Lord the Land

 Chinese land reform was one of the best reform in Chinese history. It took place in 1950, shortly after the funding of new China. Before the land reform, most land was owned by the landowners. Many farmers got land from the landowners and worked for them. Farmers didn't have their own land. The first Chairman of new China, Chairman Mao, led the Chinese Community Party to reform the landownership. They first decided to abolish the landowner system and then redistribute the land to people. The Chinese Community Party gave the land to poor farmers by land reform. My grandparents were also farmers and got some lands. After the land reform, my grandparents became the owners of the land, and their life changed.

One of the best efforts of this land reform was that my grandparents didn't need to work for landowners anymore and had their own land. Before the founding of the new China, Chinese farmers' lives were difficult. Every year the farmers got land from the landowners and worked for them. They would gave their grain to landowners after the harvest season. There was only a little food for themselves. Because the farmers didn't eat enough and suffered the landowners' bullying, many farmers died of starvation. Until the land reform, my grandparents received the land from the Chinese Community Party. They never thought they would have their own land one day. They would stop worrying about giving their food to landowners.

Food and clothing were a big problem for poor farmers. The land reform helped my grandparents have enough food and clothing. The land reform also increased the productivity of farmers because it improved the power of farmers to plant grain. Before the land reform, the landowners demanded my grandparents to hand over most grain. They didn't eat enough, so they didn't have enough energy to plant grain. Having their own land let them not worry about food because they could plant grain for themselves. Every harvest season, my grandparents were full of grain so they gradually had enough food and clothing.

The last important effort of land reform was that my grandparents started to improve their economy. Mt grandparents said they were so poor before the land reform came because they didn't have enough food. They also couldn't exchange food for money. There was nothing at home. Even though they had some money, they also couldn't live comfortably. Everything changed after the land reform. Because the land reform gave the land to people, it increased people's motivation to plant grain. Since my grandparents had the land, they had extra food to sell to other people. They saved more and more money, and the economy was better.

Even today, farmers still have some benefits from the land reform years ago. If there was not the reform, my grandparents would still have to work for landowners. It gave my grandparents a significant change. They became the owners of the land. I think many farmers' lives changed from the land reform. I am lucky that my grandparents experienced the benefits of the land reform.

From Scared to Confident

 Chicago has a lot of unfamiliar places. especially because I am a new immigrant in this city. I moved to the United States from China two years ago, and lived in my uncle's house with my parents when I got here. The half a year of living in my uncle's house, I seldom went outside because I thought if I went outside, I wouldn't find my way back home. I am an introverted person, so for a new city, my heart was full of fear. There were many challenges waiting for me, such as English, local culture, and living habits. The biggest thing I have had time fitting in is the language because my English is not good. However, I have slowly begun to fit in and adapt. Moving to the Chicago also changed my life.

When I came to Chicago, I resisted everything. I was strongly missing my grandparents and my home. I wanted to go back to China because I thought that was my real home. One time, I tried to go outside by myself, but I was so scared. It was my first time going outside after I moved to Chicago. I wanted to go to the market to buy something. On the way, I felt like a coward and looked around al the time. I bought something from the market and waited to pay my food. Suddenly, I realized I was in the United States, not in China and I couldn't use Chinese to with the cashier. Then I used my poor English to say "Yes" or "No". Even though I didn't understand what they said, it was my first time communicating with a foreigner. I hated it here, I really wanted to go back to China in my heart and go back to my real home. When I moved to Chinatown from my uncle's house, I couldn't stay in the house all the time, I had to walk outside. My parents needed to work, and I needed to buy food for myself. My uncle couldn't cook for me anymore because I didn't stay in his house. However, one thing was helpful for me that are many Chinese people here. When I speak Chinese or basic English with them, I fell like can slowly fit in local culture.

