Below, is the link to my This I Believe, along with a script to go along with it. Feel free to leave some comments or feedback!
When I was just one year old, my family relocated to the United States with nothing but two suitcases full of clothes. We arrived in America with no friends, no relatives, and no knowledge of the English language. In fact, I didn’t even learn to speak English until I went to preschool at the age of four. I was often mocked by other children for my poor English and my abnormal background; all I wanted was to fit in.
Just a few years later, by the age of eight, I had entirely stopped speaking Russian with my parents. They would talk to me in Russian, and I would respond in English. I gained a passion for American foods, I picked up soccer just because all of the kids at school played, and I started dressing more like my American friends. At one point, I even wanted to change my name to Adam or Ryan.
This desire and strive to conform with the other children continued until my high school years when I finally began to realize just how valuable it is to belong to different cultures. People started coming up to me exclaiming, “Wow, your name is Egor, that’s awesome!” or “Oh my gosh, I wish I could speak another language!” It was at this point in time that I finally began to regret trying to stray away from my Russian heritage as a child. Now, as I travel to Russia or Ukraine to visit my family, I’m almost embarrassed to speak to people due to my strong American accent and lack of knowledge about Russian history and culture. I now constantly try to make up for my cultural ignorance by immersing myself in as many various cultures as possible.
Just this past year, I met a boy from Sweden who had come to stay with a host family in my town through a foreign exchange program. When I first introduced myself to him, I knew nothing at all about Sweden. All I knew was that they have beautiful women and they all love to party. So, I expected him to simply disregard me as some ignorant American, but it turned out quite the opposite. Fredrick and I ended up talking for hours, sharing stories of our different upbringings, cultures, and lives. As we grew closer and spent more time together, he introduced me to his music, food, and lifestyle. And although everything was so significantly different from what I know, I fell in love with it all. To this day, I still listen to the Swedish beats of Alesso and Avicii over any 50 Cent or Lady Gaga. I still crave those Swedish candies and pastries that Fredrick used to bring to lunch every day. And I still want to party in the nightclubs of Stockholm. One day, I hope that I have the chance to visit Fredrick and experience all that he shared with me first hand, but either way, I am more than pleased that he has introduced me to an entirely different culture and provided me with a great friend halfway across the world.
I believe that everyone should take such an opportunity to learn about and engage in other cultures. Whether through traveling to a different area of the world, or simply through living with people of different backgrounds, engaging in various cultures is truly an extraordinary experience that enhances peoples’ understanding of both themselves and the world around them. I believe in the power of cultural immersion.