Diana was very fortunate to have a husband who had a decent job and great income to provide for the household. She did not need to worry about food, shelter, nor anything else. She was a housewife with a six years old daughter and a son, who just turned three months old. Another family member in the house was an elderly babysitter who did all the chores and took care of the baby. She was free to do anything she wanted during the day without any pressure of having to look over the kids nor running the errands.
By the time she got home from her friend’s house, after several hours of mahjong (tiled based game riginated in China), her older daughter would already be picked up from school, with the baby fed, and dinner would be ready for her and her husband on the table. This was Diana’s previous lifestyle before she immigrated to the United States with the family. Many have asked why did the family decide to move to a completely different country when they already have a stable Many of our relatives who lived overseas have told us about the growing job opportunities in the United States. My husband and I were curious and anxious at the time.
Even though we were satisfied with our current ifestyle, we wanted to further improve the quality of our lives. Many of the immigrants moved to the United the states for a similar reason- to improve their financial well-being (Painter, et. al, 2016) Furthermore, we were also afraid that it would be extremely difficult for us to get adjusted to a brand-new environment. I truly value education because I was not able to attend college due to my poor family conditions, therefore, I want the best education for my children.
So, I thought it would be a good idea for them to study abroad at a young age. We and admirable life in China. de our final decision to move to America after I found out that my husband lost his job as a manager in the bank he has worked in for over five years. Unfortunately, China was still under the one-child policy (Pletcher, 2016) at the time and we had to hide the birth of our second child. Therefore, after the local government found out about our son’s existence, it costed my husband’s job and we had no other options but to move to a foreign country. lucky enough to have her husband’s parents living in the country where they were about to move into. Although, she did not expect her husband’s departure from the job.
From there, with the mindset that her in laws would have everything prepared for the family, they flew 19 hours over the Atlantic Ocean to a house where the family will be living in for the next two years. It was our family’s first time together on a plane. I was very excited about going to a new country. My husband however was not so happy about this terribly long flight. After our parents gave us a wholehearted welcome at the John F. Kennedy International airport in New York City, we were ready to progress into a completely new home. Finally, after another four hours of car ride, we have reached our destination-a small row
Once again, Diana believed that she was house in Northeast Philadelphia. Surprise took me immediately. How could this house even fit six people? I was even more disappointed later when I found out how small our room was which was meant to fit four people. Most the space in room had already been taken by the beds and there were barely any spots left for other furniture. We could hardly get around in this cramped room. This image was entirely unlike what I had in mind- a huge single house with multiple bedrooms instead of this tiny crowded space. transitioning, if any. the difficulties when we first settled in America.
Everything was so different and new for our family. The food, weather, and lifestyle in general struck us hardly. Even though, we were able to eat the same Chinese food here. Yet, the quality of the foods Explain and describe the difficulty I could not have stressed more about was not comparable to the foods in our native country. Back in China, we could get our hands with fresh groceries everyday if we chose to because nearly every supermarket are walking distance. However, in here, we had to live by frozen groceries up till two weeks sometimes because most of the markets are driving distances.
Not only did all the markets felt like a thousand miles away, all the malls, attractions and restaurants were the same. Sadly, none of us had a car at the time. Even if we did have a car, no one held a license to even begin with. (laughs. ) In addition, in the first few months, everywhere here was like walking in a maze for us simply because the whole area was foreign to us. And on top of the transportation struggles, there was the language barrier. We couldn’t even ask for directions if we were lost because we knew no English from the start. Finally, the weather variation.
The coldest weather from here we lived in China does not get below 40 degrees Fahrenheit, however, in here, we have experienced the coldest weather in our lives. We saw snow for the very first time. (slightly giggles. ) The extreme weather also made my children caught a fever and they were stuck in bed for over a week. Did you guys owe a lot of money in preparations for coming We owe quite a few bucks to our relatives. Even though we had little savings when we came here, money needed to be spend everywhere because there was no money coming into our pockets.
