immigration
I spent roughly two minutes at the immigration counter. the dialog with the polite, tired, & probably bored guy was like: he: what are you doing in the US?me: going to a computer conference at columbia university.
he: how long are you staying?
me: until the 14th of august.
/he looks at passport
he: you are here for the first time?
me: yup.
he: (instructions for fingerprint scanning & photo)
he: do you work at home? what are you doing there?
/me explains
/he probably doesn't really listen
/he stamps passport
customs
I had ticked "I bring food" on the customs declaration form, & entered "cheese, 0.5 kg, $9" in the "goods to declare" box. the guy handling the queue sent all people without any "yes" ticks straight to the exit, & me to the counter. dialog with the friendly lady: she: what food are you bringing?me: two small pieces of cheese.
she: anything else? meat? fruits?
me: no.
she: ok, put your bags here. (belt for the luggage scanner) that was all, no more questions, no inspections, or whatever. – & noone actually looked at the customs declaration form except for the one "yes".
