Moving To America Analysis

The story begins with my father. He came to America in 2006 for his work. After spending a year, he thought it will be nice for our family to come and live there too. I was fascinated by how diverse the cultures in America was. He enjoyed exploring different cultural foods, desserts, clothes, and musics. Out of all, he liked the education system in America. Unlike Korea, it gave the students more freedom in learning focusing variety of subjects. They also don’t put too much pressure on the students, but give them choices. After consideration, my parents decided to move to America. However, my father was at California at the moment. He chose Virginia for our family because he wanted to go away from the main city where there are more dangers.
In 2008, my mother, my brother, and I got on the plane to America. It was a long ride. When I first got off the plane, it wasn’t like what I imagined America to be. I was expecting colorful lights blinking and loud noises playing like in New York. Yet, what I faced was pitch black sky and calm streets. I wasn’t used it to it at first because I lived in Seoul, which is a big city in Korea. Everything seem so different. First thing I noticed was the traffic lights. I was so surprised how they were hanging from a string. I was always scared that they might drop on top of our car. Next, my attention was on the squirrels outside our house. I remember chasing them with my brother every morning. In Korea, there were barely any wild animals in the street except birds. Also, I was able to explore different country’s traditional foods. Most importantly, we found that clothes and food were cheaper in America. I remember shopping clothes and buying baskets of fruits and ice cream every week because I couldn’t get them so easily in Korea. Although, I found America so fascinating and fun, there were some hard times.
First was the food. It was hard to get used to the food because everything tasted too salty. The fast food restaurant that my family often visited were completely different from the ones from Korea. My family will usually stay home to eat. For the first year, my family stayed home often. We didn’t know how to speak or know the area. Even at school, I only nod as a response. It was hard to make friends because I couldn’t speak the language. Yet, with the help of my kind teacher, I was progressing fast. After a while, the teacher helped me make a friend. Even if we couldn’t communicate, I could understand with her actions and emotions. I think the most effective way to learn the language is communication. By spending most of my time with that friend, I was able to speak and read english in couple months. Writing came later. I really enjoyed the school life in America. In Korea, I remembered forced to go to school and attend multiple after school classes. What I liked about schools in America was the classrooms had friendly environment. I was very surprised how close the relationship between the students and the teacher. In Korea, there was always a boundary between the teacher and the students that had to respected. Also, the students were very racially diverse. I had many friends from different background, and it was interesting to learn about their culture and personalities. Out of all, my favorite was the art and music
class. Life in America was very different from Korea, and there were some hardships in the way. However, the most difficult thing was being separated from my father since I was in first grade. After my dad spent a year with us in Virginia, he had to go back to Korea for work. Since then my family lived separate from my father. We only met once or twice or even zero time a month. In addition, rest of my family is in Korea. Leaving my family and friends, the people I love, was the hardest part including my father. I miss them very much, but I can only hear their voices by calling them. However, my family don’t regret their decision. The opportunities and the environment that this county offers is incomparable from Korea. This country has many great sources that will help me pursue my passion for art. Although I spent many years in America, I feel like the same person. When I come home, I’m just ordinary Korean. I only speak korean, watch korean shows, listen to kpop, and eat korean food and snacks.This is the part of me that will never change. I’m in love with both American and Korean cultures, and I’m proud to be a Korean-American.