New Life

It has been two and a half years since I came to the U.S., and a lot of things have changed. My whole life changed. Many things changed for the better, but there are also a lot of things that I miss. I don’t think just about my family and friends who stayed in Serbia, the country were I was born, then the moments through my life that were making me happy. It was hard and it still is at some point. What gives me strength is that my coming to America was something what I wanted since I was a kid. Looking from that side of the story, a lot of my dreams came true, but I had to change my lifestyle and face so many challenges.

The challenge that came to me first was the new way of living. I was twenty-four years old when I came to the U.S. All those years I lived with my parents, which is quite a common thing for my country. People live with their parents until they get married, and sometimes even after that. Because of the economic situation, you can say that young people in Serbia depend much more on their parents then young people in America. In my family, I never had to think about housework like washing dishes, doing laundry or preparing food. Of course I was always there to help, but simply that was not my job. It is not something that I am proud of, but I never did laundry in my life before. That changed with my arrival to America. I had to learn and accommodate to a lot of new things for me. Now I wash dishes and do laundry only by myself, but still food that I make sometimes tastes like a rock.

Of course I had to think about the money as well. I was now financially independent. I never had real job in Serbia. I tried couple of times to work in construction and waiting tables. I was even a volleyball referee, but mostly due to the economy it just didn’t work out very well. I had to depend on my parents for money. Every time that I wanted to go out for a drink, buy some clothes or any other single thing, I had to ask my mom or dad. That is something that I didn’t like at all. It is not that I couldn’t have as much as necessary, but I was just in the age when I was ashamed of asking for money. I couldn’t do it like that any longer, and that was the main reason why I moved to America. When I arrived here, I had arranged job in advance for a couple of months. It was great for the beginning. I even bought a car after only two months of my arrival. To do that in my native country could only be a dream for me. However, it wasn’t easy like that all the time. Now I have to pay the rent, bills and food. Everything you need you must earn it by yourself. If you don’t work, you cannot survive. I had to struggle a lot. Still this is the experience that I wanted. Right now, yes, I work hard, but I can afford enough to enjoy with things that I couldn’t have in Serbia. I can buy a car and buy clothes that I like, not only cheap clothing, I can also travel to places I could see only on TV in the past and much more.

Finally the hardest part of adapting was that I had to give up exercising, in order to make enough funds for living. Exercise is something that has followed me through my life. I tried different kinds of sports as a kid, but I loved volleyball the most. I played it for twelve years. I hated the days when I didn’t have training. Sports, actually, volleyball helped me to travel through the country and even visit some neighboring countries, to make a lot of friendships and of course to stay healthy. I also studied College for Sport and Physical Education, so I had exercise all the time. Coming here I was disappointed when I realised that you can play a volleyball, more than recreational, only at some colleges. There are no professional indoor volleyball leagues. On the other hand, even if there would be a league where I could play, I don’t think I could make it. In the past year, my weekly work hours have been almost even double more than normal work hours. With even some other requirements sometimes I don’t even go to the gym for a month. Being in shape is what I miss so much.

Even though I miss a lot of things that I used to do before, I have become independent and I changed my lifestyle in the way I wanted to. Some people still ask me if I made a mistake by coming here. Sometimes they even make me really think about it. I left everybody overthere. I left college and old habits that I truly liked. But I do not regret it. I started a new life, and I think a better one. It is still not the life that I was dreaming about, but I think I am on the right track. Being in America and the things that I have done so far, for me, is a dream come true.