Pledge of Allegiance

I became a US citizen on March 4. After moving to the US in 1991, studying and working for so many years, I finally joined the rest of my family and become a new immigrate with full right. The ceremony was held in the Paramount Theater in Oakland. It was a warm rainy day. There are more than twelve hundred immigrates who fill the first floor of the theater. The friends and family were seated in the second floor. Outside street vendors are selling some portfolios for holding the citizenship certificates.

The ceremony had several parts. The host was very funny. He told us to turn off the cell phones but said he would keep his on in case the President called him. That got him some applaud. We watched some video about the Ellis Island in New York, some election officials gave an introduction on registering to vote, and we singed the national anthem together.

Finally we were ready to swear the allegiance. The lady read aloud all the nations and asked the people to stand up when their formal country of citizenship was called. No surprise when China was called, several hundred people stood up. We rose our right hand, swore our allegiance to the USA, then we became a citizen. I signed a voter registration card outside the theater; no surprise, I registered as a Democrat.