Our Journey from Korea
Coming to America
Many Koreans come to the United States so they can study and live here. Korea is a small country with a population that is growing fast. Some of us think that it is too small for so many people. This makes it difficult for the country to support its population. For example, even if a person graduates from college in Korea, it can be very hard to find a job. People also come to the United States because they think the schools are better here.
What We Left Behind
We left all of our extended family members in Korea. Some of us have fathers who remained in Korea so they could send us money to allow us to stay in the United States. Some of were actually born in the U.S. but moved to Korea when we were very young. We recently left our mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters to come live with American host families while we complete our studies here. We sometimes get scared that our elderly relatives might get sick and we will not be able to go to Korea to say goodbye to them before they die. We also really miss our cousins and friends. We miss having people to talk to. It seems like Americans think it is too hard to spend time trying to understand us, so they don’t want to hang out with us. Without friends, we sometimes feel very lonely.
What We Found Here
We found good schools here. The teachers help a lot, and they stay after school and help us with our work. We have fun family activities at school. It took some getting used to, but we learned to also like the food here. For example, we had pizza in Korea, but it is much better here! We also found bigger places to live. Since most Koreans live near Seoul, we often live in high-rise apartments without a lot of space. In America, we live in bigger apartments or houses.
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