Our Journey from China
Coming to America
It was not easy for us to come to America. Every year the U.S. issues a limited number of visas to Chinese citizens. There are two main ways that people can secure a visa. First, they can visit the U.S. to study in a high school or university or work in an American company. This type of visa only lasts for a couple of years. The second path to immigration is to get sponsorship from a family member who is a U.S. citizen. The length of the wait depends on the situation. Some people wait a couple of months, but the majority must wait several years. It can cost several thousand dollars to get visas and purchase plane tickets. The plane trip is long, 16-24 hours. It can involve several stops in places such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, and even Alaska! Most Chinese immigrants come to the U.S. for one of three reasons: employment, education, or family reunification. Many Chinese come to America because they think it is perfect. They believe they can make a lot of money and hopefully bring over the rest of their families. This is why some desperate people come to the U.S. illegally. They pay “snakeheads” $80,000 to come to the U.S., where they have to work as virtual slaves for 7 years. Many legal Chinese immigrants work 12 hours a day for 6 or 7 days a week. They soon find out America is not what they expected. When they tell their family members in China about the reality of their lives in America, their relatives often don’t believe them.
What We Left Behind
We left many family members behind in China. This includes our extended family and all of our friends. It is not easy to keep in contact with them now. In many parts of China people do not have access to the internet or e-mail, but the standard of living is improving. It is possible to telephone our loved ones, but it is also expensive. Of course, we can always write letters, but after being in America for several months or years, we sometimes forget how to write something in Chinese. We’re losing our ability to communicate fluently in our native language. We also left our homes behind, and we moved from big comfortable houses into small expensive apartments. We went from owning our homes in China to renting them here. We left our most important possessions, from our bicycles to our fishing poles to our pets. Now we need a car to go everywhere. We left our culture, as we have had to change our lifestyles. We have had to learn a new language, eat unfamiliar food, and wear different clothes.
What We Found Here
In America, we found our family members again. For 8-12 years, many of us were separated from our fathers, who came to work, support our family, and eventually bring us here. It was not easy to be reunited after so many years. We were separated for so long that it was initially awkward to interact as a family. We were like strangers and we had to get to know each other again. We also found new friends here. We met friends from China as well as people from many different countries. Some of us came from isolated places in China; others came from big cities. However, in America there are many diverse groups of people living together. We also found a new culture. Some of the things that Americans do seem strange to us. Americans have much more freedom, in society and in school. For example, we were surprised that public displays of affection are so common in the U.S., especially in school.
Click on the flags below to learn more about other countries.
