Foreign country

I have never been to any foreign country before, but when I got a chance to go the US I thought that might be my first and last chance to see the United States. I moved here two and a half years ago, and I’m still happy that I made this decision. Of course, it is hard to live far away from my family and friends, but I’m a strong person and I know that I can handle everything in this life. As long as I live in a Ukrainian Village with a lot of Ukrainians around me I feel a little bit more comfortable than I felt between other nationalities when I used to live in Washington DC. I don’t want to say that I don’t like the way other people live and think. I was born in Ukraine and my ideology is a little bit different than others. Moreover, there are a lot of interesting facts about my native country and good traditions Ukrainians followed by.

I was a fulltime student in Ukraine and I had to think only about studying, but a lot of students after two years in college start looking for jobs to make their own money and be independent from their parents, what I did after second year in college. While I lived in Ukraine, I used to have my own small business. I had my own money to go out, to buy some gifts for friends on their birthdays, to buy some clothes and to do grocery shopping. At the same time I was a full time student at the university and I had to study. Education in Ukraine is expensive if equated to the average salary of Ukrainian people, so my parents were paying my university bills, and, of course, they were still giving me some pocket money for expenses. In the US, I am independent from my parents, and I will never ask them for any kind of money or help anymore. I’m old enough to take care of myself and pay my bills even if it’s very hard to make enough money and study at that time. I remember those times when my mom was cooking on the kitchen in the morning and I could wake up only because of delicious smell in the house, but not anymore. I moved to USA by myself and my mom doesn’t cook delicious breakfasts for me anymore. Only I can make that kind of smell in my apartment, but at the beginning of my new life in new country I had some problems cooking.

Before I moved to Chicago I used to live in Washington DC for half a year, and one of a biggest problems was how to find good food to cook some Ukrainian meals. I didn’t know what kind of milk or meat was good quality or what kind of bread is good and good quality. I also couldn’t understand why people didn’t cook even if they have all the dishes for cooking and the nice kitchen. I couldn’t understand why people were buying frozen food and were cooking it in the microwave for ten minutes instead of buying some products and preparing a nice breakfast or dinner. During first couple of weeks in the USA I met a lot of people and realized that they work a lot and don’t really want to be stuck in the kitchen for hours after a hard working day. A little later I learned how to pick the best ingredients for the most famous soup in my country “Borshch” or my favorite pierogies with potato and cheese. Now I live in Ukrainian Village, Chicago, and I’m so happy that nearby I can find stores with Ukrainian, Russian or Polish food. I can cook anything I want and it will have the same taste like in Ukraine.

Furthermore, Ukrainians have a lot of winter holidays during which they cook traditional dishes and invite people to their house to celebrate together. One of my favorite holidays is Christmas. Since Ukrainians are orthodox, we follow the Gregorian calendar and celebrate Christmas on January 7th. During this season, children walk from house to house and sing carols. Sometimes big groups of people can do the same, dressing up in tradition Christmas’ costumes and having one person in front carrying a big red star. When people without any costumes see all those people dressed festively, Christmas Spirit comes into your soul and you ready to join them and bring this spirit into every house. I almost felt the same in Chicago with Ukrainians, only they didn’t dress up. Last year I was invited to an American Christmas Dinner by my best friends parent’s. It was very nice to have a dinner in the warm house by the fireplace and gorgeous Christmas tree with those kind people. Her parents were very hospitable with me and I had feeling like I was home. For me it was only delicious dinner in warm and nice company yet, I still didn’t feel that it was my holiday.

Despite the fact that I am far away from my family and my county and everything is pretty new for me in this country, I still like living here. I’ve learned about so many different cultures and traditions. I’ve also learned the way to talk with different people different ages, made a lot of new friends and learned how to be adult and take care of myself. I hope that in the future I can bring my parents and younger brother here and show them how beautiful this country and how other people live.