Welcome to the USA!!

Once we got off the plane and went through to immigration I was escorted to a different area - a small room with a handful of seats. Two ladies sat to the right taking the applications from people as they walked in - one of them was quite sassy and abrupt. Normally that would have pissed me off but today it didn't bother me. I handed my paperwork to the sassy one and was told to take a seat. I was then called up by the other to sign a piece of paper and have a fingerprint taken before sitting down again. Then a third lady in the room called me to her desk. We went through the paperwork briefly and I had my fingerprints taken from all fingers. Then I was led into a second room - this one was much bigger and had about 60 seats in it, with a row of officers sitting at desks processing various applications. I was told to take a seat in the middle and wait. After about 10 minutes (which felt like about 30) I was called up. The guy said 'all done' and passed me back my passport. I said 'is that it' and he said 'yup'. Wow, I was now officially in the United States of America as a permanent resident.

I can't really explain how I felt in that moment. The culmination of 9 1/2 years of paperwork, waiting, more paperwork, more waiting, visits to Sydney and Melbourne, letters and phone calls to various offices both in Australia and the USA. It was a very surreal moment.

So with that I walked through to get my suitcases (which by this time had been removed from the conveyor belt and put into a small section with other bags yet to be collected). I got my bags and walked through Customs. I declared I was bringing in food (candy and biscuits) and was allowed to walk straight through. I was relieved about that as the thought of opening my bags and having to re-pack them was horrible (they were kind of full!!).

After customs I made my way to the bag drop area for American Airlines (for the last flight up to Boston). This was quick and painless, and I was able to squeeze in a couple of things from my carry on so save me carrying them). I then had an hour or so to wait and the gate before my flight and started noticing things around me - I was in New York City!!

I boarded the flight and had three seats to myself (one last piece of comfort I guess).  They offered a drink on the flight and I couldn't help myself. I had to order something typically American - Doctor Pepper!!

Some 40 minutes later the flight landed in Boston and it wasn't long before I saw a very familiar face - my Mum!!!

My Mum and I - <3

We collected my bags and made our way to the car.  It was a beautiful day outside which I was grateful for. Heading into winter over here it's going to get really cold. So I'm going to make the most of every day where there's some sunlight and clear skies. We stopped in Portsmouth, New Hampshire to visit Tylene and Alain on the way home. They live about half way between Boston and Cape Elizabeth so it's the perfect stopping point. It was great to see them again (had been about 18 months). Tylene had arranged some yummy food but I wasn't feeling too hungry. I made room for a delicious apple pie-like creation that Tylene made. I forget what it was called but OMG, it was delicious!! Can't wait to get the recipe and try making it for myself.

Once we left Portsmouth it was a straight drive up to Maine. You could see the beautiful colours on all of the trees (this is the best time of year to check out the leaves changing their colours!!). I eventually fell asleep in the car and before I knew it we were home. I am staying in the back apartment for now, and will be moving into the front apartment officially on the 1st December. Mum stayed for a while to talk but it wasn't long before I was falling asleep so I decided to skip dinner and put myself to bed. It was time to try sleeping and getting my body-clock adjusted to Maine time!!