Deg Adhikari now approaches his ninth month of resettlement in the United States. He is not sure how time passed so quickly, though he is grateful it did. It means he has been busy, and busy is the friend of all settlers. A stranger in a strange land faced with empty time is likely to fill it with memory and longing. How can you explain yearning for a refugee camp, for walls covered by newspaper and meals of rice, rice and more rice? So, it is best to say none of these things but to speak of that which all humans understand. I miss my family. I miss my friends. I miss what is familiar, and almost nothing here is.
Yes, it is best to stay busy.
Adhikari, you might recall, is Bhutanese. He came to Denver from a refugee camp in Nepal. He was 8 when his family was forced to flee Bhutan. Adhikari finished school in the camps, and because he was bright and eager to do well, he was allowed to attend college classes in Darjeeling, India. He earned his undergraduate degree in chemistry.
Not that that has come to much use here. The 27-year-old is making sushi now. He cannot bring himself to actually taste his preparations. Raw fish, cold rice. His workmate, a Nepali immigrant named Mahesh Ranjitkan, will not eat sushi. “Seaweed,” Ranjitkan says and shudders. Blegh. This does not stop Ranjitkan from making superior rolls. It is a point of personal pride. Without effort, there can be no success.
Despite the occasional tensions between their people, Adhikari and Ranjitkan get along well. “He is my brother,” Ranjitkan says and throws his arm over Adhikari’s shoulders.
Adhikari writes directions for udon bowls on paper napkins and stuffs them in his pocket. He is instructed to use avocado for the California rolls and bok choy for the rice bowls. What is avocado? Adhikari must ask. What is bok choy?
I first wrote about Adhikari last November. World Refugee Day is Sunday, and I thought it time to check on him. When I met Deg, he was at the end of his second month here. He is alone. His parents and siblings are still in the refugee camp.
When I met him, Adhikari was taking English classes, though he already speaks the language. He had just graduated from a work-training program at the Spring Institute for Intercultural Learning. He learned there about resumes and job interviews and the unspoken rules of the American workplace. Shake hands. Look people in the eye.
The class had a number of individuals like Adhikari, college-educated, English speakers. Some were professionals. They were looking for work in a terrible economy. Because their education and professional certifications do not translate here, they are competing for entry-level jobs for which they are overqualified. This is the educated refugee’s lament.
At two months, Adhikari was in a near-constant state of anxiety. The eighth month after arrival is the milestone — or the millstone — for refugees. By then, they are expected to have found work and their resettlement money runs out. Families may receive public assistance. Individual refugees face a tougher challenge.
In his fourth month, Adhikari found a job at a meatpacking plant in Greeley. He was paid $12 an hour to slice meat in a freezing room. He sent me an e-mail at the time. I mentioned it once, but it’s worth repeating. “I am Hindu, and we worship the cow,” he said. He also wrote that USA means “U Start Again.”
It was hard, monotonous work, and turnover was high. Adhikari wore metal mesh gloves but still managed to cut himself. His fingers cramped, and he had to grasp one hand with the other to straighten them. His left forearm began to throb, pins and needles. Adhikari is small and lithe. He could not take the cold. He started searching for another job.
Two weeks ago, the company that provides Whole Foods with its Asian deli specialties hired him. I find Adhikari beaming in a white hat and blue smock Sunday night before closing at the store off East Hampden Avenue. He greets me with a smile and a handshake. He’s earning little more than minimum wage, but he enjoys the job.
“I am going through the different stages of life, the life changes, the environment, the people, and I am learning,” he says. “So it is going on, the progress that I am achieving, day by day, step by step. Life is a challenge, and I am facing the challenge.”
His workmate, Ranjitkan, joins our conversation. He works full time and takes classes at Aurora Community College. He wants to become an accountant. He offers Adhikari some advice: “The most important thing is the willpower. Be bold. Don’t be scared. Just work for your life. It is a new life now. Do the work, and after that, go, side by side, to the education, and then you will achieve your goal. Your life will be better.”
Adhikari smiles, bashful, and thanks Ranjitkan. Then, he excuses himself and starts washing the floor.
Tina Griego writes Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Reach her at 303-954-2699 or tgriego@denverpost.com.
