ESL Brings You The World 2014 by Rick McKinnon

ESL Students Bring You the World Volume 14

Essays, Stories & Cultural Insights South Puget Sound Community College English as a Second Language Department Spring 2014 Sponsored by Services and Activities Fees

Dear Reader, Although the students in the English as a Second Language program at South Puget Sound Community College come from all over the world, their common experiences and dedication to learning English bring them together. As teachers, we are honored to have students who are so caring, and so interested in learning. We hope you draw as much inspiration from reading their stories as we have. About 160 students from 42 countries have shared their stories here. The stories are organized alphabetically by country. Student biographies are listed in the About the Authors section at the end of the book. Students of the following ESL instructors contributed to this volume: Crystal Ashley Heather De Munn Deborah Dohrmann Kathy Miller Heather Williams Julie Williamson A special thanks to Services and Activities Fees for sponsoring this publication. Commenting on the diversity of people and beliefs that make up the United States, former U.S. President (1977‐81) and 2002 Nobel Peace Prize Recipient Jimmy Carter said: “We have become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic.” Cover design by Edgar Martinez

TABLE OF CONTENTS

BELARUS…………………………………………………………………… BRAZIL.......................................................................... CAMBODIA.................................................................... CAMEROON................................................................... CHILE........................................................................... CHINA.......................................................................... COLOMBIA.................................................................... CUBA........................................................................... DOMINICAN REPUBLIC..................................................... ECUADOR...................................................................... EL SALVADOR................................................................. ERITREA........................................................................ ETHIOPIA...................................................................... FRANCE........................................................................ GERMANY..................................................................... GUATEMALA................................................................. HAITI........................................................................... HONDURAS................................................................... INDIA........................................................................... IRAN............................................................................ JAPAN.......................................................................... JORDAN....................................................................... KYRGYZSTAN................................................................. LIBERIA........................................................................ LIBYA........................................................................... MEXICO........................................................................ MICRONESIA.................................................................. MONGOLIA.................................................................... MYANMAR.................................................................... PERU............................................................................ PHILIPPINES...................................................................

5 5 6 9 9

10 15 16 17 17 18 19 20 20 20 21 23 24 24 26 28 28 28 30 31 31 49 49 50 51 52

RUSSIA......................................................................... 52 SENEGAL....................................................................... 53 SOUTH KOREA................................................................ 54 SUDAN.......................................................................... 62 SYRIA............................................................................ 63 TAIWAN......................................................................... 65 THAILAND...................................................................... 67 TIBET............................................................................. 70 UKRAINE........................................................................ 70 VENEZUELA.................................................................... 72 VIETNAM....................................................................... 72

ABOUT THE AUTHORS....................................................... 81

BELARUS HOW MY FAMILY CELEBRATES A BELARUS HOLIDAY By Maryan Rubel Many people have relatives and friends in the village. On holidays and weekends they go to the village to visit. They go hunt,fishing and picnics. They help old relatives in the garden and farm. People in the village have about 2.5 acres of land and keep farm animals. People who live in a city have dacha (little house). It is a garden in the suburbs where they grow flowers, fruit and vegetables. So they spend their free time at dacha. Young people like to go to parks, rivers and lakes, library, theatre and café. In the evening they go to movie, concerts and sport event. MY FAMILY By Valentina Rubel My name Valentina. My husband’s name is Maryan. We live in Belarus. We have one daughter. Her name Natasha. She is married. Her husband’s name is Alex. They have three children. They are boys. They eleven year living in USA. My very bored without grandsons. They very cute, nice. We have 6 months to live Olympia. We help the house and help look children. BRAZIL BEING OPEN TO CHANGES By Neuzanir Silva Thirteen years ago, I decided to move here from Brazil, because here I will be having more opportunities. My biggest concern was leaving my son in Brazil, but I know he was in good hands with my mother and sisters. I lived in Florida and Connecticut, but here my life started to change, began to live the American dream after a lot of work and reward. My cousin sold her house cleaning business to me. I did not speak English, because of that I had many difficulties. I rented an apartment and I was living by myself. More than 4 months I could not make friends, what made me feel very lonely. My big

concern was not speak and understand my customers, I always needed friends to help me talking with them. When I started going to a Hispanic church, I met a women group did not speak English too. A sister in Jesus’ name offered to give English classes at my house. Our life began to change as we begin learning and communicating with the people. That was the greatest beginning. Today, I can talk with my customers, I can make new interviews and answer questions about my work. I can write an address, pay my bills, go to the bank and medical appointments, talking by phone, finally I can do all by myself. Some things I learned in my journey: ‐‐Never forget who you are and where you came from ‐‐All honest work has honor ‐‐Always do your best ‐‐Don’t just wait for help, you need to help too ‐‐Never lose your goal, the difficulties make you stronger Today, I know my biggest goal was completed. I have a better future for me and my son, I have a hope. Thanks God for staying with me always, the friends and people that helped me in my most difficulties. Something else I have to say is: God bless America!

BRAZIL By Mayara Souza My name is Mayara. I’m from Brazil. Always dreamed of living in the USA. I’m here working and studying. I have two children who are in Brazil. Brazil is a beautiful country. Great people, but as well there a lot of problems. America is a country of opportunities. I love America and forever live in the USA. CAMBODIA I APPRECIATE LIVING HERE By Siem Chhun I come to church every Sunday. I walk in the church and see a lot of people and I see a lot of the pictures on the wall. All the people in the church are very nice. We come to the church every Sunday and my daughter goes to Sunday school. The church is near to the capitol state building. There is a park with a fountain. In the summer time people come to play volleyball and have barbeque, drink beer and eat barbeque cooking. It is downtown near to farmer’s market near the water. In the United States

we have the best place. The people are very nice. I have a job. We are citizens and we can vote. We have freedom. In my country we don’t have these things. MY DIFFICULT ROAD By Kry El Actually I was a student of pedagogy university in one province that is not too far from the capital city of Cambodia. But before I graduated and approached my goal to find a good job I had to pass two tests. First I had to pass the exam in class and second I had to pass training test by teaching students at school. To start our training, I have to form a group with my friends for 3 people. We also have to prepare our lesson plan to teach. There were four old teachers sit behind our students who we call jury. They will judge us and help us too. While we are teaching we try to show our skill, technique, attitude, body language, speaking and how we connect with our students. We did that job in a very hard time because it was our new experience and we have face with juries. At the end we got a very nice result and after a few months later I got a job and I was happy. Since my first year I got a lot of support from my students and school supervisor. Finally I love my job very much because it brings me good life and good experience. HAIRCUT CELEBRATION FOR BABIES By Juwariah My topic is about celebrating a baby. I’m writing about cultural tradition and religion. In my religion they celebrate when a baby is 7 days old or 14 days old but most people celebrate their babies on 7 days old. That name in Arabic means to celebrate a haircut for the babies. Before they slaughter a cow or a lamb, or rooster, they have to shave a baby’s hair first. When they start to slaughter a poultry they have to give a baby their name at that time. If a baby is girl they slaughter 1 lamb or cow and if a baby is boy they slaughter 2 lambs or cow but the most people slaughter lamb because lamb is cheaper. After that they put the baby on a tray and they sit around a baby tray and one man starts reading the Quran. Then the person who is reading has to dip one finger in the honey, coconut juice, water and put in a baby’s mouth and 7 kinds of sweet fruit with small piece dip in a baby’s mouth and put all new clothes on a baby and jewelry if a baby is girl but all of this depends on the families who can buy a cow or lamb or jewelry. If they don’t have money to buy it, that is okay. They can slaughter 4 or 6 roosters but they must be sure the roosters can scream AAOUK. If the rooster doesn’t scream yet, they won’t slaughter it yet because we believe that God won’t accept it.

MY LIFE IN THE USA By Sophea Sim I was really happy when I found out that I was coming to the USA. I first day in the USA, I was scared to stay home by myself when my husband went to work. The next day I looked out the windows as tears fell down from my eyes. I missed my family in Cambodia and I asked myself why I came here. My husband was always so sweet to me. He would tell me things that make me realize why I want to live in USA. He told me that life will get better when I go to school and have a job. The next month I

HOW MY FAMILY CELEBRATES SOME HOLIDAYS By Sopra Set Things I miss about my country so much. Now I have story in the my country “Happy New Year”. My family parties for three days. My family is very happy. I came the United States because I got married I came to my husband. KHMER APSARA DANCING By Ravya Setha Apsara is one of the oldest Khmer traditional dancing styles gone back to Angkor Empire in the ninth century. Apsara dancing is symbol of Khmer culture and civilization. Because of the popularity of Apsara dancing, in November 2003 it has been place into the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). There are three special things about Khmer Apsara dancing: the performance time, the custom, and the difficulty to learn. Apsara dancing is not commonly performed. It’s only show on a very special occasion and especially in the Royal Palace for the King and other high government officials. But sometimes Apsara performed at another important event such as: welcoming ambassadors from other countries, Khmer New Year, and special dedication of a government ceremony. The Apsara dancers are all female. They wear golden headdresses with a white flower, silken fit top and long skirts, and a lot of jewelry on both arms and ankles. The Apsara dancers always carry the golden flowers. Apsara dancing is performing with Khmer Traditional Music instruments. It is very difficult to learn because it has so many movements with flexible hands, back, and body. Every day the dancers are require to learn how to make flexible of their body, hands, back, and feet. The dancers start learning as early as seven years old and the class can be found at The Royal University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh. This ancient Apsara dancing is still performed as of today. If you visit Cambodia you can see the live show of Apsara dancing at Khmer Cultural Center Village and the Apsara sculptures on the wall of Angkor Wat temple in Siem Reap province.

began taking ESL class at South Puget Sound Community College. I made three new friends that also came from Cambodia. All of them came from Cambodia and they understand my situation. It made me happy to realize that I’m not alone, and now I have friends that understand me. Now I live in a nice house, drive nice cars, and work in a place that I like. I’m going back to school to improve my English, so I can get a better job. I’m glad that I decided to stay in the USA. Now I have two beautiful sons and a handsome husband that loves me really much. CAMEROON MY STORY FROM A VILLAGE TO AMERICA By Bako Danpullo When I was 4, I lived in a village with my parents and we moved to town. We liked living in town better than the village. I started taking care of my parents’ cattle when I was 12 years old. I took them to go and eat grass and drink. When I started school at first it was so difficult for me. I started learning slowly. In 1995, I was in my native country and I was planning to come to America but getting a visa was difficult and in 2000 I was about to come to America. I started my visa application. In 2001, finally my visa was accepted and I came to America. CHILE WETRIPANTU By Hardy Carcamo In Chile the most important group of native people is the Mapuche. Mapuche means People of the Earth. The Mapuche have many important ceremonies, but the “Wetripantu” marks the renewal of the cycles of nature. “Wetripantu” in Mapudungun language is "New Sunrise" and this name means the Mapuche New Year. The Mapuche ancestral science came to determine the date of Wetripantu guided by the observation of the stars in the sky. One group of stars is called “Gul poñy” ‐ lot of potatoes or hen with her chicks (the Pleiades). On that particular night you can see these stars near the ground. They have believed that this group of stars plus the moon (Kuyen) influences the movement of the water. Another element to know this day is coming is the presence of morning sunrise (Wunelfe) has influence on the flora,

when plants and trees show their new leaves (Choyiñ). Finally, with the return of the sun (Antu) who renews wisdom (Kimun) and vital energy (Newen), all these elements connect the Mapuche with the mother earth (Ňuke Mapu). The Wetripantu is celebrated on June 24 but may change in some communities because of the lunar calendar. I like and respect the Mapuche people in particular because they have given identity and awareness to nature, something that is not easy to obtain in many countries and cultures. CHINA MOVING TO THE UNITED STATES By Biying Chen I came to the United States on December 22, 2005 with my son. When we arrived here, the weather was cold and raining. Three days later it was Christmas. We went to my husband’s parents’ home for Christmas. I was very nervous to meet his parents and family, because I couldn’t speak any English . I also did not understand when they talked. So if I needed to speak English, I had to use hand gestures or a translator. I also was afraid because I didn’t know American culture and customs. Finally, I didn’t know our neighbors. A few weeks later, I felt very bored. Every day it rained and rained and rained. I couldn’t go anywhere, because I didn’t have any friends and family here. I couldn’t drive a car, and missed my family very much. The first month was very hard for me. However, I told myself I was going to adapt to the new environment. Now, I have lived here for nine years. I like it here very much. I like the clean air, and the summer and spring weather. I have many friends and family here. I’ve studied ESL class to learn English and meet my classmates. I love the people and my life in the United States. THE MIAO VILLAGE GIRLS By Yao Qun St Johnson I started my teaching career in Hai Nan, China in August 1969. That year, I was only 17 year old. There are many stories which I cannot forget that happened at that time. China has 56 nationalities. Miao is one of them. There was an aboriginal Miao village near Yong Zhong School which combined the little schools of production teams 13, 16, and 17. I was a teacher in it beginning in1973.

After 3 little schools merged into Yong Zhong School, I was in charge of the first level. I could teach them to learn Chinese, math, music, drawing, physical education, etc. My students were from three kinds of families: the local, the Han from the mainland, and the local Miao. I discovered all students who were from Miao nationality were boys. It was very strange. “Why?” I asked teacher Deng who was a Miao. He told me this was a tradition in the Miao village; the girls were not allowed into school. I was so surprised. Why? Mao Ze Dong had already led us to establish the new China 24 years before in 1949. Why were the girls here not allowed into school? This was not equality for them. I thought this over and decided to talk with the school headmaster. The other teachers stuck by me and we talked with headmaster together. I said I knew this was a tradition in the Miao village and breaking the tradition would be very difficult. Could we try? We never know if we do not try. The headmaster analyzed what our difficulties would be. Our challenges were these. First, we did not know which family had school age girls. Second, we did not know how we could find the way to each family which had girls not in school. Last one, we did not understand the Miao language, how could we do anything in the Miao village? We were all talking at once. It would be easy to find the families with girls not in school, because teacher Deng knew. He could collect the names for us. We could separate into a few groups to visit the families. The Miao boy students would lead us into Miao village. How about language? We could not talk with the parents in Mandarin. I said no problem, some students understood Mandarin and also spoke the local Hai Nan language, Miao boys students understood Hai Nan language too. We would bring some of both kinds of students with us. They would help us translate the Miao language to the Hai Nan language, and then translate the Hai Nan language to Mandarin. We understood Mandarin. After some days, we visited the Miao village. We talked with parents door by door. I remember that time; the whole Miao village was lively, bustling with noise and happy excitement. The Miao kids followed us where ever we went. Some of them were so shy, they tried stick out their hands to shake hands with us, but they took back their hands when we stuck out our hands. They always smiled at us. Some of them learned what we said in Mandarin. We talked with parents hoping they would allow their girls to go to school. We slowly talked about the government’s policies; the children of minority nationalities did not need to pay any bill in school. In the new times, boys and girls were equal. The girls would be wives, would be mothers. We believed you do not hope your children would not have good quality life. We gave courage to parents. We encouraged them to break the tradition and set up a new tradition in their village.

Finally, there were 8 Miao girls who came to school. They were in my classroom. I arranged for them to sit in the first row where I could easily give them extra help. The Miao students were very nice to me. They called me “Dun Tie”. This is Miao language for “teacher”. They worked extra hard on their studies. To help them, I bought some exercise books and pencils using my income. I was so happy when I watched their faces that were so happy, so joyful. I felt their hearts were comfortable. They looked forward to a new life. To go to school to study was the first step in their new life. More than 40 years later, the voice “Dun Tie” from Miao’s children still sounds around my ears. I am grateful for that time. The life in that time told me that to break the old tradition required courage. But we stuck together, we got success. HOW I FACED MY JOB IN THE USA By Jie Li I immigrated to the USA three and a half years ago. I quit my job in my country and started a new life in the USA. The second language was hard for me after I came here. So I didn't have extravagant hopes to find a job. I majored in accounting and I had worked 23 years in my country. I was promoted to financial manager and had good work experience. But my English was not good so it was very hard for me to find a fit job in the USA. I knew I would face a challenge for my job in the USA. I kept learning English. I hoped I could get a job maybe someday. I am lucky that I met our Chinese friend. He was looking for someone to work for his company. I got an interview and learned about this job. I was glad because I could communicate by Chinese. It was easy to get the job, but I was afraid because I faced a challenge with my second language. I worried it could influence my work. The boss knew my English was not good, but he encouraged me and pushed me to use English to do work. The international trade is a new field for me. I needed to learn new business rather than the same as my accountant profession. I have faced many difficulties on the job because of my second language and new knowledge. I need to handle some files to send email to some agents and track our cargo. I must write the message to send email by English. It is relatively easy. The hardest is making a call with our agent. I never used English to call someone. The first time I held the phone with a shaking hand. I couldn't say anything after the phone call was put through by me. It was too much pressure for me. I thought I must overcome my nervous mood. First I wrote some sentences then I called again. But I must listen carefully at the same time when I call someone. I overcame speaking English and challenged my listening English. Even now I know I cannot fluently express myself with English, but I am not nervous when I call someone in English and someone can

understand my meaning. The boss has pushed me and helped me when I have some questions. I know at the job that the English is the most challenging for me. Because I had done management work many years I had experience to face my new work. So far my work experience has helped me much more than my English. But my job helped me to improve my English, too. I learned a lot of English in ESL class; if I couldn't use it or I didn't work I still wouldn't have improved my second language. I have worked hard and grown up in the USA. The boss is so satisfied with my work that he will turn to me in more new businesses in the future. I always think that when I faced my first job, I not only got a job but more importantly to learned how to work with English for my job. I understand America more through my first job. I must learn English for my job, too. My first job led to me a new career in the USA. SPRING FESTIVAL By Yun Xia Luan My name is Yun Xia Luan. I come from China. The biggest festival in China is the spring festival. This is a traditional holiday. All the family has more food and fireworks. Every member of family joins a happy dinner together. At midnight of last night of Chinese New Year’s people light fireworks on the street as the New Year begins. ABOUT HOSPITALS By Howard Wang In China, the hospital is not important for people surviving. But in different countries there are dissimilar processes for hospitals, maybe easy or difficult ways. When you go to a Chinese hospital to see a doctor it is easy and convenient. You do not need to make an appointment. You do not need to fill out any information. You only pay registration fee and get an order number. You can stay in the waiting room and the nurse will call you to see the doctor. This is different from America. Besides, when you have an emergency, you can see a doctor as soon as possible. Example: In May 2006, my wife and I visited my mother in China. There was one day, I got a fish bone in my throat when we had lunch. We went to the hospital. First, we paid registration fee. Then we went to the doctor’s office. He took the fish bone out right away. It was taken out in five minutes. Seeing the doctor is difficult in America. But, I tried hard to adapt to that. Because, I am a citizen and my family lives here. So, I need to improve my English. Now I go to SPSCC for learning ESL. I learn to make an appointment and fill out a lot of information for seeing the doctor. Then, I must fit in the process of hospital and I have to use my English, speaking about medical problems.

FLOUR FOOD By Li Ping Woo In China, there are lots of delicious food. My hometown is in northern China and our main food is flour. That's very different then the southern part of China. The foods that are made of flour are dumplings, noodles and cakes. The most popular food is dumplings. Everyone love it and we can make all kind of dumplings. You can put in vegetables, meats, seafoods‐everything you want. When the spring Festival comes, all of family members make dumplings together. It's a happy feeling with the dumplings. I always think of this feeling when I moved in America. The second one is noodles. We like hand‐made noodles. It's more delicious and elastic. In Chinese style, we always eat noodles at time of birthday. This represents that will live longer. We also like to eat noodles at ordinary times, because it can save time and it nutritious too. The last one is cakes. There are usually two ways to make cakes. One way is add water and eggs in flour, mix them together and fry it. The other way is similar to make dumplings, but it's round and bigger than dumplings, and then fry it too. When cake is ready, you can see beautiful golden crust. It's tastes amazing, crispy and sweet with juicy filling. If you try one you can't stop the mouth. When I get homesick, I always make some flour food. That will make me feel better. I love my hometown and I love my hometown food too！ CHINESE NEW YEAR By Ji Ya Li Xu ‐ Serena The Chinese New Year is very important tradition for the Chinese people and different from some other countries. Some other countries New Year’s Day is January 1. We have one different calendar. We call it lunation. In the lunar calendar, January is always later about one month than the other calendar. So, the Chinese New Year may be at the end of January or February. On this day, people make themselves up very beautiful and have hope since when this new day comes, they can have good luck. The elders will put some money in a red envelope and give it to children. It means it hopes children have good luck and happiness. In the afternoon, people will gather in the parents’ home and will celebrate and prepare food for the night. Fish and dumplings are necessary for the Chinese New Year. Fish means every year you will have more than enough to spend. Dumplings mean good luck and riches. When it is 8:00 p.m., people enjoy eating with the family. At 12:00 a.m., people set‐off firework displays and will call the relatives and friends and say “Guo Nian Hao”!

