Becoming American, Becoming Ethnic

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Becoming American, Becoming Ethnic
When going through the Dublin text, I was astonished and excited by the experiences of other people who had immigrated into America for search of better life opportunities. It became clear to me that though there are those who yearned to be American since birth and desired to immigrate, there were equally who landed here by fate. They would have wished to go back but the conditions at their place of origin just could not allow. The experiences of the people were also different. There were those who found it easy to assimilate the American culture simply because the Americans were good to them. However, the ride was not smooth for everyone. There were those that faced serious ethnic prejudices and had to persevere a lot of humiliation from the Americans.
My interest in the cultures of the immigrants and their struggle for assimilation could have been sparked by the fact that I am an international student in America, coming all the way from Saudi Arabia. I am a Muslim and very careful to observe my religious beliefs and practices. I therefore ascribe to the pilgrimage to Mecca, observe the hours of prayer and also believe in giving of alms to the poor. I do observe al the Islam religious guidelines. Also, as is true of most of my countrymen, we keep our family lines clear. I therefore know my lineage quite clearly, up to my seventh grandfather. Of course this would be surprising to a native American.
For the past five years, I have been studying in the US and the experiences have been good as far as I can tell. The decision to come over and study in America was reached purely due to academic reasons. Having lived in the Arizona, US for about seven years in the 1970s and 80s, my parents felt that an education in America would be good for my career advancement. Having no problem with the decision, I readily accepted and that is how I landed here. I find the Americans quite friendly, outgoing and open minded. Maybe that is the more reason why I feel so much at ease in interacting with them. I already feel so much at home. I have compared and contrasted my experiences with those of Sang Hoon Kim, who had immigrated into America from South Korea (143).
Kim`s parents had immigrated into America from South Korea due to the economic hardships in their country. Secondly, there were administration problems in Korea during the time of their immigration, and therefore the parents were seeking some form of freedom, which had been lost thanks to the dictatorial regime in their country. At that time, their country was under colonization by Japan and the dictatorial rule was so harsh that they could not bear it. Not only was their freedom curtailed, they were also banned from speaking the Korean language at all. Dublin (143-147) describes the woes that Kim underwent before becoming fully assimilated into the American culture. The parents had a difficulty in adjusting to their ne...