An Immigration Story

By: Kevin Zheng

        Cheryl Zhang is a Chinese girl who is an immigrant. She is 17 years old. She came to the United States on March 19^th 2010 with her parents and younger brother.

         Cheryl’s family spent five years to prepare to come to the United States. They had to pay money to come. At first, they did not know whether they could come. In November, 2009, someone noticed that they could come to have a physical examination. At the first visa, they were not successful because they needed some documents and her father’s birthday in the documents was wrong. They needed to correct these things. So on March 19^th, they were corrected and done and they came to the United States.

            They came to the United States by airplane. First, they did not know English in the airport. But they were lucky. They met a Chinese who can also speak Chinese to help them. They were the last ones to take the baggage. When they got out, they saw their relatives and they took them to their home. Cheryl was very tired and she wanted to sleep. But the next day they called them to help to work to weed.

            Their relatives helped them to find a place to live. Her father came to some agencies to find jobs. Fortunately, he found a good job to work and the boss was so nice. He was a decorator.

            Then their relatives helped them to go so Cheryl could get and education. She took the CELDT test to estimate her English level. Then they recommended a few school for her to go and Cheryl chose San Francisco International High School. Her aunt helped her to get to SFIHS. So after the spring break, she began school.

            She was very nervous. She worried that she could not understand what the teachers said. She did not want to be at school. She thought the teachers were as strict as Chinese teachers. In China, she spoke Chinese. It is hard for middle and high school students in China. She went to night-class. The food and festivals are different. She had a lot of homework in China and she only can listen to the teachers and look at the book. But here, the teachers were very kind. It was very free for them to study in the United States. Students can sit and stand everywhere they want in the classroom. They studied as a group. They can learn together. Cheryl felt better and more comfortable than studying individually. Sometimes they watched movies. It was very fun.

            Even though the government aided them with food stamps, health insurance, and white cards, Life is still very hard. Her mother did not get a work and her father’s wages are low. The rent is expensive. Also the different language makes it difficult for them to find jobs.

            There were a lot of differences between China and America. Cheryl felt good and happy in the United States. She won’t come back to China to live. She loved here so much.