| Sajha.com Archives | |
| Username | Post |
| paramendra | Posted
on 27-Sep-02 03:24 PM
First Experiences in the USA |
| paramendra | Posted
on 27-Sep-02 03:30 PM
Some highlights:
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| paramendra | Posted
on 27-Sep-02 03:45 PM
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| paramendra | Posted
on 27-Sep-02 03:58 PM
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| DHUMBASSE (DUMBASS) | Posted
on 27-Sep-02 04:33 PM
Parmendra ! Very nice one and very vivid also.I can tell now that a lot of us go through the similar 'cultural shock' and the moments in those first three months. I say three months cause that's how long it took me to get used with the whole ordeal. My experience was quite smoother as I came to the US all alone, and I had faxed the school my arrival date. The school had a nice program where families of the surrounding areas would recieve the international students at the airport, and accomodate them in their nice houses for a couple of days, so that the student does not feel out of place. Before I got to my school I was quite nervous as I had never travelled this far in my life and , even though I had gone to school in India ( chandigarh) , which was quite a different experience. At the airport ( detroit) a black dude (Sky Cab) wanted to carry my little belongings and I said No , I was scared. I had travelled just like anyone would in India, Very careful, and alert with specially the money, which I had a little pouch hidden in my crouch area. Any way, The family that was assigned to receive me was at the airport, on a snowy night, and I spent four days in their house. the fifth day the man of the house drove me to the school, and carried my lugage to my assigned room. As I enter my so called room, I see a white boy, with long hair, slightly bent over his Electric Guitar, holding a lit cigarette in his mouth. The room was in a thick cloud of smoke. it was difficult even to enter in there. the person who brought me there did not go in. He just left after wishing me good luck. I had requested a smoking room when I applied but a not a smoker like that . Dude was a chimney. I said Hi! he did not even look at me and just said HI. I was excited to be in a country and a school I always wanted to be in, So did not bother me a bit.But I was nervous about sleeping in that room. Later that day I met a Shri Lankan guy and he said " we have a room empty in the International building. You can come and start staying in that room" I did not know what to do even when I did want to move in to that room. So he helped me in all the paper works and I moved in the same night to new room, the floor was full of , Indians, bangaladehis, Brazillians, Chinese,and Americans, but no Nepalese. Guess what out of 18000 students of the school I was the only one from Nepal, besides than another no-existent one. The other dude was born here, so he did not think he was from Nepal and did not speak well enough. I tried to be friendly and thought he would show some affection when I said I was from Nepal. Another cultural shock. Bhettda kheri Yek jamayera diu jasto lagya thiyo , tyesko taalmaal dekhera, tara I controlled myself. i never saw that dude again. We also had Co-ed bathrooms. The first few days it was tough but I guess ,gradually, I started enjoying it ,except at times after parties. The american girls from our floor were more outgoing than the Indian boys , It was always a fun to listen to them when they got drunk. Slowly I got used with all these and made quite a few good friends. A major setback for me was my stomach. Somehow I guess I could not digest the quality water here in America. I had to go to see a nurse at the school almost every other week. The problem with the mesh was singular one, for me being a vegetarian, it was always a challange to find out what to eat. I also used to think, "yetro bidhi khane hura kina rakheko hola" In the breakfast, when I saw all the cereal boxes , I did not know what I was doing , so I never touched them. Now when I think about that, i have to chuckle. The smoker guy I mentioned above became my friend as we both had Computer science major, He was a Junior, I was admitted as a Sophomore. He was the one who first made me taste the American Beer, Milawakee light,. I remember saying" is not there any beer that has more alcohal in it. This is not doing anything to me , meaning buzz" then he gave me Molson, a Canadian beer. that was my first taste of BEER. Mero haat thakyo aba , I will write later.................... |
| Najar | Posted
on 27-Sep-02 05:14 PM
Dhumbasseji, Tapai kun college jaanu bha? just curious. |
| VillageVoice | Posted
on 29-Sep-02 10:45 PM
**Prof. Q comes into the class and announces, "Well, ladies. This course will..." I look around. I am the only male in the classroom. **A classmate (no, not a friend, mind you), a lady of course, asks me casually, "Some people are so noisy when it comes to sex. How about you?" **You are an Arab with a funny New York accent. **A classmate politely reminds the teacher in the classroom (who was overloading the course before the final exam), "X, how about movies, and our sex life?" We gave us a book less for the final paper. |
| dirk | Posted
on 30-Sep-02 08:13 AM
