Living Abroad

When I was younger, I used to dream about living in the United States. In January 1999, when my parents decided to send me to Atlanta to finish my education, I thought I was still dreaming, but my dream came true. Then, I realized that my hopes and expectations were different from the reality.

For many years, I have dreamed of living in the USA. I still see myself watching American `s videos, TV shows and movies. The weekend, my friend and I spent our time recording American's videos on Television. We were using them as a model, so we were attempting to copy their behavior, style or manner. " I have to get that new style! " or " look at her hair! " my friend Ella was saying.

However, Education in the USA was considered to be one of the best in the world.

Surely, I wished to graduate in computer science there, and this motivated me to exit high school. Also, I wanted to be more independent and live away from my parents. I thought that I would have plenty of opportunities such as jobs, school and independence, so I studied hard. In June 1999, I passed my test successfully and I graduated from high school. At that time, I knew that my dream would come true in a few months.

In January 1999, I left my country, Ivory Coast to live in Atlanta. After having lived in Atlanta for one month, my opinion about living in the USA changed. My first month in Atlanta was so hard that I cried a lot. One time, I even told my mom that I wanted to come back in my country because I could not handle to live in the USA anymore. Can you imagine yourself living abroad by yourself without any relatives? This is what happened to me in 1999. I have lived in an apartment by myself for three months before finding a roommate. I was alone and I felt lonely. My only activities were going to school and watching television. Also, because my English was poor, I was ashamed to speak to American people. Surely, I felt afraid of working. My mom told me that finding a job could help me to improve my English and to feel less alone but I said: " They would never hire me because I can't speak English". Thus, I started isolated myself and my personality changed. The friendly person that I was became insecure and shy. I was so shy to speak English because of my accent that I became reserved and uncomfortable in the company of others.

Many people tend to face a lot of problems while living abroad. The majority of time, their expectations do not either come true or take a long time to come true. I think that people should familiarize themselves with living abroad before moving in order to adapt them in a short time.