USA travel
This story is about my first USA travel experience. Have you traveled to new countries which you haven’t known much about in your life? What were your thoughts, ideas, and feelings about the trip? How hard or easy was it? You may wonder how we came to America and what it felt like.
It was just in April 2018. The trip was amazing and filled with questions and doubts. We were really nervous about it. We didn’t know how America would be and was imagining our own things. Even though we grew up in the UAE, we had mixed thoughts about the USA because it is not located in Asia.
India to Hongkong
We traveled from India to Hong Kong and then to America. We lived in Trichy which is located in Tamilnadu which is a state located at the bottom of India. Trichy is in the middle and we had to travel to Chennai, Tamilnadu’s capital for 4 – 5 hours to get on a plane to go to Hong Kong. We took the trip by train and stayed at our relative’s house until it was time to go to the airport.
The trip from Chennai to Hong Kong was 5 ½ hours and we traveled 2,308 miles (3,714 kilometers). The flight was great and we got activity books but we couldn’t do them because we were asleep. It was a midnight flight, so the flight took off at 1:00 a.m. and landed in Hong Kong in the morning.
Transit in HongKong
We had a long wait from the morning and through the afternoon because the flight from Hong Kong to America was in the evening. The airport was big and many of the people were sitting, walking, and checking out.
There were even little food stands that had lots of food and people were lined up in queues. It was a little bit scary and boring to come to a new place and sit for a long time in the Airport. We took snacks with us to eat during the hours.
The flight did provide food but they were different and mostly not Indian food. In the afternoon we ate bread and I slept for a bit after I felt tired. It was not cold in Hong Kong but we wore sweaters and kept hats with us. It was interesting to look at the planes landing and taking off in the first place but later it got a bit boring.
Finally, it happened
I was a little confused about when the plane will take off and when we will get to America. I held my doll, Minnie, all the way from India to America. When I lost her blue shoe in the plane during the landing and was about to cry, an air hostess helped me get it back. In fact, it was a sneaker. I tugged her when we got on the plane to America. I couldn’t stop imagining everything about the U.S.A.
When we finally got on the plane, I was a little relieved. We got on the CATHAY PACIFIC plane to America. It felt a bit chilly, but not for long because the plane also provided blankets. They were little T.V like monitors that my sister helped me switch on.
I and my sister listened to the story of Cinderella through headphones and fell asleep. Then, my mom and my sister woke me for the dinner that was provided in trays. I liked the yogurt and there were some raw vegetables and we fell asleep again.
The 14-hour trip felt short for me because I almost slept all the way. The plane landed in Newark and we got off. We collected our luggage and were checked out.
Met my DAD
My father and his friend picked us up from the airport to our new home that is located in New Jersey. It was really cold and we couldn’t manage much with sweaters and hats. There were lots of stores, houses and roads lined up with paths. I was sleepy and I couldn’t see much through the window in the dark. It was 12:00 a.m when we got home, so I fell asleep and didn’t get up until 10:00 in the morning.
When we went around the house I got really excited. What I didn’t know was that a surprise was waiting for me and my sister. It was Saturday, so my father didn’t have to go to work. He presented two new watches for us. I got a blue one which can also light up in the dark.
Explored our neighborhood
My sister and my dad and I went outside onto the fresh grass lined with the sidewalk. My dad showed us around the neighborhood. The houses had two floors and different families lived on each floor. Our house was upstairs and our neighbors lived downstairs. I was amazed because it was different from Asian countries and all the houses were grouped and really near each other. Both floors have balconies and behind our house are other houses lined up the same. The houses behind us had grass and trees while we could directly enter the road.
We picked small, yellow flowers from the grass and were surprised to see the nourishment of so many plants, trees and flowers. Flowers don’t always grow except in Spring. I was relieved that we had reached America safe and sound. This is how our trip from India to America felt like for me.
Check out our other post on Schools in U.S. https://twinsparkle.com/school-in-united-states-of-america/. If you don’t know about India that much, check out this post on India in national geographic (https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/geography/countries/article/india)
