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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Filipino Immigrant Oral History Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies
Description
An account of the resource
<strong><br />Note: Collection upload in process</strong>
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview.
Anthony Lagunda
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed.
Jose Lagunda
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound.
[Session 1, June 2, 2019]<br />[Begin Audio File]<br />ANTHONY LAGUNDA: The date is June 2, 2019. My name is Anthony<br />Lagunda, and I am here with Eric Lagunda, or Jose Lagunda as he<br />would like to be called, and I am going to interview him about<br />his immigrant experience coming to the US. Can we start with<br />when and where you were born?<br />JOSE LAGUNDA: June of 1967 in Manilla, Philippines.<br />ANTHONY LAGUNDA: When were your parents born, and where were<br />they born?<br />JOSE LAGUNDA: They were born in a small town in the province of<br />Laguna in the island of Luzon in the Philippines. They both came<br />from the same town.<br />ANTHONY LAGUNDA: And what did they do while you were growing up?<br />JOSE LAGUNDA: My mom worked in a bank, and my dad worked as an<br />engineer.<br />ANTHONY LAGUNDA: And what was your family life like? How many<br />siblings did you have?<br />JOSE LAGUNDA: I had one younger brother and one younger sister.<br />ANTHONY LAGUNDA: Did any of your family members move to the US<br />before you?<br />JOSE LAGUNDA: No.<br />ANTHONY LAGUNDA: What was your academic experience like in the<br />Philippines?<br />JOSE LAGUNDA: I went to college, and I went to medical school in<br />the Philippines<br />ANTHONY LAGUNDA: What schools did you go to?<br />JOSE LAGUNDA: I went to the University of the Philippines in<br />Diliman City for my pre-med, and then I went to University of<br />the East Medical School<br />ANTHONY LAGUNDA: And why did you decide to move out of the<br />Philippines?<br />JOSE LAGUNDA: I think the reason was more because there was an<br />opportunity here [US] at that time needing doctors in America,<br />and it was not that hard to take the necessary prerequisites or<br />examinations to be able to take advantage of that opportunities.<br />ANTHONY LAGUNDA: The exams were easier?<br />JOSE LAGUNDA: It’s not easy, but the process was not that<br />difficult. What I mean by that is that at that time, in the<br />early 1990s, after you graduate from medical school, you have to<br />take a couple of licensing exams, and once you pass those, what<br />you need to do is look for a medical residency program here in<br />America. A residency program is like a on-the-job training for<br />doctors. For example, if you take a residency in pediatrics,<br />which is what I did, it’s on-the-job training to become a<br />pediatrician for three years. After you take those exams, what<br />you need to do is get interviewed and find a residency program<br />in hundreds of hospitals here in America. At that time, there<br />were not a lot of American medical school graduates who were<br />taking these residency programs. there was a lot of<br />opportunities for foreign medical school graduates from India or<br />the Philippines or some other foreign country to be able to get<br />into those residency programs. So if you are a medical school<br />graduate in the Philippines, and you feel like you want to not<br />stay in the Philippines anymore because maybe it will be easier<br />to get a job here in America than to get the job in the<br />Philippines because it is kinda hard to get a doctor’s job in<br />the Philippines. There was a lot of doctors who graduated from<br />medical schools there. The pay is not as good unless you are<br />lucky enough to be able to be accepted in the few prestigious<br />hospitals that recruit Filipino medical school graduates there.<br />So I decided it would probably be a good thing to try taking<br />those exams and see if taking those residency programs here in<br />America, which I was able to do. The other thing was I had a<br />green card already at that time. A green card is like basicallyyou<br />are almost an American citizen, not yet, but you have a<br />green card. That means you have a- well, you’re an immigrant<br />already. That’s basically an immigrant visa.<br />ANTHONY LAGUNDA: You were expecting to move out already when you<br />were in the Philippines?<br />JOSE LAGUNDA: Yeah, it’s almost like a commitment because once<br />you decide that you are going to do a residency program here in<br />America, most people, most foreigners who do that end up wanting<br />to stay in America and not go home and practice in their home<br />country, which is what happened in my case. As soon as I started<br />residency, I already had in my mind that I think I would like to<br />immigrate to America and live here for a long time<br />ANTHONY LAGUNDA: So when did you move out here?<br />JOSE LAGUNDA: In 1994<br />ANTHONY LAGUNDA: Did you move anywhere else before settling in<br />the US?