Zdrasti! Did you catch that? It means "hello" in Bulgarian. Here is something else: "potuni ili pluvai." This is what my mom said to me when she announced that we would be moving to Los Angeles. It means "We will sink or swim." I was fourteen years old. On my first day at middle school, I understood exactly what she meant. With no English and no friends, I felt as if I had jumped into a river without arms or legs. I will never forget the look one girl gave me as she left me alone at my corner lunch table. It made me feel alienated, almost invisible. That was when I realized how tough fitting in was going to be. Most of the time, I felt as if I was in some stupid teenage movie in which people would ask me to repeat meaningless phrases because they thought I sounded funny. I was so alone. There was even a rumor going around that, because I was European, I was hairy all over. How I missed my friends! And my grandma! I wanted to sit with her and listen to her stories. She had been my primary caregiver. I needed our neighbors back in Sofia, who were an extended family, just like the one in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" - big, loud, warm, and always around. Here it was simply my parents and me. We were on our own.
             Adaptation was not a choice; it was a matter of survival. Dog paddling, swallowing gallons of water along the way, I learned to stay afloat, gradually gaining skill. I watched television with subtitles to improve my vocabulary and spelling. Long hours were spent reading "Teen People" and "Cosmo Girl". I absorbed the American culture, picked up on the language, and a new door opened to me. I could relate to my classmates, and soon we became close friends. Many times I would stay after class, telling my peers about Bulgaria and the life I had had there.
             I now consider myself lucky to have the opportunity to live in a different place. I embrace this new life and because of it, I have developed independence, a strong moral character...