The first month or so was so overwhelming. I had no idea the eality of a public high school in New York City. In my mind, I had pictured it to be similar to the suburban or small town high school that I'd so often seen depicted in the movies ......"sex comedies" that were so popular in Gucha Tole, Bouddha, Joche....like "Last American Virgin", "Porky's", "Zapped".etc. But, the NYC school was a tall concrete structure with no playing field, had to take the subway or the bus, and had to make a whole new set of friends from the scratch. The classes were also like those of colleges here where you needed to go to various different rooms for different subjects unlike at St. Xavier's where we sat in the same room all day long. Living in a high-rise in midtown Manhattan 3 blocks away from the UN was a far-cry from the home in the outskirts of Ringroad. I was so used to having a backyard, my pet dog and friends from the neighborhood. I missed all that. I just wanted to go back home to Nepal although my whole family was in NY. It was too much change....quite a "culture shock". But, I soon got hang of things, made a bunch of friends and within 2 months or so, I was thoroughly enjoying living and studying in the greatest city in the world. |
| Toilet Paper | Posted
on 02-Oct-02 10:44 AM
First few months was really hard especially while going to shop for things. My roommate was a nepali guy who had come to US with me. The second day we arrived to our college, our advisor took us to Wal-Mart in case we wanted to buy some things. We wanted to buy a phone for our room, but the cheapest phone was $9. Then we started to convert that amount into Rupees. Since it was close to 600 rupees, we decided not to buy it. We stayed without phone for more than three weeks. People used to come and ask us for our phone number. We used to give them our number, and also used to tell that "but we don't have a phone yet." Everything I bought, I converted the dollar price to ruppes, and bet you, I wasn't a happy person after that. |
| Jame Bonds | Posted
on 02-Oct-02 10:53 AM
During my first summer in the US, I was living in this special dorm. Boys on the first floor and girls in the 2nd floor. One of the guys had brought in his Polish girlfriend to stay for a couple of days. Once I went in the bathroom and to my pleasant surprise, there was this beautiful Polish girl - totally naked in the men's bathroom, coming out of the shower. She smiled and said Hi as if nothing was wrong. I thought that was fun. |
| SOULFREE | Posted
on 02-Oct-02 05:06 PM
Hummmm!!! This is good one... Here is one of my many experiences. I used to live with my aunt, whose budha was kuhire. So her budha and I went out in one hot summer day. They had nice house two bathrooms. One upstairs... which had bathtub, and one downstairs, which didn't have bathtub... but just a standing shower. We came home, and both of us were going upstairs at the same time... He said "I gotta go to toilet so bad!!"... I said "alright, In the meantime I'll go downstairs and take a BATH.. its so hot today"... He said "But you can't take a bath downstairs, you gotta go upstairs.. I'll go downstairs and take a crap, you go upstairs and take a bath".... and i was like THUKKKA "mukh ma aaisakya "im going to take a shower" lai "im going to take a bath bhanera kyaa tension"... nepal ma I have to take a bath bhanya baani laagya.. After that ive never mistaken bath for shower... |
| SOULFREE | Posted
on 02-Oct-02 05:20 PM
After I came to USA, I never went to watch a movie in a theater.... Until "Titanic".... Everybody rave about Titanic so me and my friend went to watch it. In a big screen. So the movie started... We were watching... Jack and Rose meet in Titanic, Fallls in love, Titanic Sinks ... and when Jack dies... I could hear people sobbing, weeping, Clearing nose.. sounds like Tch tch ... This old lady right next to me was also weeping. So i thought all the ladies are weeping. My friend had his whole body streched to the seat right in front of us and he was not moving.... so the movie ended.. everyone was crying but me. My friend was like, "I never cried like that"-- and he was letting everyone know that he cried in the movie... Every one was doing the same thing... I was very much surprised because how embarrassing it was for Nepali MEN to cry in the theater. It was so opposite to the nepali concept of "men don't cry" __ and they were crying and letting everyone know about it. |
| SOULFREE | Posted
on 02-Oct-02 05:34 PM
I was working in this Restaurant. I went to the table to take an order. There were 2 nice couples in the table. I took an order... and asked them if they wanted to order some drinks.. So, one of the ladies asked for martini... and I said " would you like it salted??" ___ The lady stared at me!! And Said I didn't ask for margarita. I was like manmanai " damn".... i apologised, and jokingly blamed everything on my school project and never show them my face for the rest of the evening. |
| SOULFREE | Posted
on 02-Oct-02 05:36 PM
typos.. Milayera padhnu. ;) |
| SOULFREE | Posted
on 02-Oct-02 08:55 PM
I had really bad eye contact with people when i came to USA. And I used to move my head right and left when I was listining to somebody, and the person who was looking directly to my face used to think that I disagree him. I learned to nod... and looked straight in the eyes. |
| DHUMBASSE (DUMBASS) | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 08:27 AM
Najar! The school that I described above was RIT, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY. |
| blocKadez | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 09:08 AM
First Experiences in the US huh? Specific one or anything? ;) Hungry after we arrived here (for food), went to a late nite diner. I ordered anything that looked familiar. 'How dya like your eggs?.' Knowing they like to eat everything raw, I said 'COOKED'. 'Yeah, but how?' 'Uggghh, like in this picture?'. 'You get super salad with your order'. I nodded okay. She repeated: 'You want super salad?' I said, 'OK', thinking why the heck she was asking me over again. She got frustated i think :) and brought a bowl of soup and a bowl of salad, paused for a moment and made another attempt trying to keep her cool, 'Soup OR Salad?' hehe. |
