Summary:
Provides the details of an interview with a recent immigrant from Kuwait. Describes his journey to America, the culture shock experienced, and the challenges of learning to live in a foreign country.
The immigrant that I am interviewing is name is David Ibrahim. He was born in Kuwait in the year of 1960. The country that David was born in was the Middle East. When he came to America, he was only 27 years old and it was in 1987. The homeland that David lived in was peaceful, great and everyone knew each other. The language that he spoke was Arabic. The community was different when he came to this country. There were not many cars in Kuwait, the crime was low, the food was different and the schools were not the same. The schools in Kuwait are all boys' school; the girls are not allowed to go to school with boys because of religious reasons. Food that David eats was the same food he still eats in America. The people in the Middle East dress differently than Americans do. The women in Kuwait wear a scarf over their heads because of religious reasons. If the women are Muslim, then she would wear a scarf, but if she was not Muslim, then she does not need to. The men are regular, their just the men in America, they dress the same. The only thing that David misses about his homeland is his family, friend and all the good times he had in Kuwait. The reason that David left his country is because he got accepted to a green card that sends him to America. It is also because he has finished college and he wanted to make money. His trip to the United States was really wonderful. When David arrived to America, he could not believe he actually made it to America, he was really exited and wanted to do everything the first day. The obstacles that David has to face were he had to overcome his language so can learn English for his job. Before David came to the United States, he thought people were going to look at him in a different way. He thought people would hate him. There is not a big difference in his homeland except for the homes and down town.
When David arrived to America he experience going into a really big mall which had a lot of stores to go to. It was different when he came to America because he did not expect a lot of places to go. In Kuwait, there is not much to do, but in America there are too many things to do. The only challenges David had to experience been that there are a lot of different cultures and religion. David had to learn English as he came to the U.S. His eating habits did not change, they stayed the same. The dress style stayed the same, the way he would relate to his family and friend also stayed the same. He did not need to change the way he learned because he was 28 years old. The only challenges learning English has done to David was the big vocabulary words. His parents did not speak English, only Arabic. David will not use his native language because that will stay with him forever. The Discrimination David had to face was after 9/11, he never had problems like that in Kuwait. It made him feel like he was not welcome. To overcome the prejudice, David just ignored everything. The advice that David gives out is don't make mistakes and mind your own business.
To "be an American" means to David is to have freedom. David does not feel American; he feels he is still from the Middle East. David believes that someone can change there culture to fit in America because anyone can change their lives. David does believe a person could be "an American" and still retain his/her native culture. The reason is because you can apply for an American citizen and then you can be American.
The United States needs to have immigration laws. It is important to have laws limiting the number of immigration who can enter the United States. The reason is because if there were too many people, there would be problems with shortages in housing, employment and natural resources. The United States should restrict immigration now and the future. The U.S. should not have an open-door policy because you do not know who will come in; a terrorist might come in without us knowing about it.
This is the complete article, containing 731 words
(approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page).