<br />JOSE LAGUNDA: No, after medical school that was in the<br />Philippines in Manila, I did not live anywhere else that was in<br />the Philippines.<br />ANTHONY LAGUNDA: What were your thoughts about America before<br />you moved here?<br />JOSE LAGUNDA: The Philippines is a very Westernized country.<br />There’s a lot of US influence in the Philippines. First of all,<br />we all speak English, and learn English starting from elementary<br />[school] all the way up to college, so we’re very fluent in<br />English. Western culture is very rampant there [the<br />Philippines], in TV, books, and news, so we do know a lot about<br />American culture. It is something that all Filipinos all aspire<br />to be a part of. Basically, especially people in the lower<br />socioeconomic class, because back then in the 1980s, still now,<br />unfortunately the Philippines is a poor country. It’s a<br />developing nation, but it’s just very hard to find jobs. Also,<br />there’s a little bit of political instability there. There’s no<br />civil war, but the political situation such that it seems like<br />the middle class seems to not get- they don’t improve. The lower<br />class gets poorer and poorer, and it just doesn’t seem to get<br />better, so I thought it might be good to move to another<br />country. So I am very familiar with living in the US. Basically,<br />it’s easy enough because I know the language.<br />ANTHONY LAGUNDA: Did any of your thoughts about America change<br />when you moved here?<br />JOSE LAGUNDA: No. When you live in another country, you’re not<br />really home, so you have to adapt. It’s not hard, but you have<br />to know how to adapt because you have to know little bit of<br />their traditions and customs, which is kinda not that different<br />from the Philippines. America is a predominantly Christian<br />country, and I’m a Christian. Most Filipinos are Catholic<br />Christians, so from that point of view, it’s not that hard. Like<br />I said, Western lifestyle is very familiar to us. However, since<br />most of your friends and family are from the Philippines, you<br />will still have to contend with being homesick at some point,<br />and you will not have as many friends as you were used to when<br />you were back home, so that kind of homesickness is something to<br />contend with during that time. Plus, being in a stressful job,<br />like being a doctor and being a foreigner, sometimes you feel<br />like you always have to make sure that you are doing much<br />better, so they don’t think that you are- you have to show them<br />that you’re worth being a doctor here and that you have enough,<br />that you’re just not a second-rate doctor because you graduated<br />from a foreign medical school, so you have to do better. That’s<br />added to the stress. But for the most part, besides that, I<br />don’t think it was much of a problem.<br />ANTHONY LAGUNDA: Did the differences in poverty between the<br />Philippines and America affect you in any way? Did you make any<br />observations about that?<br />JOSE LAGUNDA: I already expected a big difference. If you forget<br />about the loneliness or being homesick, it is much better here<br />in America by a long shot. In the Philippines, there is poverty<br />everywhere, and sometimes it affects- doctors in the<br />Philippines- there’s no medical insurance in the Philippines, so<br />you can really tell that people here have it better. In the<br />Philippines, you could die from just not having money. Period.<br />If you’re sick and don’t have any money, you’ll probably really<br />get sicker and sicker. Here in America, there’s no such thing.<br />They don’t ask for insurance when you’re in the emergency room.<br />They will treat you as an emergency. The payment comes later.<br />There’s always programs that will pay for the medical care of<br />people, young and old. If you’re poor, somehow you’ll get the<br />medical treatment that you deserve. And that’s one of those<br />things that you really notice the big difference is. The<br />lifestyle here is much easier so long as you have a job and you<br />do a good job, you’ll be able to get up and be able to succeed.<br />ANTHONY LAGUNDA: When you moved to the Philippines, were you<br />with any- did you come with anyone?<br />JOSE LAGUNDA: When I moved to America, you mean? No, I was<br />alone.<br />ANTHONY LAGUNDA: Where did you first live when you came here?<br />JOSE LAGUNDA: Actually, before settling here permanently to<br />start my residency training, maybe a handful of times, I lived<br />in America during summer vacations, during my college and<br />medical school years. For maybe one or two months, I would be<br />living in California during my summer breaks. So that’s where I<br />lived first. I get my first driver’s license in California<br />during one of those times that I had extended visits here. But<br />when I moved to start my residency training, the first place<br />where I lived was in Pennsylvania.<br />ANTHONY LAGUNDA: What city?