| jira | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 09:13 AM
ma chai paila paila tyo hard cooked egg bhanda aunda lai alu polya jastai thaddai ago ma halera polney hola bhanthanthey |
| DHUMBASSE (DUMBASS) | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 09:35 AM
Jira, kako a aalu polya kura lerayo pheri yelle. jadoma tyo Bulbulebata Bhaicha ko aalu chorera lyayera jadoma aango baldai, aalu poldai khana pani maja aaunthyo. Tato aalu le talu pheri kasto polne bhanya, nilnu ki thuknu hunthyo. tyo ta bhayo Nepalma. Americama, In the begining of my school days in the US, every morning when I went to do my rituals I could not do it. The toilets had a commode in it where one sits down. I could not do it , for I was never used to with it. I was used to with 'Tukrukka basne', Classic Nepali Act. So every day I waited until my second class was over. As the crowd had thined out in the dorms,then I would revisit the toilet and actually used to climb up on the commode and sit as I was performing the "Classic Nepali Act" mentioned above. That lasted for two months. I know it might sound little disgusting for the reader,but ,hey! that was my unforgettable experience in the land of Plenty. Do I still do that? to be honest, sometimes. |
| Deep | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 09:48 AM
Next day after arriving here, I had to make a phone call. I took out some coins from my pocket. I found few quarters (I knew quarter is a suka...quarter dollar bhanya thyo), some copper coins (I knew those pennies are kam nalagni ek paise...lekhekai thyo one cent bhanera), then there was this nickel (the coin read five cents..so I knew it was like those gai bhako pach paisa) but the what the heck is this? this tiny coin? kati pasia ho yo? I asked to myself? I flipped the coin few times to see if denomination is specified. Didn't see that. yati uti cent bhanera lekhekai chhaina. I looked at nickels, they were smaller than quarters, and this tiny coin was smaller than nickel. So, I thought this tiny guy should be a dui paise. I always hesitated to use that duipaise ...pachhi po tha bho tyo ta nickel ko bau re chha ..... a das paise dhyak! yessima.. Kina malai almalauna lai nickel bhanda ni sano banako hola dime? ani ten cents nabhanera ke ko dime ho ta? haina bhanya? |
| mitra 2 | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 09:55 AM
Every Thursday morning I used to go for breakfast with my co-workers. Ordering my food was always painful since I had to answer all those questions like how I wanted it to be prepped. So, I found my favorite meal easy to order 'French Toast with Sausage with scrambled eggs'. My co-workers used to order different food every time we go, but I had the same thing over and over. One day I had 'pet-katti' and had to run to restroom to settle. When I came back to my seat, to my surprise, my favorite food was sitting there. One of my co-worker said ' We were running late, so we ordered your food. Is that okay?' I laughed with my pale face. I didn't realize that people were noticing what I had been eating. I never ordered that item again on Thursdays! |
| jira | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 10:14 AM
first time dorm ma khairey sanga busda kuro ma kuro chalda "You are ofcourse straight, aren't ya?", bhanera sodhyo. M..... malai sida (sojho) bhancha bhanera saphhai rees uthyo, teri majhyakney..aphu chai khubbai batho bhai kha...bhunthaney mun mannai. aunee "I am not straight" bhundee mailey nee...pulukka herya thyo ek choti mookh ma.. puchee po tha bho kina herya raicha bujjey ley tyastaree mookh ma bhanera....... |
| DHUMBASSE (DUMBASS) | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 10:19 AM
He h Jira ! ati ta garnu jundaina ni, ( pet nai dukhyo) |
| chipledhunga | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 12:59 PM
Well, let me rather start this from Bangkok. It was raining as my flight from Kathmandu landed there. I was thinking, "lau bhijine bho." Tara bharyang bata na orli kana ekai choti terminal ma po chiriyo ta. Tespachi Tokyo ma ek ghanta ko stopover thiyo, had to use the bathroom there. Did my business but could not figure out how to flush. I gave up and was leaving cursing to myself, "thukka Nepali, ek ghanta Japan basda pani beijjat garera hidis." Then I heard the toilet flushing. I realized, "this is Japan, yaha ta technology cha ni." Ke thaha automatically flush hune pani toilet huncha bhanera. I entered the USA from Los Angeles. After clearing the entry formalities, I was conencting to a US Air (now US Airways) flight to Char (as you say "four" in Nepali) Lottay. It was only when the boarding announcement was made, I realized that it was pronounced "Saarlot." I was flying to Charlotte, guys :) Boarded the flight to Charlotte. I was extremely disappointed. Having seen the thotro 737s of Indian Airlines as well as the 757s of RNAC (which looked so much better than the former and I was so proud of), I was expecting that I would be aboard at least on a 757 if not a better (bigger, newer etc) aircraft. Well, it was a 737 and the 3*3 seating configuration reminded me of Barabise janay bus. I was hoping that the flight attendants would be some hot blondes tara budhi budhi po rahichan, and the food was bland. I was thinking of celebrating my arrival in the US with a beer