Daria Tsagaan
Submitted to Upwardly global
"Letter Home" Essay Contest, Posted: Mar 31, 2005
Dear Mom and Dad,
I checked the weather in Mongolia today on the internet. God, it is -60°F to -140°F and snow storming. One of these freezing cold days, I first departed from Ulaanbaatar airport three years ago. On the other half of the earth, in 16 hours of flight destination, it was “summer.” “What a beautiful weather!” I gasped out as soon as went out of the SF airport building. The weather is horrible today. It was chilly in the morning and it is showering now. Hopefully, it’s going to get dry out around afternoon, the guy who picked me up outside the airport told me. What would he say, if I told him how cold it was 16 hours ago where the place I departed, I said to myself in Mongolian. I didn’t know how to say it in English at that time.
'In this fairy tail land, it’s always summer; the land is covered with green grass, sun always shines in blue sky, clouds are white and water is crystal.' Do you remember this phrase, Mom? When I first saw the beautiful and colorfully green winter in the bay area, I felt I landed in Grandma’s fantasy about heaven in fairy tails that she always used to tell us. I’m afraid that my body is probably spoiled in too nice weather in last three years. I can shamelessly tell you now, “Oh, it is cold” when it is 400°F outside which is as warm as springtime in Mongolia.
I was so surprised by seeing the regular flat little houses cover the wide land and hills connected by the nicely done and long like never-ending highways. I was expecting to see tens of hundreds of sky-reached toll buildings sparkling with their bright and colorful lights and high tech add-boards. I was expecting to hear a full of city noises. Weirdly, my first realization was that we all have misled understanding about American lifestyle influenced by the Hollywood movies or propaganda spread out the world.
Mom, the other thing I really impressed after my first arrival was that people in California are very diverse. As you know, any other type of face is considered as a foreigner in Mongolia. Regardless my Asian appearance, I’m considered one of millions of Americans right after my feet set on the land. Even though people don’t speak well, or speak with strange accent, they mostly try to understand instead of being annoyed. It always makes me feel comfortable and helps me a lot to get along with people easily.
Oh, dad, I witnessed the American Presidential election last fall. People in California are very democratic and politically active. Pretty much same activities that we typically do in Mongolia occurred during the campaign. But I liked the idea of people putting stickers with strong political or social messages behind of their car, so then whomever driving behind the cars with stickers can read and think about the messages while they stuck in common rush hour traffic. Speaking about the traffic, the bridges are very important here. I have learned to check out the traffic information before I go out. It’s something everybody normally does here as a life skill.
Gaining the useful information, finding the right one, choosing something that can fit in need, building a network etc is huge part of difficulties that any new comers normally face. Most close friends come from high school, college and work. I have none of these roots here. I miss all my friends in Mongolia.
Another difficulty that I face here is living expense. I rent one bedroom apartment near the city and pay $1000.00 per month, which is a million tugriks in Mongolia.
Houses are very expensive even for the Americans themselves. I think because of the nice weather and beautiful land, California becomes a dream place to live for many people and it makes cost high on everything. In addition, the first generation of the newcomers was very smart, I would say. They probably learned a lot from the history, especially the side effects of destroyed nature in Europe during the civilization. Even though they all came here, in California for the gold, they didn’t destroy much; in fact, they kept the land as natural as it is originally built by God. California is famous of its beautiful national parks. They are breath-taken. I had tears of joy when I first saw the awesome waterfalls in Yosemite park.
My beloved Mom and Dad, there are not enough words to describe my challenging life here. I’m very thankful for you to send me here and support me in many ways. I’m living in heavenly land and trying to reach my dream here.
Take care of yourself and stay warm and healthy.
Your daughter Daria.
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