I spent the next three months working in the small town of Estes Park, Colorado, famous for Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) and the Stanley Hotel, which gained fame thanks to Stephen King, who wrote the book "The Shining," with the main action taking place in that very hotel. Rumor has it that souls and ghosts dwell there, and you can feel a shiver in your body when entering, but unfortunately, I didn't feel anything of the sort. The national park is incredibly beautiful; it's like combining our Borovoe and the mountains of Almaty into one. The story of the word "village" began back in Kazakhstan. When I first saw pictures of the town where I would live and work for 3 months, I was a bit disappointed. I really thought it was a village, that I would be bored there, etc. But over these three very cool months, I realized that there couldn't be a town closer to my heart, that it's not quite a village, but a very beautiful town that gave me huge work experience, experience in communicating with foreigners, and gave me many acquaintances and friends who are dear to me now. Honestly, this was my very first work experience; there were firings, misunderstandings with the employer, and some conflicts with colleagues, but the huge mass of positive emotions simply crushes this pathetic, pea-sized negativity. Working in a restaurant exclusively with Americans, my first stereotype about the USA was broken. "All Americans are stupid" is a very silly stereotype; working with my peers and older people, it was clear that they are very erudite and quite well-read. I was struck by one American woman, Laura, who started a dialogue with me about the Aral Sea problem; I was ashamed that a person living across the ocean was more informed about this problem of our country than I was. Americans may be fake, but they are absolutely not a lazy people; they start earning from an early age, which teaches them responsibility and the value of money. I gained a lot and realized a lot for myself; I started looking at things more simply and learned to be polite in any situation. Having honestly worked for 3 months, at the beginning of September we were already preparing for a grand trip across the American West. It wasn't easy to part with the routine I had gotten used to, with the people I had grown to love in my own way, and of course with our beloved "village" - Estes Park!
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