tara $3 tirnu parne. Nope, I did not pay Rs 150 (1993 ko exchange rate) for a can of beer. After flying all the way to LA on Thai with good food and chwank chwank airhostess haru, yo Amrika ko inflight service ta kasto jhur. One of the beverage choices was Dr. Pepper, which reminded me of Marich Man and thought I would give it a try. Thukka, kasto namitho po hudo rahicha. Yaha aeko bholipalta, thought I would wear my favorite t-shirt, tesma Bangkok lekheko thiyo. Everyone was asking me, "Are you from Thailand? Are you from Bangkok?" Soon, I was tired of explaining people that I am from Nepal. The same day, thought I would explore around the campus area which was right at "Downtown." Tyo downtown was pretty much just one block, looked smaller than Naubise bazaar. Ani tyahi din ma saw a fat couple walking holding hands. Nepal ma young young chwank kt ra handsome keta haru, tyo pani not so commonly haat samaera hideko dekhne gareko. I could not stop laughing seeing that, tara tiniharu ko agadi haasna bhaena. Ani I returned the same way musu musu haasdai. On yet another incident on the same day, I, along with some other new international students decided to go for a pizza, so we went to a downtown restaurant. We had to settle on a veggie pizza, ma beef nakhane tyo Bangladeshi pork nakhane. Where are you from? I would proudly answer "Nepal." Where is that? Is that a country? How far do you live from Everest? Can you see it from your house? A more irritating question "Are you from India?" and furthermore, "what part of India are you from" as if they already knew where I was from. Drinking a lot of coke. Tyo vending machine bata khutrukka cheeso coke nikalera khana kasto majaa authyo. Ani cafeteria ma pani fountain bata unlimited coke. "what's up man?" ma ta twalla parera mathi ke rahicha bhanera herthay. Learning how to operate washers and dryers. Welcome dinner for international students, just perhaps 2 days after arrival. It was my first time visiting a salad bar. To make a truely international salad, I mixed French, Italian, and Thousand Islands (having no idea where it was) dressings. Aru haru twalla parera herdai thie. It was shortly after Janaipurnima when I had arrived here. Everyone in the bathroom would ask me, "why do you have a string around you?" Do you have cars in your country, do you have TV, can you get hamburgers? What is your country like? Professors telling me, You don't have to call me "sir", just call me "John, Tom.." Woripari jana lai bus chaldo rahincha. Cycle ma ghanti ra carrier hudo rahincha. Jira, btw, the stories you shared about root beer and the water fountain when we met in person (that was last August..if you can guess who I am :) were hillarious. American students khutta pasarera having drinks and snacks in class. Kasto somat nabhaeka khaire haru jasto lagne. This big signal "Don't Walk" How am I supposed to get across the street? Ye, tyo button thichera "Walk" signal kurna parne rahicha. I turned in my first assignment in a notebook. Loose sheet ma po bujhauna parne rahicha ta. Chinnu na jannu jaslai pani "hi..how are you?" More if my fading memory can recall. Can't believe it has been 9 yrs since I came here. |
| Toilet Paper | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 01:32 PM
It was when I first learned to use the dryer and the toilet paper. 50 cents for washer and another 50 cents for dryer. That is equal to Rs. 35 each for washer and dryer. I thought that was too much as I was converting every dollar price in to Rupees (since I was new here). So what I started doing was, I used washer to wash my clothers but to dry them, I just brought my wet clothes to my room. Then I took the string of my window blinder (curtain), pulled the string all the way making the curtain go all the way up. Then I took the string and tied it's end with my closet nob. Then I hung all my wet clothes on the string to dry them leaving the fan run at the most speed. Luckly I had a nepali roommate, so he did not care. |
| paramendra | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 01:59 PM
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| paramendra | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 02:01 PM
My first roommate after about two months told me, exasperated: "Don't you think you are superior just because you are a foreigner!" |
| jira | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 02:09 PM
chipley~ mailey ta timlai I dunno you ni, kailey ho bhetya AUgust ma, yaso memory refresh garawuna o |
| chipledhunga | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 02:11 PM
Oh ya, a few more things: Don't forget to pull out the sticker before you bite the apple. There is a difference between chocolates and candies. You don't have a routine of classes and exams, you have a schedule. Someone asked me, where is the restroom? Another one asked me, where is the ladies lounge? "The John is not flushing." Malai ke thaha all those words meant toilets. Which hostel do you live in, I asked an American student. What? Which place do you stay in? Oh you mean..which dorm I live in? Seeing so many fat people. Cold drinks bhanera yaha bujhdaina, soda or pop bhannu parcha. Took me a while to figure out the difference between Z and G. Aru pachi.. |
| Arnico | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 02:19 PM
"What's up with you man?!! I just held the door open for you and you don't even say thank you!" CVS Pharmacy, 4 hours after arrival.... Arnico. |
| Suna | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 02:26 PM
