Van Dam

Say hello to Van Dam, a sophomore here at Greenwood High School and an immigrant from Myanmar, formerly Burma. He came to the U.S. one year and ten months ago, and has been in Bowling Green the whole time. He has been a student at Greenwood for a year. He was 14 when he immigrated to the U.S. a year ago and turned 16 on December 26th.

The process of coming into the United States was easy and not frightening for him. Van Dam and his family slept the majority of their first day in the U.S., as they were tired from all the traveling. Bowling Green has been a welcoming community to Van Dam and the new people he met were kind.

Van Dam mentioned that switching to the English language, after speaking Hakha Chin most of his life, was very difficult since the two languages are very different. The culture in the U.S. was unfamiliar to Van Dam since his home country had no cars, no beds, and the education was bad. The technology was a big contrast from what he was used to back in his home country. The seasons are unusual to what he is accustomed to. In Kentucky, there are cold winters, while in Myanmar it’s warm all year round. However, Van Dam happens to prefer the tropical climate that Myanmar has to offer.

He enjoys the quality education here in the United States. He specifically likes Greenwood and the pleasant atmosphere. His favorite teacher just happens to be Mrs. Stinson, his English teacher. He plays soccer for Greenwood and has been on the team since last year. Van’s number is 19 and he plays striker and midfielder.

Van Dam’s favorite food is the classic American dish—pizza. He enjoys the T.V. show “Psych” and is fond of the color black.