The next day when I woke up it was a little bit chilly outside but it was a clear day. From the window of that apartment I saw actual USA in the day light for the first time. I will be honest with you, at that particular moment it didn’t seem to be a totally different place. Just that, the roads were clean and black and there was lawns in front of all apartments and houses. From the apartment where I was staying as temp (students who live temporarily in somebody else’s apartment till they rent their own apartment are called temps), I could see a road going straight.
“That goes to the University, that is the Pine street. It’s the main street of Rolla”, Nikhil said while offering me a cup of coffee.
I had lived in Mumbai on my own in worse place, so I was mentally prepared for inconveniences. We had small discussion about the University the people, how to get an apartment what kind of documents are needed etc. I was still feeling a bit drowsy due to jet lag. (If you are travelling abroad try to sleep as much as possible and plan it according to destination arrival time. If you are arriving in the morning take good 6-8 hrs sleep before landing and if you are arriving in the afternoon or in the evening try not to sleep 6-8 hrs before landing). Like I mentioned before I couldn’t sleep while travelling, it was the reason for my drowsiness. I was advised not to sleep in the daytime. After having lunch, I thought may be I will take stroll around just to see the town. I thought Rolla is a moderate sized town. Nikhil and Chirag (The apartment where I was staying was rented commonly by Nikhil, Chirag,Mehul and Gupte) gave brief directions as to where to go and what to see. I thought may be after the lunch around 3-4 pm I will go out.
Accordingly I went out at around 3:30 pm and started walking. I was a bit hotter than morning. There was a clear difference between roads in Rolla and and in India. There were footpaths (walkways) only on one side of the road. There was no one walking on the streets. There were no small shops or anything of that sort. I didn’t see two-wheelers (motorcycles), but there were a lot of cars around. I saw the road signs, but I couldn’t get their meaning. The only one sign I understood was about school or students ahead or something of that effect. I should mention here that July is the summer vacation time in USA. Most of the students don’t take any classes at that time. They go home or travel or some students do odd jobs for extra bucks. Anyways walking on that straight road I mentioned, I saw the board of Pine St. I knew the street was Pine St because I was told so, otherwise from the street sign I couldn’t have gathered it. In USA the boards for names of the streets are placed horizontal. So, while on the street you may not find the name of the street you are walking on that easily but will find the crossing street right in front on the board. For example if you come at a junction, if you see ABC street written in front of you horizontally the street that runs across you in ABC street. This system is different than India.
I turned left on to the Pine St. I started walking on the road. It is a straight road, with University on the right and other rental apartments (I liked calling them American Chawls, I should stick with it now). There were few cars parked on the other joining streets but none on the streets. I went ahead and all of a sudden there were some stores on the both sides of the road and also car parked. But where are the people? Since I started my walk I only saw one car that drove by in nearly 15 minutes. Now, imagine an Indian guy walking on the main street of a University town (town which thrives on University by in large) in middle of nowhere of the country, if you see the map of USA Rolla is located right in the middle of the mainland, it is his first day in USA and at around 4pm there was not a single person on the street or anywhere to be seen! Believe me no Indian is prepared for this! It looked more like a horror film set and I was bit worried now. What if someone suddenly comes in front with a gun? And other worry was that, what if someone sees me walking alone on the street like a stranger with beard ! (having long beard by a brown man is not a good thing in USA, there is real fear of getting profiled)
USA in general is famous in India for few things, Hollywood, Fashion, Studies and yes gun attacks. I had also read some news reports about those. I was also warned about St Louis airport. There is a rule in USA that, you can carry a gun legally. This to my mind sounds horrifying thought. (After living there for more than 6 years I don’t really think that way now) I was walking alone, I did not have a working phone network on my phone. I was confused about whether to take pictures around or not (the beard brown guy suspicion fear) I knew that if in distress call 911, but, whom to ask for a phone? There was no one on the streets. In India I was used to lively streets, lots of noises, smells, lots of people flowing on the roads and on the other side I was walking on the Pine St. (Later on I came to know that the part of Pine St. is the downtown of Rolla. For people who don’t downtown, it’s the oldest and economical part of the town where there are shops and stores and restaurants) I kept walking looking at totally different building structures. Buildings looked like one can see in Hollywood movies but were all empty or closed, which made them look odd. I honestly didn’t get good vibe out of that stroll. At one moment I also thought, does this town always look like that?
I walked as fast as I can and somehow reached back to my apartment. It was such a relief to be at the apartment. I had just spent 12 hrs in that apartment and still thought like that. I didn’t tell anyone what I was fearing embarrassment. That day some other students were also going to come. (Two of them Suman Joshi and Himanshu Hirlekar were going to become my roommates) But, I was so overwhelmed by current experience that I was waiting for the evening, to call my parents and tell them what I felt. I know that in hind site my feelings sound funny but, at that moment I was genuinely overwhelmed.
At that time I did not what that feeling was called. Now I know that I suffered a Cultural Shock!
very well written