Marina Turlakova's Article

Exploring the USA

By Marina Turlakova

Exchange programs are pretty common thing in the USA. What is interesting about the program I came in is that I came here for the whole school year. Most of the exchange students come for a week, a month or 3 months.

To spend a whole year in the country which is 16 hours by plane from your home is kind of frightening. But I didn't hesitate; it is great opportunity for me to come here. Only few teenagers in my country have this chance but many of them have this dream. In order to go to the USA I needed to pass a lot of tests, and go through interviews.

Once one of my teachers said that people all over the world pay careful attention to economy in the USA because many countries depend on the USA. And then he said, " But who cares about some Uzbekistan." He didn't realize that Uzbekistan borders with my country: I live in Kyrgyzstan. My country is much like Uzbekistan.

It has the same problems, and is pretty much in the same economic situation; except the economic situation of my country is even worse than that of Uzbekistan. Of course, it was not pleasant for me to hear this statement of my teacher but I was not offended by it because I realized that it is true. Many people have never even heard about my country. As Chicago Tribune Magazine reporter Dave Barry said: " Unfortunately most Americans know little about Kyrgyzstan. Most Americans can't even SPELL "Kyrgryzstan", although it's easy if you remember this simple rhyme:

First there's a "K" Then a "Y" comes your way Which is followed by "R" Then the heck with it"

Most of the teenagers I have met don't even realize that they have so much more than teenagers in other countries. Most teenagers in the USA can afford to go out almost every weekend to a mall and spend money on things that are not necessities. In my country only few can do that. The standard of living here is much higher than in my country. But I love my country. I love it for its picturesque landscapes which are uninterrupted by industry. I love it because I was born there and lived there 16 years; I love it because my parents and my friends live there.

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