5/20/2008 - I Am an American Now!

My friends often ask me the same question: when did I really feel like a true American for the first time?

I moved to Kansas City without any driving experience. I had my driver’s license from Shreveport, LA, but on Highway I-35 it was as useful as an American passport in a jungle.

One lady with a heavy foot decided to teach me how to drive and placed me behind the wheel of her car the first day I arrived. She was talking to me all the way. Being polite, I tried to meet her eyes, and didn’t notice how I got rid of fear of driving that came with the price. The most difficult thing for me was to keep track of traffic signs, traffic lights, other cars and their signals, so I passed not only a few red lights unnoticed but even police cars. Who knew they were hiding? Police officers, though, never gave me a ticket. My accent worked like magic.

My very first ticket made me proud: finally, I was treated like a normal American.