Turning american

I caught the shopping bug, especially since Google gave out a $1000 holiday bonus to all full-time employees. Besides a Harman Kardon Soundsticks II (connected remotely to my ex-neglected airport express!) and iRobot Roomba, I got a bunch of DVDs and digital music from Amazon and iTunes. I actually thought to myself, "man, I'm turning american". (like how people turn japanese). At least I can still afford my credit card bills.

In other news, I helped to host teachers from the Singapore Sports School at Google. I found it highly commendable that the school funded these teachers to visit other schools in the US and multinational corporations like Apple and Google to learn about organizational culture, operations, etc. Now the onus is on them to spread the word and make real changes in Singapore.

I also attended the highly-coveted interviewer training classes by (1) drafting a response to attend the class before openings are available, (2) setting an alert to inform me when there are openings, (3) ???, (4) profit! Oh wait, I'm not on /.

Google really places a lot of emphasis on interviewing, and it is something that software engineers consider as an actual work activity, because interviewing well is tough - You have to take the time to prepare for the interview, actually conduct the interview, and finally write a detailed summary so that Google can make an informed decision on whether or not to hire a candidate.

On the other hand, when I told the Mrs that I attended interviewer training, she informed my mother that I "went to attend some nonsense course to skive"... ouch. That hurts.

Am I a M?

I am trying to buy clothes online (Google store) and I can't decide if I am a S or a M. I know I am a M in Singapore, but am I a S or a M here? It varies from place to place.

It's all very perplexing.

My First Earthquake

This is exciting. Today I felt my first earthquake, 5.6 magnitude!

I was having dinner (well, actually we were waiting for dinner to be cooked), and all of a sudden the ground was shaking. Shaking as in, "hey, there's a fat person walking above us". The glass was trembling and the utensils were vibrating. Until we realized it was an earthquake. The shockwave was not too violent and lasted only about 30 seconds.

Oh boy. Exciting times.

Newbie in CA Part 3

That went faster than I expected

I managed to subscribe to new services before even moving into my new apartment - The day I move in I will have local calling service, DSL, water, electricity and even my furniture from IKEA.

The only problems are items which require a social security number - driving license, savings accounts and credit cards.

What have you been doing?

I have been reading books like:

• Google's PageRank and Beyond: The Science of Search Engine Rankings


• Programming Collective Intelligence: Building Smart Web 2.0 Applications


• Effective C++: 55 Specific Ways to Improve Your Programs and Designs (3rd Edition)


• Mining the Web: Discovering Knowledge from Hypertext Data

I am also execising and running every other day for an hour. Overall, my time is unstructured but I am feeling this period of rest is good as it relaxes and refocuses my mind.

Newbie in CA Part 2

Don't pass Go, but do go to the bank

After all that adrenaline rush of being interrograted by border officers, I got my rental car and got on highway 101. Whoopie. I left the airport at 12:30pm and I managed to make it to corporate housing in Sunnyvale by 1:30pm.

I learnt that when the corporate housing confirmation letter says check-in time is 4pm. They do mean 4pm. As the apartment was locked and I had no where to go, I figured I would go to Citibank and withdraw money from the ATM (you know, the plan)

But despite having no social security, I still managed to open a Citibank account just with my Singapore passport and driving license. Nice. So I got my checking account on the first day in USA, while waiting to move into my temporary housing. I still need a social security number before I can get a savings account, but hey, that's fine by me.

So anyhoo, I am currently living in Sunnyvale, CA, which is one region of Silicon Valley.

"Credit History Required" Really Means

"Give us money and we won't need credit history".

For example, renting an apartment without a social security number means you put up a larger amount of deposit. Getting utilities and gas without a social security number means you place more deposit.

Newbie in CA Part 1

My major reservations of moving to california have, fortunately, not been realized. However, this makes for terrible blogging inspiration, but I will try. As always.

The Non-Form

I arrived in California an hour early for a reason. This occurred for a reason. I mean, there must be a reason why tail winds were really pushing hard that day such that we would arrive at 11am instead of 12:30pm.

See, this extra hour gave me ample time to get stuck at immigration puzzling why I did not present an I-797 petition.

Me: "I'm sorry. What?" (Dazed look you give after 18 hours of flying)

Officer #1: "An I-797 petition - you must always bring it along with you everytime you travel as a H-1B visa holder"

Me: "??? - That's all I have." (Pointing to H-1B1 visa in passport)

Officer #1: "Go to secondary."

Me: "???" (yeah, I'm going to know that refers to a secondary interview, and that I have to walk to the end of the hallway)

So I trot down hastily to a separate office and got interviewed by another border officer, who kept grilling me about my non-existent I-797 form. Images of me getting hurled back to Singapore in handcuffs flashed by my eyes - all because I did not bring this piece of paper. Sheeesh. As the interview continued, I felt quite of bad, because, frankly, I just had no idea what an I-797 form even looks like. I get a sense the border officer was half-expecting me to be an illegal immigrant, but got stuck with ... well, me.

I must have worn him down, either that or because a queue of people needing to undergo secondary interviews was forming. This "must have" document all of a sudden became not completely essential - I managed to get my visa approved after receiving a warning to always carry my I-797 form with me. I was extremely curious at this time in point what a "I-797" petition is, and the first thing I did after getting internet connection was to search for images relating to "I-797" on Google. That got me to this page - which, if you enlarge the photo, is a I-797 for a H-1B1.

No. I do not have that. What the heck is that?

As I was freaking out, I searched for "i797 h1b1" and got this, which states, "Unlike a traditional H-1B visa, the employer does not have to submit Form I-129, Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker, to the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (Department of Homeland Security) and you do not need to obtain a Notice of Action, Form I-797."

...

bah.

So yeah, I arrived early so that my schedule would not be disturbed by this non-form.

Moving to California

As I prepare to move to Mountain View, California to work at Google, I have come to the realization that working in USA starts with a flowchart of applications and the unfortunate conundrum of cyclic requirements.

Of utmost importance, one needs a social security number to start work, but you are advised to wait 10 business days after stepping foot in US before applying. That practically means you have to arrive two to three weeks at least before commencing employment.

Do not kick off your shoes and relax until the 10 days are up. You can take your time to open bank accounts, which typically require a local mailing address. The local mailing address that you do not have because you have only just arrived.

No problem, you seek out a rental apartment, which often have landlords that want to see your credit history and bank account, that you do not have because (1) you do not have a social security number so you do not have a credit history, (2) no bank will allow you to open an account because you do not have a mailing address (that you are currently negotiating to get) and (3) heck! you have not even started working in the US yet!

Speaking of credit history, as first-time worker in US, you have zero credit history even after getting your social security number. As it turns out, this interesting omission means you cannot apply for credit cards. Well, not the usual ones in Singapore at least, where the bank gives you a credit limit without any collateral based on salary information. No, you got to earn that right. You start with a level 1 weenie credit card - a secured credit card.

However, I am sure I will get by as countless of individuals have. Here's my plan:
1. Open Citibank Singapore CitiAccess - this US$ checking and saving accounts gives me access to my (pathetic) US funds without having to resort to Traveler's Cheques (1% commission + conversion commission!) or carrying hordes of cash into US.

2. Go to US.

3. Find a rental apartment, show Citibank account and pay cash upfront for security deposit and first month rent.

4a. Apply for bank account, most likely from Citibank USA.

4b. Apply for driving license from your state (in my case, California DMV) - you need an address for this

5. Apply for SSN

6. Kick off shoes and relax for 30 minutes before heading out for first day at work.