COLOMBIA TRUE LOVE By Jessica Hernandez I was born in a small town in Colombia and I love it there. I have a lot of friends and family there, and I was great growing up in that place. When I was 15, I moved to Spain to live with my dad. I finished my high school th and lived there for three years. For my 19 birthday my sister decided to invite me over for a few months to the States, and so that is how I got here. My sister and her husband lived on a military base. One day I was introduced to a friend of my brother‐in‐law. After a month of meeting we started dating and it was great, he is a good man. But after four months of being here it was already time for me to go back to Spain. That is when my boyfriend decided to ask me if I wanted to marry him because he didn’t want us to be apart. I felt really bad because I had to return to Spain and did not want to go. But when he asked me if I wanted to marry him, I was very happy and said yes! and obviously I stayed here. Now I have been happily married for 5 years. MY FIRST STEPS IN THE USA By Kate Marin A. Since some months ago I have been thinking it will be a good experience to know other places, cultures, and improve my English but I am finishing my bachelor´s degree so it is not a good time to do it; but what is happening? Why I can´t let it go? Today while I am at the University I see some agencies promoting their cultural exchange programs and I cannot resist taking a look at those, but I do not have enough time so I just collect the information. Sitting on my bed I glance over the brochures, I see there are some interesting options, but it is better if my parents help to me to make a decision, I trust them. As I tell them my thoughts they look happy and interested in what I am saying; I was sure they wouldn´t like the idea, but to my surprise they are so excited and they do like one specific program and tell me to ask for more information. I do as I’m told. This program looks good and dependable, and I have decided to go forward with it. After two months since I started all my paperwork to travel to the USA I am finally here, at SFO International Airport. I cannot believe I am in a foreign place, where they don´t even speak my mother tongue, OMG I am far away from my family and friends. What did I do? What was I thinking? I am freaking out but I cannot get a flight back to

my country, no yet at least. While I walk all the way to the baggage claim I hear someone calling me “Katherine” they said but with a strange accent. They are my host family who already have my suit case and they are looking at me with a big smile on their face, I feel happy to see them even though I don´t know them well. They hug me and tell me lot of things that I do not understand, then they show me different beautiful places that according to them I will know later, but I am so nervous and I can’t concentrate on their words. They seem like good people and the baby girl I am going to take care of is so cute and well behaved. To live in a different country is not easy at all, but I won´t be here too long so I try to do everything that makes me happy; I have met great people around this place and I have made wonderful friends too, I am so happy, this place is amazing I am in love with everything I see and I have here. I feel blessed because thanks to this experience I have had time to know myself. I am surprised to know all things that I able to do, now I know what I want to and how to do get it. During these last months, I have tasted a lot of different kind of food I have never thought I´ll try, I have talked with people around the world speaking a language that´s not my first language, I have done things I was afraid to do, and I have restarted other things I stopped doing for a while. I realize I was spending time in no relevant things, but now I know I can do lot of fun things and that I am able to do whatever I want, if I really want to. Although it has not been the easiest thing I´ve ever done, I feel good for making the decision of this adventure. It reminds me I am alive and I have lot of things to do during my life, and every day I remind to myself it is just the beginning… CUBA FROM CUBA TO THE UNITED STATES By Jose Carrion I was born in Cuba on March 24, 1963. My hometown is Santiago de Cuba. In 2005 I came to the United States with my wife. She’s an American. I am very happy to live in this Country because: First, I had the privilege to learn a new language, meet people from different cultures, and make a lot of friends. Second, I continue my life as a dance teacher and created my own company of dance and music, “Jose Carrion And Todo Folklor Cubano,” so I can bring the opportunity for other people to know and enjoy the flavor of my culture. For those reasons, I love living here.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC VISITING A SPECIAL PLACE IN MY COUNTRY By Farah Simo I visited the THREE EYES CAVE with my family almost ten years ago. I went there when I lived in Santo Domingo. It was a Saturday morning, my family and I woke up early and my father drove us there. It was a historic and wonderful experience for my family and me. The national park is a cavern that has three lakes with fresh water. The lakes are named: Aguas azufradas, La nevera and El lago de las damas. Inside the cave the lakes connect and people can travel in little boats. This Dominican national park was used for the “Tarzan” show. We can find a great variety of fish and bats. It is one of the most beautiful natural wonders of my country. I would like to return one day and allow my children to live this wonderful experience. ECUADOR GALAPAGOS By Susana Mino Galapagos islands are the most beautiful islands in the world. The Galapagos Islands are located in Ecuador, South America. Galapagos Islands are located two hours from Ecuador. You can't imagine how beautiful it is. There are many beaches. The water is so clear and warm and the sand is soft. In the Galapagos Islands, you can find many species of animals. The iguanas walk around you. You can see a lot seals everywhere there. They always play together. The people walk around the seal but the seal aren't afraid the people. The air is so fresh. You can find many marine animals in the water. You can see huge turtles and more tiny turtles. When you go to the ocean, you can enjoy any kind the fish swimming around you. The Galapagos Islands has some rules. You can't use any kind the lotion, perfume, sanitizer or make‐up. Do not remove any plants, animals including shell bones and pieces of wood or other natural objects. Do not bring any food to the islands. Make sure do not touch any kind the animals. Do not handle, feed or chase the animal. THREE MONTHS IN PARADISE By Ginger Macías Mosquera Argentinians like to remind you that the Pope is Argentinian. Brazilians are quick to reply that God might be Brazilian. We Ecuadoreans are proud to say that Paradise is

in Ecuador. Nowhere else on earth can you see such a diverse geography, nature, and mix of cultures as you can in Ecuador. This essay is about the three months I spent in Ecuador last winter. I haven’t been back to my home country in about four years and my trip last winter felt like I was truly going back to Paradise. My trip to Ecuador started on January 10th when I landed in Quito, 9,400 feet above sea level. It was a sunny day and it was easy to see from the sky the volcanos that dot the Ecuadorean Andes. My brother picked me up and drove us south toward Guayaquil through the same mountains I’ve seen from the air. After six hours we arrived to Guayaquil, a mere 12 meters above sea level. After a few days I continued on to the beautiful city of Manta, the beach town where I grew up and where my parents live. Driving down the Andes I saw beautiful waterfalls, fast white water rivers, llamas, goats, and sheep. As I came down the mountain the weather got warmer, and I was greeted by sunny beaches and colorful birds such as parrots, storks, and toucans. But the trip I loved the most was when I had the chance to ride the train between the cities of Alausi and Sibambe, high on the Ecuadorean sierra. This segment of the railway is famous because the train must zigzag through a series of switchbacks the steepest of which is known as The Devil’s Nose. Although it might sound a little scary, this ride is a lot of fun. The train slowly climbs up a steep side of the mountain and then stops to once again continue climbing up backwards up the steep mountain until it reaches the town of Sibambe. In conclusion, I had a great time visiting Ecuador this past winter. I heard that after being away from your own country for a long time when you go back you start seeing your country as a tourist, not as a native. I agree. In any case, although Olympia is a beautiful place, I am glad I was born and raised in Paradise. EL SALVADOR MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS By Ana Flamenco My country is beautiful. It has things I love. I miss the excellent people. I remember my older sister. She likes to plant flower and vegetables in her garden. My brother’s name is Julio. He likes fishing in a lake. Also he likes to play with the people, the community. My nephew and my niece study at a University and other family and friends are in different places. Sometimes we celebrated together different festival days together.

EL SALVADOR By Yesenia Melendez My name is Yesnia Melendez. I come from El Salvador, in my country is beautiful there are a lot of thing we can enjoy like the beautiful beach, and lakes. The food is very good in traditional food in my country is pupusas. I from a special place from my country, it is called. Also we have celebration on November 14 and everyone meets and there also many types of food. I like United States country, is better for my life. THE BEAUTIFUL EL SALVADOR By Jose Nelson Rivas Ortiz I will share some of my cute El Salvador. It is a beautiful country and is located in Central America all connecting with the neighboring countries of Honduras, Guatemala, and Nicaragua. El Salvador is one of the countries in the region that has acces only to the Pacific Ocean. Throughout the coastal areas have many beautiful beaches to go to bathe with family on vacation and especial beaches for surfing. We also have many mountains to go camping with the family and walking, climbing and all sorts of nature related sport. People would love to visit them once. We have many typical food like pupusas. This kind of the food is very famous worldwide. They are made from corn flour with ingredients such as chicharron, beans, cheese, and allote. We also have the famous fried yucca which is a root that is extracted from the ground and it is a very tasty meal. ERITREA TRADITIONAL FOOD ENJERA By Hiwot Woldu Enjera is the traditional Eritrean and Ethiopan food. Enjera is made by different kind of flour and it takes a lot of time to make it. It takes one week and some flour just take three days depend what kind of flour you are using. Enjera is flat, soft and it has a lot of eyes (little holes). Some of Enjera is sour and some is sweet because if you start to make it then you don’t make it at that day it should be sour. But if you make it exactly same day you start it will be fine or sweet. Also, if the Enjera doesn’t have eyes, that mean the Enjera is not good. Enjera is not easy to make because it takes time. But, most of Eritrean people are eating Enjera with stew every day. Enjera most of time is made by women. Men can make it too. But, in our tradition most of time women are making food. But if women aren’t in the house boys

can make it. But it is hard for them to make it because they think it is women work. Enjera with stew is my favorite in our traditional food. It is spicy but I like it! ETHIOPIA MY COUNTRY By Fadumo Abdulahi I came to America for a better life. I enjoy good the dishes based on diet rice and pasta accompanied by meat, goat sheep or camel. The usual breakfast in Somalia is fried liver, sheep or camel. FRANCE THE CULTURE OF APERITIF By François Ponchut In the French culture before we take our dinner we have a kind of tradition called “aperitif.” People drink alcohol or soft drink and eat kind of snacks like peanuts, cheese, small sausages, fish eggs, or vegetables. The hosts receive the guests usually in the living room. The aperitif is pretty long‐around one or two hours‐and finally needs a lot of preparation. It’s a good moment for everybody to speak and share some news with each other. Sometime there is too much food and it’s pretty hard to get the dinner because everybody is full. During the birthdays or Christmas it’s usual to get the gifts during this moment. And for the great occasions, it’s the moment to drink champagne or to announce a great event of life. Sometimes the guests come just for the aperitif when the moment is less official. Every French home has a little bar with different kinds of spirits and wines for the tastes of everybody. GERMANY MY SPECIAL LOVE STORY By Bibi Ziegltrum My name is Bibi Ziegltrum and I’m from Germany. I want to tell you my story, how I managed the U.S. Immigration Office hurdles to finally live here in the U.S.

Georg and I grew up in the same neighborhood of a little town in the southern part of Germany. When he was a young man he married, had two children and moved to Washington State, U.S. I also married and had one daughter, but I still lived in the same little town in Germany. Many years ago, Georg’s mom became very ill. He temporarily came back to Germany, to take care of her. I lived next to his mom’s house and he and I met again. I offered to help Georg with shopping and cooking, so he had more time for his mom. Soon enough we became very close and we fell in love. For eight years we had a long distance relationship, with daily phone calls and emails. We usually met 4 to 6 times a year in the U.S. or in Germany. Then we started talking about marriage and our lives together in the U.S. My problem was, that I couldn’t just move and live in the U.S. without being married. I hired a lawyer, who guided us through the long and very difficult immigration process. In August of last year, we finally married on a beautiful beach on the island of “Maui”, Hawaii. When we came back from this outstanding experience on Maui, we were invited to an interview with the U.S. Immigration Service. A very nice Homeland Security officer talked to us for 15 minutes and he granted me permanent residency in the U.S. I applied for my Green Card, driving license and Social Security number and received all very quickly. Now, I can enjoy my U.S. residency and stay together with my first Love of my life and husband, Georg. GUATEMALA INDEPENDENCE DAY IN GUATEMALA By Wendy Caballeros We celebrate Independence Day in all schools in Guatemala on September fifteenth. It is very exciting because the students wear a new uniform and shoes. All students decorate the school a day before the party. Each group draws national symbols. For example, they draw the national emblem (el escudo), the national flower (la monja blanca), the national tree (la ceiba), the flag (la bandera) and the national bird (el quetzal). On the fifteenth all students wear uniforms and the party starts with a parade and then singing the national anthem. When the song is finished the principal gives his

speech. When the speech ends the students came forward to recite poems and other students sing songs and dance. Then they eat and drink special food. SEMANA SANTA By Dorcas Cristal Imagine your favorite holiday. Can you feel it? It’s probably fun, right? Add some steroids to that and you get Semana Santa (Easter) in Guatemala. Holidays in my country are special and fun. We spend them with family and friends making memories. When I was ten years old, I woke up one morning to the sound of a rooster. I was excited because I got to be off all week. Why? Because it was Semana Santa. I didn’t have to go to school or do homework. That meant I could help my parents do grown up things. First on the list was a trip with my mom. We picked up 100 sweet round breads. That’s a lot! We call these types of bread pan especial (special bread). This bread is only made for Semana Santa. Once we unloaded the baskets of bread, the whole kitchen smelled like fresh bread. Mmmm… Que rico!! My mom separated the bread in to small baskets. With much excitement, my sister and I took two baskets each and walked to my aunt’s house nearby. We happily handed over the baskets to my aunt. Just like my parents, family and neighbors always do my aunt in return gave us a basket of her own special bread. We were ecstatic. We had made our first grown up delivery and had received our first breadbasket. That morning my sister and I walked a lot and gave out a lot of bread. We gave to neighbors and family and we always received bread back. It was really fun to share bread, and it was a lot of work. By the end of it all, we were hungry. We walked home with a growling stomach. After a long walk, we got home. “Mom”, I yelled to see where she was. As usual, I found her in the kitchen getting ready for lunch. She asked me to set the table, which I did, but I didn’t set just one table. I set two because my aunts, uncles, cousins, and some of my family’s closest friends were coming for lunch. My mom was preparing a typical Semana Santa lunch. All families make this same dish. It contains dried fish covered in eggs along with a side of beans and a side salad made of red beets. What a colorful dish! Everyone arrived late. In my country, late is on time. I sat next to my sister at the children’s table. As we talked about children stuff, I heard a voice. It was my mom calling all of us to go get up our food. We quickly grabbed our food and sat down to eat. I was thirsty so I filled my glass from a pitcher of lemonade in the middle of the table. The room was full of sounds of talking, eating, and laughter. After we filled our stomachs with food, we went outside and found my older cousins playing baseball. This was not a typical game played in my country. It was something very different. We were welcomed into the game. I got my turn to hit the ball. I swung hard and hit the

ball. However, I did not just hit the ball. I hit my small cousin with the wooden bat. It took all of the air out of his stomach. What a game! By the end of the day, I was really tired, but I was happy for being around all my family and friends. Just having fun! That day adults and kids alike played as if they were children……………..Many years later, I sit here in Washington watching my child pick up Easter eggs. His face full of joy. When I was a child I was giving bread to my family and neighbors. Just like the baseball game, change is not all bad, but I miss my tradition. Even today many years later I can smell fresh bread, when I think of Semana Santa, the holiday on steroids. WHAT I MISS ABOUT MY COUNTRY By Vilma Loarca Things I miss about my country. Also, I miss the delicious food drinks like the ice creams at the park. Our home grown vegetables and fruit. The delicious drinks too. Finally I miss most of all are the people because there was my big family and my friends. HAITI INDEPENDENCE DAY FOOD By David Barreau Every January 1st we eat pumpkin soup to celebrate our Independence Day. This is our culture, and it’s my favorite holiday. The pumpkin soup is always made with beef, goat, or chicken. We should eat pumpkin soup all day on January 1st. Most Haitian people like the pumpkin soup with beef because it’s really traditional. Kids walk from house to house saying good morning and also happy independence day to all the family members and neighbors. When I was a little boy I used to walk from house to house because some Haitians always saved some money for kids‐like 5 or 10 gourdes (Haitian money go by the name gourde). It’s a kind of “trick or treat.” By noon the pumpkin soup got ready. After eating the pumpkin soup, I jump in the shower. I took a quick shower because there were a lot of things I did not want to miss. I went for a walk in town or to a movie theatre with my parents and my sibblings. We had a lot of fun for Independence Day. We met new people. Our parents took us visiting their friends or co‐workers. I like the pumpkin soup with chicken because I don’t eat beef and goat. Even though I’m in USA I still cook pumpkin soup every January 1st as a Haitian tradition.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MY HOME COUNTRY AND THE UNITED STATES By Marie Nicole Marc I’m from in Haiti: I have one brother and three sisters. Sadly, my brother passed away last summer, my father was in the military and my mother was a dressmaker. I love them very much. I moved to United States four years ago after the earthquake. I could not go back to Haiti because I lost everything after the earthquake. I really love my country but because of political instability and safety reason, I decided to stay in United States. I don’t know what I really like about U.S. but I know I have more opportunities to become what I want, which is the owner of a restaurant. HONDURAS MY TOWN By Karen Perdomo Hi, my name is Karen, I am from Honduras. I came in June two thousand nine. Honduras is a very beautiful country as well his people. That I miss a lot because there is all my family: my father, sister. I miss Christmas, New year parties, mass town fair. But thanks, the country for the opportunity of I lived here with my family. Thanks teacher Kathy I like your classes, are well dynamic! INDIA ENGLISH By Sonia Matharu When I was 11 years old some relatives came to India to meet us. They came from Canada. They wanted to adopt me to bring to Canada but my father would not agree to give me to somebody else. At that time I decided I want to go there and when I was in school I told my father I wanted to go to college in another city. At that time he wouldn't allow me. After marriage I came to the USA. Now I have two kids. I am so happy and glad to come to this free country to make my dream come true. There are so many opportunities to make your dream true. Now after a long time I have an opportunity to study in college to improve my English skills in writing, reading and speaking. I want to improve to get a good and respected job to help people who can't speak, write or read English. When I started my classes I was very afraid and so many questions in my mind. But that was my best day when I started college. My classmates

are from different countries and I am so glad to meet every one and we have different vocabulary but we all try to improve English. If I am able to speak, read and write fluently, I can explain to everyone what I want to say. Why am I not able to speak English? Sometimes I have a regret to myself. But now I go to college and improve my English and I have no regret because there is no age limit to start a new beginning. That's all for my kids. LOSING SHY By Sumalatha Putta rd I am Sumalatha. My birthday is September 3 . I am the only girl baby in my th family. My grandma is taking care of me. I am studying in my hometown up to 10 grade. After I went to bigger town for higher studies. My mother does not agree for my higher studies, but my father is interested. My father likes me a lot. My concentration is only studies. I do not know about other thing. I do not know how to greet people with politeness. I know little. My mother has good talking skills. My mother makes good tasty foods. I did M.S. I did the job two years. I got engaged with my husband. After marriage we are living in the city where my husband works. I don’t know how to cook the curries. He knows something. My father‐in‐law has a big family. One day my husband’s relatives come to my home, about 9‐11 people. It’s hard for me. He helped me. I do not know how to mingle with others. I faced a lot of problems [struggled my heart]. My in‐laws are village people. My husband told me you can change your attitude. You can improve your skills. You can talk with everybody. Now, I changed my attitude. I greet everybody who has a smiling face. WHY DO SIKHS WEAR TURBANS AND WHY I CAME TO THE UNITED STATES By Dilbag Singh Turban‐‐gift of the Guru. The turban of a Sikh is a gift given on Baisakni Day of 1699 by the Tenth Master. Guru Godind Singn, after giving a merit to the Five Beloved Ones, he gave us Bana, The Distinctive Dress that includes the turban. It is helpful to understand the historical context of his action. My reason is came to United States. My country political system is not good. US is very good country for every religious freedom and for the people honestly very, very nice country United States. MY RELIGION VISAKHI DAY By Rishpal Singh My country is special is Visakhi Day. April 13th is a special day in my religion. People all over the world celebrate. Khalsa day parade. My big festival is the my religion.