<br />JOSE LAGUNDA: Johnstown.<br />ANTHONY LAGUNDA: What jobs did you perform when you got here? Or<br />were you mostly in school and stayed on your career path?<br />JOSE LAGUNDA: I stayed on my career path. I did not have to go<br />to school here. I just did my residency training, which is<br />basically being a trainee doctor in a hospital. That’s what I<br />was doing. That was my career path.<br />ANTHONY LAGUNDA: Did you feel like your academic experience in<br />the Philippines helped you enough during residency?<br />JOSE LAGUNDA: Yes, it was enough.<br />ANTHONY LAGUNDA: You didn’t feel like you weren’t getting- you<br />got the education you needed to survive residency? You didn’t<br />feel like you weren’t behind your other peers?<br />JOSE LAGUNDA: I don’t think so. There’s a little bit sometimes.<br />Some of the technology that was being utilized here in America<br />we know of theoretically in the Philippines, but like it was the<br />same equipment, medical procedures that would be expensive to be<br />done in the Philippines, so it wasn’t done as often, so we may<br />not be as familiar with it in real life. But we know about it.<br />It wasn’t that hard to learn about it here, so yeah, that may be<br />like the only thing that would be difficult. And obviously<br />because we talk with an accent, that might be a little bit of<br />language barrier, but it’s really not that much of a big deal<br />because I think we can understand English quite well. And I<br />think, even with our accent, the Americans were able to<br />understand our English also.<br />ANTHONY LAGUNDA: In regards to adapting to the culture- you<br />didn’t know any other Filipino immigrants that came here?<br />JOSE LAGUNDA: Well, there were Filipinos in the residency<br />program. Yes, those are the ones who you interact with mostly.<br />ANTHONY LAGUNDA: Looking at those who arrived here before you,<br />were there any differences between the first generation<br />immigrants and other Filipino-Americans that were already here?<br />Or did you not experience-<br />JOSE LAGUNDA: No, I don’t think so. The Filipinos that I<br />encountered were first generation. They came maybe the same time<br />as me or a few years before, so they were not old enough to be<br />considered second generation.<br />ANTHONY LAGUNDA: In regards to a previous comment, you said<br />earlier that you sometimes had to prove you weren’t a<br />“second-rate” doctor. Do you recall any specific experiences<br />that made you feel that way, or was that just the mindset you<br />had?<br />JOSE LAGUNDA: It was a mindset you had, but just like any job,<br />you can make mistakes. When you do make mistakes, and mistakes<br />get pointed, you feel a little bit worse because you sometimes<br />feel like the people feel like you made a mistake because maybe<br />you don’t know you’re job as much. There’s a little bit of that<br />feeling sometimes. You get a little bit more embarrassed when<br />things like that happen. But you get over it, and it’s not a big<br />deal.<br />ANTHONY LAGUNDA: These are all thoughts that came from your<br />head? You never really experienced any backlash from your<br />American peers.<br />JOSE LAGUNDA: No, if you’re talking about racism, no. I think<br />for the most part, there may be a couple of instances were they<br />make jokes, and you kinda have an idea what it was about maybe a<br />little bit racist. It doesn’t happen a lot, and they quickly<br />take it back. If you pretend you didn’t hear it, it goes away.<br />It’s not persistent. For the most part, The aMericans I dealt<br />with were not, ya know. We were all professionals too, like<br />myself. These things don’t tend to happen in that group. The<br />patients also, for some reason, if you do a good job- I don’t<br />think I’ve ever experienced racism from the patients. They might<br />be very curious about where you come from. They’re not asking<br />because they think you’re coming from an inferior place.<br />ANTHONY LAGUNDA: Do you feel like the reason you didn’t<br />experience what many immigrants face, like racism, as a result<br />of your professional field?<br />JOSE LAGUNDA: Maybe. Sometimes I feel like there would be more<br />racism in the places where I lived because I lived in a small<br />town in Pennsylvania. We also lived in North Carolina. It’s in<br />the south, so there was the issue between blacks and whites. In<br />North Carolina, they don’t see too many Asians in the 90’s. They<br />just look at you differently because you look different, but<br />they realize that you speak their language, and you try to<br />understand them. They don’t really play the race card or<br />anything. The people in the South, like North Carolina, are<br />actually really polite, much more polite than what I found in<br />California.