Russia-Obstacles that I have Overcome

         I have had many obstacles to overcome especially in my early years of life coming to America.  Learning a completely new culture was difficult for me for the first couple of years living in this country.  One of the obstacles I had to overcome was letting go of my past life and beginning a new one.  Leaving the loved ones behind that cared about me, and all of a sudden moving out of the country with which I thought were strangers, was very hard for me to understand.  New parents, new house, new name, new everything.  I felt like someone just ripped apart of me.  Another obstacle I had to overcome was learning a whole new language three years behind my peers.  As a result language was very difficult for many years and I was not proficient in English until about age eight.  It was necessary for me to take speech therapy up through my sophomore year in high school.  Although I've learned to be a better listener and try to think through my responses, sometimes I still have trouble expressing myself' in words.  A funny obstacle I overcame was taking baths.  My mom told me that she doubts the orphanage gave me many baths.  In a result of getting clean, I had to overcome my fear of being in the bathtub full of bubbles and water.  Apparently it took me three times to wash myself to get at least cleaned halfway decently.  In all of this said, I learned throughout the years of growing up of how much I became a custom to living in the United States and living with my parents as a normal basis feeling like I was not even adopted at all.  I always wonder how my life would be different if my "real" parents were still alive and the obstacles I would have to face then.