First Days

What's the story of your first days in America?

Some immigrants spent their first nights at the YMCA. Others saw snow for the first time. Some people didn’t mean to end up here at all. What do you — or your parents or grandparents — remember about your first days in the US? Submit your story to the South Asian American Digital Archive's First Days Project.

Culture

Nothing challenged my readiness to live in the US more than a chicken sandwich

The World

October 08, 2014

When he first arrived in America, Afghan student Ali Shahidy knew his English was ready to tackle the tough language of academia. But he never expected to be tripped up by lunch at a fast food restaurant.

Culture

Escaping from North Korea was just the beginning for this American immigrant

The World

March 18, 2015

Kenneth Rowe was lucky to get out of North Korea alive, let alone on to the United States as a celebrated defector. But staying in America and starting a new life was far from easy.

Education

'A lot of lies came out of my mouth that year'

The World

September 18, 2015

Moving schools is tough enough but imagine flying in from another country and plonking down in a new classroom in a new culture. Gilli Danenberg moved from Israel to the US at the age of 7. She remembers second grade as one long string of embarrassing incidents.

Culture

Afghan teen rapper goes from poverty in Afghanistan to eating sushi in the US

The World

September 04, 2015

Not having enough food to eat was normal for Sonita Alizadeh, an Afghan teen rapper who grew up as a refugee in Iran. Life at her new prestigious boarding school in Utah couldn't be any different.

Music

Hip-hop until dawn marked this Colombian singer's days in the US

The World

August 21, 2015

Bomba Estéreo's Liliana Saumet was blown away by New York, it's mix of music and performing daytime concerts in Central Park. "Seeing families, with children, coming out to picnic and catch the show. I loved that," she says.

Conflict

Fresh from Burundi to America — this man is watching war break out from afar

The World

July 21, 2015

Raphael Nzirubusa remembers feeling torn about staying in the US or joining his family in Burundi while war escalated there in the early 1990s. A priest in the US warned against leaving and told Nzirubusa, "We’ll pray for you, but you’re going to have to stay."

Culture

How Dalí and RC Cola helped a poet laureate find his way in the US

The World

July 06, 2015

After connecting with his art teacher, poet Alejandro Murguía discovered museums, French writers — and how to enroll in college.

Education

Tanzid Sakib's first experience with an American school literally left him on the floor

The World

June 23, 2015

Imagine having the chair pulled out from under you the second you walk into a US classroom. Tanzid Sakib can laugh about it now. The teenager from Bangladesh recalls his first days of public school in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Culture

Her first days in America were lonely, but this immigrant from India built a life here

May 11, 2015

Life in India was crowded and full of people. In America, Naazish YarKhan learned to build relationships all over agin.

Conflict

Memories of fleeing Vietnam, landing in Idaho and asking people for candy

The World

May 01, 2015

After anxious days in Guam, Joshua Nguyen remembers restarting life with his family in Idaho and trick-or-treating until midnight.

Conflict

New to America, this young Vietnamese refugee wanted to ‘erase’ his past

The World

April 28, 2015

A brother and sister remember their abrupt start to a new life in America after they fled collapsing South Vietnam. It's one story among the many collected by StoryCorps from Vietnamese refugees whose lives were changed by the fall of Saigon in 1975.

Culture

Escaping from North Korea was just the beginning for this American immigrant

The World

March 18, 2015

Kenneth Rowe was lucky to get out of North Korea alive, let alone on to the United States as a celebrated defector. But staying in America and starting a new life was far from easy.

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