Inspired by Philadelphia’s South Asian American Digital Archive, and its project that collects immigrants' stories about their first days in America, we’ve begun gathering similar stories from immigrants throughout the globe.
In this next story, Vladimir Voina, a journalist from Moscow who has written for Russian and US newspapers, talks about arriving to Boston in 1989. He moved to the city for a journalism fellowship and stayed.
On his first night out in Boston, he was struck by long supermarket aisles, the massive selection of food and liquor on display.
“It struck me as something absolutely surreal. Not possible even to imageine. I counted 83 beers…because it was so unnatural. We were drinking in Moscow just one brand of beer!”
Voina goes on to talk more about his first impressions here and how he reflects on America today.
The article you just read is free because dedicated readers and listeners like you chose to support our nonprofit newsroom. Our team works tirelessly to ensure you hear the latest in international, human-centered reporting every weekday. But our work would not be possible without you. We need your help.
Make a gift today to help us raise $67,000 by the end of the year and keep The World going strong. Every gift will get us one step closer to our goal!