Arnico, if you are indulging us...who am I to refrain myself I kept on staring at the "dhara" because there were no pipes and water was flowing from it. I still am wondering so any magician's out here??? I wanted to wash my hands after using the loo and there was no place to turn on the robinet :) stared at it, it didn't work..banged on it, it didn't work...the woman next to me kept washing her hands. After some time, she took pity on me and pointed to a teeeeeeny weeeeeeny button on the floor that she was pressing with her foot!!!!!!! I have been often asked how come I don't know how to ski although I come from the land of the Himalayas. People ask me how come I don't know how to swim, I ask them if they know how to ride horses :). This last one was just 2 months ago. First time in a casino, had a bucket full of $20 worth of chips. I sat down and starting putting the chips into this machine, it kept spitting it out. The woman next to me said, "honey, these are $2 machines, go further down"...hahah..I had 50 cent chips...trying to shove those down a higher stake machine?? DOH! |
| chipledhunga | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 02:32 PM
Talking about pizza, the same Bangladeshi friend, at a later time, had sausage pizza (thinking that it was ground beef) mistakenly. When he realized what he had actually eaten, he rushed to the restroom and jaha bata khaeko tyahi bata nikalyo. The same dude had brought some bhujiya jasto snacks and achaar from home, and it was fun sharing them with the Americans. Alikati khayo, ani adha ghanta mukh kulla. Was amazed to see such a huge store selling virtually everything from clothes to auto parts in such a small town. The Blue Bird in Kathmandu, did not offer as many items despite of it being in a much larger city and serving a more diverse community. It was Wal Mart, guys. A Lithuanian friend was so impressed that he even thought of buying a suitcase there and sending a variety of items home. Being cautious not to eat beef for the first few weeks. I still wonder whether the khaires wipe their rear with their right hands or left hands. Hmm..how can they buy stuff without paying money and using little pieces of plastic instead? A pickup truck is a truck, but a truck could also mean vans and SUVs. Yes SUVs, not jeeps. And cars don't have handbrakes, they have emergency brakes. |
| ThunderStorm | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 02:38 PM
Once we entered to the liquor shop hunting for rum. Aba hangover pachchi SODA khanu parchcha bhandai we looked for soda(Nepal ko kagati soda samjhindai....). Dherai ber khojera pani bhetauna nasakepachchi, we asked a guy in the shop for soda...hmmm....he showed us coke and sprite... we thought kasto pakhe kuire rahechcha, soda pani chindaina...coke po dekhaunchcha...haha.... |
| paramendra | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 02:41 PM
Some Baptist told me, "Why don't you become more open-minded and accept Jesus for your personal savior?" |
| chipledhunga | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 02:42 PM
This guy was eating chips and watching TV. He started talking to me but did not offer me chips. Ke taalko khaire rahicha? A kalay asked me "how you doing" and said something else which I did not understand, just to realze that he was rapping along with his walkman. |
| paramendra | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 02:46 PM
A high caste girl from India, upon realizing her first campus job was that of janitor, started sobbing.... |
| jira | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 02:48 PM
chipley! chiney chiney lawu, the root beer story is 100% true, almost classic mero samjhana ma yaso memory refresh gurya thee yo thread ma http://www.sajha.com/sajha/html/OpenThread.cfm?forum=2&ThreadID=7260 |
| Jame Bonds | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 02:50 PM
Some Baptist told me, "Why don't you become more open-minded and accept Jesus for your personal savior?" This sounds like some guy who once said, - Why don't you become more well informed by reading my articles? |
| chipledhunga | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 02:51 PM
How did you get here? I flew Thai from Kathmandu to Los Angeles via Bangkok and a stop at Tokyo, then on US Air via Charlotte. Malai ke thaha ta he wanted to know maile tyo college ko baray kasari thaha pae, kasari admission pae etc. You must be used to the snow, aren't you? Well, the only time I had seen snow in Nepal till then was a thin layer of it in Simbhanjyang. ISc ma Nepal Parichaya padhnu paryo bhanera jhok chaleko thiyo, yaha ta jhan ke padhnu parne. On my first semester, only one class was related to my major. Professor haru le afno coffee cup afai majheko. Peon hudo rahincha yaha ta. |
| paramendra | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 02:51 PM
OO7: This quip is funny! lol |
| paramendra | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 02:54 PM
The African Students Association was to have its cultural show that evening. Its woman/girl president had been busy all day. Right before dinner she approached some African guys to help move some tables around. "You talk about equality. Why don't you do it yourself?" one dude asked with total seriousness. As in, looja-bhandiyen. |
| najar | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 03:00 PM
