Perspective: The Americanization Of Me

By Sasa Maksimovic
Menlo Oak Staff

I moved to the United States from Serbia in 1998. I was 10 years old and I had no idea what to expect. Comparing America to Serbia is like comparing apples to bricks.

For months before we moved to the United States, all I did was worry. I worried about how I would tell my friends I was leaving. I worried about how much I was going to miss my family. My biggest worry was that I would be kidnapped. I thought that in America being kidnapped happened as often as  eating lunch.

We finally moved to San Francisco and for a very long time I couldn’t stand living here. I couldn’t believe this was going to be my home for the foreseeable future. I cried every single day.

I enrolled in fifth grade and went to school. I spoke zero words of English. I couldn’t talk with anyone but in three months that all changed and, in turn, my whole life changed.

I learned to speak English and that’s where the Americanization of me started.

I learned the language and I started to make friends and really started to enjoy living in America. Everything got easier for me.

After four years in the United States, I went back to visit my family in Serbia. I enjoyed this first return visit. I connected with my old friends and had so much fun visiting. When I went back to the U.S., I started to miss Serbia again.

Two years later, I returned to Serbia again. This time, it wasn’t the same.

I spent a lot of the time missing my girlfriend and texting my friends in America. I would go out with my Serbian friends and I just did not enjoy myself at all. I couldn’t wait to get back home in San Francisco.

It made me wonder,  “how did this happen? “ The civil war that happened in our country, made all of us so close because we had to stay united and be there for each other because of the struggle we were all going through. All that just went away.

I felt so out of place with all my friends that I was hanging out with. I had no idea what to talk about with them. I speak Serbian fluently but it was like I forgot the language. We would go out and I just wanted to be back at home so I could watch TV and count the days until I could go back to America.

I asked my Serbian family members and cousins who live in America what happened? How did we all become so accustomed to living in America and outgrow our homeland?

 “I really don’t know what happened but if we were asked to move back to our country right now, I’m not sure that I would be able to do it,” my cousin Darko said.

I feel the exact same way as he does. My parents thought about moving back when the economy took a turn for the worse and I told them that I would just stay here and live alone.

Now when my mom asks me to go to Serbia with her to visit, its like she is asking me to go to the dentist. I miss my family but I don’t miss being in Serbia at all. I feel like I’m an American now.

I love my country and will always be Serbian in my heart but I just feel like that I have become way too accustomed to America and this is my future.

Since I went through this I feel I can give other foreigners my age some tips on how to get used to living in this country. Biggest tip I can give you is study the English language hard and learn how to communicate with your classmates as quick as you can. Making new friends and enjoying life with them makes everything so much easier. 

Another tip is that you come to grips that this is where you are going to be living for a long time, and you got to make the best of it. You can't go around pouting about something that wont' change. Be close to your family and enjoy each other and you will get used to this country in no time.