What is it like moving from India to US?

What is it like moving from India to US?:

My answer will be based on my experience as an international student who has moved to US to pursue further studies.

It was very difficult at first. I was pampered during my childhood. Even though I had lived in a hostel before I came here, I used to go home every weekend. Never ever had I cooked food before, washed my dishes, ironed my clothes or even put them in the laundry machine. Everything was taken care of. Above and beyond that, except my internship I had never worked odd jobs before. And here I was in New Brunswick searching for an on-campus job for my survival. For the first two months I used to count each and every dollar that I would spend and multiply it by 60. Finally I landed a job in my university cafe as a burrito maker. 7.5$ an hour. Ok, that's how it feels to work at minimum wage. Working in the food industry is very difficult. You have to deal with bad customers and a lot of broken burritos :).

First important lesson learnt - I started to actually "value" money

I had a lot of friends back home. Weekdays I used to stay at my hostel and weekends I used to hangout with my school friends. I barely used to spend time with my parents. I would only have a 5 min phone conversation with them every night. Come here and I realize that they are the most ignored best friends that I always had. 

Second important lesson learnt - My parents are my best friends 

Now some of the other lessons learnt

1) Stopped slamming doors on people walking behind me.
2) Started being courteous to everyone.
3) Started taking pride on whatever work I did.
4) Keeping fit and healthy is very important.
5) We Indians are more connected to our homeland than we realize.

Now the fun part

1) My first visit to NYC. Ok, this is unreal. How can there be so many good restaurants, tall buildings, concerts, bars, pubs etc. at one place. NYC is NOT at all over rated.
2) So may varieties of beers. I am not going back
3) Kayaking, mountain biking, marathons etc. There are so many outdoor activities to do every weekend.
4) Driving a muscle car (6 cylinder engine). Even though the speed limit is 60 mph.

The sad part
1) India is diverse. So many languages, cuisines and cultures. You don't get that diversity here. 
2) Festivals. No I don't want to shop during festivals. I want to be with my loved ones

At the end I would say that it has been a worthwhile experience to come here.