I gained a lot of things about English when I started to find a job. My parents thought that staying in the house all the time was bad for me. They said I needed to walk around. Then they decided to find a job for me. In the beginning, I didn't want to work because I was still adapting to my new life. I worried about that I would need to talk with foreigners with English and couldn't work well in my job. Maybe my boss would blame me for thing. That was my thought before I went to work. However, my mother spent hours to talking to me, and I tried to work. When I got my first job in a Chinese restaurant, it was my first time working and I didn't have any experience. On my first day of work, the restaurant was so busy, so the waiters didn't have time to teach me. They told me I should get familiar with the menu first. When they had time, they were friendly and taught me and showed me how to do my job. Nothing I thought before happened. Nobody blamed me. I also listened carefully. I tried to remember everything. After I worked at the restaurant few months, I learned many English words from my job. For example, when I started the beginning, I even didn't know what a fork was? When some customers needed something and called me, I didn't understand what they needed. However, the people who work with me always reminded me. Therefore, I had some opportunities to learn English words. I was more and more familiar with how to work because of their help. When we were busy, they didn't need to worry about me all the time. I could also help them, and hey would more relaxed. They always encourage me when I finished something by myself. I thought they gave me more confidence to work but not only at work. Their teaching and encouragement also influenced my life. Right now at work, I have specific jobs and tasks that I can do by myself, such as packing takeout. At the same time, I have more confidence to face difficulties in my daily life. I also deal with them by myself, just like I work.

Now, after living in Chicago for two years, I don't hate it anymore. I think I have learned many things here. I have gone from scared here to more confident, The work experience was the best lesson in my life. It has taught me lot of things and how to be nice. It also let me know the importance of confidence. Self-confidence gave me the courage to face the challenges in life. In the future, there are still many challenges waiting for me, and I also need to have the confidence to face them. I believe that I will become more and more familiar with Chicago, and I will always learn and understand the city better.

Domino Effect

Vanessa Almirante  

ESL 100

November 9, 2023

Domino Effect

Brazil is the biggest country - geographically and demographically - of Latin America. However, it is still very common for people around the world to not make the correct association between country and continent. Some researchers say that this occurs due the fact that Spanish is not the official language in the country, which isolates it from the rest of the continent. Despite this, the vast majority of territories in Latin America share a similar history background. Just like Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and others, Brazil also suffered decades with a military regime financed by the United States in the mid-20th century. In this way, the redemocratization was a hard process that culminated in the recovery of Brazil's sovereignty and freedom within the elaboration of the new 1988 Constitution. The consequences of this historical event positively influenced the lives of all Brazilians, and it was no different with the people in my family, who were able to give a better life to me and my sisters.

The 1988 Constitution guarantees social rights, such as education and health to all citizens. Due to this, the Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS) - Unified Health System - was created with the objective of offering quality free health care to everyone. As an effect, many job positions were opened in the health field, and due to this, my mother could get a good position as a dentist in a better and smaller city called Pojuca in the state of Bahia. This bucolic city was a perfect place for my mother to build her career and life because there she found a school with quality and free education, no violence in the streets and a perfect spot for her to start her own private clinic.

Furthermore, my parents also met in Pojuca. After a few months in the city, my mother was able to save some money from her job at SUS and finally accomplished a dream to open her own clinic. It was hard for her. Before she moved, she divorced her first husband, and had to take care of my two older sisters alone in a completely new city. Despite this, she made it, and it was in her clinic that she met my father as her patient. My father was born and raised in Pojuca, thus if my mother hadn’t moved, they would never have started a friendship that evolved to a romantic relationship.

The years that followed redemocratization slowly favored an improvement in the country's economy, which directly affected the Brazilians' lives including my mother’s. Working at SUS and having her own private clinic made her acquire a more stable financial life. Her purchasing power increased, and with that, she could afford to buy a house, improve her clinic, and give my sisters and me a more comfortable life. The changes were visible to every person that had experienced the transition between the dictatorship and the democracy. A happier country was rising. 

Therefore, the redemocratization changed my family’s life in a way that my mother could have a good job, meet my father and have a better purchasing power. Through the years, she always reminded my sisters and me about this past, and mostly how she achieved everything she has now. Just as in a domino effect, big events in history have the power to effectively change the directions of a society. In this case, it was responsible for my wellbeing and existence. 

