Immigrant Experience Research Paper
Immigrant Experience
Alina Ibrahim
HIS/125
January 13, 2013
Matt Brickley
Immigrant Experience
I am a 36 year old woman from Czechoslovakia who migrated in 1900 to America from my home country with my husband and two young children. We are one of the few families that were lucky enough to come to America together. Once we arrived in America we made our way to Cleveland, Ohio where my distant cousins whose family migrated thirty years ago greeted us.
When I left what is now Czechoslovakia it was part of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy otherwise known as the Hapsburg Empire (Molinari, 2013). In our country there is very little economic opportunity because of the shortage of land. My husband and I come from farming families and …show more content…
As we came into New York Harbor we passed by Lady Liberty. I couldn’t help the tears that streamed down my face. My husband embraced me and we happily cried together. Our children could not understand why Otec (father) and Matka (mother) were crying. I was extremely excited but also very nervous about what we were about to go through to get through the Ellis Island Inspection Station.
Before we disembarked we were given a nametag with a number on it. I would later understand that this number was the ship’s manifest number that referred to each steerage passenger (The Immigrant Journey, 2012). We were divided into a group of about thirty that was assigned an interpreter and walked to the Registry Room. As we passed through the doors we were watched by a man who looked to be a doctor. I would also come to understand later that this man was watching for lameness or shuffling in passengers (The Immigrant Journey, …show more content…
My distant cousins whom I have never met welcomed us with open arms. I have not felt so much joy in such a long time. My cousins took us home to their little house with a garden. There is land next to theirs where in time we will build our own little house with a garden. This neighborhood full of fellow Czechs is on the west bank of the Cuyahoga River (Czechs, 2010). Cleveland has so many Czechs I feel as though I have never left home. I feel as though I am living in my old village. We are able to attend Catholic church services here in our native language as there are so many Catholic Czechs here (Czechs,
Alina Ibrahim
HIS/125
January 13, 2013
Matt Brickley
Immigrant Experience
I am a 36 year old woman from Czechoslovakia who migrated in 1900 to America from my home country with my husband and two young children. We are one of the few families that were lucky enough to come to America together. Once we arrived in America we made our way to Cleveland, Ohio where my distant cousins whose family migrated thirty years ago greeted us.
When I left what is now Czechoslovakia it was part of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy otherwise known as the Hapsburg Empire (Molinari, 2013). In our country there is very little economic opportunity because of the shortage of land. My husband and I come from farming families and …show more content…
As we came into New York Harbor we passed by Lady Liberty. I couldn’t help the tears that streamed down my face. My husband embraced me and we happily cried together. Our children could not understand why Otec (father) and Matka (mother) were crying. I was extremely excited but also very nervous about what we were about to go through to get through the Ellis Island Inspection Station.
Before we disembarked we were given a nametag with a number on it. I would later understand that this number was the ship’s manifest number that referred to each steerage passenger (The Immigrant Journey, 2012). We were divided into a group of about thirty that was assigned an interpreter and walked to the Registry Room. As we passed through the doors we were watched by a man who looked to be a doctor. I would also come to understand later that this man was watching for lameness or shuffling in passengers (The Immigrant Journey, …show more content…
My distant cousins whom I have never met welcomed us with open arms. I have not felt so much joy in such a long time. My cousins took us home to their little house with a garden. There is land next to theirs where in time we will build our own little house with a garden. This neighborhood full of fellow Czechs is on the west bank of the Cuyahoga River (Czechs, 2010). Cleveland has so many Czechs I feel as though I have never left home. I feel as though I am living in my old village. We are able to attend Catholic church services here in our native language as there are so many Catholic Czechs here (Czechs,