香港三级片

You might have read my column about him. He鈥檚 the former Afghan interpreter who came to the U.S. in 2017 on a special immigrant visa because of his support of the American war effort. My colleague Bill McClellan first wrote about Ahmadi and his friendship with Hugh Tychsen, a former Marine who grew up in St. 香港三级片.

Six years later, Ahmadi is living his American Dream. He鈥檚 moved from south St. 香港三级片 City to Belleville. He鈥檚 become an American citizen and started his own construction businesses. He and his wife had a second daughter. He鈥檚 working to bring more Afghans and their families to St. 香港三级片.

But he has a warning for his fellow Afghans and the businesspeople he hopes will hire them.

鈥淎 lot of things are new for us,鈥� Ahmadi says. 鈥淲e鈥檝e coming from another world.鈥�

Indeed, so many things are different about the place where he grew up and the place where he now lives, Ahmadi says.

There鈥檚 the sense of time, for example. In Afghanistan, he told me, if a boss wanted to gather his employees at a given time, there would be some unspecific discussion of an afternoon meeting. Time was amorphous. Folks would go about their day and, 鈥淕od willing鈥� he says, they鈥檇 eventually end up in the same place.

In the U.S., when a boss says to be at work at 9 a.m., he doesn鈥檛 mean 10. That seems like a simple enough thing, but it鈥檚 a cultural barrier that must be broken through, with understanding on both sides.

Many Afghans also had jobs where companies provided lunch, Ahmadi says. They are shocked on their first day here, when they have nothing to eat for lunch.

As Ahmadi was speaking, I thought about my son.

He鈥檚 a freshman in college. He鈥檚 entered a different world.

As a dad, I tried to do all the things parents think about to prepare him for the culture shock. There鈥檚 nobody there to wake you up for school anymore. Laundry doesn鈥檛 do itself. People come from different parts of the country, and the world. They have all sorts of backgrounds and may react to things differently than you鈥檙e used to.

His success will be defined by how he reacts to these changes, and also in how others react. Young people, I believe, are generally better prepared to adapt to differences among each other and learn from those around them.

In college, there鈥檚 a massive safety net for young men and women as they live on their own for the first time 鈥� housing, food cards, tutoring, peer support, counselors.

If immigrants to St. 香港三级片 are going to succeed, they need many of the same things. They鈥檙e coming from another world. Our future success as a region will be determined, to some extent, on how we help our new friends find their own success in this community.

It鈥檚 not just Afghans who find opportunity in St. 香港三级片. Just a couple of years ago, for instance, the that the Indian-born population in the St. 香港三级片 region now tops 15,000, surpassing the Mexican-born population.

Business leaders suggest that for St. 香港三级片 to prosper, it needs immigrants from many parts of the world to fill jobs, start new businesses and pick up where generations of Bosnians (and before them, Germans and Irish and Lebanese) have thrived.

But for that to really work, we鈥檒l need to heed Ahmadi鈥檚 advice. The opportunity to learn from each other, and adapt to our differences rather than be turned off by them, is a path to prosperity.

鈥淚f you have work, and you have friends, it can work,鈥� Ahmadi says of his advice to his fellow Afghans. 鈥淏ut it will take some time.鈥