Big Changes in My Life

I was born in Lviv, the historical town of Ukraine, where I spent my childhood years. I went to school in Ukraine for ten years. When time came for my father to change his work, he decided to move to America, but he thought that he would find a better job to support the family. The second reason he left Ukraine is that my sister was alone studying at Manhattan College. She needed support and love from him. He left me and my mom. It was big change for me to be without him and my sister for so long. I did not have any thought in my mind that I would go to America to visit my dad and my sister. I really wanted to stay and study in Ukraine. I knew that I had to make big decision in my life. I did not want them to be without me, so I left home and my friends, when my mom told me that we were moving to America. I was very excited to explore the unknown place. It was my dream to move to America and to be an American girl. When I moved to New York from my home country then to California, I needed to make several adjustments to my life. First of all, I met a lot of new people in New York with different backgrounds that influenced my life. They were teachers, Mrs. Nelson and Olga. They taught me new language. It was hard for me to learn new language for the first time but with their help I began to speak and write in English. Their lectures were interesting to me. My teachers showed me the Ellis Island where I learned the history of immigration to America. I did not know that immigrants left their homelands because of famine and World War II. Also my teachers took me to the Metropolitan Museum, where I learned more about art and I felt that I wanted to create art from my soul by own hand after looking at the paintings and sculptures at the museum. I also discovered new plants when they took me to the Botanical Garden. Every plant had a name tag. I did not know how coffee grew on coffee tree. Later, I met another teacher in New York, who helped me to pursue my passion in art. I had to learn the basic skills in art with him. I had not painted before in my life but with him I learned how to paint. I did not have any thoughts in my mind that I would create the art by my own hands. In California, I accidently met the French artist, Brigit Curt whose works have beautiful effects of the nature and gave me a feeling of realism. I actually liked the way she put down her brushstroke on the canvas. I decided to join her class to learn new ways to paint. She taught me how to paint the landscape from life but not from photos. She showed me how to use new media in a correct way. She is teaching me to a better artist. Second of all, the holidays in America are different from my home country, and they influenced my life. The first holiday was Thanksgiving Day. I never celebrated it in Ukraine. On Thanksgiving, I Thank God in my prayers for everything he gave the Mother Earth to survive. During the celebration, I had a bit of delicious turkey for the first time. The turkey was baked in the oven. I was impressed by the sweet taste of the turkey. The baked apples and dry grapes, and dry cranberries, and nuts, and slides of pineapple made the turkey so sweet and delicious. When I was eating the turkey, the crunchy noise came from my mouth. I could not imagine how long the process to make that dish was. The second holiday was Halloween. On that day, in New York, I went many times to the parade with my sister. I wore a rabbit costume in the parade, the big and long ears pointed out from my head and my whiskers were drawn all over my face. I never saw people or myself wearing costumes before. It had a strange feeling inside of me. I felt a little scared to watch them walking on the street they were taping feet on the ground and making a lot of noise. Also, I was squeezed tightly by the crowd. I did not have any space to move, but the parade was not too long. Also every time I celebrated it, I went to trick or treat with my friend or by myself and wore the same costume that I wore in the parade. I was very afraid to cross the street and go from house to house, because people in costumes or decorations could scare me. I gathered a lot of candies in my bag from different people. I did not have any thought that I would be a rabbit before. Also in California, I was invited to a Halloween party by my dance teacher. In the party, I danced with different partners. The costume that I wore was a witch. The black wig covered my head and the edges of the wig were pointed down. My red cape was dragging on the floor and made it hard for me to dance. I did not have any thought I would dance. I had a lot of fun dancing during the party. I learned the Party Dance at the party. I had a bit of delicious desserts and food from different cultures at the party. For example, sushi that was brought by Japanese, was so delicious. It was made from rice and seafood and fish and avocado. I never ate sushi before in my life. Third of all, the climate in California is different from my home country and New York. The climate in the New York is the same as my home country. Every month in California, I could plant vegetables and fruits in the backyard. I put away my warm clothes, such as warm knitted sweeter and gloves and the warm fluffy jacket and coat and boots. I was impressed in California that plants are always green even in cold weather. In my country, the house sometimes was not heated but here and in New York the houses and apartments have heat always, and heat makes my body warm. I couldn't go swimming in the ocean here because the temperature of the water in the ocean is modified by the upwelling of cold water along the California coast in summer time because of the transport of surface waters away from the shore by the northwest winds. I was surprised that people actually swim in cold water, but they wore special clothes to protect their body. In New York I could swim in the ocean.. In short, changes made me a better person by me adjusting to the people with different backgrounds and to the holidays, and to the climate. I am glad that I moved to America. Sometimes, I wonder if I am the same person I was before. However, I think of it as not having changed but as having grown.