Lost In Translation

As a girl, I had always thought about how it would feel like to live in another country and to travel around the world. “Look! We are going to immigrate to the U.S.,” my mother said excitingly after she read the mail from the Chinese Consulate. At that moment, we were so excited and started to plan for the future in the U.S. Life will not always be perfect, but I never thought adapting to a new society would be such a difficult challenge.

Meeting friends starting from zero since the first day I stepped into the U.S. was really tough for me. The only people that I could talk to were my parents. I was scared and worried like a newborn bird that cannot fly anywhere, and their mother is the only one they can trust. I have a plenty of friends in China, and I used to talk on the phone with them everyday. In the U.S., I used to avoid communicating with people because I spoke English with a heavy accent and always confused people. I felt ashamed every time when I spoke English, but I realized that studying English is the only way I could get out of this situation. In addition, I believed people who came from all over the world would have the same problem as I did. One of my favorite quotes is “A friend in need is a friend in deep.” Everybody needs friends, including myself. We all have different backgrounds and cultures, and I noticed that I have a chance to meet people from all around the world.

Moreover, adjusting in the new society such as environment, or the food has been a big challenge for me. The population of growth is very fast every year in China. Unlimited people are living in a limited place. I used to live on the fifteenth floor of an apartment and the traffic noise really annoyed me. In Chicago, I lived with my aunt in the suburb, and it was a very quiet place. I had a hard time falling asleep because of the silence. Everyone wishes to have delicious meals everyday. Another challenge was there are a variety of cuisines from all over the world that can be found in Chicago. I never imagined that people could have different kinds of dishes for each day because I used to eat rice almost everyday in China. I found out that American people have a lot of choices for food. For instance, some eat bread for breakfast, and some people prepare spaghetti for lunch. In the evening, people can choose to go out to a Korean restaurant for dinner too. I remember a quote from the Chinese, “traveling around the world will make you rich, and that is something you cannot realize from just reading a book.” Right now, I have gained a rich knowledge in a short time in this new society.

Finally, adapting to the life in high school in the U.S. was harder than I expected. There was racial diversity of students in my classroom, and I could not understand what the teacher talking about, or what the students were discussing during the class. In high school in China, I never felt left out because I was in my own environment. I am aware that there is no short cut in life to succeed, so I decided to learn English better in order to communicate with teachers and classmates. I played different sports on my physical education class such as softball, football, and baseball which I had never played before in China. It was hard as a beginner because I needed to memorize and understand all the rules of the game. In addition, sometimes, I thought students have too much freedom like they could be late or even cut classes. In China, students were not allowed to be absent or late to class. Moreover, parents would be asked to come to see the teacher if the students broke any rules. However, I slowly understood the education of American is the only way that could lead me to success.

After living in the U.S. for a few years, I do not feel uncomfortable as I did before when I talk to people. I have a lot of friends now, and my life has changed a lot compared to the first week I arrived in the U.S. “You may have to undergo disappointment and failure before experiencing success,” my mother has always said in an effort to encourage me. I am not a child anymore, and I must make an effort to achieve my dream in America. I believe that most of the new immigrants will face the same situation as I did. Yet, this situation will not be permanent as long as we try our best to fit in to the new life and new environment in the United States.