Open Window
On September 7, 2023, I came to the New York. I was nineteen years old and didn’t understand what future I would have in this new country. One of the first things I saw was a man who had makeup and nails longer than mine. Intense, I thought. At that moment I realized how many things in the world I haven’t seen yet. Everything was so new and unusual for me, but at the same time I had a passion for exploring. I was impressed by American culture, but for me, it was an open window to the new world. I wanted to expand my worldview and challenge myself by learning this culture to ultimately belong to it.
One of my favorite things about U.S. is the omnifarious opportunities. When I came, I found myself with new thoughts that I could afford a lot of things I wanted. The reason for this is that in this country I will get decently paid for my work. Because in Russia I was forced to work thirteen hours as a barista every day. I didn’t live but existed. There was no other choice. Instead of this, I now have possibility to live the best version of my life. What led me to feel this way was my first job. I was surprised when I started to work as a server in an Italian restaurant, and my income afforded me everything that I needed. I could travel, buy a car, clothes and go to restaurants. Everything seemingly ordinary things for some American people, came to my reality. In addition, I have been enjoying American culture of kindness. Everyone is very friendly and will do a favor for nothing. Small talk is one of my favorite things, because I like it when I talk to a stranger about the weather or news in the world. This is funny because I don’t know this person and see him for the first and last time in my life. Because of that, my mood rises all day. All these aspects have made me appreciate for the opportunity to be in this country and belong to it. Nevertheless, what was hard to understand is it homelessness is ubiquitous in Chicago.
I’m
a person who likes to walk, and because of this, I constantly see unhoused
people on the street. I have been living in Chicago for a year and a half now
and unfortunately, I have not noticed a decrease in unhoused people during this
time. This is something I am concerned about. This is one of supposed the best
countries in the world, so the government should be able to support and save
these people, because it’s not their choice to be unhoused. Such things could
happen to anyone. Some of the unhoused are crazy and may put other people’s
lives in danger. This happened to me. One unhoused person on the subway started
waving a knife and shouting incomprehensible things at me, but I was lucky and
was able to immediately transfer to another train. In my opinion, the
government should protect more unhoused people, because someone won’t be as
lucky as me and something bad might happen. It was tough for me to accept this
issue, but I hope mayor of this city will find a solution.
However, I have been happy exploring American culture. I thankful to myself that I decided to move to the U.S. because it has made me stronger as a person and completely changed my life for the better. Despite how difficult it was to adapt to a new culture, the experience I got in this country is invaluable and in the future I confident will help me express myself as a person with the opportunity to achieve success.
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ReplyDeleteAgreed!!! You know, in my country, I always think twice before I go to McDonald because how expensive their burger are when I have convert it in my Indonesia currency. But now, I could afford it everyday. Yey...
ReplyDeleteAnd a lot of think, like mid-branded more than likely to be affordable.
On contrary, homeless in Chicago is undeniable but not all of them are dangerous. Hopefully in the future this city can solve this problems, so that would be good for the homeless and us to feel safer
You are right. In my country Philippines we had this homeless issue too. I hope the government will find some solutions.
ReplyDeleteWorking as a server is amazing. Maybe is a normal job but servers earn a lot of money by tips. Also, I feel you about the homelessness in Chicago. I saw almost four naked homeless in a month and some of them were smoking and yelling lol. Goverment should find solutions but I understand that is kind of difficult now because of the new immigrants that came in this past two months. (most of them are Vennezuelans)
ReplyDeleteI am the same as you, even though I work as a waiter in a milk tea shop, the salary and tips here can satisfy all my needs. I can easily buy a new iPhone 15. However, in China, I may work hard for a month and still cannot afford a new phone, so I am very happy to come here.
ReplyDeleteThere are many homeless in Chicago. Many of them aren't bad. I think they are just unluckily. I hope the government can help them in the future.
ReplyDeleteYes, there are so many homeless people around the city. I think this is kinda scary.
ReplyDeleteThank you guys for your comments. I'm glad to hear my story resonated with you.
ReplyDelete