LESSONS OF MY NEW HOME

Lessons of a New Home

Growing up as a child in Ethiopia was the most beautiful thing that has happened to me in my life. These experiences have made me who I am today. Living with my family has made me proud of my culture and customs. I was always surrounded by people and had a very busy life. For many immigrants, coming to America is a dream come true. When I received my visa, I was ecstatic. Although I was so happy, there were a few fears that I had about my new life and these fears are the lessons of a new home. America is the land of many cultures, and I knew I would have to adapt to a new language and a new way of speaking, but I never imagined it would be so difficult.

Language is the key to communicating with people, but the English language presents many challenges. When I first came to Chicago, I heard so many different languages. When people from one culture spoke to someone from another culture, they always spoke English. For me to be able to connect with the people, I also had to speak the language. The hardest thing for me was the vocabulary. For example, the English language has lots of words that mean the same thing. For example, happy can be blessed, blissful, content, ecstatic, delighted, and joyful. In Amharic, (my language) “Desta” means happy. In Ethiopia, we use one word to explain our feelings. For example, “Ewdeshalhu” is “I love you.” For me it is difficult to express myself in English because I have to use so many words to describe one emotion.

Not only was the vocabulary difficult, but the tone in which Americans spoke was also hard for me to understand. American’s words come from the front of their mouths. I am accustomed to hearing words come from farther down the throat. Also Americans are very direct and to the point. Most Americans that I have encountered, especially in Chicago, are not friendly and do smile when they speak. One time when I was ordering food at a food court downtown, the lady behind the counter asked me, “What do you want?” When I told her “Chicken Caesar Salad”, she couldn’t hear or understand me. I had to repeat myself four or five times. I kept smiling, but she got angry. Eventually, she ignored me and asked for the next person in line. She was aggressive and rude, and we were not able to communicate because I spoke softly. Eventually I would learn the American style of talking.

Since I did not know too many words and did not speak loudly, my social life was adversely affected. Many people I met at work and school did not understand me, and they were also not patient enough to take the time to try and begin to understand me. This is why it was so difficult for me to make friends and have a social life. When I first arrived, I did not understand their sense of humor or most of the street slang that they used. There was one time when a girl named Jackie from my job invited me to hang out with her friends because she thought I was cool. I was very excited to go out with my new friend and to meet new people, but when I got there they made jokes that I didn’t find to be funny. Maybe if I was raised in America, I would have laughed with them, but I was not able to appreciate their humor. Because of this I did not enjoy my time with them. She invited me out again, but I didn’t go. I have found it difficult to make a connection with Jackie and her friends.

I was not able to communicate with people because I did not understand the vocabulary or the style of speech, and I lost my social life because of that. I could not talk to people or make connections with new friends. In the months after I arrived to Chicago, I spent a lot of time by myself before I learned to adapt to my new culture. However, I am proud of myself that I was able to adapt to the language, go to school, make friends, and live in America on my own. All of these experiences, including learning to communicate, and adapting to a new culture and way of life are the lessons of a new home.