Quest of the American Dream: A Guide to Culture Shock Encounters Among Immigrants and American Visitors

By Dominic Charles Okero

When author Dominic Charles Okero was growing up in Kenya, he had heard the United States was a land of opportunities. In Quest of the American Dream, Okero shares the excitement, joys, anxieties, disappointments, challenges, and hopes he experienced as he navigated a country and culture different from his native land. He discusses details about his arrival in the country, the introduction to the roadways and transportation, food choices, work etiquette and norms, and adapting to a colder climate. Okero narrates how he worked hard to create a new chapter of success in the United States, and he tells about the lessons he learned on his journey. Quest of the American Dream serves as an example to others communicating anything is possible when one dreams, sets goals, and faces challenges head on. In his narration, he intends to give hope to those in pursuit of the American dream. The beginnings are tough but through persistence and focus success becomes the result.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu Publishing Services
• Release date: Nov 15, 2017
• ISBN: 9781483474052

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OKERO

Copyright © 2017 Dominic Charles Okero.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means—whether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronic—without written permission of the author, except in the case of brief excerpts used in critical articles and reviews. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

ISBN: 978-1-4834-7406-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4834-7405-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017912281

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Lulu Publishing Services rev. date: 10/25/2017

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Without missing a word, I do acknowledge the following individuals whose efforts to review this book was unwavering. First, I do recognize Mr. Phillip Macharia Mwangi for his artistic review of the cover design. To Dr. Harrison N. Oonge, I appreciate the efforts to proof read and suggest very productive additions and clarifications. Likewise, I thank Ms. Tabitha Manga Mwinyi for her acceptance to offer additional proof-reading and equally, her sharp eyes that could detect missed spelling mistakes.

DEDICATIONS

I dedicate this book to my family members as a gift to motivate them into grueling work and focus on the vision in their lives.

INTRODUCTION

It is within the realm of every individual to aspire for more rewarding life adventures with more exciting encounters day after day. Having completed elementary school in a local village in Kisii County, Kenya, the author was privileged to join a provincial missionary high school. In the 1990s, the cost was affordable, but it was too expensive for his parents to afford. Through borrowing and selling some basic household items, the first installment for high school admission was paid. As he said farewell to his aging father at the dormitory bedside on the first day in form one (9th grade), his father said, My son, I wish you the very best in your life, but remember it is only efforts in education that will help you. With those last words, the old man left for home. He planted a seed that never withered in the mind of the author. For the author, reducing the number of excuses and magnifying the vision sustained the success story. There was no alternative to determination.

He knew funding his education was difficult but that succeeding was an individual effort. He acquired church missionary sponsorship, and his entry into the top public university through a national higher education loan culminated in a successful career in health care. Inspirational success stories and an ambition to break the cycle of poverty formed the nucleus that created an impetus to start working on the American dream. America has been known to be a great country and those associated with it could be great people. It took more than eight years of preparation from the inception of the idea to the time the author landed in the United States to commence new adventures in a new context. He left his family and friends alongside other establishments and a very rewarding job in a national institution with the hope of making higher returns for the sacrifice.

This book is a narrative of life experience in search of triumph. It singles out struggles, frustrations, and the ultimate attainment of expectations amid confusions in a country with complex systems, yet the best setting for prosperity. The themes of determination and focus have been given emphasis through practical encounters narrated in the book. The concepts herein may find utility among many audiences. The book may serve as a source of encouragement for those whose American dream has failed or delayed maturing. Indeed, an inspirational message across races, genders, nationalities, socio-economic statuses, academic backgrounds, professions, age groups and religions backgrounds. It may be an inspirational message to the American locals as well since the challenges and opportunities in this great nation are shared on a common ground where partiality has no chance of survival. The account of the author’s encounters should be a primer for those coming after, because it may serve as a living example with lessons to learn before the encounter. It is within the author’s contemplation that a message to make it better for the generations of tomorrow is a timely treasure. Likewise, individual success counts into the success of the American nation since it is only the successful ones who will contribute to the victory of the American nation at large.

CHAPTER 1

Getting Prepared for the Big Day

T he land of opportunities! That is what I heard about the United States of America. Everybody wishing to succeed in life would one day want to be associated with that land of opportunities. When I first thought of it, it sounded like a dream, but later it became an objective, progressed to a vision, was further built into a mission, and finally became a reality. While moving through these stages, I was cleared by the immigration department of the American Embassy in my native country. This was a punctuation for the investments, prayers, patience, and several compliance requirements that I had muddled through to make it sound and appear to be the pragmatism of a dream long conceived and fostered into maturity. As I ambled home that day, one idea was certain in my mind. Opportunities are like the state of matter, as I remembered from my early days in Physics class: they can never be lost but can be transferred from one state to another. If you gain it, someone else loses it. If you lose it, someone else gains it. I knew that someone must have lost a chance for me to gain one. Losing it for someone to gain was not within my vocabulary at the time.

It was a dream, a true dream that could only turn into success through well-calculated moves, determinedly negotiated adventures, and adequate understanding of the dreamland that aspirants were obliged to call the land of opportunities. To me, these sounded like the three pillars of success in the land. Before I landed in the arena, I was full of elation. I felt it was an obligation rather than an accident to jauntily share the great message of salvation from darkness to the land and surely, I made it! All the old folks who had migrated ahead of me to the United States had a chance to hear me smile through my phone, with the last words proudly stated: I will join you, and together we will swim through the endless opportunities of the land. That is how much my mind was prepared, and it was in a state of the River Nile cruising to the Mediterranean Sea.

Years reduced to months, months reduced to weeks, and now … which day? Days were reduced to hours of waiting, and indeed the hour came. The taxi driver was already waiting, and my immediate family members were set to see me off to the promised land. They envisioned a land flowing with opportunities for prosperity and success, growth and development, bright futures and guaranteed wellness, and of course wealth. How sweet did it sound to hold, squeeze, admire, love, and finally own such? My heart could wait no more. It started running faster so it could reach ahead of me. At this time, my new styled bags were full of selected goodies for flying to the first-world country. I cared less about the number of rugs and rugged past belongings. It was a time for new shoes, a new vest, a new shave, new cologne, and a new name. This was the sure way I could convince myself that the old wine never mattered in the fermentation of the new wine that was soon going to change my whole being. It was a transformation of mind and spirit. The body was also willing to transform, including but not restricted to the way I pronounced some words, the speed of my speech, my gestures, and all that mattered in American culture.

The long-awaited reporting time to the airport approached faster than any other time deadlines I’d encountered in my life. Meanwhile, imaginations were quickly occupying my mind in terms of what the land looked and felt like. Was the setting like the one I knew—village children playing bare feet and half-naked by the roadside? Neighbors’ chicken crossing the fence to destroy my sprouting beans and annoy me to the point of calling the village elders to sort out the feud? Would it be the same again when a team of Christians teamed up to walk to church every Sunday? What about using boda boda (motorbikes) for short transportation needs? Would I encounter matatus or dala dala (public vehicles)? What of traffic officers stopping me via hand signals as I approached them? Would I get similar timings in traffic light control points? What of supermarkets? What of communications? Would my local networks reach me? I heard of winter times and summer times. How would I get to work when everything, including roads, was covered with snow? Was I going to pay taxes? How were workers paid? Were there workers’ strikes? What of student strikes? What kind of water system was available in the country? Would I go to the river springs to collect water in jerry cans, as I used to do for my grandmother?

I was overwhelmed with all sorts of questions. I thought and thought but found no one to solve my puzzles. I had no multiple-choice answers from which to select. All I could do was get ready for the surprises, which were technically termed culture shocks. Yes, the culture