Through the eyes of a Ukrainian Child

My oldest sister Diana once told me when we were growing up in Ukraine that when foreigners get off the plane, a man in green holds up a basket of money and you can grab a stack but don't get greedy. Mannnn I couldn't wait to come to America and get my tiny chipmunk hands on a fat stack of gorgeous American Rubles. I thought that was the name of American currency at the time . Fck off I was a child.

Few days prior to coming to America there was a huge rain storm and being the Aquaman that I was. I just wanted to play in it. Completely ignoring that it was normal for people to always run and hide inside when it rained and yell get inside it could be a nuclear rain. You see in 1986 on April 26th (also my birthday) a Nuclear Disaster happened in my country . And bluh bluh Chernobyl. Besides from occasionally glowing in the dark and an extra few fingers on my left foot I am a perfect boy.

Not much stopped me from being a kid, not even a slightly nuclear rain. I loved growing up in Ukraine it is a beautiful country, but I also just love life in most places. My sister Diana did yell out the window, "you little idiot get inside before you catch a fever. You have a flight in 2 days!" I didn't listen I was having too much fun making the puddles my bitch.

Two days later it was a sad goodbye as I hugged my oldest best friend Evetta. The rest of the family cried hugging the few that came to say goodbye. I looked at the balcony to see our dog Demien one last time. He had his paws on the balcony guardrail looking down at us. It was one of the saddest things to witness and I still get tears in my eyes just thinking about it. Why didn't we bring him with us? Why did we listen to the people that never owned a dog who told us it was a bad idea to bring him with us. Never listen to people that don't know what they are talking about. Lesson one.

We eventually flew to USA, I don't remember much because I had a full blown fever by this point. I woke up just in time to unboard the plane in "New York USA" and proceeded to projectile vomit like a college freshman all over unsuspecting fellow foreigners. Sorry guys welcome to America. Worst of all there was nooooooo fng dude in green with a stack of loot.

I was too sick to get mad. But definitely disappointed. I eventually recovered and I continue to remember these events like they happened yesterday. However they happened 25 years ago on "September 19th". 25 Years in America. I am no longer that cute little potato nosed boy you see in my passport photo I am now full grown Potato Nosed Man trying to live his dreams in the United States of America. Congratulations to me and my family. We made it ya'll! And Congratulations to all fellow foreigners trying and also living the American dream.

I am now 35 years old and I will never forget what it was like. I even remember how much I cried trying to learn English. I came to this country only knowing 4 English words; potato, orange, tomato and potato. My family and I did odd jobs, had many sleepless nights and fought hard to carve out a slice of life. I count my blessings every night before going to bed and I am grateful for all that I have.

One day I will make my way back to Ukraine and create something special there because that is my true intention. I haven't been back there in many years but there is a calling and one day I will answer that call as cheesy as that sounds. I know that when I step back in that neighborhood lots of memories will flood my senses.

Only one friend from my Ukrainian childhood is still alive and that is Evetta. Evetta went on to become a beautiful mother of two and a loving wife. She had it much harder than me but she pushed through to become someone truly special. Next time I see her we will realize how far we have come from those silly nine year olds. It's going to be surreal and one of us will cry, probably me. I seem to be quite connected to my emotions. I don't cry often but when I do I make it Dos Equis.

Being from another country while growing up in America you are forever left with a second identity that finds a way to show itself. When people don't believe me that I am from somewhere else I immediately turn up a deep Russian accent. You know the one you hear from the bad guys in every James Bond, John Wick and Indian Jones flick. Then the Americans will say, "oh ok you are from the Eastern bloc". Why is that by the way. Will they ever give it a rest? Believe it or not there are lots and lots of good Eastern European people in America not looking to take over the control operations, seize the main USA powerful supply generator, build an underground spy lab, secretly implant millions with a mind control chip or sink the American economy to give way to a new world order.

That last one might be too close to the truth these day but let's leave the conspiracy theories for others. I have a brunch with the Anonymous later today so I will get the latest scoop on how scary things will get in the next few month. Also this story will self destruct in the next 5 minutes so please purchase cryptocurrency and send it to my way to avoid further restitutions.

What's not scary is freedom. Living in America is freedom. It is freedom to live and prosper. Sure we don't know the future of this country and we don't have as big of a variety of stinky cheeses as France but I am ok with that. Living in America is a privilege and nothing comes easy but when you get it. You get it. God Bless the foreigners that came here before us and god bless those that are coming to start a new life here soon.