COUPLES ARE MADE IN HEAVEN By Kavita Taneja A few years ago in 2005, a phone came to our house in the night. It was my uncle’s phone. He said that a family known to him wanted to meet me for their son I didn’t want to go but still I went so my uncle couldn’t feel bad and say that I didn’t want to marry. The next morning I went to their city. It was a 4‐hour journey. On that morning it was raining and my father could not go with me as he didn’t apply for the leave. I reached my uncle’s house and he called my future in‐law’s family. They came in the evening time and they agreed for marriage but didn’t reply. They said my sister‐in‐law wanted to meet me and then they would reply. The next day I came back. After 3‐4 days my future sister‐in‐law’s family came to our house to meet my family and they were satisfied and said yes. Now it was our turn to reply. So, my father and his friend visited my future husband’s office and met him. They also are satisfied and we replied yes. On the 13th of July, we got engaged. Meanwhile, my husband and I were in touch. We talked daily in evening after his office hours. I felt comfortable to talk to him. I realized that he is the best person for me. We got married in February 2007. After getting married to him, I got a new family i.e. my in‐laws. They all are good in nature and all are kind. They all are like my own family. After one year in March 2007 I had a baby boy Keshav. Now we are living happily and I’m enjoying my life. My husband always sticks by me. I am really the lucky person that I got a happy family. I thank God for everything He gave. IRAN TEACHERS BY SACRIFICE By Sara Daysahar After the 1979 revolution in Iran, many things were changed. The new religious government didn’t allow freedom of expression and protest and choice of religion. In those days people were poorer than before. There was no place for men and women to socialize, even at school or bus. They separated men and women in the community! Government imprisoned and executed all of the political and religious opponents. The people have to be Muslim in Iran, but many people are opposed the government rules. In the north of Iran, there was a young man who was trying to defend human rights and democracy. His name was Behrooz. He always helped the poor people and tried to raise awareness of youth. The government imprisoned him for seven years. After his release from prison, he continued to fight government.

Behrooz created a mountain climbing group. He took people every weekend to climbing because the mountains were the only place for men and women to talk far from the city. They could sing and dance and the government could not see and arrest them. I also have learned lots of lessons from him in the mountains. I realize that in many countries in the world there is democracy and people have the right to choose their own religion and express protest. The government does not support climbing exercise because that was illegal and against the rules. In fall 1999 Behrooz and his wife went to the summit of Mt. Dorfak with a number of people. Later they faced extreme cold mountains. They had very difficult time. They could not continue to move or walk! All the way was covered in fog and snow. Behrooz and his wife took and burnt their clothes because they wanted to warm the others with fire. After a few hours of their trying to help people, they died in the cold. Years later the people built a statue on top of Mt. Dorfak. Many of our people are still missing them, like me. They taught the lesson of sacrifice to people. They were teachers by sacrifice. AN IRANIAN DOG, NEW FACES IN WASHINGTON By Milad Kheirkhah I am interested in the lives of dogs, and always listen to the news in this regard. This is a true story of the life of a hero dog. He was a street dog who lived in Tehran (the capital of Iran). In Iran the government does not allow people to keep dogs. If the police see a dog on the street, they kill it. They think dogs are filthy in their religion. One night, our story dog went out of hiding to search for food and he had a bad accident with a car and got injured. He was crippled in both feet. This could end his life, but he survived for three years with the same conditions on the streets; in summer and winter. His life was really harder than before, but he loved life and he was hopeful. One day a kind man saw him. He took the dog to his home and called him “Omid,” which in Persian means “hope”. He built a wheelchair for him. At first Omid couldn’t walk with the wheelchair. Then he learned step by step how to run with the other dogs. The man put Omid’s story on the web. An Iranian couple in Washington read Omid’s story. They helped the dog by bringing him to the USA! Now he is in America, and people like him. Many people with the same physical condition take photos with him. Today, Omid is happy, comfortable and free. He runs like a deer. In a contest few months ago on Facebook, Omid won special prizes. His picture was on the cover of Novadog magazine in Washington. He taught us that: The future is always beautiful, even if today is not good.

JAPAN BIRTHDAY PARTY IN OKINAWA By Marie At my grandmother’s 88 year old birthday, she wore seven different beautiful colorful kimono. It was Okinawa traditional celebration. We invited over 200 people. We served drink and food. They also played music and sang some songs and danced. People had a big party together. They have fun and a good time but it was not regular birthday. It was special celebrated because long time ago not too many people lived that way. People think she is special. Today there are lots of people over 100 years old. JORDAN HOPEFUL LIFE By Amal Basal Culture makes us the people who we are. It shapes our daily lives and gives us a code of living. Along with society, it tells us how to act and connects us with valuable relationships. My name is Amal, I am nineteen years old, from Jordan, and I am from a part of Arab culture. I got married and came to America with my husband. It’s interesting to come to a new country. At first you will have troubles like misunderstanding, missing your family, and how you will live in this situation and prove for yourself and your family that you are a strong person, and you can do it. It is difficult to live far away from your family and your friends, and you should get used to the new life, and searching for new friends. KYRGYZSTAN TRADITIONS OF MY COUNTRY By Leonid Duishenaliev My name is Leonid. Last summer my family and I moved to U.S. from Kyrgyzstan. I want to tell you about one of the traditions of my country. Every generation of my people, regardless of age and conditions, always fulfills the mandate of ancestors.

Once the child begins to take its first steps, his parents call guests to cut the “fetters” of the child. Fetters are bright‐colored ribbons that are tied to the legs of the child on this holiday. Each color has its purpose. White‐‐the child will grow noble, green‐ ‐to live a long time, red‐‐that means rich. This ceremony is held for a child who is now on their own legs, going faster. Fetters are cut while saying best wishes and singing a traditional song. The right to cut the fetters from the feet of the child is not given to everyone. It must be a positive person in all respects‐‐solid, wise, honest, so whose life is worthy of emulation. The kid who gets the fetters cut holds adult hands on both sides, and imitates running on a white track. When he runs on the track, he runs after the sweets, which the guests scattered to and from their house with the same joy as the first steps of a baby. At the end of the track, three bowls are laid down with money, bread, and a book. The baby will choose which way to go. AN AMAZING LAKE By Leonid Duishenaliev I want to tell you about an amazingly beautiful lake Issyk‐Kul which is located in Kyrgyzstan. Translated from Kyrgyz “Issyk‐Kul” means “hot lake” (as it never freezes). This lake is one of the largest and deepest in the world. It’s situated at an altitude of 5,272 feet above sea level. It is the second largest mountain lake in the world after Lake Titicaca in South America. Its depth is about 2,200 feet at the bottom of which there is an ancient city. Into the lake about 100 rivers flow and it doesn’t empty. The first time in historical sources Issyk‐Kul is mentioned is in Chinese Chronicles at the end of II century B.C. Chronicles in the era of the Great Silk Road tell about the legendary city Chigu on Lake Issyk‐Kul. This city is supposedly bidding Usuns leader – a powerful nomadic tribe of Central Asia. Chigu was one of the largest cities in the East in the ancient world. For its high walls hide the rich houses, palaces, and temples trimmed with gold. Very often mysterious mirages can be seen above the lake. These mirages appear at dawn or dusk. And then you can see the ancient city. It’s very beautiful with white walls and high towers. This city is like rising out of the sea and it’s a shining water path. NORUZ By Alla Duyshenalieva Noruz is one of the most amazing special holiday which Kyrgyz people celebrate each spring on the 21st of March. The word Noruz means " New day.” The preparation of special foods begins seven days before. Wheat grain should be planted

in wet material. Twenty four hours before holiday women cook traditional porridge called "Sumolok" from this wheat, barley, millet, rice, nuts and flour. Seven grains are the symbols of health, rebirth, wealth and other things. It is nessesary to add forty one stones to this porridge. Early in the morning people burn the branch of the “archa” (fir) and carry smoke to their own houses as well as all members of family saying “Alas –alas, ar baladen kalas.” That means “Away all disasters and misfortunes.” All that ceremony they hope that Noruz brings to their houses happiness, prosperity and good luck. Then they set the table with delicious food like any kind of dry fruits, nuts and cookies. Usually people invite their relatives, friends and neighbors for dinner. Family and friends gather together to celebrate “new day” by making plans and looking forward to the next 12 months. People prepare new clothes of red, white and blue. The end of the celebration is “Beshbarmak” (word‐to‐word translation is five fingers). This traditional meal is combination of meat cut into small pieces and noodles. Still now, Kyrgyz people eat this by hand. The name of Beshbarmak came from this tradition. Noruz is the time when people share their dreams, thoughts and hopes, and with Noruz come new opportunities and changes. LIBERIA THE REASON I CAME TO THE UNITED STATES By Nancy Bryant My husband came to the United State in 2002 leaving me and the children in Liberia. This was a difficult situation living apart as husband and wife. My husband filed through immigration for me and the children. So we came in the US in 2012. There was also a civil war in Liberia that make us to came to America. During the war all schools were closed. But when we came in the US they were able to go back to school. This is an opportunity for us. We can do many thing to improve our lives. So I love the United States. I am working.

MY FAMILY By Anonymous This is about celebrations with my family. I miss my country. I remember my family celebrations. All of my family gets together for Christmas. We celebrate mother’s day, and birthday parties too. I miss my home country and my parents. I came to the United States because there are more opportunities. More jobs, beautiful places, nice people. I am studying to learn more English in class.

LIBYA MY EXPERIENCE By Ashraf Almghri I came from Libya. I grew up in a poor family, but I wanted to accomplish many things in life. I wanted to be a lawyer, so I graduated from law school. After two years I had my own office in Tripoli. I used to look in the mirror and ask myself a question. “What is the secret of success? Honesty in my work.” I visited an old lawyer and asked him my question. He was smiling at me; he said, “Make friendships with a nice reputation, and learn English.” I decided to go to America to learn English. But it was not time yet. Before I went, I had to buy land and build a big house. I did it, and it was a beautiful house. But I always had the feeling I was not going to live in it. I knew I had to build it because I didn’t want anyone to say “he ran away because he was unsuccessful.” I went to the sea every day. I told myself “I am going to cross you soon”. I came to America in 2011. I was shocked because English is not easy. I couldn’t understand anything when people talked. It was so fast. I thought something had happened to my brain. I would cry alone at night. I said to myself, “This plan is over.” But, I decided to continue what I started. Day after day, I learned more. The problem was the money was running out. I couldn’t speak English fluently and every job application was online. I suffered a lot, then I found job. I can speak and write English now. My advice to all foreigners is learn English in your country first. MEXICO

A HOLY WEEK TRADITION By Neyvi Aceves In Mexico we have a tradition during Holy Week called Youth Missionaries. We make many groups with people of different ages. We donate money to buy food and water for poor people and we take it to the small villages. This tradition consist of visiting villages far away from the city. There are people who don’t even read and write and who even haven’t shoes and clothes. There are also people who haven’t heard of God. There were no schools and no churches around them. For long distance and even hours I needed to walk to hills to get there. Once I had to introduce me to the people then I gave them the food that I brougth from the city. I played with the kids, played the guitar and sang for the old people and also talked about God. This tradition happens every year and now the people there have a school and church too. Now very few people visit the poor during Holy Week because the youth prefer to take vacations or stay home. I NEED TO LEARN ENGLISH By Maria C. Almanza My name is Maria C. Almanza. I am from Guanajuato, Mexico. I have a husband, daughter and son. All our families live in Mexico. In Mexico I studied and worked in a career of social work happily before we came to this country. I dedicated myself to work for my family. And I didn’t use my time wisely to learn English. Now my daughter attends in 7th grade in middle school. My son is in kindergarten, and every time there are more problems that I experience for not knowing English. I love them both so much and my husband too. They mean the world to me. I am afraid that my children won’t admire me and think I don’t have the capacity to get ready and prepare myself for their necessities in school and their personal life. I need to and have to speak English. With the ESL classes I know this will help me a lot. I’m sure and I know I can achieve. Thank you. HOW MY FAMILY CELEBRATES SOME HOLIDAYS By Francisco Alvarado My country is Mexico. December 24th the people eat together with the family. And the night eat different foods, mole, tortilla hands, and tamales.

MEXICAN TRADITIONS By Zaira Avelar Mexico is a country with a rich culture because their customs and traditions make it a unique place. Part of their culture is the cuisine. This is an art of preparing a good

A SPECIAL TRADITION OR HOLIDAY FROM MY COUNTRY By Martha Alvarado On Christmas we have in my country piñatas and romeritos, bacalao, fish and chele vello, dive back and spicy chicken, tamales, salad, apple. MY HARD TIME FEELING DUMB By Antonia There are different reasons why a person or entire families decide to move house, city or even country. This often produces dramatic changes for one or more family members or just presents new challenges. Eight year ago my family and I moved from Morelia, Mexico to Tenino, Wa. The inability to speak English made me feel a great frustration. When my kids asked me for homework help the only recourse I had was to use the English ‐ Spanish dictionary to help. This really was difficult for me and I took a long time. Days turned into months, and when I had to go outside my house for medical appointments, food shopping, etc. I felt dumb unable to speak a word in English. My sons music teacher Betsy Wellings, who speaks Spanish and worked at the Parkside Elementary School in Tenino, Washington, was an important part of forming a group of people interested in taking English as a Second language at Centralia College. After time she became our class teacher. So she always has my gratitude. When we decided to move to Tumwater city for my work, I could not continue my English classes but one day I made a decision and went to SPSCC where teachers who teach the classes are really amazing because ESL in addition to classes, provides support and provides very important information. Many times it is hard to make the decision to exit a situation that does not allow you to move, but one must have the courage and time to get it. The first step is to obtain the information because many times you think it is complicated but it is often very easy. THINGS I MISS ABOUT MY COUNTRY By Maria Avelar I miss my family. I miss traditions of my country. I miss day of the dead I miss the food. I miss, I miss celebrates.

meal, and our country has a lot of food. We are proud that their main staple food is corn and beans. Here in our country there are different foods made from corn; as tortillas, gorditas, tacos, tamales and pozole which we call “Antojitos Mexicanos”. I invite everyone to come and visit our country, so they know our traditions and customs. I feel proud to know that these stories are free to all regardless of sex, religion, and race. And I want you to know more about my beautiful country. ENCOUNTER BETWEEN TWO CULTURES By Rosa Maria Barrelier I was born in Mexico City. It is a beautiful city and now is a crowded city with traffic. Unfortunately everybody is more focused on their own things than helping others, but the spirit to help is inside each person. Seven years ago I moved to Tijuana Baja California, a small city, where everything is close, no traffic on the streets and everyone is more relaxed. This city is close to the border with San Diego, California, USA. You can walk around and in the morning and it is very usual for you to find women sweeping outside their houses and when you walk in front of them, they always look at you and with a smile say: "Good Morning" to you, even if they do not know you. In the bus you can start talking with the person next to you and make you feel comfortable and friendly. I am a dentist and a lot of my patients were from United States. On many occasions, they had problems with their cars and I helped them looking for a mechanic to fix the car, or drove for them because they were afraid of getting. In all these little issues I never charged them extra. On one occasion I came to Yelm, Washington to assist with an event. In a break time I introduced myself to a group of American people. When they asked my name and where I am from, I answered and Barbara and her husband looked at me with a great smile, and said: "Baja? I love Baja, but I love more the people, it is amazing how they are." She continued saying to me: “Last year we decided to go to Baja and drive all along the coast, Baja has beautiful weather, beautiful food and also beautiful beaches, the only problem is between one town to another is many hours of driving and nothing around just the beautiful view. We noticed our car started making a noise and we were driving for a while and we didn't find any house or business and suddenly we stopped in front of a little house on the road to ask for a mechanic. We did not speak Spanish, and they did not speak English, but my husband tried to explain the problem. The man took a quick look at the motor and told us with signals and in Spanish he could help us, and he brought to us his friend who fixed the car and also discovered we had another hose loose and fixed that too. In the meantime his wife came to us with a great meal, fresh fruit water, and a lot of tortillas. They were so nice and helped us a lot; we paid the

mechanic and when we asked the bill for the meal, the woman just smiled and said to us that there is not any charge. We started driving and discovered the next available town was going to be 100 miles away. We didn't have any problem with the car. We travel a lot and always we remember that family in Baja." When Barbara was telling me her adventure, I was smiling too, because I know how my people are; we like to help. I MISS TORTILLAS! By Lisette Caire I miss walking to the tortilleria and the smell when I’m close to it. Fresh, natural, hot, and delicious were the tortillas I bought in “tortilleria tlaxcalli” in Mexico. First, I miss the different color of tortillas. In Mexican cuisine, we have blue, yellow, and white corn tortillas. The best blue tortillas I can find are in the highways or roads. Some people have a little business on the side of the road and they make handmade tortillas using the petate. That means they’re authentic and ancient handmade tortillas. Then, I miss the freshness of the tortillas. In Mexico, the tortillerias start working at 5:00 am and close at 5:00 pm. You can buy fresh, hot, and delicious tortillas every day and every time you need it and the best part are tortillerias everywhere. Last, I miss the taste of tortillas. The tortillas I buy here are very different. All the preservatives and extra stuff change the taste and the healthful of the tortilla. That’s why some dishes taste very different. I miss papatzules, tlacoyos, gorditas, quesadillas of huitlacoche and of course handmade corn and flour tortillas. I miss the freshness, naturalness and taste of my traditional homemade tortillas but when I go to Mexico for vacations I enjoy eating my tortillas. DIFFERENT WORLDS By Wilfredo Diaz The world is a completely different place for me in all respects as in food, education and traditions. First the food is different in the sense that in the states there are diferent foods and Mexico has only traditional meals. Second, traditions in the United States are very different Halloween for example, disguise and go from house to trick or treating in Mexico altar and put their dancing and grabbing some flowers in the cemetery your loved ones. The education in the United States is very advanced and Mexico is very little for the lack of resources because, all of this I like the US, I like Mexico it’s beautiful.

MY HAPPY MEMORY By Angelica Diaz Rojas I would like to talk a little bit about the happiest moments of my life when I was a child. When I was nine years old, in my small town, we didn’t have many things like here. There weren’t places that you could go play or shopping but I still have many a good things to remember. I didn’t have friends to play with, but I played with my siblings. I had a lot of fun after school. My parents didn’t have money to spend to buy toys for us. But the good thing is after school, my siblings and I would go to the mountains to play. It was a lot of fun. We had so much space that we could do whatever we wanted, such as shouting, laughing, jumping, climbing trees. The nicest thing was that we drew on stones and nobody would say anything. We loved going to play there. We felt free at that time. After we got tired of playing, we went back home. At least it wasn’t too far from home, only fifteen minutes. We had a wonderful time. I really miss those days. Now that I think about it, I would go back even a few moments there, just to be close to my brothers and to feel that freedom. I really miss those moments. THE REASON I CAME TO THE UNITED STATES By Dalia Diaz‐Rojas Hi. My name is Dalia. I’m from Oaxaca, Mexico. The reason that I came to the United States is because my father applied for residency for me because if not for that I had not planned to move here. But I got the opportunity to come here and go to school and work for the new life. I also wanted to see my siblings because my sister is here 14 years and she didn’t know her family and my brother is here 8 years. And I take the opportunity to know the United States because all of the people say it’s beautiful. CHRISTMAS WITH FAMILY By Leonard Dorantes I am from Mexico. I live now in Lacey, Washington. I have two children. My favorite holiday is Christmas. The date is December 25. A typical food for this holiday is turkey. A LITTLE BIT OF MY CHILDHOOD By Leobardo Esquivel My name is Petilu. I am from Puebla, Mexico. When I was a child I lived with my grandparents until I was fifteen years old. I lived beautiful moments during that time, attending elementary and junior high school along with my family and friends.

The place where I grew up was a community about 2000 in population. At that time, the classes started from 8:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M. I used to walk twenty minutes to get there. I remember my first teacher’s name was Alma. When somebody didn't know the answer to any question she would punish us with a large ruler. She was a very strict teacher. Winter time was a wonderful time. At Christmas, we celebrated Jesus' birth. We used to go to many different houses where the owner of the house offered us goodies like bunuelos, ponche, aguinaldos, and pinatas. Bunuelos are made with flour,eggs, and milk. They are fried with powder sugar on top. Ponche is a hot beverage with a variety of fruits in it like sugar cane, apples, guavas, raisins, and more others sweetened with brown sugar. Aguinaldos are small plastic bags full of candies, mini toys, cookies, peanuts, and some small fruits. The best part of those times was pinata time. It was a pot made of clay wrapped with newspaper and paper of different colors. It was full of good stuff with different kind of candies, toys, fruit, packs of cookies, and sometimes with money too. During the summer time, my friends and family used to go out to enjoy nature, especially on weekends to the forest. It took us approximately an hour to get to the river when we have fun swimming in the river where we had fun swimming in a pond that we built with rocks and bushes to keep it deeper. Most of the time we used to make something to eat such as; sandwiches, tortas, or enchiladas. I really enjoyed those beautiful moments living my childhood along with my grandparents and friends. I loved going to school and meeting new people who later, became my friends. I also lived wonderful times going to different houses to celebrate Jesus’ birth and breaking piñatas full of goodies. That's why I love my childhood and I would like to live it again and again and again. THE MARIACHI MUSIC By Fernando This type of music is one of the many things that describes Mexico. Not only is traditional but it’s also exciting to listen to it live. First, no one knows when mariachi started. Some people said that it was born in the 1800’s, but other people think that it’s been around since the 1500’s. The instruments that are used in this type of music are at least two violins, two trumpets, a Spanish guitar, one viola and one guitarron. The mariachi band was mainly formed by males then later women started to be introduced into this type of music. Finally, the mariachi band is usually made with five people. Later more people started to join in one band. That’s why you can see up to 20 people in one mariachi band.

