Immigration can have several meanings to different people. For one immigrant, it was a representation of a new life. Natasha Johnson immigrated to the small town of Andover, Iowa from Kiev, Ukraine. Natasha traveled to Iowa with her daughter 12 years ago (Johnson, 2015). Since the day she first stepped foot in the United States, she has continually been adjusting, learning, and overcoming challenges. Based on Natasha’s story, I concluded immigration to be a constant struggle, learning experience, and overall exciting new journey. Most change for any person, can be challenging, however, immigrating to one country to another is a huge transformation. Natasha faced many struggles in her arrival to America. One of the first struggles she encountered
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In Ukraine, Natasha was a member of an Orthodox Christian church. Once in Andover, she became accustomed to the Lutheran church, as her husbands family were all long time members. As both are a form of Christianity, she thought the churches would be fairly similar as far as holidays and church services. Much like everything else in this country, it was different than what she knew in Ukraine. For example, in her home country, Christmas was celebrated in January and there are no presents on Christmas. Instead, presents were given early on New Year’s Eve. Easter in Ukraine was always celebrated in mid-April, but in the United States she found it could vary year to year, which she did not quite understand. Quickly, she found Americans are particularly proud and patriotic for their country and celebrate that on July 4th each year. Back home, she celebrated Independence Day on August 24th. One of the biggest holidays celebrated in Ukraine is a Women’s day; she was disappointed to find out there is no such celebration in America. In addition to learning special days, Natasha also had to learn about American clothing and fashion, so she could fit in with others (Johnson, …show more content…
Regardless of the constant feeling of confusion and being left out, she was able to appreciate the opportunity to start a family and be thankful for arriving in America. Ukraine was certainly not associated with any bad memories, and she does miss it dearly. However, she married, and had another child in the United States with her new husband. Family means the most to her, and although she cannot see her extended family and mother as often as she would like, she still feels grateful to be all together with her own little family she created. Fortunately, with the technology of telephones and video calls, she is able to call and converse with her mother in Ukraine weekly. In addition, Natasha acquired a job and ended up meeting and making several new friends. Showing and cooking recipes from Ukraine for friends was an especially joyful experience. Being able to keep a little bit of her home country with her and share it with friends is really what made her feel happy. Never did she wish to completely forget about life in Ukraine, but with the help of friends and technology, she was able to have the best of both worlds (Johnson, 2015). Natasha’s story can represent several immigrants’ journeys to American based on the themes she
In Ukraine, Natasha was a member of an Orthodox Christian church. Once in Andover, she became accustomed to the Lutheran church, as her husbands family were all long time members. As both are a form of Christianity, she thought the churches would be fairly similar as far as holidays and church services. Much like everything else in this country, it was different than what she knew in Ukraine. For example, in her home country, Christmas was celebrated in January and there are no presents on Christmas. Instead, presents were given early on New Year’s Eve. Easter in Ukraine was always celebrated in mid-April, but in the United States she found it could vary year to year, which she did not quite understand. Quickly, she found Americans are particularly proud and patriotic for their country and celebrate that on July 4th each year. Back home, she celebrated Independence Day on August 24th. One of the biggest holidays celebrated in Ukraine is a Women’s day; she was disappointed to find out there is no such celebration in America. In addition to learning special days, Natasha also had to learn about American clothing and fashion, so she could fit in with others (Johnson, …show more content…
Regardless of the constant feeling of confusion and being left out, she was able to appreciate the opportunity to start a family and be thankful for arriving in America. Ukraine was certainly not associated with any bad memories, and she does miss it dearly. However, she married, and had another child in the United States with her new husband. Family means the most to her, and although she cannot see her extended family and mother as often as she would like, she still feels grateful to be all together with her own little family she created. Fortunately, with the technology of telephones and video calls, she is able to call and converse with her mother in Ukraine weekly. In addition, Natasha acquired a job and ended up meeting and making several new friends. Showing and cooking recipes from Ukraine for friends was an especially joyful experience. Being able to keep a little bit of her home country with her and share it with friends is really what made her feel happy. Never did she wish to completely forget about life in Ukraine, but with the help of friends and technology, she was able to have the best of both worlds (Johnson, 2015). Natasha’s story can represent several immigrants’ journeys to American based on the themes she