I had first arrived in the land of oppurtunities on 1993. My mom was a nurse in NY and my dad was studying to earn a speacialization in the glaucoma surgery. When I got down in the airport my mom and dad were standing there with the biggest teddy bear I had ever laid eyes on. They gave me this chewing gum which was actually spicy. Wow.. USA sure was different. I joined school and became one of the most unique students as I was the only Nepali on the third grade.

Oh how I loved the US. It had soon become my home, how great everyone was and how they were interested on me. Well days turned to months and months turned to years. It was two years and my dad had completed his specialization and was going to Japan for further specialization. So my parents sent me to Nepal for the time being so that while they go to Japan me and my brother could spend time with our grandparents. That sure was exciting, and off we went to nepal.

After completing all his specialization, my dad had a certain urge to serve his own country. So my parents were to return to Nepal, and I was happy to be seeing them again. But I missed the states like crazy. My teachers in Nepal were no way compared to the ones in state.. they did not give me warm hugs, instead they pinched and hit me. My dreamland.. USA.. i was sure to come back one day and that was it.

In the year 2003 I got the visa as an F-1 student to come to the US again. How excited I was, i could actually live out my dreams!! Many people had warned me that US people were selfish and had high views only about themselves, but how could that be possible. So here I was back again. Only it seemed different, did US change or was it me? Well, it really did not matter.

I was all excited but slowly I started to miss Nepal and well US wasnt the same anymore.. Slowly I started becoming interested on Political matters and what I saw astounded me. Being in this Political Science class I had to have discussions now and then.. and the views of my peers were well.. not what I expected.

Ok.. I admit it, my country really doesnt have a lot of human rights and well it is getting more violent as I am typing this, but does this mean I am inferior to these ppl i am discussing with? Our topic turned to 3rd world countries and democracy. They thought dmocracy was the answer to all world problems, which of course I had doubt abt so I said " My country is a democracy but before it was democratic......."

"It was really violent i guess!" came the reply from my peer. I felt uneasy and said "well that wasnt my point, our country is(was) known to be peaceful you know" and they are like oh ok.. (whateva!!). "Most of the third world countries are violent you know" they said so the discussion went on. One of my peers also said "Well we also had to fight and kill the Indians to get our land" mm... oops!! I thought that it was the other way round.wasnt it the Indians' land?. I thought that they had conquered the land from the natives.. So the discussion went on..

Things started going on to how Asian countries have had a history of violence.. of course and Nepal is not excluded and so on... well after some time I got a bit heated.. so I started telling them my views. I gave them points such as instead of sending military force to the states they are "saving" from their "dictators" some other aids such as medical aid could be given. guess what they said "what would be the use of giving them aid if we did not get any benefits in return!" BINGO.. so this is what it was all about,.. the global game of benefits and power.

When USA was celebrating its 100 Birthday.. it was killing 1000s of Natives. Can we call it the same genocide that they are "fighting" against now? Guess the mention of it in my class would arouse angered looks.. These people who dont know their own history were accusing my country's history, these people who were killing thousands of innocents were calling my country aggressive and themselves "the savior". These people who are always bringing their culture in between and are hinting me to convert are saying my culture is too narrow minded. What was going on? Wasnt this the same 'land of oppurtunities' I had so wanted to come to? What about my childhood memories. Slowly the answer came to me... It was not this place I had wanted to be in it was the time.. the time when everything had seemed perfect. I was looking at the world with the innocent eyes of a 9 year old... but now I know the reality.. I had not come to the great savior.. I had voluntarily stepped into the hands of the mass destroyer!!

i really appreciate this story. thank you for sharing. there is a great quote from a book called "reading lolita...." that you might like. it goes something like-

"something strange happens when you are getting ready to leave a place. not that you will only miss the place itself and the people you have come to love, but you will also miss the person you are at that exact place and time. because once you leave, you will never be that same person again."

sometimes it is a difficult truth to accept that we can never go back. thanks again for sharing! la.

Well, those kind of views are prevalent in all nationalities, in different shapes and forms. If one is to stereotype, Japanese consider themselves superior of all races, Greeks call themselves the founder of civilization as we know it, Muslims consider themselves the only kind who deserve to live, Jews think they are the chosen ones, even us Nepalis sometimes think we are built of higher cultural/spiritual values. And all of us tend to look down upon others. Such is the commonality we share, sadly.

However, do remember, the places of higher learning are exactly that. One learns as one moves up the ladder of academia. Anj got a healthy dose of self-supremacy from her freshmen colleagues, and that is ok. If they learn how to think (and that is the only thing the colleges and universitites strive to teach), they will realize the fallacy in their beliefs.

I, for one, still believe that the US of A is one of the best countries to live in, despite occasional setbacks here and there.

Palpali gaule and Riten.. thanks a lot for your views...
and palpali gaule I did like the quote.. thanks a lot..... I am glad that you dropped by and read my article and left your views.. thanks again..:)

Damnn 1st time im reading long articles after a long time :P
Nice one though n a tru fact. liked it.. neways everyone tries to be or tries to get power to be supreme everywhere its same thing. Everything is upto people n their choice wtever they do. I aint into politics but I jus think its jus a game to manipulate not only society but da whole nation. n ps da thing bout america I think its all bout benjamins here if u got money u got evverything n u get respect too but u broke noone gonna give a sh!t bout u. aight maybe im writin too much.. neways jus writin wt i thought don mind aight peace...

did u read it all :O

Good article Anj..! The world is still the same, the perception changed! Any other childhood memories to share from sajhaites?