<br />ANTHONY LAGUNDA: What kind of racism did you experience here in<br />California<br />JOSE LAGUNDA: No, here in California, I didn’t really experience<br />much racism here either. In the South, you may feel like you’re<br />out of place, a foreigner, because you’re Asian, and then you’re<br />in the hotbed of racism. The usual impression that people havethey<br />might think “Oh, you’re gonna experience more racism in the<br />South.” No, that didn’t really pan out because there were<br />actually friendlier. In a way, you actually feel much more<br />comfortable. They go out of their way to act more respectful to<br />you. You do feel more out of place because when you go into a<br />room, or a church, or a restaurant, and there’s no Asians there.<br />So they give you a second look, but that’s all there is. At some<br />point, you become very comfortable with that. We became<br />comfortable with that kind of feeling. It wasn’t a big deal. In<br />California, even though you feel like it’s more at home with<br />more Asians, but in general, the people in California are a<br />little bit less friendly. You may feel at home, but you sense<br />that the people are not as polite. In that sense, you feel like<br />it may not be related to the color of your skin, but that may be<br />the way people are in California. If you’re not friendly, it may<br />be construed as racism.<br />ANTHONY LAGUNDA: Final question: did you have any preconceivedwere<br />you expecting any forms of racism coming to the US, or did<br />you have any idea what regions you feel like you would expect<br />any of it?<br />JOSE LAGUNDA: Yes, I had preconceived notions.<br />ANTHONY LAGUNDA: Were you expecting any coming to the US?<br />JOSE LAGUNDA: Yes, I was expecting some, but like I told you, I<br />didn’t really experience it that much. Maybe I was lucky, but<br />you still hear in the news, especially when you’re in North<br />Carolina, you know there’s still racism that exists, obviously,<br />because you still hear news about the Ku Klux Klan having a<br />rally here and there. But I don’t know. Those things happen in<br />the South, but in actuality, where you live, most regular people<br />in North Carolina- The blacks and the whites lived together<br />without any problems. Maybe I’m just too naive to notice any<br />problems, but I don’t think I saw those. But you see signs here<br />and there, signs of the old South, but that’s where it happens.<br />But I did not experience- I was almost expecting it, but it<br />really didn’t happen as much.<br />ANTHONY LAGUNDA: Thank you so much for your time.<br />JOSE LAGUNDA: You’re welcome.<br />[End Audio File]
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<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aFOgVO4MQjtehJ9KQi_j3674c33japsF/view?usp=sharing">https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aFOgVO4MQjtehJ9KQi_j3674c33japsF/view?usp=sharing</a>, <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/17mi4E6Cy78SWVbxtZ6b1S4SsfDXaoVok/view?usp=sharing">https://drive.google.com/file/d/17mi4E6Cy78SWVbxtZ6b1S4SsfDXaoVok/view?usp=sharing</a>, <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yB4XCdFvG0SGyArxYIRONbJxDwcNhLWA/view?usp=sharing">https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yB4XCdFvG0SGyArxYIRONbJxDwcNhLWA/view?usp=sharing</a>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Oral History Interview with Jose Lagunda
Subject
The topic of the resource
Bakersfield, California; Manila, Philippines; Laguna; Johnstown, Pennsylvania; North Carolina, University of the Philippines in Diliman, University of the East Medical School, Filipinos in medical field, Education -- Philippines, Residency programs, United States -- Emigration and immigration, Americanization, Assimilation, Homesickness, Imperialism -- History, Language barrier, Microaggressions in the workplace, Racism
Description
An account of the resource
Oral history interview with Jose Lagunda, interviewed by Anthony Lagunda
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
6/2/2019
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies and the UC Davis Asian American Studies department holds intellectual control of these recordings. Usage is restricted for educational, non-commercial purposes only. For other uses, please contact archivist Jason Sarmiento at ajsarmiento@ucdavis.edu
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Audio Recording and Transcript
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
ucdw_wa014_s001_0024
Americanization
assimilation
Bakersfield
California; Manila
Education -- Philippines
Filipinos in medical field
Homesickness
Imperialism -- History
Language barrier
Microaggressions in the workplace
Pennsylvania; North Carolina
Philippines; Laguna; Johnstown
racism
Residency programs
United States -- Emigration and immigration
University of the East Medical School
University of the Philippines in Diliman
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Filipino Immigrant Oral History Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies
Description
An account of the resource
<strong><br />Note: Collection upload in process</strong>
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview.
Tyler Ho
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed.
