Article "My trip to the USA"

Aliya Bakhtbekovna Tilenova – English teacher

Arykty high school, Korgalzhyn district, Akmola region

My trip to US

My name is Aliya Tilenova. I am 32 years old. I am an English teacher in Arykty high school, which located in Korgalzhyn district of Akmola region. My way to become a teacher started in 2003.

After graduating from school (grade 9) I had entered Zhetisai Humanitarian College named after G. Muratbayev. It was located in town Zhetisai of Makhtaral district, South Kazakhstan region (nowadays Zhetisai district of Turkestan region). I graduated from college in 2007 and decided to become a teacher and had worked in Amangeldi high school near that town. However, I understood that without Bachelor level I was losing more opportunities and then I decided to enter university. I entered Kazakh National Pedagogical university named after Abai (in Almaty city) in 2008. There I met a lot of students who had opportunities to study and travelled abroad. There I came to know about International Students program “Work and Travel in USA”. I took part and had passed interview. It was 2010 and I chose New York State.

The process was not so easy. Here is the list of documents which we were required: original passport with validity of 6 months after potential leaving date, special photo for US visa (size 5*5cm), medical certificate of health, special certificate of mental health and certificate from Department of Internal Affairs (certifying that I was not sentenced), certificate from my university, special application and government fee.

On May 31, 2010 we started from Almaty to Abu Dhabi (UAE). We had transit for about 6 hours. We couldn’t leave the airport as we were not allowed to enter country without visa. Anyway we didn’t think of necessary to get it as we were for few hours. It was my first experience by plane. Then we had 13 hours flight – Abu Dhabi to New York. New York. New York. My dream came true and I arrived there. We spent only few hours as we were travelling to Rochester, NY.

Rochester is a small town in New York state and located near Ontario Lake. It is the seat of Monroe County and the third-most populous after New York City and Buffalo with an estimated population of 205,695 in 2019. There are a lots of park and squares, cafes and bars, restaurants and food courts, as well entertainment places in Rochester, NY.

We had spent our precious 4 months there and got unforgettable memories. We worked there as assistants in Mc Donald’s stores. We had visited Niagara Falls and Ontario Lake beaches, Le Roy and suburbs, Monroe Community College and Rochester Institute of Technology.

On the way back home we had visited main sightseeing of NYC, such as Manhattan & Brooklyn bridges, The Statue of Liberty, Central park and famous golden Bull, Broadway and 5^th Avenue, Times Square and Soho, Chinatown and Little Italy, WTC and Empire State Building, etc. of course we have a lots of pictures and most important thing – this trip will be in my memories for whole my life.