Essay 1 - An Old American Woman

An Old American Woman

In 2024, I landed in Chicago where it snows every year. I was born and grew up in Vietnam, which never has snow, so I did not know how to prepare for the winter season. I came to the U.S in August 2025, and everything was very new. I rented a house from an old American woman who became my landlady and still is today. She was warm, took care of me all the time and helped me whenever I needed. When autumn was ending and winter was coming, I experienced the cold and snow for the first time. Despite many new and difficult things for me, my landlady made me realize the truth about American hospitality.

The more autumn was amazing, the more winter was surprising. In the first weeks of that winter, the weather was changing, and I could clearly feel the temperature drop. When I went to buy some food in the market, many people were wearing warm clothes, gloves and winter shoes that I had never seen before. That year, snow started falling around the middle of November. The temperature became lower, and I eventually got sick. I tried to eat and took medicine because I was afraid of going to the emergency room. This was the first time I experienced this weather, and my landlady knew this. She sent messages everyday to make sure I stayed safe, warm and healthy. She reminded me to be careful if I went outside, and asked me to cover all my skin. She also taught me how to keep the pipes from freezing. It was a huge problem if the pipes burst. After a few days, the snow became thicker. It was cold and messy, but she came to my house and gave me some food and medicine. I was surprised a lot because she was old and lived far from my neighborhood, and I did not want her to come to my house because it was very dangerous. Even though snow was falling, she came and helped me shovel snow around my house every morning in the whole winter.

         When I was growing up in Vietnam, I used to hear people around me always say American culture had many good things. I did not understand at that time, but now I almost understood exactly what they meant. All of these experiences with my landlady, however, did not match what I was told growing up, but she made me want to become a person like her.

I was not raised here, and I knew the way I live depends on the environment I really lived in. Studying abroad was my dream, and my parents also. They always want me to become a person who is independent and successful, that’s why they sent me to the U.S. I will study in Chicago for a total of four years so hopefully I can learn it. After four years, when I go back to my country, my parents will see the difference between me, before and after. I will keep talking about my experiences from Chicago with everyone around me because I really appreciate what I have received in America.

Mai,

ESL 100

My Ancestor

Danny Lee

ESL-100 CE

My Ancestor

   

Times Change Lives

 

Allen/Zilun Liu

November 1, 2026

ESL 100

Times Change Lives

        Before I went abroad for my college studies, I had so many arguments with my family. My grandparents always said, “I won’t support you if you want to go to the United States.” I was confused,“Why did you support my parents?”.  “Time is changing, my darling.” Over the last several decades, the opening-up policy has significantly changed my country, China. Chinese governments were unwilling to see the economy improving in a slow speed, so we started making more connections on business and technology with foreigners. This great event not only enriched China’s economic structure, but also influenced my whole family's path and living philosophy both positively and negatively.

        During the 1970s, when the concept of opening-up policy was first created by Deng Xiao Ping, my grandparents had the chance to be educated in China, which laid the solid foundation for their successful business in the following years. Based on their long-term vision and a little luck, they invested in houses and slowly got rich. After my parents grew up, my grandparents thought overseas degrees would help them with more job opportunities. Therefore, my parents pursued further study in the United States, and this also caused me to be born in Chicago. The opening-up policy positively fulfilled my family with complicated experiences.

        However, these different experiences made a deep gap between generations of my grandparents and me. Three years ago, I was admitted to high school in China, and there was a tremendous burden to study. It sometimes takes me six to seven hours a day finishing my homework, which left me little time to relax. From my perspective, many extra assignments in school were too useless because they could only make me a study machine. For example, students spent much time doing repetitive exercises and couldn’t explore their own interests. At that moment, I thought I could change my study path in the United States as my parents, but my grandparents said," absolutely no.”  They educated me through their past experiences between different times and told me that China has been getting stronger. In their words, achieving overseas degree became “a worthless investment”, and they also thought I was escaping high school. However, I wanted to broaden my horizons and gain more opportunities for my future life.

China is changing so fast that these conflicts due to different generations and ages happen normally in my family, yet it also damaged our relationship. Although the opening-up policy changed my family's life and created differences between generations, it has also helped shape my personality. Even though my grandparents and I have different opinions, I've learnt to look at things from various angles before making a decision. Their ideas are not totally wrong. They are more thoughtful than me, but I also have my own ideas about my future. I can integrate their ideas into mine while still making my own decisions based on my goals. This helps me learn from their experiences without giving up my dream. Time goes fast like a river, and it forces people to be separated. I will certainly have my own unique experiences in my life, different from my parents and my grandparents. I have come to the United States now, but it doesn't mean my decision was right. There's no single choice for life.

