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Birth
My name is Cho Tao and I was born in Xi'an, China. The town I grew up in was a little town with a population of about 60 people. My family wasn't the poorest family in the town, but we didn’t have money to spare. With my father in the land of the Golden Mountain my mother worked long and hard days out in the fields. We grew mostly rice on our farm. All was well until the one day my mother got the sickness. -
The Ticket
My mom was taken from me by the sickness and quickly spread throughout our little town. So I decided that I would travel to the place my father went. I was packing what little belongings I had when I saw something glimmer under my bed. I picked up what looked like a little jar I cleaned the dust off of it and opened it. There was money inside! Just enough for a ticket for my trip. I grabbed my stuff and I traveled to the docks. -
The Boat
When I made it to the docks I saw this humungous steel boat with some mysterious writing on the side. I knew that the boat is going to the land of the Golden Mountain. I went up and bought a ticket, but all I could afford was a spot in the lower decks. The ticket was gold and glistened in the moonlight, but I didn’t care at that time. I was just so excited to go find my dad in America. I took one last look at my homeland and smiled. I'm writing this for my family and to remember our struggles. -
Angel Island
That boat was the longest and most terrible journey I've ever been on. The smell of people that needed a bath was the worst in the lower decks where I had to stay. So most of the time I would be up on deck wondering when will this journey end. One morning I saw something through the mist. Land! I was so excited to get off of that steel beast and touch land. I looked up and was astonished by the weird architecture. Angel Island -
Job Opportunity
My objective while I was in America was to find my pa. I got settled in in San Francisco, California. The first place I went looking for him was at a gold mining site that he worked at. They manager said he was fired for fighting while at work and he had no idea where he was. I looked at this other gold mine that was hiring. The manager said that the name was familiar and offered me a job so I took it. -
The Mine
I was there a week and I was what everyone was talking about. That day I was approached by a man and he said you look so much like your father. That’s when they gave me a box full of the explosives for the mine. This is what all the people called demon in a bottle and with one bad jerk you're dead. I was walking down the mine and was almost at the end when I thought I saw my paw and thats when I stumbled on a rock…
