My first trip to US. I had heard a lots of story about arriving in US. I was told that since I would be entering US for the 1st time, it was most certain that I would be stopped by the officials and interrogated. Apart from other things, it was told that I should know the exact count of all things packed in my bags. For this my wife had helped my prepare a 'chutka' (similar to the one which one uses in exam cheating). I had religiously kept this in my cabin baggage and actually revised it constantly, so that my answers during the imminent interrogation seems natural. Also I was arriving during the busiest travel season which was the week of thanksgiving. During my stay in hotel in Europe, reports in TV news channels (only TV channels I could understand were English news) were showing the new security checking at US airports which included some sophisticated x-ray and not so sophisticated manual body frisking. (Incidentally the week I was back home, Indian ambassador to US had to undergo similar scrutiny mostly because she was wearing a sari. This became a major diplomatic news issue).
As you can understand, I was apprehensive arriving in US. But my experience couldn't have been more contrasting. Not only while arriving but during my other trips inside the country and return, I never had to undergo the body frisking. I had to open my shoes for security check, but I guess this is becoming more of a practice across all airports. And my preparation with my 'chutka' did not come to use. Actually I was disappointed. This was a similar feeling when you would have prepared extensively for a guaranteed questions and then it does not come in the exam, even though the exam had went well!
I traveled to Atlanta, Minneapolis, Cleveland, Memphis (transit) and then back to Atlanta. I could not see much around the city, primarily because I was constantly traveling and secondly it was very cold. Except Atlanta, where I had stayed over the weekend and also since my college friend was there I could see few parts of the city. So my impressions of US is mostly based on time I had spent in the airport (which was a lot) and TV viewing in hotels.
More about it in my next post.
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