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Immigration Interview

Jeevesh Konuru

10/24/10

Period 2

Essay

Immigration Blues and Yellows

            Do immigrants feel emotionally happy or sad while immigrating to the United States? Over 4.1 million people immigrate to the US every year. All of them immigrate for different reasons including, war, famine, hopes for a better future, or jobs. Some of the immigrants who move are rich and are looking for some more fame, or opportunity’s and some are exorbitantly poor, and are looking for an opportunity for a better life. All have road bumps while trying to get here, some make it, some don’t, but they all risk something and try there best. Finally they all have mixed emotions while getting here.

            “Your father left the country six months before me, and I came after, to meet him.” That is what my mom explained during her interview about her immigration to the United States. Before she came here her name was Varalakshmi, but when she arrived here social security changed her name to Vara. When she arrived she was 19 years old. In India her mother tongue is Telugu, but she also knew English, because she went to an English medium school. Although she knows her parents only know Telugu. That was my mom’s overview before and during her emigration from India.

            My mom’s trip to the US was mostly smooth, but clearly there were some emotional difficulties. The first emotional difficulty is leaving behind and part from everything she knows and has. The first thing she had to leave was the culture. In India the community was mostly close knit family, everybody knows each other communities. On the other hand in America there are alone studio houses, where in most cases, nobody even knows there neighbors. The clothing wore in India were normally a Chudidara, but in America the casual attire would be jeans, and a shirt. The second thing she had to leave behind was her family. In India, families are extremely close. Everyone practically lives in one big full house, but she had to leave everyone behind to come here. That must have been extremely difficult. One last thing she had to leave behind was her culture and way of life. Everything from praying at temples, and food, was drastically affected, and made harder to maintain once she moved here. Clearly my mom was forced to leave behind many valuable and priceless things to move to America.

            An immigrants to there new home is much like a long guilt, nostalgic, and remorseful reflection. Even though it seems bad it gives the traveler a slight glimpse into there new life in America. My moms check in and out went extremely smoothly compared to the endless amount horrible outcomes. On her flight she encountered both emotional, cultural, and some interesting difficulties. Her first difficulty was when she first took her seat, she could not figure out how to put her seat buckle on, and it took her a few minutes to figure out. Even though this may seem strange, in India you do not often use buckles in cars, buses, or trains. Her second difficulty was the new flight food. The flight attendant asked her if she wanted orange juice or coke, and she asked for orange juice because she wondered how American orange juice tasted like. When she did taste it, she thought that it tasted horrible, compared to India’s fresh squeezed orange juice. Then she got her first American meal, which consisted of wilted lettuce, cold tomatoes, and a hard role. Even though the quality was horrible, she said she thought it tasted interesting in a good way. When she saw the eating customs of the other American passengers she commented that she was “confused, and disguised.” Her third difficulty was that the whole way she was thinking, and crying about missing her parents, culture, and the fact that it would be a long time before she reunites with those things again. At times there were interesting things for her to look at to keep her mind busy, but when there was nothing to do, she mourned. Her last difficulty was the plane stopped in Frankfurt, Germany and nobody understood English. So she could not talk to anyone in Telugu, or English. Even though that was extremely frustrating, it did not matter much, because she had a great time browsing through the stores looking at the new things, and commenting on the extremely high prices. She did not buy anything though because of the high prices. Even though my mom had to face many difficulties on her flight, it ended on a good note when she saw the Statue of Liberty out the window from the plane.

            When Immigrants arrive here there troubles and challenges do not end. They often have to face prejudice, discrimination, and problems in settling down. My mom did not have any problems in settling down because my father had already settled here before she came. Although she did not have any problem in that she explained that she had to face a lot of prejudice and discrimination. She even says that she has to deal with it even now. She explained that people treat her slightly differently, by giving her odd looks, and sneers. Sometimes they go as far as to examine her and her belongings as if they are different and weird. Those are the problems that my mom had to face and is still facing after she arrived to this country.

            What I learned from this interview is that even when immigrant’s rides go seemingly smoothly and peacefully there are always problems and discomforts along the way. Although my moms overall immigration went very smoothly, she had to face much grief and troubles. She had to go through discrimination, prejudice, cultural changes, food changes, parting from familiar land, and parting from close family. So even though an immigrant’s travel story may seem boring and easy there is always some turmoil hidden.

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