CHRISTMAS IN MEXICO By Elvira Garcia My name is Elvira Garcia I am from Mexico City and I came to the United States, I like to eat tamales enchiladas.

ONE TOWN ONE TRADITION By J. Jesus Garcia M Lagos de Moreno Jalisco was founded by Spanish people in the fifteen century. The Indians who live at this land before are chichimecas. These two kinds of people mixed and a new race was born called mestizo. The mestizo people continue the tradition which were the pilgrimages Spanish brought to this town. First the mestizo and Gallegos started to build a lot of Catholic churches. That is the easy way to dominate the native people who don’t want to join with the rest of population. Second, Indians believe blindly to Catholic Church. They started several pilgrimages yearly. But they had one in common every year and continuing for couple weeks, that start at the temple in the top of the hill. There were a few people walking down the hill with a statue of Jesus on their shoulders. They went to a different temple at the same town. They walked to decorate the streets following live music, dancers, and public in general. Every year the route changes a little, but always keep the image a couple days in each temple. Every time they change the statue to different temple is on shoulders and with a pilgrimage. When the event is over it is the big day and they take back the statue to the Calvary on the top of the hill the same when they took it down the hill. LOOKING FOR A DAY CARE FOR MY SON Anabel Peñaloza Gómez To find day care for my son, it was difficult. I need a safe place for my son. I was afraid of not to find a day care where my son is happy. In my country care for children is different. Usually parents or grandparents care for children when parents have to go to work. In the United States there is childcare. Finding child care that meets the requirements I wanted to care for my son was exhausting but ultimately very satisfying. A friend recommended me to Dora, a lady who has a child care at home. Best of all is that it is bilingual (she speaks Spanish and English). I called for an appointment and the bad news was that there was no space for my son, but it was not all bad news. She recommended her friend Laura who had space available in her child care. There was just one big problem: Laura speaks only English, so I had to solve the problem. At that time I did not understand much less speak English so

I had to resort to the dictionary. It was helpful because I was able to communicate with Laura. Also it was a great experience because since then I decided to take English classes to communicate with other people and make my life easier in this country. It was not easy but not impossible. There is a saying that goes like “all good in this life costs,” so I continue studying and learning every day. My son Diego currently attends daycare at Laura’s and I am more relaxed at work because my son is happy and in a safe place. RELIGION IS VERY IMPORTANT IN MEXICO By Claudia Hernández The religion is a very important part of culture in Mexico. It is traditional in each Mexican family. First, people go to church every two or three times a week. Also they can visit the church in morning or evening. Second, they pray a lot because they believe in God. They think he is the only one that can help them. They like to say thanks to God for everything they received from him. Finally, the people have lots of pictures of Christ on their walls. Also they have altars of God inside their house. They feel safe believing in God because he is around them. DAY OF THE DEAD By Oralia Jimenez To my family in Mexico this is one of the most important dates to remember our loved ones in my house. Particularly we include an ofrenda (offering). My parents buy bread. That name is pan de muertos. It is placed especially for those dates. My mother takes care of cooking and decorates the offering. The ofrenda has food, drinks, flowers, pictures of our loved ones also a candle for each. The celebration begins October 31st and ends on November 2nd . The last day we bring flowers to graves of dead relatives. Popular belief is that the souls of loved ones are returning from beyond the grave during the day of the dead. For that reason, they are greeted with an offering (ofrenda) where their food and favorite drink, their favorite fruit and bread, and sweet skulls are standing and if the case toys for children and colorful flowers the (cempasuchil). People gather at cemeteries and pray for their dead loved ones. I MISS MY COUNTRY By Jose Antonio Larios One of the things I miss most about my country is the soil. I miss working as the ranch with all the horses. I came to the United States to succeed. I wanted to know how things.

MY FAMILY By Maria A. Lobato‐Solis My parents are from Michoacán, Mexico. I have six sisters and one brother. We all were born in Tijuana. We are big and crazy family. I am married and I have one son. He is 20 years old. He is wonderful with all people and me. On Saturdays in the night we watch movies and eat popcorn. My mom and four sisters are living in Olympia. Usually on weekends we are all together in my mothers home. We have fun and talk of many things including of childhood we miss a lot. My husband is very happy with them. We like to go to parks or restaurants a lot and we like playing with our nephews. When we go restaurants we always like different food. All my family are very close. Sometimes people get angry but really we are content. Together we like cooking our favorite Mexican food like pozole, flautas, and tostadas. A MIRACLE By Yovanna Lozano In a remote village with my grandparents and my parents, I lived my childhood. I can never forget the time or the distance. Once the mother of my grandmother gave her a Virgin Mary figurine on condition she celebrate the virgin on December 12. This consisted of giving everyone who attended a cup of special corn hot chocolate and cookies. But this year there was a drought, and no harvest. We had no money to celebrate Day of the Virgin. My grandfather told my grandmother: “I think this year we can’t celebrate or do anything for the Virgin, because we have no money, no harvest.” When my grandfather saw her sad face, he ran to the nearest store to get the celebration things on credit. He got sugar, corn, cinnamon, cocoa and cookies. This cost $20 pesos at that time. When my grandfather come with all the things, grandmother was filled with joy and began to prepare corn hot chocolate for the special day. She invited someone to offer the rosary. At the end of the rosary, a man came dirty and underdressed, asking for glass of water. Then immediately my grandmother offered him a cup of corn hot chocolate and cookies. At the end, the man took $20 pesos out of his pocket and gave it to my grandmother, but she said, “No sir. This virgin’s holiday is not for sale.” He said, “I know but please take it.” So, she did. This happened to be the exact $20 pesos my grandfather spent on credit. My grandfather died with the idea the virgin had caused this miracle. And my family continues till now this same tradition.

MY FATHER‐IN‐LAW By Lucci I am from Mexico and married to a Caucasian American. We moved to the USA to live in Southern California. We had two precious children and lived in a spacious house, with more space than we needed. According to my traditions, we tended to make use of every corner in our home. I wanted the same in my own home. Consequently, I soon found good use for my extra rooms. My husband’s mother was very sick and she passed away after we moved to California. My father‐ in‐ law was too lonely and old with nobody in his life, except for some family members visiting him once, in a while. I became preoccupied with my father‐ in‐ law’s situation, feeling very guilty. I decided to talk to my husband and asked him to bring his father to live with us. My husband opposed at first, finally he agreed with me. Another of my cultural traditions is the children take care of their parents, grandparents or another family member that are alone. Usually, when children have left their parents’ house, to go on with their lives, the parents end up alone. They usually make the decision to move in with one of their children. Sometimes an adult child older or sometimes a grandchild moves in with the grandparent, the point is no to leave them alone. When family live together, creates family bonds that I personal like very much. Finally, the day came and we brought my father‐ in‐ law to live with us. We gave him a warm welcome letting him know that he is becoming part of our life, and that we were committed to love and take care of him for the rest of his life. However, things were not as easy as I thought. After a while, I realized what a big commitment I had made. I apologized to my husband for not giving more thought to the commitment I was making. My father‐ in‐law was 82 years old and there was not much help for companionship or entertainment for him. While was working taking care of the kids, it were taking much our time. On top of that, who had my father‐in‐law, needed care beyond a regular person regardless, I stuck to it. We managed to take care of him, finding a senior center that took him in the morning every day to activities and lunch and brought him home in the afternoon. In addition, I found a woman that volunteered to spend time with him as a companion. Making those changes eased the situation. He was more happy and energetic, and it balanced the harmony in my home. He stayed with us until God called him home about five years later. We have great memories too. I recommend anybody to take care of your elders in your home but before, you make your decision, I strongly recommend you do your homework and analyze your life situation. We enjoying taking care of him, but the style of life here in the United State is different from my country.

MAGDALENA’S FAMILY TRIP By Magdalena Madriz It has been 20 years since my husband had seen his family in Mexico. Finally we received our papers, so we were able to travel to Mexico. We went to a pueblo named Amatitan in Jalisco. In Jalisco they grow a plant named “magey.” They use this plant to make tequila. For me this was a new experience. I didn’t know when we arrived that it was the beginning of many events and parties in the pueblo. We went to a bullfight, but me and my daughter didn’t like because they killed the bull. We also went to a parade. It was very different from parades in Olympia. They had many music bands playing and singing songs about the bullfight. Also, there were many cars promoting the products of the local tequila factories. The people in the cars were throwing out little bottles of different tequilas, along with packets of cookies, rolls of toilet paper and bottles of dish soap. It has been many years since we went to Mexico. We enjoyed our visit, but we like to live in Olympia. THE REASON I CAME TO THE US By Edgar Martinez In the US people are paid more for their word and the work is valued. There is more of an importance placed on education. I want my children to go to school in the US. In my country the government does not care about peoples rights nor public safety there is a lot of danger and violence. MY PARENTS By Flavia Medina My parents’ names are Arturo and Zita. They live in Mexico. I love them and I miss them so much. Being away from them I have learned to appreciate more all that they are did for me and they do as well. I am so proud of them because I have the best parents ever. A curious fact about them is that they were born one week apart, in the same month of the same year but in a different place. My dad worked in the Mexican Army for 20 years as gunner. He has taught me good values. He always gave to me good advice. He spent a lot of time sailing so I didn’t see him too much in the time that he worked there. When he came home I remember that in spite of being tired he played with my brother and me. Also we loved having chatting about his experiences in his job.

On the other hand, my mom took care of my brother and me alone because of my dad’s job. I can’t remember my childhood without my mom’s food, I love it! My best memory of that is when I came back home from school she was waiting for my brother and me with food just made with handmade flour tortillas. She was always making up recipes for us. She baked a lot of different sweet breads. She made for us pizza that we named “stone pizza” because instead of being soft it was crunchy but we loved! We asked her make it for us over and over. Last summer they came to visit my daughter and me for the first time. We were so happy and we didn’t want them to go back to Mexico. It was the first time for my dad to come to the U.S. MY FAMILY By Alejandra Mendoza I am from Mexico. I miss my parents, friends, and all family. I miss walking the streets where I was born. My parents have a farm and have cows, sheep, pigs, chickens and I visited the animal farm. I miss my mom’s seasoning the delicious cuisine, also parties that my parents do each New Year. We spent time all happy with the whole family. I remember going with my mom shopping to the plaza. I miss all kinds of fruit and, I miss my country. EASTER WEEK – TRADITIONS OF MY COUNTRY By Laura Navarrete In my country, Mexico, we have traditions at Easter when Jesus Christ was crucified. Passover begins in early March and ends before April 20. Lent is exactly 40 days. Every Friday most people do not eat meat of any kind, only the seafood and also they promise fasting during lent. Last week Thursday and Friday is Saints’ Day. The most popular food that we make is stuffed peppers, potato cakes and tuna and the famous blackcap bread are made. It ends on Easter Sunday which is when Jesus got resurrected and went to heaven. THE DAY OF THE DEAD By Patty Navarro In my country we celebrate the day of the dead the people is going to cemetery for your family is dead their carrying flowers, crowns calm to accompany them in their graves a night with family. We bringing candles, fruit, bread, cigarrettes, water, wine something that liked the person who already is died. Whe he or she in the live some people is company your lived singing. Other people’s is praying almost all night different

people bringing dinner for eat. The old people their talk that is do wait your loved dead is come back only for this day. To came closed with your families. HOW MY FAMILY CELEBRATES SOME HOLIDAYS By Veronica Nunez The holidays in my country are very nice. My family gather for celebration to we make traditional food: mole, tamales. We’re going to wing village green sea fer that the fireworks to watch traditional dances. My son, I like to dance the music.

CHRISTMAS EVE By Edith Pineda My favorite holiday is Christmas Eve. The day is December 24. The whole family meets on that day and we make different traditional foods like mole, tamales, and ponche. We have a lot of food. After we eat dinner, we break the piñatas and also we dance. We have a lot of fun. I miss Mexico so much. I think it is one of the best places to spend Christmas. PIECES OF MY CULTURE By Benjamin Quevedo My name is Benjamin. I’m from Guanajuato, Mexico. First, Guanajuato is famous for mummies. There is a museum that has more than 100 mummies that were found and preserved. Second, Pulque is popular in central Mexico and Guanajuato too. The pulque is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented sap of maguey (agave) plants.

A DIFFERENCE THAT HURTS ME By Mireya Perez The differences between my country and the United States are many. I only will write one difference that hurts. In my country, many people don’t have houses. In Mexico City, many children and youngs live in the streets. In my country, many people still living in houses without access to potable water and electric energy. My family and I have a place to live. But it is a small apartment without garden. Although my partner and I are professionals, we can’t have a house. In Mexico only the rich people live in houses with garden. In Olympia, I walked in the streets and most of the houses are big and have a garden. This difference hurts me, because I desire that it is not this way. I desire that in Mexico and any country of the world, all of people have a worthy house. Why not? My first answer is: Mexico is a poor country and the United States is a rich country. My second answer is: The poverty exists because the richness exists. The poverty is the result of the inequality in the distribution of the richness.

It has color of milk, viscous consistency and a sour yeast like taste. Last, on July 25 every year in my town in Milpillas Victoria Guanajuato. We celebrate our patron saint Santiago Apostol. We celebrate with fireworks, horse racing, marathon, music with dancing, food, fair and pilgrimage. DESTINY By Victoria Quevedo When I met my fiance I was 14 years old. I met him in Mexico. When I looked him made me attracted and smelled so good. I thought that we never meet again but I moved to live with my aunt. When I walking hooogod there he was. We greeted. After 3 months when I pedaled my bike I couldn’t believe he was there. He shouted “wait! wait!” I stopped my bike and he invited me out. We were good friends. He gave me roses and chocolates every day but never asked me to be his girlfriend, but finally one day he asked me. We had fantastic months, but it ended. I returned home to my mom. In a few months, I was visiting my aunt, I met him. He said he cannot live without me. We are together but one day he was leaving to USA. I spent 2 years waiting for him. He finally returned to Mexico and we went back together to USA. Right now I have 8 years with him. We don’t have children but we are preparing our wedding. WHAT I LIKE By Dalia Ramirez My name is Dalia Ramirez, I’m Mexican. My country is very nice. I like the beach and food I like to dance and food tamales. I like fruits and New Years, Dia the Muertos traditioned I like spring in my country. FAMILY By Miguel Ramirez I came from a big family and we are six brothers and four sisters. With my mom and my dad for total we are 12. I came here to help my parents support my family back in Mexico. They are the most important to me. I remember when my dad teach me how to use the bulls to work the land. It was not very difficult. I learned fast. After that my dad let me work by myself. My mom always cooked very delicious food. I miss her a lot and her food too. What can I say for my brothers? We had a lot of fun when we were children. Now everyone grow up. I hope to go back to Mexico to visit my family soon. I haven’t seen them for a long time. I miss them a lot.

PERSISTANCE By Anabey Salgado I came to the United States when I was 16 years old. I started my first job when I was 17 years old at a fast food restaurant. They put me working in customer service for being a very good worker and having a good attitude. But I didn’t speak English and didn’t understand anything, so I had lots of problems. One time a customer told me that if I didn’t speak English then what was I doing here in the U.S.A. and my boss said that it was just a racist person but I felt very sad. And my boss wanted me in customer service and there I continued. One time a customer came and told me “It’s really hot outside” and I gave her a bunch of hot sauce. She got very surprised and told my manager to tell me she didn’t need hot sauce, she was just saying it was hot outside, and I was embarrassed. My boss told me don’t worry. You can do it and you are doing it really good. I learned English by my own count because I wasn’t able to go to school. After one year I obtained the spot as an assistant manager and now I want to learn English really good because it is very important to have better opportunities in the United States. THREE TRADITIONS OF MICHOACÁN By Tallo Salgado Michoacán is one of many states of Mexico. It has three popular holidays. People who live in the ranch make a party when their daughters turn 15 years old. It is called quinceañera. They make a big party to celebrate that their daughters are not girls anymore and they are making a big change in their lives and they are becoming ladies. The second holiday is on December 12th, the day of La Virgin de Guadalupe, the mother of God. People like to visit their church to say thank you for everything. They also do some fireworks and make some food to be with their family. The third holiday is El Día de los Muertos, the day of death. That is on November 2nd. People like to prepare dough for their own bread and they put it in the oven to have ready to make an offering to all their family that are already dead. They also like to make an altar in their houses to put food, fruit, dessert all kinds of things you can eat, but nobody can eat or touch anything until the next day because they think all their family spirits will come eat and go back to heaven during the night. The next day is when everybody can eat everything they had put on their altar.

ELDERS IN MEXICO By Rosa María Sánchez Elders in México mean to us wisdom, respect and they are an important part of our roots. They bring an example of how to live and they offer support to families and society. Our older people are important members of our families. They teach and guide their children and grandchildren. They help at home with minor tasks but some tasks are too important to trust someone else to do it. They like to feel appreciated. In our culture no matter what, it doesn’t matter if they give money to our families. We receive the best of them: The knowledge and experience from the years of living they have. They contribute with all their support to raise our children with advice that sometimes you don’t find in any book or website. For them it’s so, important to feel that they help the family and to feel they can be alive and helpful. Normally family members take care of them. When they are ill or at the end of the last days, usually most people don’t have money to pay for the retirement center. But even if they have the money families don’t like the idea of putting them in there. For our culture it’s important to give back to them a little care and love that they deserve. To me the elders are worth more than any effort or work that involves each member of our family. It’s the attitude to them that shows gratitude. MY SON’S ALLERGY Aldo I Vazquez‐Guemez I want to share with you, the experience of my son’s allergy. Six years ago, I had a bad experience. I bought a small bag of mixed nuts, so my son ate a few of them. After a short period of time, he started to feel bad. He slept about 10 minutes, then he got up with a fever. We didn’t know what was it about so we went to church. He looked weak and he scratched his back, and we noticed he had some red rash. Then we decided to take him to the hospital. On our way over there his eyes and lips swelled. When we got to the hospital we waited until he was attended. The doctor said it was about an allergy and they gave him medicine. After that we waited until the red rash on his body disappeared, and the swollen eyes and lips went back to normal. Finally the doctor asked us to take him to an allergy specialist to find out the reason of his allergy. So they tested him and the results let us know that he is allergic to cashew nuts. Since then we don’t give any kind of nuts at all.

MY STORY IN MEXICO By Estrellita Villegas My name is Estrellita Villegas, and I’m from Mexico. I was born here in the US, in Mt. Shasta, California. But when I was a baby, my parents came back to Mexico. I love it there so much. It is very pretty and comfortable. The people are very good. I have so much family in Mexico. I also love so much my parents. My father worked a lot to get money for my family. My father worked making electricity poles, but he got a lumbar injury and hasn’t work now. My sister and I have to work. My sister works in a store. My father was very happy for our help. I love my work. I meet so many friends at my work. MY LIFE By Mode Zamora Hi! My name is Modesta, and I’m from Mexico. I’m born and raised in a cute little town named Cruz Grande Gro. I have three children, two girls and one boy and hope someday to take them to visit the town where I was born. I have been living 10 years in the USA. I lived six years in Las Vegas NV and I’ve been living four years in Tumwater, WA. I like to study English and I hope to speak it better in the future. MY SISTER’S ENGAGEMENT By E. Gabriela Zavala In my home country it is a tradition that before getting married the man has to first ask his girlfriend if she wants to be married to him, then ask the girlfriend´s parents for an appointment to ask them for the hand of their daughter. When my big sister, Jetzabel, was asked to be married by my brother‐in‐law, Carlos, he made an appointment with my parents for his whole family to meet with our whole family and ask for her hand. It was so hard for me to be in the meeting that day, because a month before we had a big fight and we still were not speaking to each other. I had the worst feeling when they asked me to add some words to the conversation. I felt like I had a knot in my throat and I couldn´t talk, but I said a few words and started to cry. After that day we started getting along with each other. When my parents agreed, Carlos gave a ring to my sister. Then they were formally engaged. We have two different ways to get married in Mexico. It could be civil or by the church. In a civil ceremony people just pay the judge a fee to marry them, and some people after that have a party and some just go straight to the honeymoon. In a wedding by the Catholic church, people need to work harder preparing everything with enough time. The future wife must choose a beautiful white dress which the man shouldn´t see until the date of marriage. Also they choose a nice church and nice place

to have the party. Some people rent a beautiful car like a limousine; in some cases both families share the cost of the party, but usually the woman´s family pays everything. Now my sister and I were getting along so I was helping her to make decisions. I even helped her to choose her wedding dress, the place for the party, the church and the day of the ceremony. During the ceremony there are some traditions. One is the “Lazo” which their godfathers put around their necks as a symbol of union between them. “Lazo” are small chains like a rosary in the form of a figure eight. Also during the ceremony the groom has a small box with 13 coins and he pours them into bride´s hand as a symbol of providing her a living. Then the bride gives the coins back to the groom´s hand as a symbol of support and love. At the end of the ceremony they both let free two white doves as a symbol of a new life together. In my sister´s wedding she looked incredible and she was able to include all this tradition in her wedding. Our relationship has continued to be very good since that time. MICRONESIA MY CLEAR MIND By Roimina Skimpy My favorite place to go visit would be the island of Micronesa the island called Piswi where everyone on the main island of chunk would always go and have parties on that little island. I remember the feeling of the warm blue sea where you can sit and watch all the kids swimming and play volleyball. MONGOLIA MY FAVORITE HOLIDAY By Dariimaa Jigjidjav One of my favorite holiday is a Mongolian New Year. We call this holiday “White Month” and celebrate it for whole month. White Month happens in the beginning of the spring to celebrate up coming spring and passing harsh winter time. Also, it is a holiday for everyone is getting older by a year. The first day of this holiday we wear nice new clothes and visit elders first to show respect and wishing them happy long life and listen to their wisdom.

