My First Week in the US 8.11-8.17

It’s been a week since I arrived in the United States, and I’m recording my life here.

The past few days have been busy and fulfilling, with many things to do every day. I finally have some free time today, so I’ll write down some of my thoughts.

The environment here is great, with sunshine and fresh air, unlike Beijing’s hazy skies every day. At first, I thought Buffalo, as a declining industrial city, would have poor air quality, but that’s not the case at all. I’m renting a big house with two other people, and we often see wild rabbits and squirrels in our backyard (unfortunately, we can’t catch them… today we tried to lure them with vegetables and fruits).

The house we’re renting is huge, with two floors and a large basement. The second floor has three bedrooms and a bathroom for the three of us, and the first floor has a bedroom and a bathroom for a female student we found online. The living room is very large and has good lighting. The basement has a washing machine and dryer. Our landlord is a Chinese person who works at UB and has been living here for over 20 years; they’re very kind.

The person who picked me up, Chen Rui, is a PhD student in EE and is very nice. When I first arrived in Buffalo, I didn’t know anything, and I was unfamiliar with the area, but he helped me a lot. My current roommates are all very nice, and I feel lucky.

The school’s hardware conditions are great, with two campuses (north and south, like Nongda University’s east and west campuses, haha). The north campus is very large, and except for the art college, all the main buildings are connected, which will be convenient during the cold winter. Both campuses have free gyms and swimming pools. The school library allows you to borrow an unlimited number of books (which is what I care about most :)), and the library’s facilities are very complete, making it comfortable to read and use the internet.

The school’s teaching buildings are very beautiful, with a modern style on the north campus and a classical style on the south campus.

Not having a car in the United States is like missing a leg; it’s very inconvenient. Once the semester starts and things stabilize, I’ll definitely buy a car as soon as possible.

Most cars on the road in Buffalo are very powerful, and there are many SUVs, which look very cool. Black people often play high-volume rap music while driving, which is similar to GTA.

The past few days have been busy with buying furniture and daily necessities. It’s very difficult to fill such a large house. My two roommates and I have been buying a lot of things every day, carrying big bags and small bags back home, but once we spread them out in the house, they don’t seem like much.

You need a DIY spirit in the United States because labor costs are very high here. To save money, you have to do things yourself — all the furniture we bought requires self-assembly. Over the past few days, I’ve assembled a floor lamp, a computer chair, and a bookshelf. Although it’s been tiring to hammer and drill, it’s also been fun, and I’ve found the feeling of assembling a four-wheel drive car :) . Seeing the furniture we made ourselves in the house gives me a sense of accomplishment. Yesterday, I ordered a large L-shaped desk online, and I’ll probably be busy again in a few days.

Since arriving here, I’ve felt that my English is not good enough. When the other person speaks quickly, I often can’t hear clearly, especially when it comes to Indian English — I can only make out a few words in a sentence… However, fortunately, I’m thick-skinned, and I haven’t had any major problems in the past few days. I’ve been able to handle situations that require a lot of spoken language and listening, such as ordering food in restaurants, renting houses, buying second-hand furniture, opening bank accounts, topping up my phone, and turning on the gas.

In short, the past few days have been about building my home in the United States from scratch. I’ll post pictures once everything is set up.