A Significant Sign

ESL 100 

Jiemin Zhang 

A Significant Sign 

            Many Chinese families have faced the difficult problem of family planning in the past few decades. In the two decades from 1961 to 1976. China’s population was growing rapidly, but China was not rich. As a result, the country had to control population growth. The government issued a new policy of family planning in 1979. Each family was limited to having one child in cities and having two children in the countryside, which the maximum was two. In cities, people were fined a lot of money if the family had more than two children. In addition, members of this family would not be able to find a job, and children would not be allowed to enroll in school. In the villages, if the investigators found a family with more than two children, they would have to pay a fine. If they could not pay the fine, then the family planning investigators would take everything such as cows, TVs, and others valuables. Since the policy started, everyone was afraid of having children. Some people who were not afraid of having more than one child needed to live carefully and hide their other children. My family was also caught up in the chaos of this policy, and it had an enormous impact on my family.  

          Since the policy was issued in 1979, I was not able to have a happy childhood like other kids. My parents told me that if I was found to be the third child in this family, they would be fined. My mother told me that she used to take me back to her village on the northern side every summer and winter holiday because she wanted to hide from the family planning investigators. This situation lasted until 2003. Then, the situation changed. I started first grade in school. My mother told me that she was going to send me to her village alone, and that my cousin would take care of me. I felt helpless because I knew I was going to miss my family. After sending me to her village, she said goodbye, and took care of myself. I was crying and emotional, but I could not do anything. I stayed in this village for two or three months until my school opened. In addition, sometimes, I stared at the walls in a daze to get through the day. I was stuck in a tough situation. Sometimes, I just looked at the rice fields in the village because I just wanted time to go fast. People passing by the village asked me where I was from and responded that I lived in this village. I felt guilty because I lied to them. However, I had to lie to people if I did not know them. 

             Moreover, my parents worried about my future and had problems with the government investigators. My parents had to figure out my education and potential for a inevitable investigation. My parents were afraid that the people who knocked on the door were family planning investigators. I once asked my parents why they were afraid. They told me that the investigator asked how many children in this family and needed proof. In China, every family has a household registration card, and everyone’s name and date of birth was on the household registration. I was the third child in this family, so my name was obvious in the household book. I was really shocked when my mother told me that she had a fake household registration, and that my name was not on the registration card. That was why my mother was afraid of the investigator knocking on the door. In 2003, my mother worried about my education because every family was only allowed to enroll two children in school. The school required an additional document called a service card which allowed me to enroll in school. My mother asked a lot of people for advice on how to solve the problem. The day before school opened, my mother went to the education department and said that she lost the cord. My mother needed a new one because she wanted to use this service card to help me enroll in school. She spent about 3500 Chinese Yuan on this issue. This was a huge expense for my mother because in 2003 the significant average salary per person was 1100 Chinese Yuan. I was lucky that I enrolled in school.  

            Finally, my relatives were afraid of having children because of the policy, and they wanted to have a good future. My relatives did not want to live a secret life. They wanted to find a great job and get a high salary. It also meant my relatives would have a better quality of life if they did not have more than two children. During this time of family planning, all my relatives obeyed the family planning policy. In addition, China also offered better benefits to people who followed the family planning policy such as free medical insurance, employment opportunities and better retirement. These reasons probably led them not to want to have more than two children. My mother told me that my relatives heard I had to go back to her village every summer and winter and they did not want their kids to live like me. They did not want to get in trouble with the investigator either. Considering everything that happened, I understand all my relatives' choices. Everyone has their dreams to pursue and chase. I also understand my mother as well, and I appreciate what my mother did for me. 

            In conclusion, the family planning policy had a significant influence on my family because we have experienced many hardships. As for me, I laugh at myself every time I think about my early years in 2003. For my parents, it is scary to think about it. The family planning policy ended in 2010. However, the policy changed so many things such as population control, economic impact and employment rates. This policy might not be good for everyone, but it was some beneficial for China. Right now, China has become one of the most populous countries in the world and, China's Gross Domestic Product is one of the highest in the world. I know that many young people my age also experienced this tough time. This may be an unforgettable and memorable experience for their lives.