This has been the most stressful transformation ever. I mean literally I could have gotten a divorce. So my friends yeah it is going to one hell of a exhaustive demanding month when you move. Then as soon as you are here, emotionally it could be a little wrecking too. So embrace yourself, keep repeating I will get through it , just jump take that leap and hopefully within a few weeks you will be over it.
My husband worked for amazon office in chennai, like every other amazonian we also decided to try out US after 5 years of hot chennai. I loved Chennai, I had friends I could count on, went out for lunches birthdays pubs. In short, it was kinda amazing. Something called a perfect social mental physical tranquility. We lived in one of the posh ceebros societies with gym pool. Trust me, it was pretty awesome what we had there. Relatively, it hurt more when we moved because of all the friends walks gym trainer swimming classes yoga I was leaving behind.
Lets begin the process of shifting. Well, amazon handles it all. You get your visa interview date, go get your visa , then inform them like 1 week ahead as soon as you receive stamped visa. Pretty procedural and works out smoothly.
So what bummed me out so much. I am going to write all of my experience here. Also what you should and should not carry in your suitcases. How to handle reservations, flight tickets, family visits, packing stuff etc etc is gonna be covered.
What your husband should do on his side
1) Sort up office stuff : Well, my husband seriously messed it up. He kept working and there is so many forms to fill, so many formalities to go through with. He just wasn't paying attention. When he did, it was late and I had to work with packers movers all on my own which isn't so bad. Still, its good if you can finish all of those things at least 3 days before packers movers come. They can always resume work when they start in US office. The whole give up laptop thing can be done end day.
2) Sort his stuff : When we move, there are so many clothes husbands never touch. Shirts, trousers, ties, sweaters just sort it all. Here I must tell you though, US has awesome stores and the prices are almost same. There is no need to buy jackets shirts jeans from india. You can always get some for the first few months. But not like for an year. Ask your husband to sort his clothes, make 4 racks, charity stuff, US stuff ( new nice), Dryclean stuff ( jackets sweaters ), Tshirt pyjamas ( wearable ). Feel free to give away more clothes for charity. The shirts you never wear there will probably be just taking up more closet space here. If you are aiming for 1bhk, there is just 2 closets in most of the apartments. Choose wisely. Besides here you will see more plain shirts, black grey tones of clothes. Leave the color check shirts with your mom in law if she insists on saving money. Finish this 2 weeks early before packing.
3) Don't call parents : Well, it gets kind of emotional for parents specially guy's parents. They want to come and help them out with moving. Its the worst idea ever, number one reason you can't really exercise free will at throwing stuff. Secondly, u will fight more while packing and then it won't be cool if there is an audience to witness the sheer fights. Thirdly, no one can really help anyone with their packing. Its your stuff, you know what you want. That goes for guests too, no guests who want to stay in house for a month. It messes up the schedule if someone wants to stay in your house, book a hotel for them. It would be the best money you ever invested in peace.
4) Follow all indian govt rules : It sounds absurd, but yeah do follow all rules. Wear helmet, seat belt and don't break any rules your last days. We got caught without helmet like half km away from home and what followed was frustrating. They took away the driving license, said we will set up court date. In short , stay away from trouble n police.
5) EAD for your job : For EAD, you are going to need 2 by 2 passport photos with white background. In India, its way easier to get them done. In US, it will take a little time to get used to getting all these services. So just get these photos from there. As soon as you land, fill up the form and you can start interviews. Even if you don't want to work, its always good to have the option.
6) Documents sorting : There is a list of documents that you need to keep with you all times when you travel. Buy 3 folders, keep most important documents like passports, tickets, forms, amazon joining letter, marriage certificate in English, birth certificate in English, hotel or company provided accommodation booking on top. In second folder, you can keep all the educational qualification documents of you, in third folder keep everything that is your wife's. All done and sorted. Whatever is not required, keep in international shipment in a suitcase or folder.
7) Accommodation booking : As soon as you get visa, you can ask company to book tickets, your temporary housing and fix packer mover date. While booking tickets, its always better to choose flight that takes 10 hr 10 hr break. Emirates has uncomfortable leg space seats and too long flight. For temporary housing, if you need AC or gym, tell the associate you need it need it. We got aboda rivet which is okk for location but we wanted gym and air conditioning as when we came, it was really hot here in September. They have dimension, alto, post, ava apartments and loads of more. Insist on your needs. Also if you have a family of kids, tell them you are going to need more space. Don't take 513 apartment or any on this side, there is homeless people shouting swearing in middle of night. Also, their internet speed sucks. The only positive thing about rivet is its full of indians you can be friends with.
Dimension, post,ava, alto are pretty awesome with water view and gym.
When packer mover comes before for estimate, make a list of all the house items you want to send home and others you want to send abroad in ship. Tick off as you tell them everything. We told them we wanted to send air conditioner to hometown and they kept complaining we never told their agent. Thanks to the list we made, we weren't confused. Always ask for extra boxes.
8) Hotel booking : Well, the worst mistake we did was trying to run off as soon as we packed. You are gonna be exhausted when you are done with everything. Take your time in hotel, relax in pool, order room service. Then catch your flight after 2 days of peace and tranquility. Again, no guests no dinner no friend house stays just hotel and alone time.
