(October 03, 2011, WORTHINGTON, Daily Globe )--Uprooting from his life in Ethiopia was not so difficult for Wegen Bune. After all, he was planing to be reunited with his wife in Minneapolis.
“I still miss my family and my friends but I came here because of my wife — that’s why I’m OK,” said Bune, who has been in the United States for four years. Upon his arrival in Minneapolis, his first surprise was the amount of people who commute by car in the city, he said.
“In Ethiopia we walk everywhere, but in United States — no walking,” he added. Ethiopia, the oldest independent African country, borders Somalia, Eritrea, Sudan and Kenya. Bune lived with his wife , who had left Ethiopia in 2001, and her family in Minneapolis. He had his fair share of challenges adjusting to life in a new country.
Cooking in Addis Ababa, the capital city where Bune lived, was not something he had to worry about, he said. After moving to the U.S., he had to cook because “everybody went to work.” While his wife and family were at work, Bune spent his days in search of jobs, learning how to cook and attending ESL classes.
“In Ethiopia everybody took one subject (of) English,” explained Bune, noting that he had difficulty adjusting to conversational English. “Accent is a big problem.”
A year of not finding a job in the metro area coupled with word-of-mouth Bune heard about Swift — now JBS — led him to Worthington. Bune had to relocate again, this time separating him from his wife.
“I like it here because it’s quiet, but I miss my wife,” he said. He makes weekend trips to catch up with his family in the Twin Cities.
Growing up in a small town about 10 miles from Addis Ababa, Bune is from a family of three brothers and three sisters. None of his siblings live in the United States, but he tries to keep in touch with them on a weekly basis.
Amharic, a widely spoken language in Ethiopia, is also the country’s official language. Bune is now trilingual — he speaks Amharic, Oromo (an ethnic language in Ethiopia) and English. A custom he tries to maintain in the U.S. is “respect for elders,” he said.
“In America I see a lot of respect for women, but in Ethiopia, respect is for everyone, especially for elders,” he explained. “If I’m sitting and I see (an) older man, I will stand up and ask him to sit.”
Since he has mastered some culinary skills, Bune can now replicate a lot of food he is accustomed to eating. Getting the ingredients needed is made easy, he said, by the numerous trips he makes to Ethiopian grocery stores in Sioux Falls, S.D.
A staple in Ethiopian diet is injera, a sponge-like flatbread with a hint of sourness. Injera to Ethiopians is like rice to Asians and is eaten with various side dishes. Another mainstay in Ethiopian cuisine are spices, which Bune said are a favorite of his. “I love spicy food,” he stated.
Bune recently became a naturalized American citizen after four months of attending a citizenship class.
“I like (how) people are very confident here in the United States,” he said. “Sometimes you don’t have to depend on anybody, and that’s good.”
Source: Daily Globe
“I still miss my family and my friends but I came here because of my wife — that’s why I’m OK,” said Bune, who has been in the United States for four years. Upon his arrival in Minneapolis, his first surprise was the amount of people who commute by car in the city, he said.“In Ethiopia we walk everywhere, but in United States — no walking,” he added. Ethiopia, the oldest independent African country, borders Somalia, Eritrea, Sudan and Kenya. Bune lived with his wife , who had left Ethiopia in 2001, and her family in Minneapolis. He had his fair share of challenges adjusting to life in a new country.
Cooking in Addis Ababa, the capital city where Bune lived, was not something he had to worry about, he said. After moving to the U.S., he had to cook because “everybody went to work.” While his wife and family were at work, Bune spent his days in search of jobs, learning how to cook and attending ESL classes.
“In Ethiopia everybody took one subject (of) English,” explained Bune, noting that he had difficulty adjusting to conversational English. “Accent is a big problem.”
A year of not finding a job in the metro area coupled with word-of-mouth Bune heard about Swift — now JBS — led him to Worthington. Bune had to relocate again, this time separating him from his wife.
“I like it here because it’s quiet, but I miss my wife,” he said. He makes weekend trips to catch up with his family in the Twin Cities.
Growing up in a small town about 10 miles from Addis Ababa, Bune is from a family of three brothers and three sisters. None of his siblings live in the United States, but he tries to keep in touch with them on a weekly basis.
Amharic, a widely spoken language in Ethiopia, is also the country’s official language. Bune is now trilingual — he speaks Amharic, Oromo (an ethnic language in Ethiopia) and English. A custom he tries to maintain in the U.S. is “respect for elders,” he said.
“In America I see a lot of respect for women, but in Ethiopia, respect is for everyone, especially for elders,” he explained. “If I’m sitting and I see (an) older man, I will stand up and ask him to sit.”
Since he has mastered some culinary skills, Bune can now replicate a lot of food he is accustomed to eating. Getting the ingredients needed is made easy, he said, by the numerous trips he makes to Ethiopian grocery stores in Sioux Falls, S.D.
A staple in Ethiopian diet is injera, a sponge-like flatbread with a hint of sourness. Injera to Ethiopians is like rice to Asians and is eaten with various side dishes. Another mainstay in Ethiopian cuisine are spices, which Bune said are a favorite of his. “I love spicy food,” he stated.
Bune recently became a naturalized American citizen after four months of attending a citizenship class.
“I like (how) people are very confident here in the United States,” he said. “Sometimes you don’t have to depend on anybody, and that’s good.”
Source: Daily Globe
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