My American dream I was born in Russia in a small, poor family. All my childhood I was watching American movies where people lived in their own big houses and all the members of their families had their own cars. At the same time, I lived with my mom in one room because we didn’t have another one, and of course we didn’t have a car. Only rich families had cars in the USSR (Russia). When I was 12, my best friend Sonya left me and moved to the US. I was very upset about our separation, but happy for her better life. We continued to write letters to each other and made a promise to meet one day. Unfortunately, I realized that I would never be able to fly to America because it was too expensive. But I didn’t lose hope that my friend would return to her homeland one day. Time passed. I met a man who had the same American dream. We started to travel a lot all over the world. We were still not rich. We didn’t have our own home or a car, but we shared one dream: the American dream. We saved money, found cheaper tickets and finally flew to America! My friend and I met in Las Vegas after 20 years. It was my birthday — the most incredible birthday. She flew from New York. She was pregnant and she left her 1 year old daughter at home with her husband. I met her with my family; my younger daughter was 8 months old. We hadn’t seen each other for such a long time, but our friendship continues. We sent letters, packages and messages when the internet appeared. And one day we finally met — we kept our childhood promise! Now my family has been living in the US for 2.5 years. But life here isn’t the same as I watched in American movies. Immigrant life is difficult and full of unexpected challenges. We all need to start our lives from the beginning: learn to speak, make friends, learn new skills to survive in a different culture. But I’m happy for this opportunity and I don’t want to give up. My American dream hasn’t happened yet, so I continue walking toward it. Ksenia is a student in the Advanced ESL class in the morning
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