MYANMAR FIRST YEAR IN FREMONT By MuMu Hlaing In 2011, I left Yangon, Myanmar. My parents, my middle sister and my oldest sister’s friend sent me to Yangon airport. We took pictures together before I departed with my husband. I knew there were tears in my mom’s eyes because she wanted me to live in the U.S as short year. I had never let them have worry for me so far away from them before. I was excited and happy on our trip. Our trip was transit by Taipei then changed to another flight. We arrived in the San Francisco airport at night time. A view was unclear from the sky at night but I saw so many light and bridges. We had difficulty after one month living in my husband’s niece’s house. It happened after my husband went back to Myanmar during a time. We paid her six months for staying in her house. She used to stay in our house while she was visiting in Yangon. At that time I didn’t know that she had a bad attitude. I tried to endure staying in the house even though she had bad behavior. First, I began to study driver handbook for reading test and I also attended English class in Fremont Adult School. I felt so lonely that I talked with my family and my husband by using Skype. Furthermore I didn’t know which bus number to take. I walked to DMV office to take a test before I got a driver’s license. First week of December my husband came back to Fremont. We ate at a Vietnamese restaurant while we were looking for another place. The restaurant owner was surprised I came to his restaurant almost daily. I had an answer in my mind; I didn’t want to use her kitchen. When we returned at night, we spent time staying in the car as we didn’t want to enter her house. I very much wished to move to a new place as soon as we could. The night before Christmas she threatened to kill me. At that time her husband and brother were in the house. I heard what she said about me and then I came out from my room. I wanted to escape from her house immediately. I responded to her “Why are you so hostile to me?” She had been playing Buddha sound all day but she didn’t have a peaceful mind. She didn’t have an answer for me as she stared without talking. Next, she held a knife in her hand and tried to throw it at me even though her brother stopped her and she was acting in a fury. Her husband was just like an audience. I never met anyone like her before . Luckily, we could move to another place that was comfortable and peaceful. Finally, we went to travel around the U.S. during my school break time. My mom always tells me if you have a good mood you will meet with a good fortune.

PERU ANAPIA By Inés Prieto When I was 22, studying Textile Management in a school, I was sent to a study trip to Puno, a cold city in the highlands boundary with Bolivia. We spent a day in “Anapia”, an isle of Titicaca lake –the largest lake in South América, shared with Bolivia‐ where they have an area to raise a small quantity of alpacas and vicuñas, animals highly valued around the world due to their fine hair for clothing, even though that, they are a poor community. There was a group of families who was in charge of hosting tourists in their houses to experience daily life in that place, eating their traditional homemade food and exploring about the community manners. A friend and I were received by Teodora and her husband. They were very kind to us from the first moment we met. They had a very modest and lovely place for us with beautiful handmade bedspreads. Everything in that house was lovely, lots of colorful flowers, sheep, dogs, our rooms, her traditional dresses, same ones that she got us to wear to shoot some pictures. But it is only one side of the story. There were even more beautiful things. It was such a great experience for me, even when they live as they can achieve by themselves because the government seemed to have forgotten them. Teodora took us to walk by the street ‐that was ground soil with no light from dusk to dawn because they had no electricity‐ to meet with the other part of the group and I saw her greeting every single person she passed, saying “Good night Aunt/Uncle”, She told us that it was a sign of respect they have to elder people. I was almost same impressed like the first time I came here to Washington and noticed that people are so kind saying hello to any person even to unknown people. It was shocking for me in a positive way, for real! That night we went back home and stayed awake chatting about the community and her own life. It was a very emotional moment, she cried while telling us the big effort she and the authorities of the community do to receive benefits from the government since they are part of the country. Life is not easy there but they attempt to live as happily as they can. People from Anapia showed us how to live in an organized community, giving their children the best education they can, based on values and harmony with the nature. To live with the little quantity and diversity of fishing and goods their land and sea can give them. Being grateful for every single thing they have. It was hard to say goodbye. I promised to myself to go back to visit her and see the obvious progress they will have because they work hard to succeed and deserve it and more!

MEMORIES ABOUT MY GRANDMOTHER By Beatriz L. Suarez I remember my grandma with admiration and love. She was a good mother, and good role model for her grandchildren. When she was young, she had a hard life. She raised seven children by herself. I feel proud of her because she worked hard to take care of her children. Her children grew up stronger and they are grateful to her for everything. I remember with emotion the times I shared with her and my entire family, in her house. We enjoyed happy memories when she was alive. I remember one time when it was her birthday and my uncles and cousins were present. At the beginning she knew who came this important day. She made a traditional and delicious dish called chicken stew. She made the correct amount of food for the family, but she wasn’t expecting extra friends to come. After she served the food for her family, I don’t know how she figured out to share food to additional friends. I was surprised that she did it. At the end of her birthday, we sang her HAPPY BIRTHDAY and ate the cake. It was a good day for my grandma and family that I will never forget. PHILIPPINES TAGALOG By Gundina Ramos My family my daughter are here. Schooling exuted cold Christmas New Year. 12 family cebu Philippeans that US cold sipping inside the house at night. Put money each corner of the house. Things I miss about my country. Things about American life that I like appreciate my experience as an English learner, culture shock what surprised me about the US. RUSSIA HOPING FOR CHANGE Tatiana Gorodilova My country is very big, with a lot of beautiful places, but unfortunately our people don’t care about our unique nature. Ecology laws are not perfect and are not observed.

Cars are parked on roadsides even under the "No parking" signs and on lawns or flowerbeds. It is very rare that somebody gets a ticket or gets towed for that, and then people are very surprised by it. There is a lot of trash in forests, fields and on the riverbanks. Plenty of people don’t feel responsible cleaning up after themselves. But it is also the government’s fault, because it doesn’t provide enough of trash cans, equipped places for picnics and restrooms. In Russia sorting and recycling of garbage is very poorly organized. Plastic bags fly on streets. There is a lot of broken glass on pavements and roads. Plastic bottles and beer cans wallow near big and small stores. I like the comfortable parking lots, landscaped parks, clean lakes and well‐ maintained beaches of America. I hope that our government teaches Russian people to keep and protect our beautiful nature and the future of our children. MY FIRST VISIT TO THE UNITED STATES By Nikolay Rumyantsev In 1997 I was first time in America. From Moscow to Los Angeles, I spent 12 hours on the plane. I was surprised how warm was the weather in California. I saw many palms on the beach. I thought, “I will swim,” but the water was very cold in that ocean. In my opinion, Cancun is the best place for vacation. Because there is hot weather and very warm water. It is my dream to go to Cancun for next my vacation! SENEGAL MY TRADITIONAL FOOD “THIEBBOU DIEUN” By Alassane Djigal Thiebbou Dieun is a dish made by rice, vegetables, tomate paste and fish. It’s the most famous recipe in my country. People like it so much there because it is a healthy food and also it’s so good to eat. Thiebbou Dieun is a dish most served during all the holy month of Ramadan. A lot of people prefer to eat that after breaking their fast. It is also useful for lunch time and dinner time. It can be really served during the big celebration such as newborn babies, wedding party and some special event like Independance Day, Christmas time or during the Eid al‐Fitr. Thiebbou Dienn is an oral traditional recipe created by a Senegalese woman from Saint Louis, a small historical city in the North East. Her name was Penda Mbaye. She was an amazing chef who used to work inside the colonial

governor residence. While she was working there, she created the dish using fish and vegetables and barley. Unfortunately there was a barley shortage and she substituted rice in it. And a new recipe was born from that history. Eventually Thiebbou Dieun became a favorite dish, the number one, and was elevated to national dish status. SOUTH KOREA BECAUSE OF DROWSINESS By Anonymous I had a car accident with driving while sleepy 12 years ago. My mother‐in‐law and my daughter were in the car. When I opened my eyes, I was driving in the next lane. I was trying to brake but I pushed accelerator. As a result, my car was turned upside down. Fortunately, noone was hurt. It was my first car accident. Few years later, I got in second car accident. So my car got totaled. The cause was the same reason as the first time. It was kind of weird, because I never had such thing before. After that, I was in car accident a few more time. So I went to the sleep clinic with my sister‐in‐law. She got an appointment for me to see a doctor. I had several tests. Test results showed I had a problem. My disease is called Narcolepsy. My doctor gave me written prescription. The narcolepsy medicine is so expensive. The insurance doesn’t cover it. Since then, I take medicine everyday. The effect is good. Now, I never sleep while driving and I am careful in driving. LIFETIME EXPERIENCE OF LEARNING ENGLISH IN AMERICA By Anonymous I’m a 20 year old student, who would like to share my cultural experience of learning a second language in America. First of all, I was an ESL student in SPSCC during the winter quarter in this school year. I had serious difficulties to improve my English skills because, the CPT test was very difficult to reach average scores to pass this test, and I had taken Basic English from 2005 in South Korea. At that time, my English skills couldn’t get improved much. When I had a chance to learn English, I didn’t understand English enough. So, I would like to share two detailed examples about this embarrassing experiment: First, acquaintance A asked me “How are you doing today?” then I immediately replied as “I need to take a break”. At other times, I had to listen to the whole conversation in English but I interrupted them most of the time during the speech and lecture because I really got confused about what they were talking about. It

happened around certain places as park, public building, train stations, bus stations, and other places. Later, I had thought that time for improving English means wasting lot of time on learning basic words. At that moment, I believed English is only a subject difficult to learn and study everyday as my second language. For those years in ESL classes, I had tried to attempt new ways of learning English: staying up late and read or write in English every single day, put English words of my daily experiment or working out of my plan for study English, but those ways seemed fruitless to study second language every day. Furthermore, I am still a young student who possibly could take English classes on regular basis but I had gone through many steps to stick to learning professional English skills in ESL classes for nearly seven years in America. I was glad to experience new skills to improve English through ESL classes last quarter at this college, because I learned more reading skills and writing skills at the same time that supported me to understand more in English. Also, I see the different ways I had studied English before compared to last quarter in ESL class. At this time, I expect the new experiment from ESL classes could become helpful to improve my reading and writing skills. MY NEW LIFE By Anonymous I came here 8 years ago with my family. There are my husband, our daughter and our son. We enjoyed different culture, language and business. We were very excited. After one year my husband had a stroke. I called 911. He spent one night in emergency room. Doctor tested his heart. The result showed he has light heart problem. We had to pay around $15,000.00. I was very surprised that the cost was so expensive. If we lived in Korea we paid under $300.00 for one time. I think my family’s health is most important. My husband stopped smoking. We try to exercise every day. My husband and I went hiking 2 hours last Sunday. We are eating the organic food, less meat, more fresh fruit and vegetable. All my family are healthy now. So I am very happy. MEMORY OF SCHOOL CULTURE By Kyong Aube When I was in junior high and high school, we had very strict rules about uniform, hair length, and make up in school. All students had to wear uniform without any excuse at school. If we didn't wear uniform, teacher told student to go home.

Boy students had to cut hair really short and girl students had short length 1/4 inch under ears. The teacher cut student’s long hair with scissors to look bad and if students wore make up, teacher called parents to come to school. We didn't like it all. Now, I think about it and that wasn't too bad because the strict rules made us grow up nicely and I miss that. WHAT I MISS ABOUT KOREA By Kyeung hee Choi I was born in a small fishing village in South Korea close to the Pacific Ocean. When I was a child I ate a lot of raw fish almost every day even though my father and brother weren’t fisherman. They call this food “sasimi” in the U. S. At that time my best friend lived next door to me. Her father was a fisherman and her mother was a diver, so they could eat a wide variety of seafood and shared with my family. But I never ate a fish with a head or tail because the fisherman would cut them off. They did this because the head and tail were damaged in the net but they were still very fresh. The fisherman could not sell the fish so they gave them to us for free. Soon the raw fish became my favorite food from that time. South Korea is not a big country, so quick delivery can be done from sea to city only in a few hours. Also usually most Koreans like to eat raw fish. They can eat fresh “sasimi” for a good price in a lot of restaurants. But in the U.S. only a small number of people enjoy eating raw fish although they have strict health rules about raw food. So unfortunately, the raw fish’s price is higher than in Korea. I miss Korea!!! MY WEDDING By Eunkyung I had my wedding 21 years ago. It was a very wonderful experience and everyone was just excited for my family and me. The wedding was in a church and we ate Korean food including rice cakes, beef soup, and soda. About 200 people came and gave money as a blessing. The guests wore special occasion clothes like dresses. I wore a long white and big wedding dress. My husband wore a black tuxedo. We were very beautiful. The ceremony was in the afternoon. Then it was the reception and dinner. After, we went to our honeymoon. Our honeymoon was on Korean island. We went to the island by a boat. We stayed there for one week. It was very hard traveling, but we enjoyed. My wedding 21 years ago was a happy experience.

CHU SEOK By Savanah Flaspohler The Korean Thanksgiving is called “Chu Seok.” “Chu Seok” is one of the largest holidays in Korea. The day of “Chu Seok” is different day in fall every year because we use a lunar calendar. When this day is coming, the married and unmarried children wear Korean traditional dress call “Han Bok.” They visit their parents. The women cook food, and the family visits their ancestor’s grave to remember them. In “Chu Seok” we prepare one remarkable food call “Song Peon.” “Song Peon” is made with new rice which harvested that year. All the families‐men, women, and children‐gather together and make “Song Peon” to help women’s job, and they have good time with family reunion. At the point elderly relative gives blessing to the young unmarried children for their future luck. These days “Chu Seok” is not like old time. Some families still maintain old time celebration, but some people order the food from catering, internet, or purchase from a market. This is because both are working in modern time. People celebrate this particular holiday, but the effort of cooking and wearing a “Han Bok” are much avoid than used to be because modern outfit is more comfortable and the catering is much faster. Although the time has changed, there’s no doubt “Chu Seok” is the greatest holiday in Korea, and a very exciting and fun event. When “Chu Seok” comes around, people expect to see their children, the expense of preparation is one of their biggest concern. MY WONDERFUL MEMORIES OF CLIMBING EXPERIENCE By Hyeryeon I traveled to Jeju Island 3 times long time ago. When I traveled first time with my husband, we climbed Halla Mountain in Jeju Island and it was the wonderful experience for him and me. First Jeju Island is very famous tourist resort because the place is the large volcanic island and also beautiful. Especially Halla Mountain is symbol of Jeju Island. Many people love the mountain’s beautiful and unusual shape because it is a volcano. Second, most Koreans and foreigners want to climb to the top once in their lives. So we decided to climb it. However, climbing was not easy for us. It was hard to breathe because the air was not enough. Moreover, there are lots of stones on the path. But wherever we went, we could see different views. For example, there is big prairie, lots of dead wood, changes in the weather and the colorful fall leaves on mountainside. And a lot of reeds were dancing in the wind. Sometimes, the clouds of various forms passed through the mountain top. So we continued to walk looking forward to arriving on the top. Close to the top of mountain, we had to wear the gloves

to hold onto safety chain. Lastly the top of mountain was covered with snow. The view of the place was really amazing and beautiful. We were very excited. I shouted loud “It is so beautiful!” I appreciated that God has created the beautiful world for a human being. I’m happy because of my wonderful memories of climbing Halla Mountain. A SCENE FROM MY MEMORY By JuHee Kang In 1994, as a 4th grade elementary school girl, I was taller than my friends. “Long legs” I was called by my friends. That was for the simple reason that I was a runner in the autumn sports meet. I didn’t have confidence because I knew my running skill. Even if I knew it, I couldn’t say “I don’t want to run.” My image raised their expectations. I had practiced several times after school. One day before the autumn sports meet, my parents made snacks. Dry seaweed rice roll and cold beverages. It is a common favorite menu to South Koreans. On the actual day, I wore the white hair band and shirt, pants, socks, shoes of a White Team player. This day is the biggest local ceremony in South Korea. Everybody has a memory about it. And also if parents have an elementary student, they are required to attend. Parents greet each other and their sons' and daughters’ teachers and friends. There are student group dance performances, mothers' group performances, fathers' 100 meter dash… Eventually, the last event began, the relay race. I was very nervous. When it was my turn, I didn’t have any energy. My white team and the blue team were evenly matched. I felt like my legs were very slow, two legs attached while my mother was cheering me on. She had a big towel in her hand, swinging it around and around, shouting to me, “Run! Run! Run!!!!!!” YELLOW BUS By KyungSook Kang When I was 7 years old in the March of 1968, I attended my elementary school for the first time. I was dressed in my red jacket with a white handkerchief on the left breast. This handkerchief was used for wiping a runny nose. Even if it wasn’t needed, the 1st grade children had to hold the white handkerchief there by clothespin. My school was about 3 miles away from my house. I didn’t know the route to school. At time, there were no school buses at all. So, my father went to my school with me on foot for a week. I followed my tall father. My father’s long black coat’s bottom edge fluttered in the wind in front of my face and my white handkerchief on my left breast was fluttered by my hurried tread. Small flakes of snow were drifting on top of the shoulder of father and daughter. Sometimes, a rural route bus passed with rumbling.

After 40 years, my father was confined to bed and I wiped my father’s runny nose with a white handkerchief. In the September of 2011, my three sons went to elementary school by yellow bus. That day was their first day of elementary school in the U.S. The yellow bus reminded me of my first day of elementary school. Wearing my a red rain jacket, I was staring at the back of the yellow bus as if I were 7 years old again. A MONTH OF HOLIDAYS By Young Su Kang I like spring time. April is over and May is beginning. I love May. It has lots of events in Korean culture. May 5th is Children’s Day. May 8th is Parents’ Day. May 15th is Teacher’s Day. And the whole month of May is family month. Children’s Day has a lot of parties. They have songs and games, and parents make special food. They also buy new clothes for them and make cards or give money. On Parents’ Day children always buy flowers, clothes, and make cards and gifts for them. They also sing special parent songs. May 15th is Teacher’s Day and Koreans always respect teachers. We make thank you cards and write letters to give to our teacher. That day has a special song too. May is a popular month. And the whole month is family month. CHANGING THE LIFE By Eun S. Kim I used to like poker. I played 2‐3 times every week. I spent too much time and I had a lot of stress. I didn’t play with my children and help out with housework. How stupid is it? I did find that it’s waste of time. My life was not happy. I stopped playing poker with new year resolution to improve quality my life and life of the family. I am starting ESL and playing golf and spend a lot of time with my family. I am going to study English more and make a lot of money. I will always make a happy life. A MENTOR OF MY LIFE By Hye Kyoung Kim When I was a nursing college student, I hadn’t any clear plan for my future. I just wanted to be a nurse and I wanted to work close to my home. One day, my professor told us we will meet a graduate from my college. She has worked at a famous hospital in Korea. She told us about life in a hospital. I was interested in her story. I met her to hear more information. I felt proud of her. She told me to look at the wide world. After I met with her, my mind completely changed. I

decided to work in nursing. I studied hard and I got stressed out, because my studies were too broad. When I had a hard time, I made a call to her, to help me researching multiple data. I spent a lot of time at the library and at college for my future. So my grades were able to get to the top. It was a product of hard work. Finally, I could apply there by my professor’s recommendation. I waited anxiously until the day it was announced. Finally, I got a job, so I was happy to work in a hospital and I worked there for seven years. It was a good experience for me. I thank my mentor for changing my life. MY BEST FRIEND By Kyung Ja Lee I have my best friend. She lives in my country South Korea. She was my middle and high school classmate. She has dark brown hair and brown eyes. She is very slim. She always had a short hair style. Me too. When we met we talked a lot through the night. Her name is Shin. My friend lived in Australia for 4 years and she lived in California for 4 years because of her husband’s business. Now she went back to Korea. I moved to the United States. She doesn’t call me. I think she forgot me. Soon, I would like to visit my home country to meet her there. So, I like one very sincere friend better than a lot of friends. I always miss my friend “Shin”. THINGS I MISS ABOUT MY COUNTRY By Suk Ja Lee I was born in Korea and I came to America five years ago. America has many trees and flowers. My neighbor is so kind. I like America so much but sometimes I miss my home country. Besides my son is still in Korea. Korea has two big holidays. One is New Year day and the other one is choo suk that is Thanks giving in Korea. We all get together on holidays and spend much time with family. I miss relatives and friends. MY WEDDING STORY By Moosin I am married forty‐eight years ago at the Namsan Mountain Park wedding hall. It was a great and fantastic ceremony. Namsan Mountain is in the center of Seoul where the view is excellent place. May 6th is my wedding date. In Korea, the best weather in a year is the month of May. So most traditional festivals are in May. For example, the May Queen Festival and sports competitions are held in every university. So I planned my wedding in May also. There were many guests and the weather was beautiful, too. About 300 guests attended the wedding ceremony. Fourteen members in a band played the wedding

march and it was charming. The bride wearing wedding dress and holding flowers was beautiful. One of my college professors conducted ceremony. He told me a Russian proverb “If you go to war pray once. If you go on a sea journey pray twice. But pray three times when you are going to be married.” After the ceremony, the wedding band played for 30 minutes. They played classic, semi classic, and traditional pop music. All guests clapped and it was wonderful. Everybody who brought a present got rice cake. If you were married about 50 years ago, you would usually get soap, toothpaste or cake as a gift. However, Korea is like the United States these day, when it comes to a wedding celebration. MY LIFE By Heejin Park I came to the United States on August 21, 2010 from South Korea. Everything in here was new and exciting. I left my family in Korea for my children to have an opportunity in a new place. Learning a second language was really hard even though I graduated from university in Korea. Also it was hard to have foreigners as a friend, but I always say to myself “I can do it”. That motto would encourage me to study more about another language. I work hard day by day for using the correct grammar. UNTIL I ACHIEVED MY DREAM By Yong Hoon Park I don't remember which organization it was through, but when I was young, I had an American pen pal. Sometimes we sent each other letters, and I got presents from him. Since then, I had an aspiration for the United States. But I thought that it was impossible to go there because of my family situation. From being a small boy, I became an adult. And I became a pastor. Now, I had a wife, a daughter, and a son whom I love. We were living very happily in Korea. But my childhood dreams came to me. I remembered the pen pal I had when I was younger and the American missionary I met as a student. I had a good time with them, and I have loved American people since I was young. When I was beginning to want to move to United States more, I had an invitation from a Korean American church. Then I talked with my family and decided to move. It was not an easy decision. The reason was that I had ill parents. My sisters decided to take care of them and we moved to the United States 7 years ago. Our family wanted to know more about and love the country. So we attend schools, exercise with people, and learn about their cultures.

