Life Transformation

                    

               As an immigrant moving to a different country was a big challenge. Also it was an opportunity for me. Although I know it is a dream for many, it never comes true for a lot of people, but when that moment came. I felt excited that I was going to live in the world’s most popular country, the United States. I could feel  jealousy from people. However, I also lost confidence, because I didn’t know what my life would be like out of China, the palace I lived  over twenty years. It was hard to imagine my life without my country and my family. The rest of the time, I had to face the transition by myself with different language ,different culture and different environment. Even though the life in front of me was unexpected, I believed I would fight for the life that I dreamed about in this free land.

              Since I moved to the United States, I had lost my confidence. I was just an ordinary person in China, but I was able to live there with the faith of an original citizen. Chinese is my own language, so I felt safe to go anywhere. I didn’t need to worry about getting lost because I knew I could get help. At least I could communicate with any stranger for information using my own language. Life is uncertain, especially for a stranger who lives in America without language and readability, it is like a blind and deaf disabled person. Imagines when you face a problem that you even can't explain for yourself and feeling very helpless. When I stood in America this free land, I still felt this place didn’t belong to me, also I couldn’t anticipated my future. Even though I felt excited when I was listening to the neighbour who spoke English to me, I could not express my opinion to them, and that was embarrassing.

Coming to America, it was hard to find a job. I was very young, and I had no job experience, I also could not speak English. My first big job was at a hotel downtown, Chicago. Taking the train was so hard. Because everything was in English. When I had my job interview, I was so stressed but somehow I did fine and I was very excited. After getting the job, working got harder. Most of my co-workers only spoke English and there were only a few Chinese people. After a couple of weeks at work, I learned to use my body language to talk about how hard work was with my new friends, and I slowly learned to speak more English. In China, my colleagues and me used our language to understand each other, so our relationships were very close because we traveled together and talked a lot. My co-worker were like my family, but in America, everyone is too busy working and our different language made it difficult to have a conversation. After a long time, respect and concern helped maintain my friendships with my new co-workers.

After twenty years, I came back to school to improve my English, but twenty years later, I am forty and my classmates are twenty. I feel old compared to everyone, and sometimes it is hard to build a relationship because of their English skills, age-difference, and culture. If I was in China, I would not have this problem. I would not need to learn English and I would be twenty like my friends. We could have fun and go to the movies after school when I was in China, everyone has time to go out together. Classes in China were also bigger and there was a lot of free time to talk at school. Here in the U.S, after school everyone goes home or goes to work and students do not spend time together. Even though there are very little opportunities to talk and hang out in class, I am very grateful that this English class brings us together and this class gives us an opportunity to meet new friends.

Life in China was carefree, easy going and stress free for me because I was confident and smart when I spoke Chinese. However in the United States, I am not good at speaking English, so it is very hard for me to be a leader. Even though life in America is hard, my experience in Chicago is eye-opening and full of opportunities, so I can learn a lot about  American culture and be ready for challenges and a better future.