Personal Essay

The day was finally here. It was November 11, 1990, the day that our family was to go to Ў®Land Of Liberty.ЎЇ I heard so many different things about this country called United States of America and I was warned that it would be nothing youЎЇve expected. The plane ride did not seem as long as it was; partly because I was lost in my own thoughts with hopes and anxiety. I thought about what I will become in this massive country I was headed and how soon I will adapt to this new culture and people.

Every bits of hope I had faded as we drove to our new house after the plane landed. All I saw was open space and emptiness; something I did not expect or was prepared for. I lived in urban part of Korea all my 9 years of life and I was never aware that there could be any place as empty as I was now. I was a bit relieved when we reached our 2 floors, 6 rooms house in Northbrook. It was like a castle to me. My father told me that this house cost as much as the little 1 bathroom, 3 rooms apartment we had in Korea. As I was getting used to the castle we have just bought, the emptiness filled my heart again. I looked outside and saw houses across the street. For a week, I thought those houses were stores. Living in Korea, everywhere you look out, there are myriad number of stores everywhere. I could not get used to this suburban life that nobody ever warned me about.

My next cultural shock came when I attended my uncleЎЇs Thanksgiving dinner. For the first time, I encountered what seemed like a gigantic chicken: turkey. There were many other foods besides the turkey, but overall, I was overwhelmed by the abundance of food at such low price. I began to understand why there are so many cases of obesity in America. I couldnЎЇt escape the abundance of food either. I gained so much weight as I got used to American food. I got so chubby to a point where my relatives did not recognize me when they came to visit us from Korea.

My biggest problem in getting used to this culture was the people. I was astounded when I first entered 4th grade. It was so different from what I was used to. I couldnЎЇt decide which system was better. In Korea, the school system is very rigid. From first grade, kids have to sit in chairs that they cannot move out of. There is no feedback from the students whatsoever. ItЎЇs always the teacher teaching and students answering hardly ever. Also teachers would hit the students if they did something they werenЎЇt suppose to and even for bad grades. It was nothing like that here. Our class set on the carpeted floor to just talk and for the teacher to read us stories. The teacher