THE BEST PLACES TO VISIT IN MY COUNTRY By Kuk Byoung Yoon I’m from Korea and I live in Washington State. Washington State is very beautiful. My home country is beautiful too. Especially Jeajudo it is different from the city. Jeajudo is beautiful island and it is warm. Many people visit Jeaju island for their vacation. I recommend you visit Jeaju island for the place of your vacation. I want to go there again someday! SUDAN A LIFE STORY By Sayda Kong I have a life experience to share with you. I’m thankful to be alive to bring my story to share.

I had a dream. I am a person that has achieved that dream, and I am still working hard towards the dream. MY FATHER’S DEATH DAYS By Un Sun When I was very young my father died. I did not understand death. In Korean culture families remember dead people three times a year. The days are death day, Thanksgiving and New Year. Every year three times my whole family came to my house. My mother cooked a lot of food. It looked like a holiday. I was so happy because I saw my sisters, nephews, nieces, uncles and aunts. Everybody came to my house. I waited for holiday and my father’s death day. Then my mother made a very special food that my father liked. She cooked beef, fish, vegetables, beef soup, and rice. She prepared fruit also. The soup and rice and incense and white wine were on a small table. All the men stood up and bowed three times to my father’s spirit. They turned the wine glass three times in a circle. Again they bowed three times and sat down to eat. The smell of incense smoke call the soul to come to the house and eat the food. The food cannot have any red color so we don’t put red pepper in food. In Korea in the past families liked the sons because they took care of parents. Now, sons and daughters take care of parents. When I was teenager, I understood my father died. Then my feelings changed for these holidays. I made food also for my father and everybody.

In 1981, I was in school. During summer time, I went shopping with friends. It was fun. It was a very special day for us. While we were walking home, I stepped on a snake. Sadly, I got bit by the snake. I screamed a lot, and fell on the ground. All my friends started screaming with me. Finally my cousin came, and we stopped screaming. He carried me on his shoulder until my house. My dad was saddened. He thought I was dead. My family took me to the hospital. I stayed in the hospital for three long months, and I almost died. Today I have ended up with a big scar on my foot. After that, any time I saw a shadow, I thought that was another snake. I say “thank you” to God for giving me my life back. SYRIA A HARD DECISION By Dima Aboukassem It’s very difficult to achieve everything you want in life. When I made a decision to come to the USA, it was very hard for me to leave my country in very hard circumstances with my family there, to begin a new life with my husband and my son. But I thought about the future, how can we live safe in our country? Everything was damaged, and my son was very scared because of the bad news which we were watching on TV, so we decided to take this adventure. On 17th of February 2014 we arrived in Olympia in Washington State. My husband’s cousin was waiting for us. He is a very kind man and he prepared a lot of needs, like kitchen tools, beds, sheets, and food. He tried to make us comfortable as he could. I’ve been here since three months ago, and I met very kind people who helped us in school, ESL class in college, and different places. Now, everything is very good. I feel confident now that I joined my ESL level 4 class, because now I try to contact many different people, and different cultures, to recognize their life. These are very interesting times. So, now I am grateful to choose my new life in the USA. MY LIRA By Aksam Alyousef From the time I was five, my grandfather used to give me a Lira every new Eid Al‐ Fiter. In that time the Lira was almost equal to $1. It was a large amount for me. With

one Lira I could buy a lot of things. The days and years are passing. I am growing up and my grandfather also, but the Lira doesn't. Every year, the Lira was losing a bit of its purchasing power. My grandfather was not able to understand that, and no one tried to explain that to him. Even if we did, he wouldn’t be convinced. When I was twenty, I visited him on Eid Al‐Fiter. For him I was still a kid, so he put his hand into his pocket, and pulled out one Lira. I kissed his hand and took the Lira silently. In that time, the Lira was purchasing nothing, but my grandfather was still convinced of its big amount. When I was twenty‐one, my grandfather was 90. It was in 1988. That year, I couldn't get my Lira, because my grandfather passed away one month before Eid Al‐ Fiter. Because I am not the type of person who surrenders easily, I woke up at the early morning hours of the first day of Eid Al‐Fiter, then I went to visit my grandfather's grave. I sat next to the grave, and I whispered, “I know you hear me. I want my Lira.” My grandfather didn't answer. At the time, I realized that I lost my Lira in this life. I threw peace on his soul, and left. On my way, between the cemetery and my home, I was walking and kicking the small stones with my shoes when I found a Lira. I laughed a lot, and I said, “Thank you my grandfather, I was sure that you wouldn’t forget me.” I still keep this Lira until this day. SPRING HOLY DAY By Okba Jahjah It happened when I was 10 years old. There was a celebration on April 1st as the first day of the Syrian year, as old Phoenicians used to do a thousand years ago. This day is a day to sing and dance and have food in all the village and the neighboring villages. I used to go to celebrate with my friends. We always went with free hands and empty pockets as there were many families who would share their food and drinks. And I remember on April 1st in 1983 after 3 p.m. we were about to have our meal, when Sami my friend sighed and looked past us. We looked in the same direction and saw an old couple. They were thin and trembling. We were so hungry and starving, we couldn’t wait but all of us stopped and decided deep in our minds that we had the duty to help them join the party and break their loneliness, so we approached them and offered our service to guide them to the people in front. But they didn’t want to go and stuck around staring at our food. At first we didn’t understand but in fact they were starving even more than us. After we understood later, they couldn’t move

far to go shopping and at that age and no family to look after them. So we got the idea to invite them to have dinner with us. I can see clearly Sami’s tears as they ate and ate and we were so happy to see them happy too. We decided to be their grandchildren and we took shifts to serve them every day before school and after school. After a few months I moved to a far place, but those who stayed kept taking care of those elders and I heard about others who did the same in their villages. TAIWAN THAILAND By Anonymous I have my family live in Thailand all people I have a brother and one sister and my mom and a grandson and 2 granddaughters. And I have 1 daughter and aunt and uncle. I come USA to marriage and now I have new family in here my husband him from US. He talk to me language English but funny to me about I don’t know English and he don’t know language Thai too but sometime I can know English. I think I can to know language English soon does why I come to English school about I want to know English and I want speaking to people and I want have job in US. OYSTER PANCAKE By Shu Chan Have you ever had a dish of oyster pancake? It sounds weird but it is very delicious. Have you had a dish that brings you back to your memories of your hometown? Well when I see oyster in a market, I imagine the ocean breeze blowing my hair, the taste, and the smell of salty of air around me as I walk along the hot beach. People buy oyster pancakes from a traditional market or from a busy street market. I can see many different kinds of traditional food, display on streets. I prefer to eat Oyster Pancakes as a lunch or for a night dish. I’ve seen people make it with round shade grill and cook with two eggs, potato starch, Chinese lettuce and a little bit fresh and salty smell from ocean of oyster. Then you add sauce on the dish. The ingredients are ketchup, garlic, sugar, soy sauce, and some corn starch mixed all together. Then you cook the sauce with low heat. Finally, you get a good tasty sauce and a wonderful dish. As you can see, I miss my hometown oyster pancake very much. I’d absolutely give it a try cooking it here in America. Follow the above ingredients and cook it at home. Just as I have the dish in my hometown.

LIFE CHANGES By Jenus Den I was born in Taiwan in 1957. I grew up in the country side, so I love nature. I moved to Yelm in 2011 to practice Ramtha’s teaching. It’s learning about how to enlighten myself. It was a big change for a new immigrant like me. I was sick when I came here. My husband was very nervous and tried many ways to get my blood pressure to normal. I slept two days long in that time. I spoke broken English, afraid to drive alone and was dependent on my husband. Here is a very nice place. There are a lot of trees, four distinct seasons and people are friendly also. Soon, I liked it here and enjoy the weather. Last year, I attended the ESL class at SPSCC and then my life was changed. I got a lot of friends and now I’m not afraid to talk to people with English. The most important thing is “I am independent now.” I can drive to school by myself. A TWIST By Kuo‐Ping Hsia Moving to the U.S. was unexpected in my life. Even for travel I had never been here before. I could see a lot of problems and challenges in front of me and I had to face them. This was a big change for me. When my husband told me he was transferred to the U.S. headquarters, I was very shocked and had no idea with this change. Then, I had to quit my interesting job, left my good friends and familiar home town. Especially, I had never left my lovely family and the dearest parents so far away. On April 28, 2007, we were in America. We did not know anyone here. I was afraid to communicate with people and to go to buy what I needed. Everything for me was new and unexperienced. Another problem was I had very serious homesickness. I cried often and quarreled with my husband. I felt sad and helpless. How I wished I was living in my country. Change always needs a little bit of time to adjust and adapt. My husband introduced his co‐worker’s wife to me. She came from Taiwan too. For this reason, I felt better and had someone I could talk with. She taught me that she had already learned America’s customs. We became good friends. Also, my husband treated me with patience and tolerance. He promised me, when I missed my parents, I could go back to my country anytime. After more than half a year, I had a surprise. That was I met one of my best high school classmates at a restaurant. I recollected she had lived in America for 28 years. When she moved to America, she gave me her phone number and address. But, when

she moved to a new place, she didn’t give me that information. So, I couldn’t find her. After that, she helped me to get my driver’s license and gave me lots of instructions. Meanwhile, I decided to face and resolve my problems. Then, I went to school to study English and made many friends. I think if I hadn’t come here, I wouldn’t have recovered my confidence of English that was a part of the assignment that I hated. Besides, I might not have grown up and become independent. I appreciate those friends and my husband stuck by me through that difficult time. Now, I have been living in the U.S. for 7 years. Almost every day, we go to Nisqually Wildlife Refuge to take a walk, see that nature view and many kinds of animal’s activities. We frequently visit MT. Rainier because that is my husband’s favorite place. We have traveled to the Yellowstone, Yosemite and Banff National Park. I quite enjoy my current lifestyle and am really happy have a chance to be a student again. SEAFOOD By Fei Miin Wang In Taiwan, seafood is important and common in our everyday food. We have different kinds of the seafood in each season and it is easy, healthy dish to make with different ways. You can steam it, fry it, grill it or make the soup for your family. It is so tasty. It is easy to get. You can catch it by yourself and sometimes you get seafood from your friends. My mom goes to market and buys seafood very often. There are so many kinds of the seafood. You can choose fresh fish, scallops, shrimp, crabs, seaweed, even dry seafood. We eat fish almost every day. We have tilapia in all year. Fall is a popular season for seafood lovers to enjoy. In the beginning of fall crabs are big and juicy waiting for people to taste. Since I lived in U.S.A., I have cooked fish almost every day. Every time I go back to Taiwan to visit my family, one thing I am going to have is Taiwanese seafood. The taste is always in my mind. THAILAND THAI BOXING By Orapin Lantow Muay Thai started to become an international sport more than two hundred years ago. It is popular with boys and girls. Most Thai people practice during their teens and wear gloves and hand bands. Muay Thai is practiced in every town. Muay Thai has a heavy focus on the body such as running, moving, and jumping. Moreover Muay Thai is always practice by hitting with a heavy bag with your shin. Muay Thai has two

techniques there are Mae Mai and Luk Mai. Both techniques in Thai boxing use whole body movements such as kicks, punches, elbows, and blocks. People who learn a few steps can become good boxers. First, practice with punches. Sometimes this is all they will do for practice and they keep chins down and their elbows and hands up. Second, practice with foot work or keep running because it is very important for counter attack and return punches. Third, keep training a lot. They can do so much with a heavy bag, and they use mitts to focus with an action with different kinds of fighters. Last, people improve their health and their good counter attack. They should be exercising two‐four times a week for weight lifting and swimming. Every time they do body weight and running. Muay Thai is a good sport and good for many thing such as burning a lot fat, helping the body fit, improving flexibility, building confidence, and protecting your self and another. Enjoy Muay Thai if you have an opportunity. SONGKRAN FESTIVAL By Taneth Teamkitti Songkran Festival is one of the most famous traditions in Thailand and a special big holiday. Songkran festival is also known as the “water festival”. Thai people believed that water will wash away bad luck. Songkran festival is called “Thai New Year”. Thai people will come back home to visit their grandparents, parents, relatives and friends. They will show respect and pour scents onto hands of their grandparents, parents and relatives. Thai people spend time with family, relatives, friends and neighbors. They have a small party in family. Songkran festival is from April 13 to April 15 every year. Thai people celebrate Songkran festival in temple, home, road and everywhere. April is the hottest month and it is also dry season. Thai people have practiced this custom for many generations until present. During that day, the people go to the temple for merit acquisition. The monks and the people are chanting together. The people listen to the sermon. The people offer food, money, something to the monks. The people receive blessings from the monks and older people. It is about religion. Many people dress in the Thai custom and parade in the town. The communities have a competition for who is the beautiful Miss Songkran Festival of the year. Songkran festival is fun. You can see many people playing and throwing water on each other. Everyone has a bucket to fill with water and ready to pour or throw the water on someone else. Everybody gets to soak with water all day and they are dancing in the road. There is the sound of Thai music all over town. I think Songkran festival makes Thai people relax from working hard all year. It is a very good festival. The tourists like to visit Thailand on “Songkran Festival”.

FRIENDSHIP By Uboonwana Teamkitti Whether someone prefers many friends or a few good friends depends on the individual and how friends benefit us or how they make us happy. We can have good friends who are good people, but we can also have friends that influence us negatively or are bad people, which can lead us to being unhappy. A good friend should be sincere, helpful, advise us and give us good things. For these reasons, we have a proverb in Thailand for you. “Even if we have just a few very good friends, it is better than having many many friends who are bad, backstabbing or don’t care. Like having a grain of salt in your hand, hold it. If you have hundreds of friends, you can not hold all of them like the ocean.” I have something to tell you. Think good thoughts – Speak good words‐Do good things –Have good friends –Go to good places. MY NEW LIFE IN AMERICA By Variya Tosti The first time I arrived in America I was excited. I felt very cold because my country had warm weather. It was very cold here the first day in US. I saw snow here. I never saw snow in my country. I went outside to look at snow but I could not stay outside a long time. I came back in my house to look at the snow from the window. I had two feelings in myself. One, I missed my family, and the other one, I was excited here. But I planned to come and stay here. I must be strong and not miss my family a lot. I needed to learn everything different from my country. I went to study in school. I met new friends. I learned to speak, to listen, and to write. I had new friends who come from different countries. Sometimes we exchange experiences about the first time we arrive here. I heard many stories with my friends and it made me be strong. I am powerful. I learn how I could have a good life and stay here, and continue to learn living here. I like to study here. I like to learn everything here. Finally, I feel happy with my family here. I like the fresh air and I like friendly people. I am comfortable in America, like when I lived in my country. WELCOME TO CHIANG MAI By Chaba Weatherford Chiang Mai is in the north of Thailand. Many people think it is the most beautiful city in all of Thailand. Chiang Mai has a lot of things that are interesting to do and see. First, the people are very nice and friendly. Whenever you see them, you will see a smiling face from them. Also, they speak differently than the other Thai languages. Their language is called Kam Muang. Kam Muang is the language of the people that live

in north of Thailand. It has kind of soft sound and is very nice when you hear it. The second thing I like about Chiang Mai city is its Loy Krathong festival. Loy Krathong is a very special festival in Chiang Mai. People like to celebrate Loy Krathong everywhere in Thailand, but the biggest celebration is in the city of Chiang Mai, the most famous place for Loy Krathong festivities. Some people wear traditional Thai‐style dress with a lot of gold color. At night time, people fly lighted lantern balloons into the air. It is so beautiful to look up to the night sky when they fly the lanterns. Lastly, shopping is very fun in Chiang Mai because the city has many famous hand crafts. They sell beautiful ceramics, silk and umbrellas that have been made using traditional styles and designs. Any trip to Thailand must include a visit to Chiang Mai to experience the city’s happy people, beautiful festivals, and wonderful shopping. TIBET TSAMPA By Ngawang Sangmo Tsampa is a special Tibetan food. It is made of roasted wheat flour, corn and barley. Tibetans started tsampa way back in 3,000 B.C. Tibetans usually eat Tsampa in the breakfast. It is good for their body and it has nutrition. They take a bowl, put tsampa with tea, yak butter, slice vegetables and slice yak meat. My brother eats tsampa for lunch three times a week. He takes a bowl, puts tsampa with tea, just put little bit of butter and little bit brown sugar mixture with his hand. We call it pag, and eat it with juice, slice vegetables, also fruit. Sometimes he shares with my family. I love tsampa very much. I buy barley flour in Korean store and there is Tibetan store in Seattle. They are selling tsampa too. Sometimes our family goes shopping in Centralia and we eat a yak burger. It is very tasty and I feel I’m in Tibet but I’m living in United States. I always pray to Buddha and I will be in Tibet someday in my future dream. This is one unique Tibetan food. UKRAINE THE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM By Arsenii Andriushchenko This is the scariest thing in school life. How do I pass my final exams and continue an education?

The teacher and parents start to speaking about high school exams from middle school. They are preparing students for this complicated decision. And then, after years of studying, exam time starts. First, students register for exams and pay a small fee. Students choose four subjects each with an exam. Studying for these exams requires most of their time. Most students start preparing to pass exams from beginning of the year. Some of them take special courses with private teachers. In winter students can also register on test exams to feel how it will be. Exams usually start in July, but they can be taken in May. First of all you take internal school exams. These cover 3 subjects: Ukrainian language and two subject from your class profile. Then you go to IEE (independent external evaluation). The government sent you a list of dates and places which you need to visit to take exam. This is very serious, you mustn't take anything to class except: passport, letter of invitation, and pen and phone must be off. It depends from subject to subject, but usually you have 2‐3 hours to take exam. For Ukrainian language it's a part quiz and part writing. Then you repeat all this with the other subjects on different days. When all the exams are done, it usually takes 30 days to seen your marks. Then you can submit your documents for consideration up to 5 universities. If you have good marks they may give you free education and scholarship. If your marks are above minimum requirements you can still go to university, but you have to pay for the education. This is the Ukrainian education system in simple words. NEW THINKING Nataliya Teslo I was born in Ukraine. I only knew from movies about people from other countries. When I was 20 years old, I and my friend went to Spain. We walked around the city and got lost. My friend offered to ask the passersby how to get back to the hotel. I told him that in the movies when you ask something you need to pay money. He laughed. We asked a passerby how to get to the hotel. He very kindly told and even helped up to the hotel, and did not require money. After this incident, my opinion about people from other countries changed. I traveled a lot and got to know many people. They were all welcoming, hospitable, and selfless.