That was when we knew that it was time to look for a job. The question was where can we find that Where did you find your first job? How was your first job. working experiences? (question specifically for Diana) mother in law introduced the job to me as a production worker in a clothing factory. She told me that this was where most new immigrants start their first job because the packaging did not require any specific skills nor proficiency in the language. I remembered having to wake up 5 am every morning to get pick up by the production team manager.
One time, it was snowing horribly out and the temperature was below 10 degrees. I had o force myself out of the bed to prepare for work. Soon, I headed to a location that was around ten minutes walking distance from my house. After waiting for about 30 minutes, I was starting to get anxious. The car usually shows up around the same time when I get there, yet, there was no sign of the car at all. I waited for another hour outside in the icy cold weather and finally, I received a call from the manager and was told that his car broke down on the road. Then, I thought maybe I was just having an unlucky day.
It was not until much later when I furiously found out that some of the senior workers have lready got picked for work. Without doubt, the factory purposely picked up the senior workers and left the new ones without any notice. The inequality of treatment devastated me. I was very disappointed about the job to begin with at the time and now I was not sure whether the job was worth doing anymore. Firstly, I had to waste three hours every day on the roads to get to work and back to home. Secondly, besides from the fact of having to stand eight hours to package the items, I did not even receive a seat for a not even thirty-minutes lunch break.
I could still recall tearing apart the card board from the oxes to make illegible seats on the floor of an ant-sized kitchen. Thirdly, I was only making forty dollars per day and that was not even six dollars per hour. Additionally, the job felt very temporary because I only got to work when the factory called me in, so I stayed home for the times that they did not call which I felt was a huge waste of my precious time. Therefore, I knew that I had to quit the job. Despite that my husband was also working, his job was not much better than mine (more details on this later). Our incomes combined was not close enough to afford for the family.
Besides from the spending on the groceries and other expenses, we also had to pay for the babysitter to look after our baby boy. Since the subsidized child care application (Dep. of Human Services) for my baby boy did not process immediately, we could not afford to put him into daycare, and the babysitter costs had to be added on our backs. Were you guys pressured under the differences in the customs for example, the language differences, if so explain. (Diana’s My first job was at Dunkin Donuts as a crew member who prepares and serves food items, operates drive-thru windows, rings up purchases and cleans ork stations.
I remembered being at the drive-thru windows one time accepting an order from a customer. I thought that I was slowly getting better at the English terms used in my workplace. However, I was mistaken. I messed up a customer’s order because I did not comprehend enough to understand what he wanted. It was both an embarrassing and rough moment for me (chuckles). Thankfully, the store manager did not fire me because he understood my struggles as a new immigrant who was just starting to learn a new language. Diana and her husband did not expect this huge crash of culture arrier and the troubles that have caused by them.
They missed their previous home and lifestyle horribly. They could not imagine how different now their lives are compared to before when they could have received help from anybody with a simple phone call. Yet, now, everything seemed tremendously (Diana’s husband is speaking) I could not remember the last time when I missed my friends in China this terribly. My friends were the ones who would immediately arrive at my urgent needs. Twenty years ago, in Fuzhou, China, I remember being stuck in a restaurant after a meal with my bosses.
I was in a very awkward situation because I was supposed to take care of the bills in the end. However, I realized that I completely left my wallet at home when I reached into my empty pocket. The scenario could have turned worse if my friend didn’t come to the rescue. I wished I had similar friends husband speaks in here) burdensome. here but it was hard for me to even make new friends. Everything was set back to level one. Even when I thought I have made a few friends in my workplace, they were only temporary friends and could not be comparable to my friends since The family have experienced a wild ride from hildhood. heir trip to their transition into this country.
They were hopeful in the beginning, believed in a fresh start to nearly giving up in the middle due to the various of troubles that have happened. Now, after almost twelve years, the struggles are finally done and over with. The good and bad memories will be forever kept with them. (Diana is speaking) I did not regret one bit for moving into this country. Not only did the experiences gave me tears (laughs) I know they were really unpleasant, but there were also joyful moments that I will treasure for a very long time.
