Almost 40% of the population of America are immigrants. Luckily I found one who is easy and convenient to interview, my father. When our family left our hometown, my father felt sad because of his eldest son, who was left behind. He also missed his friends and his relatives. Considering the 28 years of service he had in the teaching profession (high school and college alike), he was then hesitant at the outset to apply for an early retirement to immigrate to U.S. with us. He really loved to teach and didn't want to leave the Philippines as much as possible. Moreover, he had our various real estate properties and other investment to think of. In short, it was his close attachment to his family, siblings and friends that prompted him to have a second thought in coming to the U.S. to the extent that it took two months for my mother to finally convince him to migrate here. .
My father also narrated that before he set forth his foot in the U.S. soil, he was expecting that life here is that easy. He was then expecting to land in a teaching job easily based on his educational qualifications in the Philippines-- and that U.S. is a land of opportunity and promises. However, such expectation was not realized. His first two years in U.S. was a very crucial period of adjustment, not so much on food but more so on the climate and the language. He could hardly respond or comprehend his co-workers and friends speak the English language with much fluency and "slang". Such has been contributing problem about human relationship with them. Moreover, he felt discriminated because some people (white and colored alike) look down upon him as inferior based on his Asian race. Generally, they considered themselves as belonging to a more superior race. He cited some advice to other immigrants about this problem. He said that the best way to solve or lessen the pain that it cause is to consider themselves with the American as co-equals human beings.
