Two Cultures, One Life

                  Moving to a new place is never easy. Growing up, everything was familiar, including the food. Everyone around me spoke the same language, practiced the same religion, and we ate the same food. Now, after moving, everything feels so different, the people, language, food, races and nationalities, religion, and even the way of life in Chicago. I felt lost, even though I have been in Chicago for a long time. I am still not sure where I am, not sure where I belong. I have been trying to fit in here in Chicago. I have been trying to blend here. I am struggling between two lives, the old one and the new one. I am still trying to be perfect or good enough with the culture of my old life, and now I am adding a totally different one with it. 

          On my first day in Chicago, everything felt so different, even the sun. Everyone around me was white. I kept looking at myself over and over again. I was Black. Back home, I had only seen white people on screens, maybe very few in real life, but now everyone around me was white. It has been difficult trying to fit in with people so different from me. On top of that, the language is different, and I struggle to understand what people here in Chicago are saying, I often avoid talking to people. To make things even harder, some people look at me strangely or ask why I am here, reminding me that I don’t belong. I still feel out of place. Everything reminds me that I am seven oceans away from home.

           Even though this place is different, I really love Chicago. I love the sun the most because it feels warmer and brighter than the sun in Nigeria, especially when I walk along Lake Michigan in the morning. Even though I am different from most people here, they are kind and nice to me. For example, my neighbor invited me over for a homemade pizza night and events, Despite this nice gesture. I still don’t feel like I belong here, even when they are trying to make me feel like I do. The food here in Chicago is also amazing. I especially enjoy trying Panda Express and Wendy’s, which are very different from the meals I grew up eating in Nigeria. I also love this city because it allows me to meet people from different parts of the world. like in club at Harold Washington, I have met students from China and Russia. Now I am no longer limited to only my people anymore.

        Being in a whole different world has been teaching me how to adapt and tolerate others. I’m starting to understand that even when language, food, beliefs, or skin color are different, everyone is still fundamentally the same. This experience has opened my eyes to new way of thinking and helped me grow as a person. I hope that one day I will truly be able to call this Chicago home, a place where I feel like I belong, a place I feel comfortable, a place I feel fully accepted, and where the differences around me no longer feel strange.