An immigrant is a person who moves from his/her native country to another country looking for a better life. There are many different reasons why people leave their country to migrate to another country, such as to find jobs, seek protection, and get a better education. Being an immigrant in the United States is very hard because the way of life is not easy for most people since everything is about money, we have to pay a lot of taxes for everything, such as rent, water, and food. Everything costs money.
There are many things people face as immigrants. They work for long hours for the purpose of getting more money, but they don't have enough time with their family. Some people even get sick because of working hard during the day and night. However, they don’t choose to quit their jobs since they have to work hard to get money for their needs.
Relocating to a new country may be a confusing experience for immigrants who frequently see themselves in a strange new world where the rules have changed, the environments are strange, and the people speak in weird tongues.
Many immigrants feel that they are being forced to get into a foreign culture by their parents or grandparents. I agree, since in my case my father didn't give me any choice about bringing me here. My life in my native country, before I came to New York, wasn't so bad, I can't complain. I used to have a comfortable life, without rush and pressure since my father supported me with all I need. However, the reasons why I left my native country to come here were because he was alone, he got into many debts in purpose to his family will not lack anything, and because all his siblings had their family here. So, he brought me, my mother, and my siblings because he needed us here. The immigrant’s life in this country it’s not easy, and we people don't realize it until we arrive here.
Indeed, when I was about to come to New York, I felt very excited, I was planning to go to college and get my first job, since in my country I couldn't go because I got my visa right after finishing high school. I had some fears about coming to a new country and starting again with new life, friends, and language. Foreign people are not accustomed to living in such unfamiliar surroundings. My expectations as other immigrants about coming here were that I would be discriminated against because of my race, religion, or nationality. These feelings can lead to problems for us, immigrants, who are coming from different countries and cultures to live in a new place.
Some immigrants may find it hard to adjust to life in this place due to their cultural background. Others may find it difficult to adapt to a new environment due to not conforming to manners, customs, language barriers, and so forth. There are many reasons why immigrants come to America, however, one of the most important is the opportunity to learn about the new culture.
I still remember the day I came which was March 22 at 6:20, it wasn't so cold, I guess because I didn't feel it. When I finished all of the airport, I got out without a sweater or coat just with the curiosity to see the great city of New York. New York is different from life in my native country. In my first days, I could realize that it wasn't equal in my country, everything here was really huge and bright, and everything was expensive, people have to work hard to get what they want. Eventually, life it’s not easy like it's shown in movies, all here is about rushing and production. However, life is much better. We, immigrants, get many opportunities here to improve our life and achieve what we didn't get in our native country. During my first years, I had some problems with paperwork, job, and language. For example, one day I went to apply for a state ID. They wanted me to fill out an application, but I didn’t fill application because I couldn’t understand the paper. So, I brought the paper home to my sister-in-law to help me. After that, I always went to places with her because she can speak, read and write English. Now I can do some paperwork and read some things by myself. The most important experience I had was that I could get my first job and I was accepted in college.
To conclude, living in the United States as an immigrant is not an easy way to live and have a better life. In purpose to achieve something in this land as immigrants, we have to work twice and even harder than people who belong to this country since we have to go through many things and faced many racism, stereotype, and even abuse. For us, immigrants, it is not easy to adopt the culture and the way that people behave because we’re just different.