When i met new friends or anyone for that matter--they would say--Oh, GREAT to meet you. and i would wonder--do they really meant it? And then talk and talk--how can you talk so much when you have just met me? For fun, they played all these bacha ko games--uno, word games, board games, jut patti type games--hare kasto phucha phuchhi rahechhan, i would think. And I went to a friend's house one time a few days after the school started. I was hungry and was anticipating atleast a snacks--but to my surprise neither she nor her family brought anything to serve me nor did they even ask if i needed anything. Pahuna lai pani wastai nagarne kasta khaire haru holan bhan thane man manai. Ani--if i coughed a little hard, or if i say 'aah' upon tripping--they would say--are you okay? I would get even more annoyed with their, are you okays? Our christmas break was very short--little over a week. These kuhires would ask me--oh, are you going home to Nepal for the break? Yeah, i am 24 hrs to go, 24 hrs to return +/-another 24hr, so i am going home for 3 days. Hare kasta manchhe holan. And many more.. |
| mitra 2 | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 03:01 PM
During our orientation, all international students were taken into a nearby church. I was not sure whether I should take off my shoes or not, so I let others to enter first. Inside the church, I was looking for a BIG statue/idol of Christ, bells, phoolpati, and what not! |
| jira | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 03:06 PM
auni tyo church ko thulo piano ma 'harey ram ' bajako beersyo? |
| anepalikt | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 03:10 PM
did some one write this already... i have not read all the posts so if i repeat, please forgive. i had to cross a major road in seattle road. i waited and i waited and i waited, the bloody walk sign would not come on. figured out after 15 minutes of waiting and only after someone came by and pushed that button, that i need to do that. in school was thirsty wanted a coke, did not know how to use the bloody vending machine... waited again for someone to come by and use it. now i would ask:) people would wave and i would walk towards them thinking htey were beckoing instead of waving goodbye. that was silly. |
| paramendra | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 03:12 PM
First Experiences in the USA (SEBS Online)
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| paramendra | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 03:13 PM
...now i would ask:) .... LOL |
| anepalikt | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 03:17 PM
khaire and kuire.... hmmm arko term chaina? malai ta man parena. |
| Deep | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 03:18 PM
This is from a friend of mine. A Baneswore dude arrived at Atlanta airport. Three dudes were there to pick him up. His uni. was about 90 miles away from Atlanta. Bane dude was really excited to be in the USA. Unfortunately, their car broke down as they were getting out of the city. It was already evening time. They had to wait until tomorrow morning to have their khatara fixed. They went to a motel nearby. Bane dude came out in the balcony to enjoy atlanta. "ye bhitra aaija hanla ni goli euta le...yaha ta darlagdo chha" a receiving dude yelled. Bane dude was back in the room in no time thinking, "Damn! yassai america bhanya chha". Then another dude took this Bane dude to Motel lobby. There he took out two cokes from the vending machine and gave one to Bane dude saying, "Yaha ta yastai ho bhai". Bane dude thought...baah kya thauma aaipugechhu ma ta! |
| ThunderStorm | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 03:18 PM
arko term ho Bandar(monkey)...Bandar jastai khairo hunchcha...ho bhaneko... |
| paramendra | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 03:19 PM
"Khaire and kuire.... hmmm .... arko term chaina? malai ta man parena." Any particular reason! :-) |
| mitra 2 | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 03:20 PM
I was attending a party. Since I was living in a dorm and didn't like cafeteria's food at all, I was excited about this party in a weekend. When I reached the party place, all I saw was a soda bottle, couple of chips bags, beer, and more beer. I was like 'Ok, where is the food?' No wonder I started drinking since then :) |
| paramendra | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 03:22 PM
I took a cab from the airport to the college in another town. I could have saved myself over 70 bucks if I had known to call the International Student Advisor's office. They come pick you up! |
| paramendra | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 03:23 PM
First time I was invited to a wedding thing, I expected a feast. The ceremony was over in 20 minutes (!) - I mean, as opposed to overnight on-and-on stuff - and what was next was cake and punch -- that's it, no feast. I had skipped dinner for THAT! |
| kunjan | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 03:26 PM
>>Khaire and kuire.... hmmm .... arko term chaina? malai ta man parena." Any particular reason! :-) -------- If madhise word could be racist word, then why khaire and kuire word could not be racistwords? after all, u are number one opponent of racism in sajha.com, not to explain any more. |
| anepalikt | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 03:28 PM
Thundurstorm, I really think that was lame. Paramendra, because I think we have less offensive terms in our language that can use used for people of differenent races. |
| anepalikt | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 03:29 PM
Thunderstorm, I really think that was lame. Paramendra, because I think we have less offensive terms in our language that can use used for people of differenent races. |
| paramendra | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 03:29 PM
My first week - orientation - I was out there shaking every hand in sight. Hyper.
