My first impression of USA has been constructed by the famous book ‘Hotel Graver Inn’ and ‘Joshoha Brikkher Deshe (In the Land of Joshoha Tree)’, both written by famous Bangladeshi late novelist Humayun Ahmed. Later, during my initial days in military I had another impression of USA from my commanding officer, who just had a trip to USA for around two months. I still remember, what he said in a nutshell. In USA, everything is big. The roads are big, buildings are big, trains are big, cars on road are big, markets are big, and you also see big people around. So, once I landed, I immediately started looking for the proof of that statement ‘In USA everything is big’. Off course I did not need to struggle to find the proof. To his statement, I have found something new to add. In USA everything is big, even their public toilets are as big as a tiny bedroom somewhere else in the world.
It was a long flight of thirteen hours from Istanbul to Los Angeles. Usually, during my travel whether in flights, or in bus/ train I always love to quickly fall asleep, but this flight was different. I was excited and I have failed to do what I love most doing during flights. Excited for two reasons specially; one of which is, I am going to meet Aliyah, Arwaa, and Tahsin after months and going to be a witness of a long-awaited complete reunification of my in-law’s family, and the other is, I am going to see USA and taste a bit of American dream.
It was midday once I have landed at Los Angeles International Airport after thirteen hours of long flights. I was moving to the passport control and managed to connect to the Wi-Fi and immediately called my family who was waiting for me at the gate. All my heart and soul were wanting to cross the passport control as soon as possible but unfortunately, it was taking hours (felt like days) for me to reach to the immigration officer. I was looking at my right a left and noticing that hundreds and thousands of people/ travelers are queuing in the passport control for crossing the immigration. I really wonder that how many people do visit USA as a tourist every year! And I have checked back in the open source that more than 79.6 million international visitors traveled to the USA in 2021. Besides, approximately 2.29 billion domestic trips have been taken by the Americans. Certainly, in 2023 this number is increasing to a great extent. However, after almost more than an hour my turn for the immigration officer came. He was polite but firm to ask a few questions before allowing me to pass through. At last, the dream came true moment came! I have walked to the exit after collecting luggage and saw Aliyah, Arwaa and Tahsin. It was a moment of endless joy and unbound happiness to be reunited with the people you love and care most. Saw my elder brother-in-law for the first time and we hugged each other like we are seeing each other every now and then.
We got our things in the car and started towards our destination. Every turn of the roads, every corner of the buildings across the road, every car we were passing by every multi-storied intersection we were crossing, every house we were crossing one thing was echoing in my head, and that is ‘everything you see in USA are big’. Americans do really love big things. They buy big TVs, big houses, big cars, large size drinks, large size burgers/fries/sandwiches, buy commodities in bulk, and everything else that can be aquired in big size or portion they would aquire in big size/ portion. And this impression has been reaffirmed once we have visited their grocery stores, restaurants, car show rooms, luxury branded shops, car parking, malls, and even public toilets. Their national parks are big, trees in the parks are big, community parks are big, waiting queue wherever go are big, whether someone has the ability or not, they love racing for big things.