My name is Xiu Hua Cao. I am from Fuzhou, China. my first language is madarin.I have been in the USA for 10 years. I came to the United States in November, 1999. I am married. My husband works in a Chinese restaurant. He is a cook. We have two children. They both go to school. We live in New York City’s Chinatown.

When I came to the United States, I could not sleep at night because New York was so different from my home country. The way people walk, talk, and eat, everything. I felt everything was very strange to me. I did not know what I could do to make a living because my big problem was that I was unable to understand what people were saying to me. It seemed to me that I first needed to improve my English before I could make a living. I need to speak English because English is first language in the USA. Now I am lucky to have found an English class to take and a computer class, too. This is good for me.

I like America because people in this country enjoy democracy and freedom. People are very polite here. They come from all over the world. Living in American teaches me how important it is to work hard and keep working. I will work hard to make more money so that my children will live a better life. I believe my dream will come true if I keep working hard.