#1: Coming to America

We landed in America on the 4th of July…

We landed in America today, the 4th of July.
Last week, Sophie and I donated or sold just about everything we’d accumulated over 30-odd years living in Australia. The stuff we kept was crammed into two bloated suitcases before we jumped on a plane to start a new life. No plan, no job waiting for us, and no idea what we were going to do when we got there.

The Americans seemed very happy to see us — they threw us a big party with fireworks and everything. People even took the Monday off work!

It was a sorely needed reprieve from the anxiety-riddled gauntlet of the past 2 years, waiting desperately to hear from the United States Citizenship & Immigration Service (USCIS) on whether the latest stage of our green card application had been approved so we could move forward to the next stage.

The hundred-odd nights leading up to the final ‘Permanent Resident’ status being approved were torture. We ground our teeth down to powdery nubs in our sleep, confabulating every conceivable nightmare scenario where something went wrong and we had to go to the back of the line and start over.

I have mad respect for anyone who has ever tried to emigrate to the United States and understands the deep, profound relief of getting your passport stamped, and stepping past the customs desk for the first time as a newly minted resident.

When you land in the US and pass customs, there’s a huge escalator that takes you down to baggage claim. Right overhead as you descend is an enormous American flag and a picture of the incumbent Commander in Chief off to the side.