DEPARTED FROM
Chittagong, Bangladesh
ARRIVED IN
Kirksville, Missouri
YEAR
1978
AGE
21
TRANSCRIPT
I wanted to be an aeronautical engineer, so I decided to come to the States. I came to Kirksville, Missouri, and my first immigration took place in New York. That night I spent at the airport, since my flight was 24 hours late. I landed at St. Louis, and from there I took a bus to Kirksville, where my university was. There, nobody came to see me, so I had to find my way to the university by walking about half a mile. When I was flying from New York to Missouri it was wintertime, I saw thousands of cars in the parking lot all covered by snow. I thought, wow, all the cars must be dead by now. I went to my dorm and tried to figure out where my room was. They finally gave me my keys and I went to my room. I did not understand much English at the time. When I came to the dorm, my roommate was American and I had a hard time understanding them. Everyone used to say “howdy” for “how are you” and it was shocking and difficult to make sure I heard everything and understood.
