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"That's your chance of getting a higher education. You have to study as hard as you can so that you will not have to work as hard as
me and your dad for a living". That was what my mom used to tell me before we came to America. In my parents' minds, America is a
place with opportunities for young people. They gave up their decent life in their own country, a country where they were born and
raised, hoping that I would have a good life and get a good education in America.
My parents waited for 10 years for this immigration to America. I was told by my parents that we would move to America someday, but they never told me when. When I entered 6th grade, that was when I started to learn English in school. My parents encouraged me to focus on this subject. I found it very interesting to learn because I knew that I would speak it with Americans someday. One year passed by, I learned a lot of basic conversation in English and started practicing it with my mom. One day in May of the year 1995 (3 months before we arrived America), I checked the mailbox just like I used to do everyday after school. As soon as I took all the mail out from the mailbox, I checked the letters one by one to see if any of them was from my friends. At the bottom of the pile of mail, there was a letter from the Immigration Office and it was for my mom and dad. At the minute I gave it to my dad, he opened his mouth wide open and said, "The time has arrived" in Chinese and ran to my mom who was in the kitchen. I could see the surprise and happiness on both of their faces, but I still didn't know what was happening until my mom yelled out that "We are going to America in just a few months!" The news spread very quickly. Our relatives, friends, and my parents' coworkers already knew that we would be leaving soon. I was surprised and happy. I couldn't wait to go to the new country; On the other hand, I already missed all the friends and relatives. I was afraid that I couldn't make friends in the new country. My parents stopped working and I stopped going to school because we were busy filling out forms, going to our health exams and packing our stuff. Many relatives came to help and my friends also came after school. On August 10, 1995, we left all our friends and family behind and arrived at Los Angeles in California. Soon after we arrived here, we lived in my uncle's house. My first new friends were my cousins. They taught me English and encouraged me to speak English with them. My parents found a job soon and we all liked the lifestyle here. |