Angelika Villapando
View/Download File(s)
Link to download files
<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1512Omdgt-zGjIKHjONF8NvkiTmEHQ5KB/view?usp=sharing">https://drive.google.com/file/d/1512Omdgt-zGjIKHjONF8NvkiTmEHQ5KB/view?usp=sharing</a>, <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MwWAzE-3m2O7B8sOxV-zVue5lJdNgbtV/view?usp=sharing">https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MwWAzE-3m2O7B8sOxV-zVue5lJdNgbtV/view?usp=sharing</a>, <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eBEjgNCmLnRQ39SiwDrevnshesWJj8dN/view?usp=sharing">https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eBEjgNCmLnRQ39SiwDrevnshesWJj8dN/view?usp=sharing</a>, <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1a4KrI0AxtHIzaq5SgGD_fw-HCZV_I-F0/view?usp=sharing">https://drive.google.com/file/d/1a4KrI0AxtHIzaq5SgGD_fw-HCZV_I-F0/view?usp=sharing</a>
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound.
Ho: Hi everyone it's June 1, 2019 and its currently 12:07AM . This is Tyler Ho, interviewing<br />for the Filipino Immigrant Oral History Project Today, I am interviewing<br />Villapando: Angelika Villapando<br />Ho: Nice to meet you. So we like to start off our questions by trying to get to know you, so I was<br />wondering where and when were you born.<br />Villapando: Okay, I was born in August 29, 1998 in Mataas Na Kahoy, Batangas, Philippines.<br />Ho: Mhm, okay, it's good to hear that. I was also wondering where were your parents born.<br />Villapando: My mom was born in Quezon City, I have an accent, okay.<br />Ho: Okay.<br />Villapando: Like not a Tagalog accent, like an American accent. Um, yeah, she was born in<br />Quezon City, ugh I hate when I say that. Um and I don’t know where my dad is from.<br />Ho: mkay, mkay, so you mentioned you had an American accent, where do you think like that<br />came from, or it first started.<br />Villapando: Um I know I had um… I know I had a Filipino accent when I first came here and it's<br />not like that I try to lose that accent, I just- I got teased for it, so like I didn’t talk for a while so I<br />guess I am trying to- I wasn’t trying to lose it but like it's just harder now after years of speaking<br />English cause my parent- my mom speaks English to me<br />Ho: Mhm<br />Villapando: And so I don’t really and my grandma is the only one who would speak to me in<br />Tagalog and I would speak to her in Tagalog and now that she's like- like we’re not- she can’t<br />speak in- like I don’t have anyone to practice Tagalog with, so now I have an American accent.<br />Ho: Mhm, mhm, okay. So how long were you in the Philippines before you immigrated to the<br />America.<br />Villapando: I was seven when we moved.<br />Ho: Mhm<br />Villapando: Should I say why?<br />Ho: Um if you feel comfortable for it.<br />Villapando: Yeah we moved because- I was going to joke but I was- I’m just kidding. We moved<br />because um most of my family was already moved up here. Like my grandma and all of my<br />mom’s other siblings like theres eight of them, five of them already moved up here. So she’s the<br />only one left. So she moved up here cause she’s also the caretaker for my grandpa<br />Ho: Mhm<br />Villapando: And so she was doing that all by herself and she was raising her kid, you know thats<br />alot for a single mom, so we moved up here. And that was the plan all along.<br />Ho: M’kay, so um did you, you were- said- you moved here around seven, correct?<br />Villapando: Mhm<br />Ho: Um so in your first few years in the Philippines, were you taught Tagalog first, English first?<br />Villapando: Oh yes that's a good question, because so the Philippines, I told this in another<br />interview- um that the Phillipines stop trying to be a super power at one point, I don’t remember<br />what point in history that was, probably after the second colonization. I don’t know, but um they<br />stopped being- trying to be a superpower and instead their goal is to export like their citizens to<br />other nations and have their money sent back to the Philippines, that way it can kick up their<br />economy. So basically, when you go to school, you are taught in Tagalog but you’re not allowed<br />to speak in Tagalog. Like you have to- um I remember in elementary school, like if you were<br />caught speaking Tagalog you have to wear a necklace that has a like a plaque that says ‘I don’t<br />know how to speak English’ and if you do speak English and you don’t get caught, you get like a<br />little star that says ‘I can speak English’ and there's a smiley face on it.<br />Ho: Wow, haha.<br />Villapando: Yeah, that's in all schools too, like I moved- I don’t if I moved from an island to<br />another island, but I moved very far away and we- that, that was still applied.<br />Ho: Oh hm, how did you uh feel about like that whole concept like oh, um you would have to<br />wear like this plaque or you wear a star just based on like how you spoke.