VENEZUELA PEPE By Liliana Ovalles Escalona When I was 8 years old I had a sheep named was Pepe. As soon as he realized that the whole family was awake he started bleating. In the morning each day I went to the stable and gave him food and water. As I walked to school Pepe was behind me. Pepe waited for me every day until I finished my classes. After we left the school to return to our house we took a little snack together and Pepe returned to the stable. After I finished my homework I immediately went to play ball with Pepe. One day he disappeared for about 8 hours. A neighbor found him, and secured him with a rope in order that he not escapes. That neighbor brought Pepe back to my house. Whenever Pepe knew I was leaving he wanted to go with me wherever I went. VIETNAM LUNAR NEW YEAR By Anonymous Lunar New Year is a big holiday in my country (lunar means lunisolar calendar). I have crucial moments before New Year. At 12:00am on Jan.1 of the lunisolar calendar I go to watch fireworks and dragon dancers, too. My family and I decorate the house before New Year for some days. On this day a lot of families want to make some Chung cakes and my family wants to. The Chung cakes are so hard to make, I need to be very careful when I boil them. The cakes need 10 hours or more to boil and I need to refill hot water after every hour. That day has a lot of kinds of flowers too. The main flowers are apricot blossom and peach blossom. The market is outside my house so it is easy to buy anything. They sell fruits, clothes, flowers, etc… The sellers stay and sleep there for a few days to sell everything. On Lunar New Year I have 7 days off from school but the main days are just only 3 days. After I wake up on first day of holiday, my mom and dad give me lucky money in a red envelope that means lucky the for whole year. Since older people give lucky money for to younger people, I need to give my sister lucky money too. On the first day, I go to the temple with my family to pray for health, happiness, luck and prosperity. After that, I go to relatives’ house to get my lucky money, eat together and play cards. I think Lunar New Year can’t miss to every Vietnamese people because those days are the best time for reunion. It’s also the time every family spends money. However, I

still am happy because something bad or unlucky has already passed and everything begins again in the New Year. MID‐AUTUMN FESTIVAL By Anonymous In Vietnam the Mid‐Autumn Festival is known as “Tet Trung Thu” and is the country’s second most important holiday, after New Year. Mid‐Autumn Festival usually takes place on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month. Mid‐Autumn Festival is mainly for kids. They have the most fun and frolic. Parents buy them things like lanterns and watch the festivities like the lion dance. Mid‐Autumn Festival main dish is the moon cake. Mid‐Autumn Festival was great. VIETNAMESE EDUCATION By Anonymous Four years ago I moved to the United States from Vietnam. I’ve been to school in both countries so I understand the different education from Vietnam compared to the U.S. Therefore I would like to share my education experience with other people. First Vietnamese education has five years of elementary school, followed by four years in middle school, and three years of high school. Any students who want to move to the next academic level in the education system need to complete 12 different subjects for each year in school. In order to graduate from high school they need to take a graduation exam. It is really important for all students to move out the high school if they want to go to the University. Second, we had to go to school around 6:15 am because the class started at 6:45 am but we often got out from school at 10:30 or 11:15 am. We had lunch at home and then we needed to get back to the school or we went to the teacher’s home for extra study. There were 35 – 40 students for each class, girls and boys together. Everyday, teachers quizzed students about their homework. All students were afraid of oral exam questions if they did not study their homework. In the classroom, the teacher always used the black board to write and all students had to take note. Last we had to wear uniform at school. The uniform for girls is called “AO Dai”. We had to wear it to school from Monday till Saturday. But now all girl students only wear the uniform on Monday. The uniform for boys is dress shirt and slack. Finally, I think the education in the US is more relaxing than in Vietnam. During the high school years, I gained confidents because I felt that I could accomplish my goal and graduate.

MY LIFE IN THE U.S. By Ngan Huynh I am from Vietnam. I came to the United States on March 3, 2014. My first day in the U.S. was so sad. Everything to me was very strange. I had many difficulties but I want to overcome in order to exist in America. Firstly, my mind was very tired. The first day, I cried a lot for a week because I live far from my parents and I miss my sister and brother in Vietnam. I moved to Olympia where I’m learning and working. And my parents live in Seattle. I try to do all in order to have self‐reliance. Now, I’ve lived in the U.S. 2 months. I feel I like this and I think about my life and future in the U.S. Secondly, I need language for communication. When I came to the U.S., I only spoke Vietnamese language. The first time I met American, he said, “What’s your name?” I was stunned and didn’t answer the right way. I thought that I want to learn English in order to talk with Americans when I meet them. And then, I applied for ESL in SPSCC. I tested and started level 2‐3 class. Now, I’ve learned 2 weeks. I can speak English but not fluently and my pronunciation is not exact. I will study hard in order to hear all conversation. Now, I really like communicating with people. They are friendly and nice. Finally, I can’t drive car. So I can’t go to anywhere I like. I’m learning theory for driving. I hope that I can drive a car in summer. I wish I’ll be suitable with life in the U.S. I’m really young so I can pursue patiently the challenges. It helps me be more confident and adaptable. MY TRADITIONAL CLOTHES ‐ AO DAI By Sa Huynh Each other country has it own traditional costumes. And in my country, Vietnam, it is Ao dai. You can understand in English as “long dress”. But it isn’t simple as its name. If you can see it, you will be amazed and remember it forever. In some countries, traditional costumes are worn on special occasions. However, you can see Ao dai everywhere because it’s compact so we can move easily. We can jump, run or even ride bicycles and motorbikes. So it’s very popular. Brides, female students, female teachers, flight attendants, female staff in book stores or hotels wear Ao dai. In weddings, brides wear Ao dai which is made from silk, beads, red color and sometimes was printed with a phoenix. It makes brides different with others. Mother and aunts wear Ao dai which is made from silk and sometimes has beads. However, female students and staff wear Ao dai which is made from silk or cotton and no beads. Female students wear white Ao dai. Since I graduated, I never wore it again. Especially when I came here, I don’t know when I can wear it.

MY LIFE AND MY COUNTRY By Phuong Le I’m from Vietnam. My country is small but there is a lot beautiful scenery. I came to US about seven months ago. Everything here for me is very new. The first time I saw snow I felt surprise because my country has two seasons, dry and rainy. The Lunar New Year is thing I miss the most from my country. It is a biggest holiday. The Lunar New Year is later than the New Year. My county celebrate Lunar New Year same as Chinese. Everybody receive a red envelope containing money lucky from their famly and friends. And they wished each other lucky in New Year. I also miss my friends. When I still went to school, sometimes we played soccer on Sundays. Now, I like football and my favorite team is Seahawks. I live here with my grandmother and my uncle. Their favorite are cook everything. They cook noodle soup and Viet Nam food very palatable. I like them and I eat everything they cook. I love my family very much and my life in the US.

THE WEDDING IN VIETNAM By Linh Nguyen In Vietnam, the wedding very important. It is one of the most important days of one’s life. Before the wedding, they have to choose a good day then they get wedding. A wedding can happen in their own home, in a restaurant or hotel. According to Vietnamese customs, first day of the wedding will be at the bride’s home. The second day, the wedding is at the groom’s home. If the wedding is at the restaurant or hotel then bride’s family and groom’s family with friends will be there to play, sing and eat together. In the wedding day, the bride often wears a white wedding dress and veil on her head. The bride hold a nice bouquet. The groom wears a black tuxedo with a tie. Next to bride is a groomsman. The wedding party will start with the applause. Later the groom and bride will cut wedding cake in the rousing cheers of the people. Last, the people eat, sing and dance together during the party. MY SPECIAL TIME By Marc Nguyen I like cooking in special chance. It was my wife’s birthday. I invited my relative. When I was cooking, it was a very exciting experience for my relative and me. I invited my relatives come my house. I cooked lobster tail with asparagus. I set up party’s table with flowers, candles, red wine and champagne. I like to meet relatives. We had dinner and talk together. Everyone was happy at the party.

PHAN THIÊT MY HOMELAND By Tam Nguyen Phan Thiêt Mui Ne has a very beautiful beach. The white sandbank is along the beach. The sea water are clear and blue. It changes into small waves when it runs into the beach. There are some lawns on the sandbank where the coconut trees grew up. The day have nice weather, this scene creates a natural picture. When I was young, my house was near the beach. I almost spent a lot of time to enjoy with this place. I often took my kids to swim and catch snails. It was very pleasant to have that happy life. The beach becomes a travel point now. Tourists can come there to relax. I hope one day, I will go back to visit my lovely country. WHAT PEOPLE EAT FOR BREAKFAST IN VIETNAM By Thuy Nguyen Vietnamese always have breakfast for starting work and school day. Beef soup, Vietnamese sandwich, broken rice, sticky rice and milk‐coffee are popular breakfast. Most Vietnamese chose one or two of them for their breakfast. First, “Pho” is beef soup. It is sold in a shop and it suppliers energy for starting a new day. A bowl of Pho has noodle, beef and beef broth. We will eat with bean sprout, basil and chili sauce. Vietnamese sandwich is the second popular breakfast. We can buy it easily on streets on the way to work. Someone just buys 1 sandwich and a cup of coffee and he can walk and eat. A Vietnamese sandwich often includes pate, egg cake or grilled meat, some slice of cucumber, green onion and hot pepper. Third, broken rice is the breakfast that is choice of workers. It is also sold in a shop or on the streets. A broken rice dish often has grilled pork, egg cake, shredded pork, some slice of cucumber over steam broken rice. We will eat with fish sauce and hot pepper. Last, sticky rice is also a popular breakfast in Viet Nam. We have two kinds of tastes sticky rice with chicken, dried shrimp and sticky rice with green bean, sugar, peanut and coconut. Finally, milk‐coffee is the choice that Vietnamese often have with Pho, sandwich, broken rice or sticky rice. We can drink hot milk‐coffee or with ice. We like to buy it on the street. We can eat a sandwich or sticky rice with a cup of coffee on the street before we go to work.

REMEMBER THE BEACH IN VIETNAM By Kelly Pham My hometown in Vietnam has a beach. My home was near beach too. That beach name is Pham Van Dong beach. I usually went to beach every day nine years ago. That’s why I remember the beach very much. I remember I woke up early in the morning. I waited for sunrise and swam with my sister. When I felt sad I came to beach. I felt better and forgot everything. We relaxed after school on the beach too. A lot of people from different countries came for swim and take picture. Some one live near beach sell Vietnamese food. Many hotels were built near the beach. My parents usually walked on the beach in the evening. My brother played soccer in the beach too. The beach in my hometown is very nice. I like it and remember my country very much. MY HOME TOWN By Phuong Pham I was born in Que Son, Quang Nam and I grew up there. It is not big city. It is small village. Everybody is very good and friendly. The location is very nice. There are a lot rice fields around my village. First, “Welcome to Que Son” is the first sentence you see when you come to my village. There are not many big buildings. Mostly, there are simple houses. It doesn’t have many companies and businesses, so many young people move to city for life and work. The traffic is very clear and not too noisy. But somewhere the road is old and it isn’t smooth. I think this place is good for older people to relax. Second, everybody works hard and is friendly. Mostly, they work on the rice fields and breed pigs, chickens and cows. They leave home to go to work early because they work under the sun. There aren’t any trees or something like that. They go to work early to finish everything before noon. Everybody works very hard and has fun. You can hear a lot sounds. They talk, laugh and make some sounds of animals. Sometime, someone sings to be funny and forget tired. And they sit under the shade of a big tree. You can see the children play. Everybody works until noon and goes home to eat lunch, take break and prepare to work in the afternoon. The lives repeat everyday. They work hard and sell products to get something for their house. I want the life there to change. Everybody will be able to get a good job and not work under the sun too much. I hope everybody will be happy, help other people and grow up together.

NEW TO THE UNITED STATES By My Chau Steeley The first time I came to the United States it was to live with my husband. We have been married since 2003. I could speak some English at that time. In 2007, I received my VISA to come to the United States. I went to the travel agent in Ho Chi Minh City to get the ticket to Sea‐Tac Airport in Washington State. Instead the ticket was to Dulles Airport in Washington D.C. I got to Dulles airport and my husband was not there. I borrowed a phone and called him. I could not tell him where I was. Finally, I found a police officer and he told my husband where I was. My father‐in‐law got me a ticket to Sea‐Tac where my husband was waiting for me. COMMENTS ON NEW LIFE IN THE U.S. By Happy ‐ Hong Phuc Nguyen Ta Hello Everyone. My name is Happy. I’m from Vietnam. I’ve been living here for six months. This is the first time I was to live in the U.S. and everything was new to me. About the country and its people: It was a surprise when the plane had just landed at the airport in my eyes. It was so big and so beautiful. Once outside the cold feeling of the fresh air was great. I felt first that the country was so vast and very beautiful, very civilized and polite. Almost everywhere I go, I have seen people very cheerful, polite and always greet each other especially in the church, because every day I also go to church with my parents. As I often heard that American is Heaven. About family: my parents, sister and brother in law are extremely good for us. About ESL classes: the first month when not in school, I was so shy, and had awkward communication. In early 2014, my sister and I started school, and we had a little more confidence when speaking. I love my ESL class. I love the people of my classmates. They all come from different countries and we are learning the common language. Especially with me as a teacher, for me she is a very good teacher, very good and she always smiled so beautiful with the class. I admire my teacher. THE REASON I CAME TO THE UNITED STATES By Loan Tran I came to the United States to reunion with my family. In here, there are many opportunities for me to learn and develop. That is very good for my future. I will try to learn English to communicate and integrate with the community. I also want to find a good and stable job in the US.

MY FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL By Tien Tran On my first day of the school, I was excited. I just turned 9 years old. I thought about my new experience for three weeks. I still remember all of those things: feelings, clothes, shoes, and my backpack. First, I had to wake up early and make everything ready. I put all my school supplies into my bag, then my mom and dad helped me to put on my uniform and tie my shoes. Next my dad gave me a backpack, and food for lunch. I remembered he would pick me up after class and buy ice cream if I did good at school. Before I left my house I ran to grandma’s house to say goodbye because I would like her to give me a big hug. I walked from 7am to 8:30. My legs were tired, but I was happy to see something new in town. When I arrived school I saw many people and many big trees in front of each class. Second, my class started at 9 am. It had 22 people of different ages and I was the youngest. I kept looking around the room because there were a lot of new things. I started to worry because I didn’t speak Vietnamese well! But later on one of my teachers explained more clearly, slowly and gently to me. She helped me in activities or with friends. All day long, I was hungry and thirsty! But I was lucky. It was time for students to take a break. I was excited to eat with a lot of people. My food looked yummy! After my break, I went back to class. I felt more confident than before. One of my classmates played with me and helped me. Finally, the bell rang 3 times to go home. Before we left, the teacher gave us homework and explained it slowly to make sure we understood. My dad was waiting to pick me up. I hugged him and he told me to thank the teacher. I love the feeling when I was young. I have never forgotten all those things were important. It was a good memory of my first day with teachers, friends, and school. I had a wonderful time on my first day in class. MID‐AUTUMN FESTIVAL By Huong Truong The Mid‐Autumn Moon Festival in Vietnam is called “Tet Trung Thu.” The holiday is celebrated on the 15th of August in lunar calendar and in mid September in Western calendar. The holiday is most especially for children to carry and play with lanterns. There are a lot of different style of lanterns and many kinds of moon cakes. Lantern markets are very busy and crowded. They sell moon cakes and lanterns. Before the holiday, a lot of families take their children to buy lanterns and boxes of moon cake for gifts to relatives and friends. The lanterns come in different sizes, shapes and colors such as lantern fish, butterflies, chickens, birds, ships and stars. They create

by hand and have modern plastic lanterns with battery, remote controls, music and light blinker. The parents want to spend time with their children as well as celebrate the harvest. The children are very excited to carry brightly lit lanterns. During the full moon they worship ancestor and moon with moon cakes, many kinds of fruit and vase of flowers. The children parade on the streets with friends and neighbors and carry colorful lanterns while they are singing the Moon Festival song, enjoying the moon cakes and watching dragon and lion dances. The traditional moon cakes are made during the Moon Festival. Many kinds of moon cakes such as traditional, piggy, snow skin and jelly moon cakes are called “Banh Trung Thu”. They make flour skin with salt, egg yolk and many different kinds of beans inside such as mung, red and black beans, lotus seeds and coconut. The Moon Festival is very important for parents to spend time with their children. Children are very happy to carry bright lanterns and enjoy delicious moon cakes. I LIKE MY WORK AND MY COUNTRY By Thuy Vu I am from Vietnam, I like my country, I lived Saigon. Saigon is very hot. Sometimes the weather is very wet. Before when I lived in Vietnam, I liked to go visit Hue and Danang and Shathang and Dalat. Right now I am married, my husband is a good man. I have two children, one girl and one boy. My children are very well mannered. I am working right now. I work as a hair dresser. I like my job. I love living in America.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS Abdulahi, Fadumo – Fadumo lives in Lacey and is a homemaker. She has been in the United States for 4 months and has studied English for 1 week. Aboukassem, Dima – Dima came from Syria in Feb. 2014. She was an electrical engineering teacher in her country, and is now learning English for her future. Aceves, Neyvi – She has been here for about four years. She enjoys playing the guitar and singing. She works very hard in addition to attending class. Almanza, Maria – Maria is from Guanajuato Mexico. She has two children. Almghri, Ashraf – Ashraf is a cashier at The Evergreen State College, and comes from Libya. He loves soccer and listening to the piano. He’s been in the US for the past three years. Alvarado, Francisco – Francisco lives in Lacey and is a cook. He has studied English for one week. He likes to read books and has lived in the United States for twenty years. Alvarado, Martha – Martha lives in Lacey and is a cook. She has studied English for one week. She likes to watch TV and has lived in the United States for ten years. Alyousef, Aksam – Aksam is Syrian and is working as a script writer. He likes to work as a writer. He has been studying English here for four months and has lived in the U.S. for seven months. Andriushchenko, Arsenii – He arrived in the US in late March of this year and lives in Lacey now. So this is his first quarter of studying English. He likes computer science, reading books and astronomy. Antonia – Antonia lives in Tumwater. She works taking care of elderly people. Aube, Kyong – She loves to work in her garden in Lacey. She has been in the United States since 1983. Avelar, Maria – Maria lives in Olympia and is a homemaker. She has studied English for one week and has lived in the United States for 19 years.

Avelar, Zaira – Zaira is living in Olympia, dedicated to the care of her children. She loves to play with them and cook for her husband. Zaira has been in the US for ten years, studying English for five months now. Barreau, David – He has been in the United States for 20 months and lives in Tenino now. He has been studying English for nine months. Barrelier, Rosa Maria – Rosa is from México. She is a dentist in her country and now is preparing to become a dentist in the U.S. She is very happy to be living in Washington. Basal, Amal – Amal moved to the U.S. only two and a half months ago and has been studying English for one month. She lives in Olympia and does not work. She likes walking and shopping. Bryant, Nancy – Nancy lives in Olympia and works in a child care center. She likes to cook and she’s been studying English in the United States for two weeks. She has lived in the United States for 2 years. Caballeros, Wendy – She has been in the United States for 17 years and has lived in Lacey for 7 years. She used to work in Value Village. Now she enjoys making cakes for special occasions. Caire, Lisette – She and her family live in Olympia and enjoy walking on different park trails. She has been here for nine years but has been studying English for only four months. Carcamo, Hardy – He has been in the United States for two and a half years. He has a very inquisitive mind and is interested in humanity. Carrion, Jose – Living in the US for nine years, Jose is from Cuba. He is a dance teacher of salsa, rumba, Son Cubano, and Afro‐Cuban dance styles. He has been studying English for four years. Chan, Shu – In her spare time, she likes to taste and cook a variety of food. Chen, Biying – Biying came from China eight years ago. She lives in Tumwater with her son and husband. She enjoys cooking, walking and hiking, and she started studying English in 2013. Chhun, Siem – Siem lives in Olympia. She works at Red Wind Casino. She likes to cook. She has studied English for one quarter. She has lived in the United States for 15 years.

