Since I moved to Toronto, I’ve been getting a lot of questions like “where are you from?” or “where is home?”. I guess the question is only natural since Toronto is a big city where people from all over the world gather. Whenever I get such questions, I tell them that it’s hard to say since I’ve stayed in multiple places and had countless places that felt like they were home and not. To me home has always changed, home was always changing based on the circumstances, or the chance to find a better place. As much as I would have wanted to feel a ‘rootedness’ in one place by staying put, I realized later on that just because I stay there for a long time does not necessarily mean home. Country to country, province to province, city to city, explaining …show more content…
In her text Tseng uses the formal element of the text effectively to communicate her experience regarding ‘home’. Each stanza of her poem is formed with 2 lines: 1 print, and 1 italics. Tseng goes back and forth between the print text and the italics to communicate how she communicates her home to others, and how she remembers her own home. Through this action she seems to counteract her perception of her home between how she tells others and how she remembers. Tseng starts off the poem with a line that seems to give no importance to her birthplace, “My birthplace is incidental.”(Tseng) She then continues under in italics and state, “Never forget your Mother Country”(Tseng) which hints her true feelings towards her birthplace and reveals a sense of nostalgia. Throughout the poem she accepts the stereotypes that americans, and outsiders place on the chinese in print text. She simplifies her journey to United States, and life in United States and then she continues to reveal the truth behind the first statement. The poem is a constant battle between the facade she puts on, and the actual author behind the facade. In her poem she talks of her experiences and homeplaces as if they are of no importance in the print text, but you can see that in the italicized text that they are the foundation of who she is today. In the last three stanza of her poem Tseng discards the Print text and stresses her true experience of her hardships, and the journey. In these last texts she creates a very vivid images of couple of her nights on the boat that she was on to get to United States. The last lines of the poem shows that her journey was truly a life or death
I was born in Hidalgo, Texas, just five minutes across the Mexican border to my
As a part of an immigrant family, there is no doubt that, as the oldest, I had to help my parents with English translation. Even though I have been in this role for years, it was not until recently that I realized the significance of my responsibilities.
As the daughter of an immigrant, I have witnessed the various barriers faced by immigrants, and this experience has motivated me toward my career objective. According to the Pew Research Center Hispanic Trends Project, there were about 11.3 million immigrants living illegally in the United States in 2013 (Passel et al., 2014). These immigrants come from all parts of the world for several different reasons. Whether to provide better resources for their family back home or to live a better life, these immigrants usually work in environments that can be harmful and dangerous to their health.
What I am most proud of, is the fact that I am a hardworking immigrant. In today’s divided society, immigrants are stereotyped as “non-contributing to society” or “largely uneducated”. This ignorant stereotype is a constant reminder of how hard I should work.
I was born on january/31/1919 in Vietnam and immigrated to France. In 1942 I was studying at the university in Nice, where I met a fellow student, Jadwiga Alfabet, a Jewish refugee from Poland. In the summer of 1942 the French police began arresting Jews with foreign nationality. In September 1943 the Germans occupied Nice and all the Italian controlled zones and we were in danger of deportation. I decided to hide not only my wife, but also her relatives. In November 1943 I took a train with a few of my wife's relatives to get them in touch with a smuggler who could take them to Switzerland, I made this trip several
Fae Myenne Ng is a contemporary Chinese-American author who is known for her first written novel, Bone. Her debut novel was published in 1993 and the story is told through the eyes of the main character, Leila Leong. Leila tells the story of her family’s history and the events that unfold following the suicide of her sister. As Leila’s story progresses, themes of identity and family life are revealed. Leila and her two sisters border the line between American and Chinese, two distinct cultures that belong to very different worlds. The sisters deal with the struggles of assimilation as they grow up in the seclusive community of Chinatown only to live in an American world. The family life of the Leong
There are many questions arises when it comes to the way different cultures manage everyday life. In the book, The Immigrant Advantage by Claudia Kolker, gives us some explanations on their survival techniques. This book can help some Americans like me; live a healthy, happy and hopeful lifestyle. The Author suggests that some of us Americans can learn a few tips on immigration living. To support her information the author goes on a journey and talks face to face to some of the immigrants that moved to the U.S. with their families. Also she gives some details on her past life experiences that helped her cope with life expectations.
Most people define home as a comfortable setting which provides love and warmth. In Scott Sanders “Homeplace” and Richard Ford’s “I Must Be Going” the concept of home is defined in two different ways. Sanders believes that by moving from place to place, the meaning of home has been diminished. Sanders believes that America’s culture “nudges everyone into motion” (Sanders 103) and that his “longing to become an inhabitant rather than a drifter” (103) is what sets him apart from everyone else. Ford prefers to stay on the move. His argument is life’s too short to settle in one place. He believes home is where you make it, but permanence is not a
I have read a lot of books on the subject of culture and customs of the country. When I read the book “The Immigrant Advantage” of Claudia Kolker, I understand more about the immigrants’ culture and their lifestyle. Through the book, I found interesting things about all the ideas of immigrants like me. I read each chapter of the book, and in the book I realized there are three very good ideas of marriage, several generations living in the same household, and good neighbors.
What is home? That is a question people often will come across during their lifetime. While some may say it is where their families are, for me it will always be my hometown. I am from a large town on the Ohio River named East Liverpool. East Liverpool is located right on the edge of Ohio, right where Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio meet.
In Claudia Kolker’s book The Immigrant Advantage, she talks about the cultural tradition of arranged marriages brought by South Asian immigrants to the United States. Kolker agrues that arranged marriages are much more effective in finding a spouse than traditional marriages. Kolker believes that this tradition of assistive marriage should be adopted by Americans. Research and studies have shown that “women in arranged marriages rated the highest marital status” (Kolker, 71) compared to couples who have arranged marriages. Arranged marriage is great for individuals who are ready to settle down and start their own life without wasting any time finding a partner. Arranged marriage saves a great amount of time on dating people who are not compatible with your personality or beliefs. As Kolker states, assistive marriage does not just save time in finding a lifelong partner but, it also leads to exceptional happiness between the couple than a traditional marriage reported by couples during studies. Traditions brought by immigrants such as, assistive marriage should be considered by American traditions.
It is no doubt about it that everyone has somewhere that they have adapted to long enough to call it there home! A place they can relax and really be their selves, for some it may have been their grandparents house, aunties house or wherever they felt comfortable. Well I of course felt comfortable in my own home, a four bedroom house on the west side of North Miami. My home in Miami was perfect I had my own room, I was very comfortable there, and it was a place to get away from the world.
I was born in Japan, left to America, back to Japan and off to Australia. “Where is your home?” When people ask I cannot say. I was born in Japan, but currently my heart lies in the bushes of Australia. America was once my home.
our villa there is a garage where we can park both our cars and Jet
What does one call a place where they feel safe? A place where one is surrounded by loved ones? A place where one can forget the worries of the world for even a brief moment. A place where no matter what happens, they will always have a place to return to. They have the deepest of connections with those that live there; connections that they know will never be severed no matter what happens. That is home. Home can be defined as where a person lives or has a permanent residence, but it is more than that when pondering on the emotional connection it has with the heart. A common phrase that is constantly used is “there is no place like home”. It is not because a person misses their previous residence, but due to the many qualities it possesses that could possibly never be found anywhere else. Home is not simply a place where one lives, but a place where love, contentment, and tranquility are abound.