<br />Villapando: Um, I thought that was- I mean I was just a kid, I was like I just want the star, you<br />know. So it didn’t like- but I felt bad, I felt like that was kinda shameful to a kid, that was kind of<br />sad. But I mean- like... their more rough in like asian countries, you know. Even in that aspect<br />and like in an educational aspect like I don’t mean to be rude but like when I got here, I got here<br />when I was in second grade right? And I kinda had to wait like a year for like for them to catch<br />up. Like we were already ahead like, by like the middle of like third grade I was like okay, now I<br />am learning new things, you know. Cause in like the Philippines like I feel like it goes like way<br />faster, you know. Like they really get you started<br />Ho: So-<br />Villapando: and here, it’s like aw.<br />Ho: Which like subjects in school did you feel like oh this is everything I already bust off-<br />Villapando: Math.<br />Ho: Math?<br />Villapando: Mhm, actually yeah it just math but still, that's still like a good thing to be ahead<br />about.<br />Ho: Was there any struggles you faced in school when you moved here?<br />Villapando: When I moved here? … Honestly, I don’t know if I can remember or if I just don’t<br />have- No I did, I did. Like I had like, the- I was very nonchalant so I didn’t really care that I didn’t<br />have any friends, like it didn’t hit me very hard. Probably did, I’m just not remembering, but- I<br />think it was just not understanding anybody. Like I- I feel like I’m more- I had an advantage<br />cause I had people speak to me in English. Their English was broken too, like there was like no<br />English speaking person to like correct us so we were all just speaking broken English in the<br />Philippines. Um, but it was not understanding like the teachers or like even if they spoke really<br />basically like theres like intentions and nuances in the way their speaking so even like or<br />connotations, like I couldn't understand like what someone was saying sometimes so I would<br />like nod to my homework cause I didn't know there was homework. I just didn’t get it, like it took<br />me a long time to be like a per- like a student. Like it was a long adjustment period, but I feel<br />like- I said this in another interview too I was was blessed in the sense that where I moved to<br />was a good diverse place like- I didn’t see so much white people until I moved to Davis, you<br />know. And like everyone was very welcoming and like my- I was introduced in all my classes- by<br />all I mean my main class and my PE class like to my- the entire- my entire grade. I think that's<br />nice, and it was like, I never felt like I was like isolated by anybody because my race or because<br />I came from somewhere else.<br />Ho: Hm, that's interesting. So you mentioned, um um when you moved to Davis there was quite<br />of a big culture shock, what was that like?<br />Villapando: I feel like.. Okay, I feel like where I lived, the Asian people lived like white people.<br />Does- is that- does- you know what I mean by living like white person right? Like it's different.<br />Oh, okay, oh I have something else to say, I didn’t even like understand words like ‘woke’ and<br />like- I was always knew I was a liberal person but here I understand why those beliefs are valid<br />in my head, do you know what I am saying?<br />Ho: Mhm<br />Villapando: So, wait where was I going.. White people.. Culture shock?<br />Ho: Culture shock in Davis.<br />Villapando: Oh yeah, and I feel like, I feel like I didn’t even like understand like police brutality<br />and like racism like that- I never, I probably have, I don’t know, systematically probably, but, but<br />like direct racism, I never experienced that cause I lived in such a diverse area. And then<br />coming here is when I started to understand like- like ra- like stuff like that, like systematic<br />racism exists even if you never experienced it, you're experiencing it somewhere else, like I had<br />to ask Angela if you can be racist to white people. It's a whole different thing.<br />Ho: Um for our listeners out there, Angela is um Angelika’s housemate.<br />Villapando: Oh yeah<br />Ho: Um so you mentioned like you didn’t understand all these systematic racism topics, and um<br />concepts, um do you feel- uh- what about when you were in the Philippines, do you felt like<br />there was some type of racism.<br />Villapando: Oh yeah, Filipinos are super racist.<br />Ho: What was your experience like with that.<br />Villa pando: Oh like in the Philippines? What no no no, okay- I think I don’t know if this is racismokay<br />what I mean by Filipinos are super racist is Filipinos are super racist to every other race<br />but white people. And I feel like that, that is an effect of- I don’t know, whats it called colonialism<br />and shit, that's for sure. [gasp] I said a bad word... okay, and then um Filipinos… I don’t know if<br />this is racism but its like I always got shi.. I always got shit.. Can I say that? I always got shit for<br />being dark, like I always been dark and then um like my grandma and my mom would be like<br />‘Stop going out in the dark, you’re going to get dark’ they’re both light skin and I always thought<br />there as - even when I came here, it's not even from kids from like school or like other people or<br />like white people, I know that's a whole other thing, but it's always from my family, they always<br />teased me for being so dark, like I thought it was problem, and I didn’t know I didn’t even think it<br />was problem, I thought it was just confusing like what's wrong with being dark. But um, I feel like<br />that racism. Like on TV, like Filipinos only show like skin people, I feel like that's racism right? In<br />the Philippines, that's here too though, it's in a lot of culture.