29 Comments
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Greg Christy's avatar

Welcome home. We’re a better place because of you.

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April Wu's avatar

Thank you! This place had felt like home for a while now, and now I finally own the keys!

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Mary's avatar

Congratulations💕. This is not the United States we are currently proud of, so I hope you will help us be better. We definitely welcome and appreciate you. And thank you for posting the cherry blossoms. They are a reminder to me of the great beauty here.

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April Wu's avatar

I'm so fortunate to have met so many lovely people like you guys! I truly believe that everyone is trying to move towards the better. Despite everything, I still feel optimistic about the future :)

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Ally's avatar

Congratulations to becoming a citizen. I am an immigrant also, from Hong Kong. Now you can vote. You have the power to shape the country. Make your voice heard. Welcome to the new chapter. This is your home.

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April Wu's avatar

Thank you so much! The first thing I did after the Oath Ceremony is to fill out the voter registration form!

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Devon's avatar

Congratulations! I'm glad you've found a home, even though it's admittedly a fixer-upper.

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April Wu's avatar

A fixer-upper with a lot of people doing good things, so I'm still pretty pleased :)

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Sylvia’s Sketchbook's avatar

Congrats on becoming a citizen and finding home in Seattle! So many of us here have stories like yours, both my sets of grandparents came here as immigrants from Mexico, they worked on farms and drove buses, they also eventually became citizens. I honestly do not know anyone personally who lives here and is not a descendant of immigrants, so it’s wildly inappropriate for a group of egomaniacs to cry about what makes a “real” American. It is our diversity that makes this country so great in the first place.

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Anna Writes's avatar

Congratulations! I know how hard it is to make it to this milestone, I feel that not a lot of people actually get to decide which country to call home in a very real bureaucratic sense. You got to make a choice and I'm glad you did!

We are all better for it :)

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Carol o's avatar

Congratulations April! We'll get through this.

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Journal As Altar's avatar

Congratulations, April! This country is in rough shape; I’m hopeful we will all build something better. ❤️

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Kelly's avatar

We are glad you are here!

Thanks for the pictures!

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April Wu's avatar

I can't wait to take more photos of cherry blossoms!

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The Grouchy Journaler's avatar

Congratulations on your citizenship - that IS a milestone! Stoked you can vote now! :)

I’m so glad that life brought you to Seattle. I don’t miss the weather, but I miss most everything else (friends, family, shops, restaurants). Your pictures are little snippets of home, and I appreciate them so much!💕

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April Wu's avatar

I will take more photos and share them here :D I'm also stoked that I can not vote and call reps!

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Natasha Ishak's avatar

Most don't understand the mental and emotional fortitude it takes to uproot your life and rebuild it someplace new. Congratulations on this milestone! Happy for ya<3

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April Wu's avatar

Thank you so much! The immigrant journey sure is quite the experience. We'll make it through eventually :)

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CMJ's avatar

Congratulations! And thank you for joining our country of immigrants and making it that much better (despite the horror of the current administration).

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April Wu's avatar

Thank you so much! It had been horrible to sit and feel helpless, but it's nice that I can finally have a little more control!

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mkbuike's avatar

Congratulations!! Now get a passport (Is what my husband said). That certainly must take some concern off your mind given what's been happening to green card holders lately.

I'm embarrassed, ashamed, and enraged about what this administration is doing. But I'm glad you're one of us. As someone here also wrote, except for First Nations peoples, we all came from somewhere else. I'm only 2nd generation on my father's side.

Oh, those cherries are wonderful! I did my first cherry trees sketch on Tuesday. And we'll probably go to UW on Sunday.

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April Wu's avatar

Yes! The passport is next in order, especially since I have an international trip in July. I'm so relieved that I was able to get the citizenship sooner rather than later, per the news. I can't wait for our meetups this weekend~

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Phoebe's avatar

Congrats, April!! We met at CSF and talked a little about our shared Taiwanese heritage and how I used your guide to hit up stationery stores around the island 😅.

I think your feelings of having a foot in each culture are so valid and things many first or second gen immigrants might feel. I only have two cultures to deal with 😆 and have felt that way growing up here in the states.

But I believe that these unique experiences that we bring from other cultures are the heart of what actually makes the U.S. great, despite its current shortcomings. Like others have said — we are better having you here!

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April Wu's avatar

It was so nice to chat, albeit briefly, at Chicago Stationery Fest! I'm so happy that you find the guide useful...I'm looking forward to another trip to Taiwan sometime soon :D Another good word to describe us is chameleons, and I'd like to think that it makes us adapt faster to new experiences and ideas! I can't wait to see what this next chapter holds for me!

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Paper Pens & Coffee's avatar

Congratulations to becoming a citizen. Thank you for sharing more of your story. May our country find it's balance someday. I think that we all forget we all came from other countries at one time. I am 4th generation US Citizen, thanks to my 4th great grandparents coming over from German, England, Ireland and Norway.

Thanks for the Cherry Blossoms photos. I miss not seeing them now living in the Midwest. It was nice to "quickly" meet you during the hustle of the CSF. - Kat

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April Wu's avatar

Thank you for reading and for hanging out briefly at CSF! I hope to share more photos of cherry blossoms soon!

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Paper Pens & Coffee's avatar

Very welcome. Please do. The magic of cherry blossoms always makes me smile.

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kaylynneg's avatar

Beautiful essay and photos. Most Americans have ancestors who were immigrants and too many have forgotten that fact. Welcome!

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April Wu's avatar

This is indeed the country of immigrants, and I only hope that more people can see that as well as have more empathy! Meanwhile, thanks for coming to my corner of the internet and reading this post :)

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