|
| Suna | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 03:29 PM
Here we go again... |
| paramendra | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 03:30 PM
Kunjan, you have a point. Anepalikt, I don't use those terms myself. And I agree with you. What's wrong with American, or white American, or, you know? |
| anepalikt | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 03:31 PM
haha Suna. We don't have to.... folks, lets stop it right here. please. it is getting way way waaaaay old. |
| paramendra | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 03:33 PM
My first two weeks, the food tasted like air, nothing. I wish I had followed a "netaji"'s advice from back home, and had brought a bunch of daalmot. |
| Suna | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 03:38 PM
anepalikt, some people will never learn you know and even when we do make an effort. I catch myself saying kuirey...I cringe at the word but old habits die hard..k garney. I start saying whites, that too sounds too crude..and if I say crude you have to stop and think :)...so what does one say???? Just refer to them as being Americans, if the person asks what color then indulge them otherwise just leave it to the other person's judgement to think what he/she does... |
| paramendra | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 03:39 PM
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| Suna | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 03:42 PM
Paramendra What is with you and churches? Either you are looking for trouble or God is calling out for you man!!!!! No YELLING OUT is more like it :) |
| paramendra | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 03:43 PM
Suna. If you are in a small town in the Bible Belt, that is where you go for the architecture! And a lot of my friends had been hooking up on Sundays! :-) |
| Suna | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 03:48 PM
Auburn, Goshen, Jacksonville Gulf shores.. where are you??? I saw plenty of architecture in Chatanooga...why just churches? It seems like you go searching for trouble...hheehhe Hooking up on sundays huh? now you are added to the list of paschim and who else?? :) |
| paramendra | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 04:44 PM
Suna: The stories are from back in the days. I have (luckily) moved on. "Hooking up." I mean, seriously. That is where people seemed to meet people they ended up marrying! Although mine was not the interest. I was just church-sampling for social reasons, some friends invited, and so on. Paschim and I are in different categories! |
| blocKadez | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 04:47 PM
whOOah! Just coz you started, you can't bombard the thread like that Paramendar. I'm more interested in the first time US experience(s) not your ongoing life stories :). However, you have successfully beaten SITARA as far as the number of postings this time. Are you all having a competition or what? Tip to you: if you have to share everything, maybe use a different alias? that way I may read :) Tip to the admin: limit the number of times the same user can write in ONE thread? (almost kiddin :) |
| paramendra | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 04:47 PM
My soccer team captain to the international students on the team: "You foreign students taking 300 level courses in physics .............." (Foreign students had the reputation of being "smarter." His point: why don't you get it (whatever the point he was making that day).) |
| paramendra | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 04:49 PM
The day I landed, I show up at the dorm, it is a few days before start of the term, this African dude - upperclassman - invites me to soccer. I go. Bad idea. Give jet lag a few days to take care of itself. I fell sick. |
| Desh_Bhakta_Bhattarai | Posted
on 03-Oct-02 05:01 PM
First experiences, eh? I have the EXPERIENCES! My first day: ~ Me -- "Wow! Seat belts! These are called seat belts? I used to see them hanging on the side of 'Maruti' taxis is Kathmandu! wow, its so cute." ~ Me -- "Is this America, or am did we land in India?" (I was in Jackson Heits -- 'Little India' of New York!) -------------------------------------------------------------- Second day -- (In the subway station) ~Me "Aa-pai! K ho yo? Touch screen computer for public use? Its so cool. You use cards to enter the subway? Wow!" -------------------------------------------------------------- First day of school -- "Is this the school? I thought that the schools were only one floor and we didn't have to climb staris!" "I don't see any khaire here! I thought that you just see khaire in NY!" -------------------------------------------------------------- Thats all folks! ~DBB |
| paramendra | Posted
on 04-Oct-02 05:30 PM
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| SOULFREE | Posted
on 05-Oct-02 08:54 AM
