TRANSCRIPT
TRANSCRIBED BY Indigo Mudbhary (x 6)
My first question for you is: What do you remember from your first days in the United States?
Let's see. I came in earlier than expected, because of the—they have the orientation. I was here, probably, I think, two days before any of the other students showed up. I remember being picked up from the airport. It was fairly late in the evening. It was in fall, and went to the dormitory, it was getting dark, and it was a huge dormitory, and I was the only one there. It was kind of dark and scary, and I didn't know anybody and the guys just picked me up and dropped me off and left, so I didn't know what I was supposed to do, or clueless. I mean, there was a bed there, but I didn't have any bed sheets, pillows, nothing. Nothing to eat. It was kind of traumatic. I was feeling very, very homesick, of course [laughs]. Of course, I probably remember crying to sleep or something like that [laughs]. But that was my first experience. What I did was I basically decided to take a walk to find someone. Because I didn’t—there was nobody there. Delaware, Ohio is a very small university town, and only when the students are there the town comes alive. Otherwise, it's pretty dead. You could walk several blocks without meeting anyone at that time in the 80s. I'm sure it's more crowded now, but I did find someone after two or three hours, and then they showed me where to get food. And then after that, it was kind of okay, but it was kind of traumatic [laughs].
Do you remember what you did during your first week? You mentioned an orientation?
Yeah, it was mostly orientation. We got to meet all the international students I think the very next day. I was still one day ahead. I met the international student assistant that night, and she took me the next day to do some shopping, like get some bed sheets and pillows. And of course, winter was coming, so she wanted me to get a comforter. I do remember. I still have that comforter after 40 years [laughs]. After that, it was just meeting a lot of people, going through the motion of orientation, and also them helping out with the coursework, what classes to take, and those kind of things, where to eat, where to go shopping. Things like that.
Where did you leave from in Nepal? And then where did you arrive in the US? And how was the trip?
I left from Kathmandu. My port of entry was JFK in New York. From there, I had to switch from international to domestic flight. But there was somebody there with my name card to help me. That was good. There was an international association that I hooked up with, so they helped me transfer from international to domestic and then from there, I flew into Columbus, Ohio, and then somebody from the school picked me up in the school van.
And did you notice any cultural similarities or cultural differences during your first days, first weeks?
Delaware is a very, very small town. There was no—I expected—When you're growing up at that time with no internet, no YouTube, TikTok, all those things, you only know of United States through movies, right? And all the movies you see places like LA and New York with big buildings, and so that's what I was expecting. And you come to Ohio and there's nothing but flat. There was no cultural shock, really, in terms of environment.
I was there in Ohio for three years, and then I transferred to California to Cal Tech. And when I came to California, that was a cultural shock. Even after being three years in the United States, that was a cultural shock with all the big buildings and big highways and lots of cars. But while in Delaware, it wasn't that much of a cultural shock, and there are a lot of international students—I was surprised—from so many countries.
Is there anything else you remember or want to share about your first days or first week here at all?
Nothing outstanding. I just remember the international student assistants were very helpful. I had a German student. She was I think a junior or senior. She is the one that helped me a lot. Her name was Claudia. I still remember her name [laughs]. Other than that, it was just a matter of meeting lots of students from India, from Taiwan, from Hong Kong, from Japan, from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh. There were a lot of foreign students. After that, it was kind of, what do you say, the camaraderie and it was—I didn't miss home as much [laughs]. And there was another Nepalese student there, but he had transferred. I was considered the first really true Nepalese student in Ohio Wesleyan. And I got very close with the international student director and recruiter. He was telling me that he just wanted to get students from some foreign countries that he's never recruited from. So, he told me, he just spun the globe and stopped and it happened to be close to India and Nepal. Since they had already a lot of Indian students, he decided to seek somebody from Nepal. And at that time, without the internet and all that, I basically heard about OWU from the American Embassy, and they said, “Hey, you might want to—they're reaching out to the American Embassy to look for Nepali students.” So, I applied, of course, all through mail. It takes three weeks to get there, three weeks to come back. So that's how I got in. They gave me—I think it was about 85% scholarship, so it was affordable at that time.
And then after I came, I got close to the international student recruiter, and he was impressed with me, I guess. And he said, “Maybe I'll get more Nepalese students.” And the year after, that's when Sanjay, Bhushan (your dad), Lily, and there were like five students he recruited. No, actually, he may have been the second year. The first year was five students. And I think your dad came in the second year. There were four more students, I think. So I started the legacy of recruiting Nepalese students in Ohio Wesleyan [laughs]. That’s the only thing I really stand-out remember. Other than that, they were very nice, very helpful. And within a year, I applied to be international student assistant. And so I was a sophomore. I was the first sophomore to be international student assistant, because usually they require junior or seniors, but they recruited me, and then I think I went and picked up your dad too at the airport. I do remember that.
Great, I’m going to pause it.
