America... Every time I hear this word, whether I'm sitting in a professor's lecture, watching the morning news, or just chatting with friends, my face lights up with a smile and the deepest strings of my soul are touched. This word is associated with the best vacations of my student life – the summers of 2015 and 2017. This is what I will especially remember about my 'student' status, and what I will be grateful to my parents for until the end of my life – for such an invaluable experience; for the fearlessness with which they let me go, a 19-year-old girl, the youngest child in the family, to the ends of the earth for such a long time.

So, despite the fact that this was not my first time participating in the program, the anticipation and excitement for the upcoming summer were no less... not to mention the nervousness during yet another J-1 Visa interview at the consulate.

And so, the documents are collected, the suitcases are packed, the visa is received, and voilà! Once again, another continent, another world, opens its doors to me! Everything is different here, starting with the subway staff you encounter first when trying to get from the airport to the city. In my case, it was a young Black man who spent a few minutes helping me buy a transit card and showing me the shortest route to my destination on the map. (By the way, the first time I ever rode a subway was during my freshman year in Almaty, which back then and to this day only has 10-15 stations. In the New York City subway, the number of stations reaches 500! A significant difference, right?) And all this time, I didn't notice a single hint of anger or dissatisfaction on his face, even though hundreds, maybe even thousands, of people approach him every day! Since I've touched on the topic of the airport, I can't help but mention the line for customs control in New York. I'm sure all the mausoleums of the world combined couldn't compare to the line I saw. In this regard, people in America are very patient and orderly; no one even thinks about trying to get through control faster, cutting in line, or bypassing the person in front of them, etc.

Having reached the heart of New York – Manhattan – I met up with my friends and we headed wherever our eyes took us to kill time before our morning flight to our small towns. On the way, we ran into a guy, about 20-22 years old. I remember it like it was yesterday, his name was Shazam, and a guitar was hanging from his shoulder. And I also clearly remember my friend's failed joke: 'Do you probably know all the songs by heart?' Shazam turned out to be a quite talented singer who was pleasing to the ear. To the sounds of his guitar, we walked through a huge number of streets, so similar to each other that it felt like we were standing in one place while our legs moved on their own; we talked about various topics, of course, touching on politics and the new US President! Morning came, and it was time to say goodbye to everyone and head to my city. Ocean City.

Ocean City didn't greet me very warmly. Rain, dampness, clouds – all this instantly carried my thoughts back to warm, sunny Almaty. But the clouds above my head cleared as soon as I arrived at my job! They greeted me in a way we don't even greet in-laws! They fed me, gave me drinks, asked about all the changes that had happened in my life during my two-year absence, and told me I could start the next day. I worked at a Thai restaurant as a cook. Knowing the entire menu and the ingredients of every dish by heart, it wasn't difficult for me to fulfill an order of any complexity. But I realized I was bored. I was bored with the Thai environment, the Thai language (which was dominant), the cooking, etc. The only things I didn't get bored of were the daily treats from the boss in the form of homemade ice cream, Thai sweets, and barbecue. Despite the fact that I had been working for them for the second year in a row, a month and a half after arriving, I decided to quit, moved to a neighboring town, and life began to sparkle with new colors!

Rehoboth Beach brought all my thoughts together and led me to the American restaurant Crabby Dick's. Here, I was a hostess, and concurrently a sales clerk for clothing and souvenirs. For those who don't know, a hostess is the face that greets and seats guests in a restaurant. But my duties weren't limited to that; recording reservations and taking calls were all on my shoulders. Fortunately, there were colleagues nearby who would come to my aid at any moment with a sweet smile on their faces. Americans are not stingy with praise; every successful step I took was met with exclamations from my manager, Debbie: 'You did a great job today, Saya!' This motivated me even more to perform my duties flawlessly; I gave 150% to my work, receiving loyal friends, respect, and love in return. At first, I was shy about speaking on the phone and afraid to take guest calls, because after 'Hi, it's Saya talking. How can I help you?' comes a sea of questions to which I eventually found all the answers... My girls Sarah, Emma, and Jennifer helped me overcome all barriers, helped me become more confident, polite, and smiley. How is it with us? If you smile at everyone, you're hardly taken for normal, right? But there, smiling is a duty. 'A smile makes the world brighter' – this is what real Americans live by. I'll give a simple example: if your gaze accidentally falls on a stranger in a store, they will definitely ask, 'Hi, how are you?' We also loved to discuss this topic at work. The locals were surprised that in our country, it is not customary to greet people you don't know.

Once, while serving a client at the register, we got to talking; I helped her choose some clothes, and it turned out she was from California, having come for a week-long family vacation to our beach. I hadn't noticed her daughter standing next to her; she was so tiny, like a doll! A little angel with wavy dark hair, cherry-like eyes, and a ringing voice ran up to me, hugged me tight, and said, 'Thank you so much! Bye!' The door slammed shut – I shed a tear. To say I was pleased is an understatement. Hearing words of gratitude from little ones is doubly pleasant.

Every morning I woke up with huge enthusiasm, ran to work, and fell asleep with the thought of returning to my favorite team as soon as possible. The work was two steps from my house, so I didn't see any problems with getting around the city. From time to time, when going out for shopping, I used public transport – buses. The drivers were mostly elderly people aged 60-70, which was extremely unusual for me.

If we delve a little into the topic of shopping, even a maid in America can afford a Michael Kors bag, MAC cosmetics, and Nike sneakers. One of my colleagues at the restaurant once told me that he had visited 42 out of 50 American states. Considering that his earnings barely differ from the minimum wage, I think that's not bad at all.

And so autumn crept up unnoticed. My last working day. It started raining. Yes, rain again. I brought a huge cake to work and treated all my managers, hostesses, and waiters. I heard a huge number of pleasant words and tried to hold on so as not to burst into tears right there. Gathering all my will into a fist, I pretended that there was nothing special about this day: an ordinary weekday, ordinary hustle and bustle, ordinary guests, ordinary me... Alas, my willpower lasted only until the restaurant gate. And then I lost it! I couldn't stop my tears; they flowed in time with the rain and the music in my headphones. The only thing that comforted me was the thought: 'Who told you that you're seeing these people for the last time? You'll come back, and not just once!'

Ahead was half a month of vacation – discovering America from the western side! Perhaps, if only for this, it was worth working tirelessly all summer! Philadelphia, Niagara Falls, the Grand Canyon, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Las Vegas, New York – everything I was lucky enough to see with my own eyes this summer! Seeing Niagara Falls, I remembered a geography lesson from ten years ago at my school desk. The child, impressed by the scale and beauty of this natural creation, was now standing right in front of it, not believing her eyes, not believing her ears, hearing this power of water.

Each city impressed me in its own way; of course, it wasn't without its downsides, without the other side of the coin. But who/what doesn't have one, right? Therefore, only everything kind, positive, and bright has remained in my memory.