Bless You

 Lei Huang

ESLINTG 100

September 16, 2026

In-class Essay 1

Bless You

Every time I sneeze, people around me always say “Bless you!” I feel strange about this situation because in China, my culture, people usually do not say anything when someone sneezes. As a result, this situation makes me think a lot about God. Many Americans say “Bless you,” but many people in China do not. Does it mean that many Americans believe in God and many people in China do not believe in God? This small difference made me think about that people from different countries have their own ways of asking deities for blessings. This little thing taught me that small actions can show the differences between cultures.

It was winter in 2025, and it was the first time I took class in Chicago. In addition, it was the first time I saw snow, so I felt very excited. I walked on the road, felt the snow fall on my nose, and looked around. I wanted to find some mystery in this white world. I was on my way to school. The snow made my nose itchy, and I sneezed. At that time, I heard somebody say “Bless you,” but I thought he was talking to somebody else, so I did not pay attention to him. After I arrived at school, I began my class. Maybe because I was walking outside, I had an itch on my nose again, and then I sneezed loudly. At that moment, everyone in the class, including the professor, said “Bless you” to me. How ashamed and embarrassed I felt at that moment! In my experience in China, people usually do not say anything when somebody sneezes because it can be considered impolite. That is why I felt ashamed. After living in Chicago for a few months, I was used to saying “Bless you” because it is a part of American culture.

However, this embarrassing experience made me think more deeply about culture. Some Americans say “Bless you” because they believe in God, and they are used to saying that. People in China do not say “Bless you.” Does that means people in China do not salute God? The answer is not really. Buddhist culture is an important part of Chinese culture. Some Chinese festivals are related to religious or traditional stories, and we celebrate these festivals with some special activities, such as dragon dance and other traditional activities. In my opinion, culture around the world express their religious beliefs in many ways. Many Chinese people sometimes burn some fake paper money, which means giving money to God. Some people believe that if they do so, God will bless them. Other cultures would not do these kinds of things.

Having such an embarrassing experience made me think a lot about culture. Saying “Bless you” is part of American culture. Burning fake paper money is part of some Chinese traditions. This experience taught me that small action carry a lot of meaning. Now, when I hear someone say “Bless you,” I understand that it is not only a way for some Americans to pray for blessing, but also a part of American culture.

Essay 1, Accepting Small Talk

Mikhail Pukaniuk

ESL 100

October 25, 2026

Accepting Small Talk

Imagine a situation where I’m walking on the street with my friends or by myself, and some strangers stop me. I’m confused, and the thoughts in my brain are like, «Michael? Wait a second, what is going on?». I mean that I have no idea what I should expect from these guys who have just stopped me. Then I hear this phrase «What a beautiful day, right?». I answered, «I’m sorry, but do we know each other?» and then I heard, «Even though I don’t know you, it doesn’t mean that I can’t talk to you or say that this day is beautiful. You know what do I mean? Just be more open.» Of course, I was laughing at these guys by thinking that they are strange, but at that moment I hadn’t realized yet that there was only one strange person - me.

There is definitely a culture of small talk in the United States, and there is no doubt that I have to be a part of it. I would say I never realized how cool it is to start a conversation with some small talk. So, I have started accepting it by trying either to ask or to answer. Once, when I was in the grocery store, I found everything I wanted to buy, and then went to the cashier. She said, «Hello, sir! How are you today?». I have realized many times how was it stupid to answer. «Hey! I’m good! I just didn’t sleep well today. Anyway, I still feel good. Now I’m here to buy some products because I’m going to cook something delicious. And how are you? How is your day?». I remember her face was like a blank. I would even say she had a «poker face.» She answered, «All right, this is interesting, but you don’t have to talk about your whole life story.» I felt so uncomfortable. While I was on my way back home, I considered her words about ten times. When I finally got home, I realized that it was just a service, and she wanted to be polite. Right there I learned an important lesson that small talk is not always a way to start a huge conversation. It can also be something that helps you respect other people.

As a person who grew up in Russia, it might seem strange or unusual to have small talk in the United States because I’m not used to it. In Russia, people who I know usually just say «Hello» and their answers are often yes or no, which can seem rude to some Americans. But despite the fact that I’m not used to small talk, it is exactly what I have been looking for. It’s a way to be polite, to be respectful, and to avoid uncomfortable silence. I believe that everyone finds it helpful. However for me the most helpful benefit of small talk is to be always open for conversation and take away my lack of confidence. I really enjoy the way people communicate here in the United States. It feels like I don’t have to create an interesting sentence or key to unlock a conversation. I can always be accepted by society and be surrounded by people who want to have a good conversation about literally nothing.

Since I realized this important lesson that is called small talk, I have started noticing how my life is changing for the better. Adapting to the United States has become much easier just because of small talk. It might seem simple, but actually it has a deep influence on my life. I don’t feel a lack of confidence anymore because I can always talk with strangers about the weather or just ask, «How is it going?» with an understanding that everything will be okay. I’m so glad to be a part of this culture.

