Homesickness

I love enjoying my time in Chicago, but I also do not enjoy living here all the time. Chicago is one of the largest cities in the United States that people should visit at least once in their lifetime. Chicago is known as the second city of New York City, but it is cleaner, cheaper, and friendlier. I was born in Vietnam, and I have lived here for 20 years with my family. When I started a college in three years ago, I wanted to change my environment, and start to develop myself. Therefore, I moved to Chicago and have lived here for one and a half years by myself. Although I have been stayed in Chicago for a long time, I always have a big nostalgia for Vietnam, which is my home country.

When I moved to Chicago, one of the biggest things I had to give up was my comfort with the warm, tropical climate of Vietnam. Chicago has four seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter over the year. I remember the first time I came to Chicago in the summer, which was the most beautiful time here. Even though the weather was sunny, I wore a thick coat that covered my whole body because I still felt cold whenever I went outside. I was familiar with the very hot weather of Vietnam for a long time. Vietnam has a tropical climate, which has only two significant seasons over the year: sunny and rainy. The average temperature in Vietnam is always seventy Fahrenheit on the sunny season 😵, so I felt melting whenever I went outside. Giving up my familiar environment and climate was challenging, but I can adapt to a new life in Chicago.

The most difficult thing that I have experienced while living in Chicago is the difference in language when people communicate in daily life. I studied English in Vietnam for a long time when I was in middle school. However, I was anxious 😟😟whenever I communicated with native speakers. Even though I have lived in Chicago for a year and a half, I have also not been confident of talking with the locals. I am a outgoing and talkative person, and I love talking with a lot of people. However, I have to cover myself when I am living in a new country, because I afraid of communicating with others. Mostly, I only respond to questions others ask me, rather than starting conversations or asking questions in return. When I lived in Vietnam, I usually talked my neighbor when I saw them outside of my house. I could spend one hour chatting with my neighbor about some silly stories. However, I have pressure when I try to use English to communicate with native speakers. Whenever I want to express my feelings about people's stories, it takes me some time to think about the vocabulary in my mind. That makes the listener feel bored when they talk with me. That is the reason I speak less than I used to in Vietnam.

To sum up, even though I now live in Chicago, my soul and heart always remain in Vietnam. I love the beautiful weather in Chicago, but I am not familiar with the language that people use to communicate. However, I can improve my English skills with confident behavior because now I have lived in Chicago and I have more opportunities to practice English with native speakers. However, I think I will go back to Vietnam in the next summer break, I really miss the super-hot weather here.