whats wrong with the word Kuhire, or khaire? Thats "thet" Nepali. Racism never occured in mind when we use it. Seto anuhar bhako "sete" kaalo anuhar bha ko " kaale" china ko maal "chiniya" pangra gudaune "pangre" aithinae maal "aithae" . . . Khairo kapal bha ko "khaire" kuhiro aakha bha ko "kuhire" madhesh bata aako "madhishae" Grow up your mind guys. Go back and take a peek on nepali Language, grammar and stuff. |
| SOULFREE | Posted
on 05-Oct-02 09:12 AM
My first Day of Introduction to computer class. My teacher, funny mr St___. Hey Soul, Where you from? Me: Nepal! He stared at me. coincidence, he was reading a book (i forgot the name), written by somebody on his experience in Everest. He yell to the class, Mr. Soul is from Nepal -- Land of Mt. Everest, highest and most difficult peak to climb". All heads turned to me. At the end of class, Mr. St__ stopped me and said, "this class will be tough for you, because its all about new technology, have you ever used computer?" .. i just smiled (for i was always late in replying -- slow minded) -- I said "yes sir"... he said good.. ill help you out.. don't worry.. i love nepali people they are cool. and he named some of ex-nepali students. At the end of the semester... I did good in that class .. He was amazed "boy u are good in computer".. Later I found out he thought Nepalese were people who lived in remote places like manang -- all they did was mountain climbing, and they didn't know anything about computer and new technologies. Later I met one of those ex-students and he told me he used to take advantage from Mr. St___ (who used to teach different subject) by telling them they have language and all those problems thats why they couldn't do good in the exams, and poor teacher used to give them extra points. |
| SOULFREE | Posted
on 07-Oct-02 05:06 AM
Nepal baata aako few weeks bha thiyo. I was living with my relatives. One day they took me to Foxwoods Casino (Largest casino in USA) in Connecticut. I didn't have too much to spend in casino, so I was basically wandering there, drinking and watching others play. Kahile kahi slot machine ma "suka" halna jaanthe, $1 gayo bhane nepali ma hisab garda Rs. 60+ hunthyo, tarshiyera bhagthe. So, As I was drinking too much liquid, I had to go pee. I looked for toilet, east west north south, everywhere in the casino. There was no toilet. aafu lai chyapera aai sakyo. Kasto casino hola, jaabo toilet ni chaina... murmuridai man manai boldai thiye. I asked one guy in the casino. He showed me the wall. I went there... but i couldn't see any toilet there. dimag kharab bhai sakyo. So I tried to find my Uncle. Etro thulo casino ma jatti khoje ni napaaune. Finally I found him and asked him "where is the toilet ? I really gotta go". He looked at me and said, "there are toilets everywhere".. i was like "where where??"... He showed me "restrooms". I was like , "oh thats toilet"?? I thought It was a Room where People go to rest (like a nap or something) inbetween gambling. After that i saw restrooms everywhere. |
| jira | Posted
on 07-Oct-02 12:35 PM
I took this German language class as part of one of the requirements. In my class, there was another guy from Nepal. Instead of taking final, we had to present a little conversation in German so that other groups could comment how each group preformed. He and I were partners. We memorized everything from scratch. Then, there was our turn to present. We kept on doing dialouges after dialouges..all in German. And in one part, my fellow friend forgot and told me "Bujhies mailey ta hya nera birsi ni". After it was over, the teacher asked other groups whether they could understand our conversation. One khairey told, "I understood everything but I did not quite get that part in middle". May be teacher was not really paying attention to our presentation, he asked. "which part?" The khairey could not answer which part it was. |
| blocKadez | Posted
on 08-Oct-02 12:44 PM
I couldn't understand them and they couldnt understand me (now only the boys don't :). They said hooked on phonix, i said too expensive. Anyway, 'our' bright minds decided to use the telemarketers instead. hehe So next time they called, we practiced the heck outta our speech :) We listened carefully but in return we had no hesitation asking them to repeat every damn sentence they had to say. 'uggh, could you please rephrase it?, Excuse me? Please say it again slowly?' etc. etc. We were doing fine until one day when they suddenly stopped calling. think they blocked us :) |
| Toilet Paper | Posted
on 08-Oct-02 01:23 PM
In the beginniing, I had hard time using the toilet paper. I thought it was very efficient, so I decided to use the same nepali way of cleaning the rear. So one day, an Indian girl took couple of friends and I to Wal Mart. There, I bought a big water mug. The Indian girl was very curious to know (I think she had guessed it) why I was buying the mug. I told her that the water from the fountain in our dorms tasted bad so I wanted to get enouhg water from the cafeteria for later in the night. From then, I alwyas used to walk down the corridor with my mug in my hand to the bathroom. Of course, I first made sure that there wasn't anyone in the bathroom or on the pot next to mine. |