I can feel the sweat on my palms as I hold the little plastic handle on my suitcase and the eyes of everyone piercing my face while I walk down a foot wide isle. I glanced up and the only thing I could see were the numbers passing by. Each step I took led me to another number and another unfamiliar face. In front of me with her own suitcase was my mother. I was just a mere follower, going wherever my mom takes me. What else could I do I was only 10. Any other 10 year old child would be thrilled to go a new country to live in. I on the other hand wasn’t very eager. It wasn’t just any other country we are talking about; we are talking about the big U.S.A or as people in my country call it “the land of opportunities.” I hear my name from a distant like an annoying phone ringing. When I got out from my rambling thoughts I can hear my mother telling me to sit down. I looked up at the number and there it was 64C. As I sit down I couldn’t help but notice the view from the window. We were in Nepal, the country where I was born and grew up. I looked around and I saw more people trying to get in, I saw trees everywhere, swaying to the cold February wind. I saw houses of all sizes and colors, everything else I was familiar with. I wanted to take it all in while I still had the chance.

I am sitting on the plane and the big tsunami waves of emotions were hitting me from every direction. My feelings were indescribable the moment I stepped in the plane. Some part of me was excited to go to the U.S.A, and the other part was nervous yet sad all at the same time. The truth is I was way more scared and nervous than I was excited. The only reason I was excited was because I could finally see my dad, who had been in America for a couple of years. The challenge of coming to a whole new country was the biggest challenge in my life. Moving to another country and leaving my mother country behind. I didn’t know if I would pass the big test yet.

Nepal is the place where I grew up for 10 years. It may seem like it’s not much but if you were born and raised in a country for 10 years you are bound to be attached. I couldn’t even imagine what my mother was going through. She didn’t show it in her face but I could tell the pain she hid behind her fake smile. I was only 10 and didn’t really think about how she felt; I was still worried about myself. We were in the plane for a good hour, waiting for it to take flight. After what felt like ages, did the pilot finally say, we are taking flight. Along with the plane my heart went up too. While we were flying I could see we were passing the cotton candy clouds, another sign I was actually leaving Nepal.
Our first transit was in Bangkok. It took a full day just to get there. We got there and then realized we had to spend the night because the next flight wasn’t going to leave until the next day. Since we hadn’t booked a hotel beforehand we had to spend the night at the airport. The hard pale blue plastic chairs were not the most comfortable to sleep on. The next day after going through long processes of airport checks we finally left Bangkok for another stop at Japan. After Japan it was straight to Los Angeles.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached Los Angeles.” After hearing those words all the emotions came dashing back because I knew we had reached the country where I was going to live forever. I looked around the airport and I realized it was more gigantic compared to the one back in Nepal. I was just starting to get the feel of how U.S.A was. I looked outside and all I saw were tall building. I had to crane my neck just to look at them. Everything was just so altered and foreign and not right.

As I was walking, I looked to my brother walking next to me and wished at the moment I was him. He was 5 and he just didn’t understand the vast changes, but I knew it was never going to happen. I always thought my brother had it lucky because he never really understood how big of a leap was to come from Nepal to America, to him it was just another place. We are walking towards our last and final plane to Denver, Colorado. We got on the plane and once again it rose to fly to our destination. I heard the tires screeching and getting hot on the black pavement when the plane landed.

I stepped out of the plane and took a big breath in. The airport was enormous too but not as giant as the one in Los Angeles. I once again followed my mom; she led us to the door where my dad was standing. I saw my dad after what felt like decades. I could tell he had gotten old. I started crying at the moment I saw him and through my teary eyes I could see my mom was too. It felt great to finally have a complete family. We stood there still for a long time, and then we grabbed our luggage and started to head out.

The arctic weather hit my face like I had just gotten slapped. My eyes started dampening again and I tried really hard not to. My dad noticed my eyes and gave me big hug, and then I actually started crying. I got into the car and it felt like I was sitting next to a fireplace, soon I started getting toasty. At the time I realized how wretched everything was going to be: going to a new school, a new house, seeing different colored people. Everything was going to be different, but I also realized it’s going to be ok because I had a family who would help me through all the strenuous things. I thought my immense test finally ended but another one starts from right here.