When you first came to this country. Did the things
you saw or the things that happened to you surprise you? Maybe everything was
new for you because every nation is different and languages are different. It’s
hard for some immigrants to accept being in a new place. “It’s like
you were just born again learning how to talk,” Catherine Lee, a sophomore
from Cambodia said.
When some immigrants come to the U.S, they have
ideas of what they expect to see. “Before I came to the United States,
I thought all American people are big and tall,” Sen Nguyen said. Catherine
Lee thought it would be big and wealthy. “When I came, I saw a big advances
everywhere,” she said.
Learning a new language is difficult. There are
many difficulties for immigrants involved in learning a new culture, a new language,
new customs, and new expectations. Catherine Lee was uncomfortable when other
people were trying to know her or talk to her because she didn’t speak
English at all. When Americans spoke to her, she didn’t know what they
wanted. She just looked and smiled.
When Sen Nguyen got to the United States and went
to pick up her suitcase, she had a hard time explaining that she needed help.
“ I got the first suitcase but I couldn’t find the second one. I
didn’t know what to do. I raised two fingers to the security. It meant
I had two suitcases but how come I got only one.” The security guard gave
her the second suitcase.
Some were surprised by the many different races
of people. “When I was in my country I thought only white people lived
in the United States, but what surprised me was I saw a lot of different kinds
of people,” one student from Ethiopia said. He was glad to see Black people
who looked like him. “That made me comfortable,” he said.
But other people don’t have the same experience. An older person from
Vietnam was scared when she saw a person with black skin at the airport. This
was the first time she had seen a black person.
Many immigrants feel unhappy because the food
makes them sick. Catherine Lee always ate Cambodian food but in school they
had only American food such as hamburgers and hot dogs. The first day Catherine
tried to taste a piece of hamburger she felt like throwing up. After that, for
the entire year, she brought Cambodian food to school. She said, “People
laughed at me when I brought Cambodia food.”
All the technology in the United State is very
important such as walkmen and computers, but it surprises some people. “When
I was in China I didn’t know anything about computers,” Manwen Ye
said. Even though other countries have new technologies, many parents didn’t
have the capability and the opportunity to buy these things for their children.
Even though people from around the world come
to the United States and many are surprised and uncomfortable with the new things,
after a little while they get accustomed to it. Even though people and places
look different at first, we soon understand that people around the world are
more alike than they are different. When you first came to this country. Did
the things you saw or the things that happened to you surprise you? Maybe everything
was new for you because every nation is different and languages are different.
It’s hard for some immigrants to accept being in a new place. “It’s
like you were just born again learning how to talk,” Catherine Lee, a
sophomore from Cambodia said.
