Vladimir                    

      Wow! My summer was starting out great! I finished school with all A’s and one B. My parents were super proud of me and decided to buy me a ticket to America for 3 months. My Mom found me a job that was guaranteed to pay $10.25 an hour. It was my first time on a plane and America was called the land of opportunity.

      At one-hundred-and-forty-three kilograms and at an average height of 1 meter 82 centimeters I could bench more than twice my weight and more than anyone at my school at 300kg.I had always worn a tank top and some type of shorts to show off my muscles, even in the winter! I was born in Russia in a small village.

     I had left Russia on the 23rd of May. My plane ride was great because I slept through it! It was 19:00 when I got outside and I had to promptly be at the train station at 21:00. The train station was around 7 kilometers from the airport, but with my body sprinting there in 30 minutes was easier than taking candy from a baby! I only had 100 dollars and 30 for food on my way to my job with me. Because my parents knew that if I had more I would spend it all on something, they were expecting me to make money and then do whatever I want with it.

     I boarded my train and only then had I noticed that every 4th person here was black. In my home country seeing a black person was like winning a lottery, there was probably only one every square kilometer! Right away one of them asked me “what’s up” I noticed that they were more talkative too. I hadn’t known English too well and I definitely didn’t know any slang! I was thinking that he wasn’t asking me what was above us, I mean who would ever ask a question like that, but I still answered “the ceiling”. I saw a little smirk on his face as he said “you ain’t from here, are you boy?” I answered “no sir”. The man turned away smiling.