DEPARTED FROM
Shoreline, England
ARRIVED IN
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
YEAR
1984
AGE
23
NOW LIVES IN
Shoreline, Washington
TRANSCRIPT
Well, my first day was landing at the Philadelphia Airport in July. In the line, waiting for customs, I glanced up and I saw a banner over the customs with a bell on it. And the bell had a big crack in it. I pointed it out to my husband and said, “Oh look!” [Laughs] “The bell’s broken.” What I didn’t know, was that this was the famous Liberty Bell. The second thing is vividly recall is that as we came out of the airport to get a taxi, I couldn’t believe the heat and humidity. I had never experienced anything like that heat and humidity. Then, in the taxi, as we drove to our new apartment (which I had never seen before) we passed…and there was a tower made out of stone and my husband pointed to it and said, “We have history in America too, Suzanne. That’s a medieval tower.” And I looked at it and said “Oh! That’s cool.” And then he started laughing and I’d realized he’d made a joke. And I realized too that there were no medieval towers or castles or ancient buildings here in America. Growing up in England, I was used to very ancient ruins lying around. And the other thing is that I was amazed at how friendly everybody was, people I didn’t even know. In England, people don’t generally speak to you, unless they know you. But I had checkout people saying things like, “How you doing today?” And I, used to think that were talking to their best friend that was standing right behind me. But now, I love it. And when I go back to England, I think everyone’s really miserable.
