`One year living in America'

By Yeon Kyung Jung
Published: Tuesday, May 5, 1998

This last year has been very special for me - one year living in America.

I was extraordinarily sensitive to cold when I came to Dayton. That cold was from being unfamiliar and feeling strange. I couldn't hear and speak English, so I couldn't understand others and I couldn't communicate.

Americans, their looks and food and culture and history, are very different from ours. I must pay attention to the food smells from my mouth whenever I go out, because our spices are very strong and very strange to Americans. I didn't know how to operate the gas pump in a gas station. And I broke into a sweat to take out money from a cash machine. I was so surprised when I saw a lot of items in the grocery store; I didn't know what to choose, how to choose. Another trouble was units, weight, length, temperature, distance. The units that we use are different from Americans' units, so I got confused and converted into our units. Also, I had to learn the American monetary units. At first, because I got confused using coins, I only used paper money, so I always had a lot of coins in my purse. I had a lot of things to learn. That was like an assignment for me to solve.

Through traveling to many places, I have learned that the world is so wide and varied. I can't forget the majestic Grand Canyon and the endlessly opened Mojave Desert, and the beautiful Niagara Falls. Those were big surprises which I had not experienced.

Spending many holidays - St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Independence Day, Halloween Thanksgiving, Christmas - and being associated with so many people, I've gotten familiar with American culture and Americans.

Particularly joining Full Circle was very helpful and interesting for my family. Full Circle is a family program. My tutor, Anne (Hutchinson), visits my home to teach me and my kids, I attend parents' group meeting once a week, and there I can meet friends from many other countries. That is very interesting. Sometimes we cook, we discuss important subjects, we read books and we have parties also. My tutor helps me not only learning English but also living in this country. She can always understand my English the best. She said that I can understand your words from the heart. We shopped, watched movies, had dinners and talked about music and poems together. She sometimes makes me surprised and happy. She is always fun to be with. She is a very smart and warm-hearted and pretty woman. She is a very good teacher and my best American friend.

Another tutor of mine, Ferne Neeb, acts like my mother. She is 72 years old, but she is very innocent like a child. She is very kind and thoughtful. I love her voice and her artistic handwriting and her big heart.

I have two children, one boy and one girl. My son, Moon Sung, is in fourth grade, and my daughter, Moon Young, is in second grade. The first day of school, I worried whether they would enjoy school or not. But after school when I saw my children's bright faces I was happy and my mind was set at ease. They talked about so many things: their teachers, their friends, the school building, the yellow bus, the bus driver.

Moon Young talked about her classmate, Megan, who has brown hair and looks pretty. She is very kind and she always helps Moon Young with everything. Her teacher was very kind to her, and other kids are kind to her too. The other children have blonde hair and brown hair and white faces. My daughter is not white, and she does not have blonde hair. She said that they are prettier than she is. I said that's OK, you are enough pretty. I think you are the prettiest girl in the world.

My children made friends. They love their teachers, and they are enjoying school very much. They are learning English very ell. I think my children have had new experiences in their own way. They are enjoying living in America too. I had a job when I was in Korea, so I couldn't share much time with my family, but now I don't have a job. Most of all, I like to be with my family most of the time.

I love the bright smiles and laughing sounds of people. I was impressed with the kindness of Americans. They always say "thank you," "sorry," "hello," and "excuse me." This is very impressive to me. I love it.

Once, when my friends and I had a small car crash, some people passing in a car stopped and called the police and helped and comforted us. They behaved as if they had that accident. And my husband lost his electronic memo book in an airplane. After two weeks he received it by mail. He yelled, "America is a very good country!" The electronic memo book is very important for him because he puts everything in it. Northwest Airlines sent it to him.

I admire the educational system and the infrastructure of American society. If have realized that America has a much more developed system and modernized culture. I have tried to think what's the reason why Americans have been able to make marvelous progress in a couple of centuries although my country has several thousand years of history. I want to learn more about America and its history.

Now I have found common points from Americans. Their feelings and morals and basic good sense are the same for the most part as ours. My English is still very poor, but I've got recourse to saying "pardon me?" when I can't understand others. I think my life in America must be a bonus that God has permitted to me. Thanks to God for giving me a valuable experience, and thanks to warm-hearted Americans. While I stay here, I will live my own life the very best I can.

`The first man in my life'

By Shahrazad Kablan
Published: Tuesday, May 5, 1998

I always think about him, with his beautiful smile, his soft voice, and his humble attitude, especially when the snow is falling softly on the ground. He wished he could see snow, but he never had the chance. He had gray eyes and white hair. He was tall, well-built, very fair, and his face was covered with freckles. You could see the wisdom in his face. His face showed that he went through a life full of happy and sad days. He had his share of joy and sorrow. He lost both his parents when he was a small child. His father died in the war, and his mother passed away shortly after. He was raised by his brother.

He grew up in Egypt. He finished only fourth grade and worked at many different jobs. First he worked as a carpenter. Later, he started selling sheep and camels between Egypt and Libya. Then he changed his business and started importing fabric from China. After that he developed a big business in sewing fine fabrics. His company became the best in its field.

As was the custom in my home country at that time, he had two wives. They gave him great joy and a large loving family. This wonderful man I am telling you about was my beloved father. He possessed all the wonderful qualities anyone could wish for in a parent. He was the father of 23 children. I was number fifteen. When I was born, he was about 55 years old.

I remember him being a kind and loving person. He took great pleasure in helping his extended family and the community around him. He donated money to build a mosque, he opened his home to the needy, and he supported education in many ways.

Even though he only finished fourth grade, he loved books and education, and he always encouraged and pushed us to finish our college education. I remember him often telling us that the world respects only educated people. His love of education was really amazing. He believed that if people are educated there will be no hate or greed, and everyone will be nice to each other. I remember him encouraging people to have parent group organization meetings for school in his own house.

Despite the fact that I had to share him with all the people around him I developed a beautiful relationship with him. He loved literature, politics and history. From him I got my love of reading. I was named after the character Shahrazad in a book he loved, A Thousand and One Nights. He used to ask me to read to him all the time. It was a special thing to me. I loved it, and it was a give-and-take situation. He got to listen to a story or a poem, and I got to practice my reading. He used to call me "the educated one." And when I would finish reading to him, he would recite a line from A Thousand and One Nights , the book I got my name from, "And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say."

I remember a very happy childhood and adolescence. But a wave disturbed the calm water. My oldest brother, Hussein, was very dear to me. He was like a second father. When I was eighteen, Hussein went on a car trip one day to attend a funeral. He never came back alive. He was to take over as the head of the family. His loss was the saddest moment in our family's life. That event really changed my perspective on life, and it was a great tragedy for my father. After that we didn't sit and read anymore.

In the summer of 1994, I left my country with my husband and my son and came to America. That was the last day I saw my father. On Jan. 3, 1995, my father passed away. He was 77 years old. I didn't have the chance to see him and embrace him and say goodbye to him. It was a very painful experience for me, but I keep telling myself that I have all these beautiful memories of him, and I can carry on his beliefs of a happy and safe world.

Now I have a wonderful husband and two kids of my own. I enjoy playing with my kids in the Ohio snow, sledding and throwing snowballs at each other. While we play, I think how wonderful it is to carry on the dream of someone I love so much. I hope one day my kids will remember me and their father the way I remember my father.