In my next post I will add
What wife should do?
What to pack for US?
What to do when you land in seattle?
Where to look for apartments?
My husband worked for amazon office in chennai, like every other amazonian we also decided to try out US after 5 years of hot chennai. I loved Chennai, I had friends I could count on, went out for lunches birthdays pubs. In short, it was kinda amazing. Something called a perfect social mental physical tranquility. We lived in one of the posh ceebros societies with gym pool. Trust me, it was pretty awesome what we had there. Relatively, it hurt more when we moved because of all the friends walks gym trainer swimming classes yoga I was leaving behind.
Lets begin the process of shifting. Well, amazon handles it all. You get your visa interview date, go get your visa , then inform them like 1 week ahead as soon as you receive stamped visa. Pretty procedural and works out smoothly.
So what bummed me out so much. I am going to write all of my experience here. Also what you should and should not carry in your suitcases. How to handle reservations, flight tickets, family visits, packing stuff etc etc is gonna be covered.
What your husband should do on his side
1) Sort up office stuff : Well, my husband seriously messed it up. He kept working and there is so many forms to fill, so many formalities to go through with. He just wasn't paying attention. When he did, it was late and I had to work with packers movers all on my own which isn't so bad. Still, its good if you can finish all of those things at least 3 days before packers movers come. They can always resume work when they start in US office. The whole give up laptop thing can be done end day.
2) Sort his stuff : When we move, there are so many clothes husbands never touch. Shirts, trousers, ties, sweaters just sort it all. Here I must tell you though, US has awesome stores and the prices are almost same. There is no need to buy jackets shirts jeans from india. You can always get some for the first few months. But not like for an year. Ask your husband to sort his clothes, make 4 racks, charity stuff, US stuff ( new nice), Dryclean stuff ( jackets sweaters ), Tshirt pyjamas ( wearable ). Feel free to give away more clothes for charity. The shirts you never wear there will probably be just taking up more closet space here. If you are aiming for 1bhk, there is just 2 closets in most of the apartments. Choose wisely. Besides here you will see more plain shirts, black grey tones of clothes. Leave the color check shirts with your mom in law if she insists on saving money. Finish this 2 weeks early before packing.
3) Don't call parents : Well, it gets kind of emotional for parents specially guy's parents. They want to come and help them out with moving. Its the worst idea ever, number one reason you can't really exercise free will at throwing stuff. Secondly, u will fight more while packing and then it won't be cool if there is an audience to witness the sheer fights. Thirdly, no one can really help anyone with their packing. Its your stuff, you know what you want. That goes for guests too, no guests who want to stay in house for a month. It messes up the schedule if someone wants to stay in your house, book a hotel for them. It would be the best money you ever invested in peace.
4) Follow all indian govt rules : It sounds absurd, but yeah do follow all rules. Wear helmet, seat belt and don't break any rules your last days. We got caught without helmet like half km away from home and what followed was frustrating. They took away the driving license, said we will set up court date. In short , stay away from trouble n police.
5) EAD for your job : For EAD, you are going to need 2 by 2 passport photos with white background. In India, its way easier to get them done. In US, it will take a little time to get used to getting all these services. So just get these photos from there. As soon as you land, fill up the form and you can start interviews. Even if you don't want to work, its always good to have the option.
6) Documents sorting : There is a list of documents that you need to keep with you all times when you travel. Buy 3 folders, keep most important documents like passports, tickets, forms, amazon joining letter, marriage certificate in English, birth certificate in English, hotel or company provided accommodation booking on top. In second folder, you can keep all the educational qualification documents of you, in third folder keep everything that is your wife's. All done and sorted. Whatever is not required, keep in international shipment in a suitcase or folder.
7) Accommodation booking : As soon as you get visa, you can ask company to book tickets, your temporary housing and fix packer mover date. While booking tickets, its always better to choose flight that takes 10 hr 10 hr break. Emirates has uncomfortable leg space seats and too long flight. For temporary housing, if you need AC or gym, tell the associate you need it need it. We got aboda rivet which is okk for location but we wanted gym and air conditioning as when we came, it was really hot here in September. They have dimension, alto, post, ava apartments and loads of more. Insist on your needs. Also if you have a family of kids, tell them you are going to need more space. Don't take 513 apartment or any on this side, there is homeless people shouting swearing in middle of night. Also, their internet speed sucks. The only positive thing about rivet is its full of indians you can be friends with.
Dimension, post,ava, alto are pretty awesome with water view and gym.
When packer mover comes before for estimate, make a list of all the house items you want to send home and others you want to send abroad in ship. Tick off as you tell them everything. We told them we wanted to send air conditioner to hometown and they kept complaining we never told their agent. Thanks to the list we made, we weren't confused. Always ask for extra boxes.
8) Hotel booking : Well, the worst mistake we did was trying to run off as soon as we packed. You are gonna be exhausted when you are done with everything. Take your time in hotel, relax in pool, order room service. Then catch your flight after 2 days of peace and tranquility. Again, no guests no dinner no friend house stays just hotel and alone time.
In my next post I will add
What wife should do?
What to pack for US?
What to do when you land in seattle?
Where to look for apartments?
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