Yaen Mei
ESLINTG 100
September 30, 2024
The Things
My
parents and I immigrated to Chicago about two years ago. We chose this city because we had a lot of relatives
and my father’s friends live here. My parents thought these
relationships could help us adapt to our new life soon. On some
portion, it’s true. We found a nice apartment on the first day. My
father’s sister brought us everywhere to help us figure out how this city
worked. In addition, I was able
to study English in a free language school. All of these situations
depended on
these relationships. As time passed, some of the people would ask me if I had
adapted to Chicago life style or
not. Every time they ask me this question, I always said yes to avoid awkward
small talk. However, only my brain knew that I was pretending. In my deep mind,
I still feel that I am a rookie immigrat. I still don’t know how to solve some
of problems or adapt them.
Even though
I still have some problems in
Chicago life,
I have really
adapted to some of culture in these two years. Getting
a part-time
job is the first thing. In Chicago, it’s very usual that
teenagers and youths work part-time to earn their own money
instead of getting their money from their parents or grandparents. In my
opinion, youth in Chicago young persons are very proud of this
because it means independence to them. I couldn’t
remember when
I started working, but one of the motivations was that I’m
poor. Since I
moved
in Chicago, I only get a little pocket money from my parents,
so I can’t
afford my interests. Therefore, I had to find a part-time job. In
fact, it’s not hard to find a job in Chicago. Almost all of the
stores were
hiring, yet the problem was these stores preferred to hire a full-time worker. Inevitably, I looked for
a suitable part-time job for a long time. I fortunately got a part-time job
from my friend. I really adapted to it after I gained my first wages. It
was about seven hundred a month, but I also very excited. It was my first time earning my own money. I could
spend it without any guilt. I finally understand why Chicago
teenagers feel positive about it.
As I
said, Chicago life has some problems that I
was still not
adapting. One of the things is food. It’s difficult to change
the taste and adapt to the different eating habits. When I tried the food in Chicago
the first
time, I felt that food added too much seasoning in it. It tasted very salty and
sweet. The second time, I chose a popular restaurant in Chicago. I
was so confused and still am now. I was not sure that the chef
forgot to put seasoning in it or that meal just requested you tasting the
original flavor of the ingredients. Hence, even I tried Chinese food
in Chicago, but
the food
tasted not very authentic as well. For
example, the orange chicken was one of these not authentic foods. It actually
is not the Chinese food. It’s American-style Chinese food. Immigrants developed
the flavor of Chinese food that made it suitable for American taste. These factors pushed me
to cook by
myself. However, I don’t have any talents for cooking. I always mess up
everything, then offered horrible dishes for my family although
they never complain them. When I am not trying to cook, I think
I will really
adapt Chicago food because my cooking skills are worse than every
restaurant in Chicago. I think I perhaps have some weird mental
lock for cooking.
I’m
trying my best to adapt to everything in Chicago now,
but it’s not
easy. Every day is different. I always alter my mood between
optimistic and sadness as a psycho because something that I can’t
adapt. I think I should try to adapt to them at least in a
positive attitude if I want to live in Chicago for good. These processes are necessary.
They can enrich my life experience, and promote my abilities. I believe I
will adapt them in future. All the things will resolve as the time passes.
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