By: Nancy Lee

Never in my life did I think about immigrating to another country, even though I shared two cultures, I was assimilated to live in the same neighborhood, go to the same school for 10 years, hang out with the same friends. My life in Colombia was very exciting, I had a school, friends, family, a job, and my duties. I suffered a lot of discrimination because my background was Chinese, therefore I looked Chinese, even though I felt that I didn't belong there, I believed that it was God's wish. The Latino culture influenced me a lot, so much that I even became Catholic. My arrival to this country was unexpected. My parents told me two weeks before my trip. When I arrived in the airport, I told my father that I was coming back soon, however we both knew that it was going to be long until we met again. Both my father and me wanted it to be a happy good-bye. But it wasn't like that. I was gone, and I didn't have the chance to say good-bye to my friends, teachers, neighbors, only to my two best friends, I felt that a lot of things got postponed. In the airplane my thoughts wandered around. I always have been so tragic, but I thought that this was going to be a big step in my life, and I knew also that difficult times were yet to come, and I had to be strong to be able to continue, to be able to live. I had tons of goals, and I felt bad because I made promises to my friends that we all were going to graduate in the same private school. I was sad that I broke the promise, but this was out of my hands. And I also thought that I wanted to be a little girl once again and live in a pink world. When I was in the line in order to enter legally to this country, I felt my heart beating fast. When I was through the line, I felt that my life was to begin, and it happened.

I started to live according to the Chinese culture, speak the language, and follow the traditions. It was a hard language, and I thought it was the hardest language on this planet. I started working in order to pay the rent, and even though I didn't have enough money, I felt content. I knew that this was a new country. It wasn't involved in a war, but it offered me more opportunities. I had to start again, but it didn't matter because it was a new goal. I know that it is time to grow, and take all the opportunities in front of me. Being here is a life goal and I'm not going to waste it.

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Nunca en mi vida pensé en imigrar a otro país, a pesar que compartía dos culturas, me habia adaptado en vivir siempre en el mismo barrio, ir al mismo colegio por 10 años, silir con los mismos viejos amigos. Mi vida en Colombia era muy agitada, tenía un colegio, amigos, mi familia, un trabajo, mis obligaciónes. Enfrenté muchos casos de discriminación porque mis caracteristicas raciales eran china, aunque sentía que no pertenecia al lugar, sentía que nacer en un país latino fue un deseo de dios. La cultura latina me influenció muchísimo que me convertí en catolica. Mi llegada a este país fue inesperada, mis padres me avisaron dos semanas antes de mi viaje. Cuando llegé al aeropuerto le habia dicho a mi padre que lo vería muy pronto, aunque los dos sabíamos que pasaría mucho tiempo para que sucediera, los dos queríamos que me fuera contenta. Pero no fue asi, me habia marchado sin despedirme de mis amigos, profesores, vecinos, solamente de mis dos mejores amigas, y se que deje muchas cuentas pendientes. En el avion pensé en muchas cosas, siempre he sido asi de trajica, pensé que vendría un tiempo muy duro, y tendría que ser fuerte para poder vivir. Me tracé muchisimos goles, y me sentí muy mal porque habia prometido a mis amigos que nos íbamos a graduar del instituto educacional en la cual estabamos, lamente mucho no haber cumplido aquella promesa, pero no estaba en mis manos. En el avión también pensé en muchas cosas, me sentí muy triste porque me sentia como una niña que queria vivir en un mundo de rosas. Cuando estaba en la fila para entrar legalmente a este pais, sentí mi corazon latir rápido, cuando pasé, sentí que aqui empezaria mi nueva vida. Y asi fue. Empezé a vivir de acuerdo a la cultura china, hablar el lenguaje y segir con las tradiciones. Fue muy dificil aprender inglés, pensé que fue el lenguaje mas dificil de este planeta. Empezé a trabajar para pagar la renta, aunque no tenia mucho dinero, me sentía contenta. Sabia que este nuevo pais, no tenia una guerra, que tendría mas oportunidades, que empezaria otra vez y no me importa porque es un nuevo reto, una nueva meta. Se que es tiempo de crecer y tomar todas las oportunidades que tengas. Y se que de estar aqui es una oportunidad de una vida y no la voy a desperdiciar.

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