Toiling Away, Unseen

In many restaurants across the United States, there are people behind the scenes that keep things moving.  Most patrons will never see them and don’t even think about them during their meal.  They wash dishes, cook, bus tables, and clean up after everyone else has gone...

Learning from the children

A family walks into a non-descript restaurant in Humboldt Park, a little girl tugging at her mother’s hands. It is time for lunch. People are ordering food, and eating it, taking this mundane task for granted. But the little girl notices a young woman, standing apart from...

How to go about sending money home from the U.S.

There are several ways to transfer money overseas, one common but high cost way of doing so being to use money transfer companies such as MoneyGram or Western Union. While this option is convenient given that walk-ins are welcome and money is transferred fast, typically...

Citizenship tests – how to prepare for one

What do the stripes on the U.S. flag mean? For born American citizens who do not have to take the U.S. Naturalization Test, the answer may just be that they represent the 13 original states. But for immigrants wishing to be naturalized and Chicago-based groups wishing to help...

Indian student finds American schools easier

Sushma R., 19, is a college student in Chicago now, but she recalls being scatterbrained and squirmy as a little girl. That is when she moved in 1996 from Bangalore, India, (also known as Bengalaru) the third most populous city in India, to Illinois with her parents and her...

Confronting the simple task of speaking

Despite his hard-won skills while wandering the Cambodian jungle for weeks, such as scaling trees to navigate and fine-tuning his senses to sniff out water, Ty Tim admits through a thick accent that once he came to America, one of the hardest adjustments was the seemingly...