Choi, Kyeung hee – Kyeung hee has lived in Olympia with her family for one year. She likes Washington’s weather and riding bicycles in the park with her daughter. Cristal, Dorcas – Dorcas lives in the Tumwater area with her husband and son. She is a full‐time homemaker who loves to take care of her son, listen to music and go for walks in the forest. She has been studying English for two years and has lived in the U.S. for almost four years. Danpullo, Bako – Bako lives in Lacey near the Hawks Prairie campus. Bako likes to play with his grandchildren and learn English. Daysahar, Sara – Sara lives in Olympia with her husband, after being a biology teacher in Iran. She likes singing, supporting human rights, and helping poor people. She studied English in high school, and immigrated to the US in March, 2014. Den, Jenus – After arriving in the US two years ago from Taiwan, Jenus now lives in Yelm. She is an accounting manager, likes nature and grows vegetables in her garden. She has studied English for one year. Diaz, Wilfrido – Wilfrido lives in Lacey and is a dishwasher at the Olive Garden. He wants to study English so he can explore the United States. Diaz Rojas, Angelica – Angelica lives in Lacey with her wonderful family. She has been living in the U.S. for fourteen years and has been studying English for eight months. Her biggest hope is to finish college, and she believes that with the help of her teachers, she can do it! Diaz Rojas, Dalia – Dalia lives in Lacey with her family. She likes to listen to music. She has been studying English for 2 quarters. She has lived in the U.S. for 6 months. Djigal, Alassane – He currently lives in Olympia and is a very involved SPSCC student. He likes to play soccer, exercise, and study. He has been studying for almost two and a half years, and he has been living in the United States for about three years. Dorantes, Leonardo – Leonardo is from Mexico. He has two children. He lives in Lacey, Washington. Duishenaliv, Leonid – Leonid moved to America from Kyrgystan 10 months ago. He lives in Tumwater with his family. He enjoys traveling and skiing and nature. He loves making progress in his English classes every day.

Duishenalieva, Alla – She arrived in the U.S. less than ten months ago and lives in Tumwater with her family. She likes to read and travel. Now her only goal is to improve her English to become a full‐fledged member of society. El, Kry – Kry came to the United States one year ago. He lives in Lacey and works for Taylor Shellfish digging clams. He has been studying English for three months. He would like to get his GED. Esquivel, Leobardo – Leobardo lives in Olympia and works in a restaurant as a server. He loves his job because he talks to many people and practices his English, which he’s been studying for fourteen years in this country. Eunkyung – She lives in Olympia and has been studying English for four years. She has been in the United States for seven years. Fernando – He has been living in the Olympia area for the past 15 years. He really enjoys this part of the country and, as a landscaper, he gets to enjoy the outdoors. Flamenco, Ana – Ana lives in Lacey. She works as a baby sitter. She likes to cook. She is studying English. She has lived in the U.S. for 9 years. Flaspohler, Savanah – She is a resident of Lacey and currently teaches Korean language and traditional dance at her church and at her studio in Federal Way. She has used English since she arrived here in 1983. Garcia, Elvira – Elvira is from Mexico and lives in Lacey. She works for the Tacos California food truck. In her spare time Elvira enjoys dancing, going to parties and eating. She has been studying English for 2 years and has lived in Lacey for 10 years. Garcia M., J. Jesus – He emigrated to the United States in 2004. He formerly worked in construction for seven years, but three years ago he got his license and became a hair stylist. Gorodilova, Tatiana – Tanya came from Russia five years ago. She lives together with her daughter’s family and enjoys every day, although she would like to have more time to study English. Hernández, Claudia – She comes from Mexico and has lived in Olympia since 2004. She used to work at the Ramada Inn. She is married to Gabriel and has two children – Gabriel Jr. and Jenny. She likes to spend time playing with her family. She has been an English student for nine months.

Hernandez, Jessica – Jessica has lived in the United States for five years. She lives in Olympia, WA. She doesn’t work but likes to cook and exercises every day. She has been studying English for one month. Hlaing, MuMu – MuMu lives in Tumwater with her husband. She has lived in the U.S. since August 2011 and has been studying English for more than two years. She likes to read, exercise, and travel. Hsia, Kuo‐Ping – Kuo‐Ping lives in Lacey. She’s a housewife who likes to cook and bake. She has been studying English for four years in the U.S. and has lived in the U.S. for seven years. Huynh, Ngan – Ngan is from Vietnam. She lives in Olympia. She likes to read the newspaper and go shopping. She’s been learning English for a month. She’s lived in the U.S. about 1.5 months. Huynh, Sa – Sa has lived in Olympia with her mother and her sister for a few weeks so she is a new student at SPSCC. She likes listening to music and discovering everything she wants to know. She has lived in the U.S. for a little over one month. Hyeryeon – She lives in Lacey with her second daughter’s family. She takes care of her grandsons and likes to grow vegetables in the back yard. She has been studying English since 2008 and has been living here since 2007. Jahjah, Okba – Okba lived on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea in an ancient city called Jableh. Here at a site called Ugarit, his ancestors, the Phoenicians, invented the first alphabet in the world. There are also the ruins of people who invaded and went away. Jigjidjav, Dariimaa – Dariimaa lives in Olympia. She is retired and has been studying English for 6 months and she has lived in the United States for 2 years. Dariimaa enjoys cooking, walking, and playing with her grandson. Jimenez, Oralia – Oralia lives in Olympia and works in a restaurant. She likes to spend time with her two kids and go shopping. She has just begun to study English. She has lived in the U.S. for 10 years. She loves her family and loves to learn English. Johnson, Yao Qun St – Yao Qun lives in Olympia. She is a Chinese teacher at JBLM. She likes reading and teaching. Yao Qun has been studying English more than ten years and has lived in the United States for ten years.

Juwariah – Juwariah lives in Lacey. She doesn’t work yet. She likes to cook and clean. She has studied English since January 2013. She came to the United States on Sept. 9, 2004. She has lived in the United States almost 10 years now. Kang, JuHee – JuHee married an American on September 19, 2013 and has been living here for eight months. She works in sculpture and design. She would like to be bilingual. Kang, KyungSook – KyungSook lives in Olympia. She likes to read books and travel. She has been studying English for about two years and has lived in the U.S. since 2011. Kang, Young Su – She works long hours during the day, but she still finds time to come to English class in the evening. She is a resident of Lacey. Kheirkhah, Milad – Milad is a civil engineer, from Iran. He loves working with and making things from wood. At the time of our book publication, he has been studying English and living in the US for three months. Kim, Eun S. – Eun has lived in the U.S. for twelve years. He works at a gas station and lives in West Olympia. He likes playing golf and has been studying English for one month. Kim, Hye Kyoung – Hye Kyoung comes from South Korea. She lives in Olympia, and likes hiking, camping and cooking. Kong, Sayda – Coming from Sudan fourteen years ago, Sayda has been studying in our English classes for seven months. She lives in Olympia. Lantow, Orapin – She has lived in Tumwater for almost three years. She likes cooking and camping with her friends and family. She has been studying English for two years. Larios, Jose Antonio – Jose Antonio works at Mother Josephs. He has been studying English for 9 years and likes to ride horses. Someday he would like to work on a ranch. Jose Antonio has lived in the United States for 21 years. Le, Phoung – Phoung lives in Olympia and is a student. He likes to play soccer and shop. He has studied English for six months and has lived in the United States for six months. Lee, Kyung Ja – Kyung Ja lives in Lacey. She doesn’t work. She likes to play golf. She has been studying English for three years. She has been here for four years.

Lee, Suk Ja – Suk Ja is retired and lives in Lacey. She has studied English for 6 years and has lived in the United States for 5 years. Li, Jie – Jie lives in Tumwater. She has been studying English for three years and has lived in the United States since 2010. Loarca, Vilma – Vilma lives in Olympia and works at JC Pennys. She enjoys her job and has lived in the United States for 10 years. Vilma studies English 5 days a week. Lobato‐Solis, Maria A. – She enjoys living in Olympia because she really likes the weather, flowers, and everything that is green. Lozano, Yovanna – Travel is Yovanna’s big pleasure, and she works in an American restaurant, where she cooks and preps the food. She began to study English five months ago. She has lived in Arizona for three years, and Washington state for seven years. Luan, Yun Xia – Yin is 50 years old. She comes from China. She used to be a professional singer. She likes singing. She came here about 2 months ago. Now she is studying English. Lucci – Lucci lives in Tumwater. She is married and has a teenage son. Lucci enjoys cooking, gardening and walking outdoors. She loves nature, especially in the spring and summer. She also likes to spend time with friends and family. Madriz, Magdalena – She has lived in the same place in Olympia for 11 years. Magdalena has a husband and three children, and comes from Michoacán, Mexico. Macías Mosquera, Ginger – Ginger has been living in Olympia since Spring 2010. She came here for love and got married in 2010. She loves summer in Washington because there are many things to do. Ginger has been studying ESL since Fall 2010. Marc, Marie Nicole – Nicole lives in Lacey and is a homemaker. She has been studying English for only a week. She likes to watch TV. Nicole has lived in the United States for 4 years. Marin A., Kate – Kate is 23 years old and lives in DuPont. She likes to read, travel, do new things, explore new places and food, and meet new people. She also enjoys the amazing things that can be seen and heard in nature. Playing violin is one of Kate’s favorite hobbies.

Martinez, Edgar – Edgar is from Oaxaca, Mexico and lives in Olympia. He works as a screen printer. In his free time, he enjoys painting. Edgar designed the cover of this book. Matharu, Sonia – Sonia lives in Tumwater. She’s a housewife who likes to spend lots of time with her two kids. She just started studying English at SPSCC a week ago. She’s lived in the United States for about seven years. Medina, Flavia – Flavia is from Mexico. One of her favorite activities is reading. Melendez, Yesenia – Yesenia is from El Salvador and works as a server at Izzy’s in Lacey. She likes to go to the movies. She has been studying English for 1 ½ years and has lived in the United States for 2 years. Mendoza, Alejandra – Alejandra lives in Olympia. She doesn’t work. She takes care of her children. She likes to be an English student. She has studied English for two quarters. She has lived in the U.S. for 7 years. Mino, Susana – She came to the United States 17 years ago. Now she lives in Olympia with her two daughters and her dog. She started coming to school to improve her English so that she can find a better job. Moosin – He is retired and lives in Lacey. He has been studying English for three years and has been in the United States for five years. Playing golf is his favorite activity. Navarrete, Laura – Laura lives in Olympia for 12 years and has come to English class for 4 quarters. Navarro, Patty – Patty lives in Lacey and is currently a stay‐at‐home mom. She has studied English for one quarter and would like to learn English so she can become a kindergarten teacher. Patty has lived in the United States for 9 years. Nguyen, Linh – She lives in Olympia and works at a Spa and Nail business. She likes to listen to music. She has lived in the United States for three years and has been studying for four quarters. Nguyen, Marc – He lives in Olympia and works as a cook. In addition, he likes to cook even when he is not at work. He has lived in the U.S. since 2001. Nguyen, Tam – She lives in Lacey and works at Evergreen State College. She likes to cook and go shopping. She has studied English for about one year and has lived in the United States for many years.

Nguyen, Thuy – She lives in Olympia and arrived in the United States five months ago. She likes to make cakes and listen to music in her free time. She has been studying English since 2013. Nunez, Veronica – Veronica lives in Shelton and is a homemaker. She has been studying English for 2 years and likes to work. Veronica also likes to run and cook. She has lived in the United States for 5 years. Ovalles Escalona, Liliana – Liliana lives in Lacey. She’s a physician who likes hiking and biking. She has been living in the United States and studying English for six years. Park, Heejin – Jinny is from Korea. She has lived here since 2010. Park, Yong Hoon – Yong Hoon lives in Olympia, where he is a pastor. He likes to play football and badminton. Yong Hoon has been studying English for four years and has lived in the United States since 2007. Peñaloza Gómez, Anabel – Anabel has lived in the United States for five years. She lives in Lacey, WA. She likes to listen to music and read books. She has studied English for three quarters. Perdomo, Karen – Karen is a homemaker and lives in Lacey. She has been studying English for 3 years. Karen likes to cook and clean for her family. She has lived in the United States for 5 years. Perez, Mireya – Mireya lives in Olympia and is a homemaker. She has studied English for 2 months and has lived in the United States for two months. Pham, Kelly – She lives in Olympia. She works at T Spa doing nails. She likes to listen to music and watch movies. She has been in this country and studied English for about two years. Pham, Phuong – She lives in Olympia and works in a nail salon at Capital Mall. She has lived in the United States since 2012 and has been studying English for a year. On her day off, she likes to hang out and chat with her friends. Pineda, Edith – Edith is from Mexico. She came to USA when she was 15 years old. She lives in Olympia. She has one daughter who is 9 years old. She works in a hair salon. Ponchut, François – He lives in Olympia and works as a cabinet‐maker. He likes sports and traveling. In addition, he is curious about a lot of different things. He has been in the U.S. for nine months, studying English for the same amount of time.

Prieto, Inés – Inés lives in Tumwater. She enjoys making cakes and cupcakes in her spare time. She enrolled in her ESL course almost at the same time she arrived in the U.S. Putta, Sumalatha – Sumalatha has been in the United States for one year. She lives in Tumwater, where she is a homemaker. She likes listening to music. She has been studying English for three months. Quevedo, Benjamin – Benjamin lives in Olympia WA. His work is night cleaning. He likes his family and his work. He has studied English for one year. He has lived in the United States nine years. Quevedo, Victoria – Victoria likes to paint and walk with her dogs. She also likes to skate when it is raining. Ramirez, Dalia – Dalia is from Mexico, she came to the United States to be with her family and to learn English. She works in a nursery and in her free time she likes to walk and go dancing. Dalia has been studying English for 1 ½ years. Ramirez, Miguel – He lives in Olympia and he has been studying English for a year. He enjoys walking in various parks. Ramos, Gundina – Gundina is retired and lives in Olympia. Rivas Ortiz, Jose Nelson – He lives in Olympia and works in landscaping maintenance. In his free time, he enjoys playing soccer. He has lived in the United States for nine years and has studied English for three years. Rubel, Maryan – Maryan lives in Olympia and is retired. He has been studying English for 6 months. Maryan likes to watch TV. Maryan has lived in the United States for six months. Rubel, Valentina – Valentina is retired and lives in Olympia with her husband, Maryan. Like Maryan, Valentina has lived in Olympia and has studied English for six months. She likes to cook. Rumyantsev, Nikolay – Nik lives in Lacey, where he repairs and cleans houses for VIS Group, Inc. He has been studying English for five months, living in the US for a year and a half. He started learning English four months ago. He enjoys his job, his family, and traveling.

Salgado, Anabey – Anabey has lived in the United States for 15 years. She lives in Lacey and is an assistant manager in a fast food restaurant. She loves dancing and spending time with her daughters. She has been studying English for four months. Salgado, Tallo – He came to the United States 15 years ago, and he has been living in Lacey for the past nine years. He has had a job in a restaurant for almost 14 years. Sánchez, Rosa María – She has been in the country for 15 years and has just returned to study English after a 12 year hiatus. She would like to improve her language skills in order to find a job in her profession, which is accounting. Sangmo, Ngawang – She is living in Lacey and works as a nurse’s aide. She likes coming to class to improve her speaking and writing skills. She has been a resident of the United States since 1993. Set, Sopra – Sopra lives in Olympia and is a homemaker. She has been studying English for just a week. She has lived in the United States for 8 months. Setha, Ravya – The most important thing to know about her is that she likes to take pictures. Everywhere she goes, she takes her camera with her. Ravya has been living in Olympia for four years. Silva, Neuzanir – Neuza has been living in the U.S. for 13 years. She lives in Lacey and owns her own house cleaning business. She likes spending time with her family over the computer, going to church, and working on the computer. She has been studying English for more than a year. Sim, Sophea – Working at McDonald’s, Sophea lives in Lacey. She likes to clean house, because when she arrives home and sees the house so clean, she feels happy. She has been studying English for seven months, and living in the US since 2005. She loves it here, because the people are friendly, there is fresh air and a lot of opportunities. Simo, Farah – She came to the United States almost seven years ago from the Dominican Republic and has studied English since 2013. She is a full‐time homemaker and she likes cooking, decorating and spending time with her family. Singh, Dilbag – Dilbag lives in Olympia and is a Sikh priest. He has been studying English for 2 weeks and has lived in the United States for two years. Singh, Rishpal – Rishpal lives in Olympia and works in the Sikh temple as a priest. He has studied English for 2 weeks and has lived in the United States for 6 years.

Roimina, Skimpy – Roimina lives in Lacey. She has been studying English for one month and works as a house cleaner. Souza, Mayara – Mayara lives in Lacey and cleans houses for a living. She has been studying English for 2 weeks and has lived in the United States for 3 years. Steeley, My Chau Thi – My Chau is from Vietnam and now lives in Olympia WA. She is a chef at the LemonGrass restaurant. She likes to go clothes shopping. She studied English in Vietnam and now she takes ESL classes. She has lived in the United States for 6 ½ years. Suarez, Beatriz L. – She lives in Olympia and works part‐time in Kohl’s. Her favorite activities are watching movies at home, reading books in Spanish and English, and spending time with her family. Beatriz has been studying English since 2010 and living in the United States for four years. Syphard, Yuriko – She came to Olympia from Okinawa with her husband and daughter in January, 2014. Her life has changed a lot recently and time has passed quickly! She has gotten married, had a baby, quit her job and moved to the U.S. She is sure that she will enjoy living in Olympia. Ta, Hong Phuc Nguyen (Happy) – Happy lives in Olympia. She doesn’t have to go to work now. She has been studying English for 4 months. She has been living in the U.S. for 6 months. Taneja, Kavita – Kavita lives in Tumwater. She is a homemaker who likes to listen to music. She has been studying at the college for four weeks and has been living in the United States for four months. Teamkitti,Taneth (Ja) – Ja lives in Olympia. He has problems seeing and hearing. He sees 60%. He’s not working. He has studied English at SPSCC since summer quarter of 2012. He has lived in the United States two years. Teamkitti, Uboonwana (Lily) – Lily lives in Olympia. She’s not working. She likes to listen to music and dance. She has studied English for 2 years. She has lived in the United States for two years. Teslo, Nataliya – Nataliya has lived in Olympia for seven years. She is a homemaker and has been studying English for two years. She enjoys reading books, walking and exercising.

Tosti, Variya – Variya lives in Yelm, which she thinks is a very nice place. She likes the weather here, the fresh air, and the forest around her house. She is a very happy person! Tran, Loan – Tran lives in Lacey and is a homemaker. She has studied English for two weeks and has lived in the United States for 6 months. Tran, Tien – She lives in Lacey and has been studying English since 2011. Since she moved to the U.S., Tien has had three jobs. Her favorite one is home care because she loves to help people and communicate with them. She will continue practicing English in order to improve her education in the future. Truong, Huong – Along with her family, she is a resident of Olympia. She likes going to school and making new friends from different countries, as well as improving her English. She loves to eat seafood, watch Korean movies, and go shopping. Her favorite color is green. Unsun – She lives in Olympia and has a job as a hair stylist. She also likes taking care of her family. She came here in 1989 and has been studying English for three years. Vazquez‐Guemez, Aldo I – Aldo has lived in the U.S. for 9 years. He lives in Lacey. He likes playing soccer; it is his favorite sport. He would like to continue studying and get his GED. Villegas, Estrellita Adrianna – Coming from Mexico, Estrellita has a baby boy 15 months old. She is very happy with her new husband of two years, living in Olympia. She isn’t working, but she comes to English classes, and enjoys life in the USA very much. Vu, Thuy – Thuy lives in Lacey and works in Olympia cutting hair. She likes to go shopping and to cook Vietnamese food. She has been studying English for one month. Thuy has lived in the United States for 9 years. Wang, Fei Miin – Most of all, she enjoys spending her free time with her son. Wang, Howard – Howard is retired, caring for his family, and he enjoys cooking Chinese food. Now in this country for 14 years, Howard likes the US very much, and lives in Lacey. Weatherford, Chaba – She is currently living in Olympia. She is a homemaker at present but is looking for a job. She likes snow skiing, camping, and clamming. Chaba is proud to be Thai.

Woldu, Hiwot – She lives in Tumwater and works as a caregiver because she enjoys helping the elderly. She has lived in the United States for five years and has studied English for almost the same amount of time. Woo, Li Ping – She lives in Lacey, having moved here in 2008. She works in a grocery store and enjoys doing housework and exercising in her spare time. Xu, Ji Ya Li – Serena has lived in the United States about 3 years. Right now she lives in Lacey. Yoon, Kuk Byoung – Kuk Byoung is retired and lives in Lacey. He has studied English for 6 years and has lived in the United States for 5 years. Zamora, Mode – Tumwater is the home of Mode, for four years now. She enjoys spending time with her kids and she likes studying English every day. Zavala, E. Gabriela – Gabriela is from Mexico. She loves to cook and listen to music. She also likes to work with customers and learn about other cultures. Gabriela has been living in Washington for about five years. Ziegltrum, Bibi – Bibi is from Germany and has lived in Olympia for nine months. This is her first quarter at SPSCC to improve her English skills. She loves the Puget Sound with all the islands.