Unusual Life

The United States is a country where people can find gold. This is why many people desire to come to the US, no matter what kind of methods or procedures they use. Everyone knows China is the most populous country, but the population of the country has been the cause of poor economy. Therefore, there are a lot of people who want to go to the US to pursue a better life and improve their economic status. According to my father’s words, in 1992, it was a rush hour of stowaways to the US, especially for the people from my city, ChangLe, in FuJian Province of China. It also was the time that my father decided to stowaway to the US. It implied my family was going to have an unusual life because it was not easy for my family to come to the US and to live in this new country.

My father lived in very poor economic conditions when he was in China. My grandparents were farmers, who depended on selling vegetables that they planted in the fields to support their family. They could not afford to send my father to school. From the age of eight years old, he started to go around selling vegetables with my grandfather. They worked from early morning to night whether the weather was nice or bad. My father was a dutiful son. Even though he hurt his foot, he still helped my grandfather to reduce the family’s economic problems. Unfortunately, one day, because my grandfather was injured by a hoe, he could not do heavy labor anymore. Our family economy became more and more tight. Thus, my father made up his mind to stowaway to the US, regardless of the danger.

Because of his decision, he began his new life in the US. Even though he didn’t have any legal documents, he still worked very hard. The first four years he worked to pay his debt of stowaway. After he repaid all his debt, our family life gradually became better. He used his salary to build a house for our family in my hometown, ChangLe. On the other hand, there was another problem that surfaced. My father gradually became older. He realized that he wanted to have a boy. Unfortunately, he didn’t have official papers to go back to China, so he decided to arrange for my mother to the US. When my mother came to the US successfully, my father gave all of money that he earned and saved to the person who worked for the stowaway gang. This is the origin of my little brother, who is twelve years old younger than me and was born in the US.

Coming to the US was not my American Dream but my nightmare. For our family reunion, my parents did their best to apply for me and my sister to come to the US. As they wanted, we did come to the US through the immigration. This was the beginning of my nightmare because I was not to face an American Dream but rather a bunch of debt. The first two years in the US were horrible years for me. I had to work to help my parents. I could not go to school to learn English as other kids did. I worked at a restaurant in another city. When I quit, or got fired, I needed to find another restaurant. Also, I had to live in an apartment, which was provided by the boss with other workers who I didn’t really know. I felt live alone and was homeless. There was no one who I could chat with. The most difficult time that I experienced when I got discriminated against by some people very often due to my lack of English. Indeed, I didn’t speak English, so I could not complain about this. However, that time was very difficult for me. I had to put up with everything that made me upset and unhappy.

Coming to the US and living in the US was not an American Dream for my family. Our past years, we lived and worked for debt instead of for our own life, and we still do today. In the US, I did change my life a lot. I assume that others might change in the same way. Some people might accomplish their American Dream in the US, and someone might not. Everyone’s experience is different in the US. They might be sad or happy. For me, I don’t even want to think back to my past two years in the US. When someone asks me, “How long have you been here?” I always lie. I know lying is a bad behavior, but I don’t have a choice. I don’t want people know that I have already been here three and a half years. Even though I have been studying in school, my parents always ask me to drop my classes and work instead. Actually, I don’t want to go back to my previous life, but I cannot obey my parents. I don’t know what I should do. Should I going to work or continue studying?