Searching For the American Dream
This is the story of a young girl’s experience coming to America. Her name is Helena Sztrnada and she was leaving Munich, Germany to come here to live with her sister, who was her sponsor.
Helena was twenty-four years old and a trained Dressmaker. She had applied for a visa and waited four years before she was allowed to travel to the USA. She took with her a sewing machine and one suitcase of clothes. The sewing machine gave her comfort. She had trained very hard for five years to become a Dressmaker, and the machine was the only thing she had that reminded her of the skills she possessed and the things she could accomplish with it. She left behind a small daughter, her mother and father and two sisters and headed for Amsterdam to catch the ship that would carry her to her future.
The voyage set out to be unpleasant from the beginning. She was prone to be sea-sick and began to suffer with the dreaded illness right away. She had never been on a ship before and was not aware of her tendency. A waiter spotted the signs and said she should go to the ladies room immediately. Once there she understood why he was so insistent she leave the dining room. She became quite ill and began to regurgitate and continued until her stomach was completely empty. She made it to her cabin and remained there for days. The stewards would bring her soup and sandwiches. She eventually was able to return to the dining area but didn’t seem to be able to fully shake the illness and still felt wheezy once in a while. She was very happy when the ship reached New York and she could step on solid ground once again.
After passing through Ellis Island she was met by her uncle and aunt. She would be living with them until her sister, who lived in Atlanta, could provide transportation for her to come to Atlanta. Helena had learned some English in school but mostly she learned it from her sister who would take the letters Helena would write to her in English and correct them and return them to Helena. She continued to learn from her uncle and aunt who had been in the US for many years and spoke very good English.
Being only twenty-four, and having just arrived, her aunt worried that she might not be aware of all the dangers she could face alone in the streets of New York and forbid her to go out alone for that reason. Helena soon persuaded her aunt to let her go by agreeing to take the dog along. She was quite excited to be in New York and began to
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