My Painting

I wanted to show people how I felt about my new country. My family had moved here 5 years ago when I was just 7 years old. When we came I did not know any English.

Everything was new and I was surprised every day. I had lived in a remote village far from the city. Now I was living in a city where there were so many people.

We would take the elevated train downtown. There we saw buildings that noted architects had designed. These architects were so famous that people all over the world knew their names. But I had never heard of them before. I looked up and was astonished at how high the buildings were.

I went to a school that was bigger than my whole village. More than 1,000 students go to the school. I remember my first day. The principal was friendly. So was the teacher. But I was mystified. I could not understand what the teacher and students were saying.  Then another student came up to me during lunch. She said hello in Russian. I was so glad.

The teacher asked her to sit next to me for the rest of the school year and help me understand what they were saying.

She was my official translator. But I wanted to learn English. So every day after school we would go to my home. She would help me learn

English. To reciprocate, my mother would cook her family dinner. Once a week they would come to dinner. We would try hard to learn English, so instead of Russian everyone would talk in English.

Now I have learned English, and I have learned a lot about the United States. I will put some symbols in my painting that show how I feel about this land. It is a land of helpful people. It is a land of many heritages. It is a land of collaboration. People here work together to help each other make progress. I'm thinking of putting a flag on the background and then putting people holding hands in the foreground. I'll make a sketch first and then will paint it.

Making a painting is a lot like writing an essay. First you think of the idea you want to express. Then you think of ways to communicate that idea. I think my painting will be a great way to tell people how I feel about my new homeland.