<br />Ho: Interesting, okay so one last thing I like to um hear more about is um when you immigrated<br />here after seven years in the Philippines, what were a couple of the hardest things you<br />struggled with?<br />Villapando: mmm, hardest thing I struggled with… Its.. I feel like, I felt.. Oh now it's coming back<br />to me. I did not, not care that I didn’t have friends. But I was shy, it was combination of being<br />shy and not being able to communicate with my peers so that feels very like isolating, especially<br />for a little kid, That sucks. And then um, it was… I think that was really it. Other stuff was like<br />personal family stuff, but I don’t think it attributed to being an immigrant cause they’re filipino<br />too.<br />Ho: so you said you didn’t really care about having friends cause you couldn't communicate with<br />them.<br />Villapando: No I got that wrong, I was just not remembering that correctly, I did feel bad I didn’t<br />have friends, but I Didn't know what I could do, I mean could still play but they need to think I'm<br />funny or something<br />Ho: Was there like this specific memory where you feel like you couldn’t communicate with them<br />and you felt bad.<br />Villapando: Oh I remember, this is going to seem like anything but this is stuck in my head. Like<br />in, it was the second grade school performance, and Chris Moon, ugh Chris Moon was so mean<br />to me and I went um my.. My sweater is so scratchy and he was like ‘Scratchy isn’t a word, its<br />itchy’ but I couldn't… wait that's not even related to what you ask about being able to<br />communicate to my… But that was like a thing, like… I- right now it seems like scratchy and<br />itchy are the same thing to me right? They are! But I didn’t know better and that kind of thing got<br />to me, like I- it was just- it felt like I was scared to say the wrong thing and I knew I- I knew a lot,<br />I Knew most of the time I would say the wrong thing. On my- in my second grade art project, you<br />could see it was very grammatically incorrect, but I was also seven who was grammatically<br />correct at seven years old.<br />Ho: so when did you realized that this was actually normal for you and that like you- and there<br />wasn’t anything wrong with your word choice were<br />Villapando: Um probably like, fifth grade, I don’t know, when I learn the word scratchy. I just feel<br />like I didn't ever.. Did I think something was wrong.. I don’t think I ever… I think I just gained<br />confidence over the years, I don't think I ever thought I was wrong, but I felt confidence in myself<br />over the years, you know what I am saying. And I learned English better but I lost tagalog a little<br />bit.<br />Ho: What were some ways you gained your confidence?<br />Villapando: I started doing well in school and I feel like that's a power move you know. Like she<br />ain’t even from this country and she's getting good grades, I think that's, that's the dream! There<br />it is, there you go thats some American shit.<br />Ho: Alright, so I just liek to close this interview by just saying thank you for your time for<br />everything, it was a honor being able to interview you. We got a lot, we really appreciate you<br />being able to share your story because it takes a lot of courage to come out here and share<br />your story out here and reveal your struggles… Um is there any closing remark you want the<br />listeners to hear.<br />Villapando: Thank you for listening and if you are an immigrant you are an amazing person and<br />it seems hard now but it will get better.<br />Ho: So hello everyone again, this is Tyler Ho interviewing for the Filipino immigrant um oral<br />history project, um I here with Angelika again. We wanted to add a couple more things to this<br />interview. So first question was that um what was different about living in America as opposed<br />to living in the Philippines<br />Villapando: Living in America, I remember my first night here, we came back from the airport, we<br />ate dinner and then my aunt do you want ice cream and I was like yeah and she went what<br />flavor and i was like wait you not only have ice cream here but there's multiple flavors<br />-interview paused due to an incoming call for Angelika-<br />Ho: Okay so we’re back, earlier we were talking about um your exper- you thoughts about<br />america before you moved here, oh no sorry actually what was different about living in America<br />as opposed to living in the Philippines, and you mentioned getting ice cream with your aunt.<br />Villapando: yes, for dessert she was like do you want ice cream and I was like yes and she was<br />like what flavor and I was like not only do you have ice cream but you have different flavors thatand<br />then their freezer came out from the bottom of the fridge and water came out of the fridge.