My Visit to USA
My journey started with the VISA interview, where the only question I was asked was to differentiate between Phillips Electronics and Phillips Corporation. I was very surprised when I walked into my interview and noticed the officer was a replica of Nardo, so I knew how to deal with him! My VISA was held up for 1 month and 20 days but finally I got it just 2 days before my planned departure.
Ahhh the first achievement to get a VISA for 10 years - COMPLETE. Now I had just 2 days to pack up and also prepare for the meetings. It was a rush to get things ready but Do (Dorina) was with me so I felt more comfortable.
We had a direct flight to Newark and then took another flight to Baltimore where Amy came to pick up us with her cute little daughter - Ailey. She tried every possible way to make us comfortable- many thanks to her!
Baltimore is a beautiful place it seems from the flight. It was a little cold for us but nice.
We checked in at Hampton Inn Maryland, a hotel close to the office. The best part of the place is- you have a shopping mall right beside the hotel! We were welcomed by a Maryland special gift pack by the CE! Team that we really appreciate, it made us feel so special. It was a beautiful and heart touching surprise.
Early October is the good time to visit Maryland as the weather is neither too cold nor too hot and the leaves change their color I mean it’s a transitional weather phase which adds on to the beauty of the place.
Amy took us out to a Mexican place for dinner. It was in Ellicott city of Maryland called “La Palapa” where her husband and daughter joined us, as well as Nardo and his girlfriend Stasia. We walked around downtown Ellicott City before dinner and we were astonished to find a place selling Hindu God’s Idols!
Monday: Day 1 of our CE! Team weekly meeting and my first visit to the Hanover office. We were greeted by the entire CE Team: Helene, Shelley, Kim, Nardo, Danny, Bill - Amy drove us to the office. Helene introduced us to all the partners at the Corporate and Federal division and showed the facility.
To me there was not much difference in the day to day activites versus India. However people in Maryland seemed to eat meals at different hours, usually a lot earlier than I was used too. I had no problem being hungry though because we fit so much into our schedule!
And thhhheeeee cars, I fell in love with the variety of models available. I clicked more than 200 pictures of only cars!!
5 days passed so fast with so many meetings and accomplishments. It was nice knowing and sharing each others cultures and ideas. Also thanks Kim and all other partners for ensuring we were comfortable!
One day we went for a Team Lunch at Timbaktu- eating joint famous for crab cakes so Dorina was on top of the sky as she loves crab cakes. And during another dinner we got to have steamed crabs. Look at the picture it seems we were in a battle!
We also went for a Japanese restaurant where they flip food right into your mouth. I am serious, it was kind of fun. And the guy serving was amazingly good at his work. Amy had a good time in clicking pics and eating the flipped food. :)
We also had a ladies only special dinner night where we went to The Melting Pot. Here we cook our own food in small pots, it was a nice place and experience. And how can I forget Love Martinis- never had such a good one before. I am good in making Martinis but those guys were much better than me.
Weekend time!!!
Bill and Julia took us out to Washington DC, where went to the White House and saw lots of Museum, did shopping, had good food with loads of fun. The first place we visited was the India Embassy.
The next day - Sunday - Do, Bill and me left for Philadelphia. I loved that place; I kind of relate it to Delhi or Mumbai. That night we had food at one of the Indian restaurant named Tiffin.
The next day we visited Lance- a learning experience indeed. Met everyone there and got a chance to spend some more time with Ed, Bill, MarK and Dana. Mark explained to us the service module of Lance and gave some mind blowing suggestions for the Demo Day and how to motivate the service team for utilizing the most efficient competency development tool available with us.
The next day was our train to Newark but before that we made a point to shop at Franklin Mall- Can you imagine a Reebok skirt at 1 dollar and a Kenneth Cole Bag at 20 dollars?????
Thanks to Bill and Julia for giving their time and directing us to right place for shopping.
We reached airport on time, moving around with bags up and down made us tired and by the time we boarded the flight we were dead, so I slept nicely and woke up few hours before the flight landed.
I had a nice trip, made good friends and leared a lot!!! Thanks all for making this trip so wonderful.
Till next time,
Samina
