On her short visit home, how did her former life compare to her new life?
The first question I asked her as, “What was the most difficult challenge she faced being an immigrant in America?” She replied it was difficult because she was alone at first and didn’t really get along with the family she was employed for. It was a struggle because she had to learn a new language and was taught by the family themselves. When she was in Los Angeles she took an actual class to teach her more formal English.
The topic focus of this interview paper is, the slow loss or overshadowing of one's own culture, due to the influence of the American core. So, how does one begin to lose connection with their heritage, by removing the things which we have a connection to that culture? Along, with the overwhelming Anglo-Saxon influence that is saturated into the United States. One would certainly have a difficult time in trying to keep in touch with their roots. Keeping in touch can be especially difficult when that individual was overly surrounded by one ethnicity of their family in comparison to that of the other ethnic background of the family due to the distance between one another. Coupled with the fact they barely receive any contact from the Mexican American side of the family. Of course, there are some things which you will always keep, such as the family menudo and pozole recipes, or the proper way to cook each dish. Food is one thing, it is easier to teach and pass down cooking skills and recipes. Hell, nearly all of our dinners are Mexican or more Tex-Mex style, we like crispy chili
I started my interview off asking her when she immigrated to the United States and where in Greece she lived. Betty lived in Athens, Greece and moved to America when she was 26. Therefore she lived her whole childhood and some of her adulthood in Greece. Her family was middle class, Orthodox Christian, and strict. Betty explained to me that she did not face any significant issues living in Greece. She told me money was never an issue in her family so she did not have many hardships living there. She said it was a little tough leaving her family and moving to America. Once she met her husband, who also lived in Greece, they fell instantly in love and decided
After a year living here, she realized the “America Dream” would not come true, if she does not go to the school and get a career. So she did it!. she started taking two classes at night, then three. After almost 6 years she finally graduated with a degree in Hospitality Management. Then she starts working as a banquet's supervisor at the hotel Holiday Inn in Stamford, Ct. After a little while, she was promoted to banquet manager. Mery made a tremendous effort doing all this, but at the end she felt that it was worth it. Now she has a better life than before, and she can give her family the stability that they need. She said that immigrating with her family was not easy, because she had more responsibilities than others, but it did not stop her and they were the reason that pushed to achieve her dream.
Once the war got worse and worse, things began changing. She had seen some things and had to do some things that would’ve been hard for a twelve year old. She watched some of the people from her town be taken away as hostages, the people she walked by everyday in town, people she went to church with and
In my Anthropology class we had to choose someone to do a project on in which we tell their story in order to discuss their values, events in their lives, and reevaluate their memories in order to represent a person's life story. For my life history project, I have decided to do my aunt, Nilda, because she is someone who is beyond incredible in multiple ways and I believe this is the perfect chance to tell her story. By me telling her story not only is a way for me to learn about her in ways I did not before but also for her to be able to regain all of the memories which were stuck in the back of her head. A reoccuring thesis throughout my interview was being able to adapt to the American culture. To tell this story of her life I would need to start from the very root of how it all started.
Joanna moved around a lot growing up because her dad was in the Armed Forces. Joanna was half Korean because her mother was Korean. Growing up Joanna knew she was always different from other people, but no one ever said anything; until she got older. Since she moved around a
Her father brought Ah’Lexus and her family here to Virginia. Back in 2005, he received orders to PCS to Virginia, from St. Louis, Missouri. Her family made the journey across the country. It was not an easy transition. The family endured lots of hardship, especially having Ah’Lexus, move from school to school with her father being in the military. It was not easy for her as she was an only child in the family.
She provides a summary of her early life; in particular, she writes about how her upbringing on Air Force bases provides her with a set
“My parents were very calm about it around me and my siblings, we just thought that that is how life was.” Her parents owned a potato farm so they had no issue trading them for clothes, shoes, and other goods. “We lived on one pair of shoes a year, which was ok because that’s all we needed. I never really thought it was a hard time until it was over, and we were so thankful for everything afterwards. It felt like we were livin large afterwards but we were just average.” She said she was a kid at the time
Jane was 13 years old when she, her mother and father first stepped foot into the United States. Jane’s family a traditional one, a mother and a father, her father a project manager for the IT Specialist at a hospital, her mother now a financial adviser, but when she first arrived at the United States, she sold tie dye tee shirt at her local beach, making roughly nothing. Jane describes her home life as a good one, they are all close
Recalling her experiences in Syria, she pointed to the fact that Syrians weren’t ready to accept the war and how they didn’t want to leave their houses at first. She also talked about how her time in Rwanda was horrific and described how bodies of people were piled up on each other as tall as her
She talked about the cultural
She had little schooling, but she had run businesses. She had managed on her own, with a husband and sons, in a country that didn’t care for her or her culture, but only for their aggrandized version of it. Her experiences were rightful cause to be jaded and hard, and yet she saw brightness and she saw brightness in me. She saw the great things in life, she loved hard and appreciated the little things — us going for a walk together or just sitting in the sun on a warm day.