<br />That blew my seven year old brain and their garage door opened, it was just like- it was legit a<br />whole new world and this was like middle class living like this isn’t even the top yet, they're not<br />even millionaires and their garage door opens on its own and they have a freakin water machine<br />coming out of their fridge they have multiple ice cream flavors it was just ... it was an<br />experience. It was- And in the Philippines, you showered with a bucket in a tub with a little thing.<br />Like that's how you showered, here the shower comes out of a magical faucet, that just<br />something rich people had in the philippines, you had a tv you know. That just something you<br />had, i lived in a apartment, i swear half this size [referring to her apartment in Davis] and my<br />mom was like working at the same like amount- working the same amount she was here you<br />know, it just a higher standard of living no matter how you don’t want to admit that you know?<br />Ho: alright yeah, that sounds good, sounds good. Earlier I was uh, wanted to ask you, what<br />were your thoughts about america before when you moved and did they changed after you were<br />here for a couple of years?<br />Villapando: yes, so I thought honestly, the way my family was moving here it seem like we were<br />running away from something in the Philippines or something or like this place was more<br />amazing then was I super understand why we moved but prior to moving here, I use to think like<br />America. Oh I said this earlier, America is just like Disneyland, I honestly thought that. like . like<br />America was just california and AMerica was just disneyland, and I thought everyone was going<br />to be white, I didn’t know other races could exist here i thought everyone was just white... and i<br />thought everyone was just rich, yea that was it. Everyone was rich, everyone was white, and it<br />sounded like really perfect in my head, that how i imagined here but moving here we got issues<br />y'all and the people I thought were the knight in shining armor the white people they were the<br />source of the issue. [laughs] I did not know that. And i did not know we were the way were<br />because of that. I just learned a lot of things in america, lie I- I know america is like not good but<br />like I get why people move here- like I understand the concept of the american dream and I<br />think for my mom a lot of immigrant the american dream isn’t just moving here and getting crazy<br />rich it's just moving here to have a higher standard of living and not having to kill yourself over it.<br />I mean you still do but its very different.<br />Ho: Mmm... so um thank you for your response. And so for the last question, I just wanted to<br />ask did you notice anything different between the first generation immigrant and the filipino<br />american community here.<br />Villapando: Yes! Okay so, I don’t want to seem arrogant but this is a real answer, I notice that I,<br />I’m- I don’t take things for granted as much as my cousins did. Like when I first moved here, II’m<br />still like this for every- I don’t feel like I can ask for anything you know. I’m very afraid my<br />cousins got whatever they wanted and I feel like thats me understanding I know what my mom<br />comes from cause I came from there too and I know where their parents come from cause I<br />came there too. Like its, we’re the same age but we have different context. They live in a world<br />where it's easy to get things. And I came from a world where I know moving here is a giant hit<br />on my mom you now. My mom can’t take this but this is for us in the future and that teaches you<br />to be more grateful and you don’t take things for granted.<br />Ho: when you mean your cousins, you mean your cousin who were<br />Villapando: Who were born and raised here<br />Ho: Uh, thank you!<br />Villapando: Yeah.
Dublin Core
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Title
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Oral history interview with Angelika Villapando
Subject
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Batangas, Quezon City, Accents, Family separation, Filipino Americans -- Family relationships, Tagalog shaming, Education -- Philippines, Racism of Filipinos, Colorism
Description
An account of the resource
Oral history interview with Angelika Villapando, interviewed by Tyler Ho
Date
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6/1/2019
Rights
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The Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies and the UC Davis Asian American Studies department holds intellectual control of these recordings. Usage is restricted for educational, non-commercial purposes only. For other uses, please contact archivist Jason Sarmiento at ajsarmiento@ucdavis.edu
Format
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Audio Recording and Transcript
Identifier
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ucdw_wa014_s001_0020
Accents
Batangas
Colorism
Education -- Philippines
Family separation
Filipino Americans -- Family relationships
Quezon City
Racism of Filipinos
Tagalog shaming