Yubo Jin

October 12, 2026

ESL 100

American Spirit

         “BOOM!” The car accident happened. It was 1 year ago, I had the accident, everyone drove past me and stopped to ask me if I needed help. It was surprised because I had never felt such kindness from strangers in China. A lot of people are afraid of helping others these days because most people don’t want to get in trouble. It might because some people will blackmail others when someone try to help them. The spirit is kind of an English slang “Mind your own business!” That day, I didn’t get hurt. I just get damaged my car, but I was grateful for people who stopped to try to help me.

       In March, 2025, I was living in Tuscaloosa, Alabama studying English at the Because Tuscaloosa is located in a very nature place, I love driving down on windy roads. and driving on windy road was my weekly routine. One day, after a hard rain I was driving on a windy and peaceful road, It was a manual front wheel drive car, but it couldn’t drift. I like to do a little understeering sometimes. Understeering means entering a corner with a higher speed and feeling the front wheels lose some grip. At first, I was feeling fine, and everything was going well, so I decided to go faster and crazier. Then I pulled the handbrake, the rear wheels were out of control suddenly because of the slippery road. The car ran into a mailbox. I felt a strong shake, and my mind went blank. After that, I parked the car to the right and checked if it could still drive. When I was checking, everyone who drove and passed me asked “Are you ok? Do you need some help?” Everyone! I was surprised by the kindness of people in that city because I have never seen the same in my life before. I felt that American people are so kind, especial the southern people. When I got out of the car, I just saw some outside damage, but the main powerful parts were good.

    I was thinking about why this minor thing made me feel so surprised. I thought that it might of because I didn’t see people care about others so much in China when I was growing up. This unfriendly trend in China has been happened for a while because of the terrible system and country development way. For instance, there was a famous case where a man helped an old person who fell down on the road, but the old person said that he knocked him down. The judge asked, “If you didn’t knock him down, why did you help him?” It made people start not trusting each other and not have extra energy to care about others because of the stress from life. In addition, China’s crazy economic development hided people lack of a rich inner life. As the famous Chinese painter Chen Danqing once said, one of the biggest problems people face today is boredom. People often have nothing to do on weekends, but they always feel the need to find something to keep themselves happy. That’s one of the reasons why the entertainment industry in China has developed so well. Most people focus more on material wealth and less on spiritual growth. 

    From that accident I felt that America great is not because the country is great naturally. It is the American people and the spirt of American made this country became great. The spirt of American people that has helped me and touched me time and time again. This also strengthened my thought to stay in the United States. The Stars and Stripes Forever!

Halloween

    A few months after I moved to the United States, I learned about Halloween. I grew up in Korea for almost twenty years, and I didn't have any experience like American Halloween. A few months after I got to Chicago, in the middle of October, I went for a run in the afternoon. I saw something that was attractive to my eyes. I saw a skeleton frame decorated in front of a house, and there were pumpkins too. I was really curious why all my neighbors were putting things in front of their place. One day, I asked my friend why people were dressed in scary costumes. She explained to me about the American Halloween culture. It comes once a year, and most American kids walk around their neighborhood with a small basket and say "Trick or treat" when they knock on the door. In addition, many people dress up in costumes. After I learned about it, I realized that this holiday was an interesting and special part of American culture.

    Many young people dress like specific cartoon characters or superhero's during the day. At night, they walk with their parents in their neighborhood and knock on every door and say trick or treat and collect candy or chocolate. Homeowners open the door when kids approach and give them treats politely. This event is part of custom trend in American history, which continues as a way of treating each other with kindness. During the night, my neighbor's kids knocked on my door and said to trick or treat, but I didn't understand what the meaning of the words was, so I didn't give them anything. It was my first and last embrassing moment since I came to the United States. After that happened, I started preparing candy and chocolate for Halloween every year.

    In addition, many Americans were costumes every Halloween. Some were police or special gent uniforms, and some put on character makeup on their faces. I never enjoyed the holiday party until one of my friends invited me to her house for Halloween. In 2013, I went to her place, but I didn't predict it would be crowded. The guests all dressed like famous characters and enjoyed the party. my friend's husband DJed and everyone was dancing. However, I didn't were a costume or put makeup on my face. Most people there looked at me wondering why I wasn't dressed up. I asked my friend to borrow her cosmetics to put something on my face to pretend I did something. It was a lesson that I have experienced of American Halloween culture. After putting on some makeup, I felt like I could mingle better with the crowd.

    Aa a result, I never thought that I would enjoy American Halloween culture as I do today. However, since I settled in the United States, I have enjoyed this fun holiday. In fact, most American enjoying the Halloween and shows their talent. If I look back at my first embrassing moment on the street and the fun party at my friend's house, I realize that Halloween is not just a simple holiday. It is a wonderful opportunity to connect with neighbors, share joy, and understand part of American culture.