myself watching classic 80’s Tamil movies and recent web-series which kept me away from boredom. Might sound clichéd but it was during this time I really started to miss my family and friends badly inspite of not being a social person way back-home.

The most memorable event of the stay was the visit to Washington DC for watching the July 4 Independence Day celebrations at the National mall at night 9 with the lit-crackers lasting for the next 30 minutes. Before that I and my friend visited Capitol Hill, White House, Jefferson Memorial, Smithsonian aerospace museum, National gallery of art which totally drained our energies. The sleepless night we spent at Union Station to catch our respective buses the next day morn was physically exhausting. After coming back to campus again I worked for more hours and finally submitted my Project report.

In the final leg of the Intern days, I also got a free ticket to watch the Soccer World cup final 2018- France Vs Croatia at the Lyric theatre. Finding my contribution to the project above satisfactory, on the very last day my mentor took me out for lunch at a niche restaurant and sponsored Starbucks shakes too- something which I used to look upon as a layman. Forbidding good-bye to all my roommates and lab fellas who ensured my pleasant stay here ,the very last traditional thing I did was to get chocolates, eatables for my family and friends back home. Boarded my return flight on June 18, thus ended my US Internship with lots of takeaways- most important among them striving hard to be a more independent man and responsible for myself rather than being a parasite.

Special Mention: Beef -steak is all you want to stay happy in life !!