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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.
Samuel Hewitt
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed.
Noemi Botor
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound.
[Session 1, May 24, 2019]<br /><br />[Begin Audio File]<br /><br />HEWITT: Okay are you ready? [laughs]<br /><br />BOTOR: Yep!<br /><br />HEWITT: Alright my name is Sam Hewitt and today is May 24th. It is currently 7:15pm and I am interviewing:<br /><br />BOTOR: Noemi Botor.<br /><br />HEWITT: Alright. So, I have a couple questions that - not a couple, a good amount, I was hoping you could answer for me. First question: Where and when were you born?<br /><br />BOTOR: I was born in Baguio City, Philippines. And when?<br /><br />HEWITT: Mhmm.<br /><br />BOTOR: March 1st, 1997. <br /><br />HEWITT: Where were your parents born?<br /><br />BOTOR: My parents were also born in Baguio City, Philippines. Yeah.<br /><br />HEWITT: What jobs did your parents have in the Philippines?<br /><br />BOTOR: Before I was born, for a while my parents were managing a floral shop. But they decided to move out of the Philippines to find better pay as their main jobs as nurses because they weren’t paid very well in the Philippines.<br /><br />HEWITT: Okay what jobs did your grandparents do?<br /><br />BOTOR: My grandma was just like an office worker and then my grandpa - on my dad’s side - and my grandpa was, he was in the, oh yeah, he was in the navy.<br /><br />HEWITT: How many siblings do you have?<br /><br />BOTOR: I’m an only child [laughs]<br /><br />HEWITT: That’s rare for Filipinos. [laughs] Do you have a large extensive family?<br />BOTOR: Yeah. Actually, even my parents’ families are kind of small. Cause my mom had two other siblings and then my dad has one other sibling but their parents, they had families of like ten to twelve siblings.<br /><br />HEWITT: Did any of your extensive family move to America before you did?<br /><br />BOTOR: Some of them, but not really the ones who we’re very close to so I’m not really sure where they're at or what they're doing.<br /><br />HEWITT: What was your academic experience in the Philippines?<br /><br />BOTOR: I remember for preschool, it was very - it was a very small class and it was very hands on. And then when I moved to a different school, it was kind of more of what you see here with several classrooms and different teachers and things like that?<br /><br />HEWITT: Was the different school in the same city?<br /><br />BOTOR: Yeah it was in the same city. But I think one was private and one was public. So the private one it was really only our class that they had to manage.<br /><br />HEWITT: Why did your family decide to move out of the Philippines?<br /><br />BOTOR: Like I said, my parents wanted better pay as nurses cause they don’t pay very well in the Philippines. But also, just like in general trying to look for a better life. So first we moved to England then we moved here.<br /><br />HEWITT: When did you move to the US?<br /><br />BOTOR: When I was seven or eight. That’s when I moved.<br /><br />HEWITT: What year?<br /><br />BOTOR: Oh god what year is that? <br /><br />HEWITT: I don’t know [laughs]<br /><br />BOTOR: I’m twenty-two [laughs]<br /><br />HEWITT: Alright well some year. Okay did you move anywhere else before settling in the US, other than England?<br /><br />BOTOR: No, it was just - we left the Philippines, well actually at first my parents left to England ahead of me and it was just my grandparents taking care of me for about two years. And then when they felt I was old enough, then they brought me over to England. But then after that we moved to California.<br /><br />HEWITT: Okay what were your thoughts about America before you arrived?<br /><br />BOTOR: I don’t know, I feel like since I was really young, I didn't really have any really big expectations. But I feel like the usual stuff I was thinking about was there. Like “oh I can eat really good burgers” [laughs]<br /><br />HEWITT: Really good American food? [laughs]<br /><br />[4:59]<br /><br />BOTOR: But I didn't really have any expectations on school would be like or making friends would be like. So, nothing really big then.<br /><br />HEWITT: Did your thoughts change after you arrived?<br /><br />BOTOR: Yeah, a little bit. I noticed that, for example, a lot of kids would be interested in - especially the first month that I was in America because I still had an accent from England, so a lot of kids were intrigued by me. So, I kind of felt like an attraction to some people. There like “Oh my god look at this Asian girl, she has an English accent. Blah blah blah that’s so cool!” And they would ask me questions like “Oh why do you eat that and why do you do this and that?” I remember being asked those things.<br /><br />HEWITT: When you say, “eat that,” what do you mean by “that”? Like traditional Filipino food?<br /><br />BOTOR: Yeah. Like my mom would pack me lunches and I've heard other people’s stories before where they were ashamed to bring it. But I haven't experienced a bad one, people were just wondering what I was eating, and it was never a bad thing to me so I wouldn't stop eating it. I would continue to bring food from home that my mom or my dad made.<br /><br />HEWITT: That's good. What was different about living in America as opposed to living in the Philippines?<br /><br />BOTOR: I feel like - I don't know, when I was in the Philippines, I felt more free just because I could go out anywhere with my friends even at such a young age and it would be fine. But when I first moved here, I lived in - I didn't live here in Brentwood. I first lived in Millbrae and it was kind of more like a city. So, I didn't really get to go out and play as much because we lived in an apartment and it was in a city area. So, there wasn't really - I couldn't really go out into the street to play with my friends really because it would be a highway or something.<br /><br />HEWITT: Yeah like a busy intersection.<br /><br />BOTOR: Mhmm.<br /><br />HEWITT: What was different about education in America as opposed to the Philippines? If you can remember?<br /><br />BOTOR: [clicks tongue] I guess there was less punishments in America. In the Philippines, they would be really strict. I remember that before going into the classroom, they would check how clean out hands were, and we would get in trouble if they were dirty because they were really look for hygiene and stuff. I remember even transitioning from England to America, it was kind of different because I remember my teach asked me how to spell the word color. And in England they have the u in it, but they don’t here. And so, when I was trying to spell it out with the u, the other kids were like “no that's not how you spell it” and my teach had to be like “oh no that how they spell it in England.” So, there was stuff like that [laughs]<br /><br />HEWITT: Where did you first live in the US? You said you lived in Millbrae?<br /><br />BOTOR: Yeah, I first moved to Millbrae. And then I think in the fourth grade that's when I moved to Brentwood.<br /><br />HEWITT: Did you notice anything different between first generation immigrants and the Filipino American community?<br /><br />BOTOR: I feel like for Filipinos there’s - I feel like there's a lot of insecurities because of all the colonial baggage that we face. I feel like a lot of Filipinos have a lot of trouble identifying themselves because it’s like we’re part of that Asian American model minority. But there are some of us who aren't like that and are into different things. So I just find a lot of Filipinos having trouble identifying with themselves and who they really are. Because there's a lot of outside influences that pressure them to be a certain way.<br /><br />HEWITT: Do you feel that’s true for the FilAm community at UC Davis?<br /><br />BOTOR: Yeah definitely [laughs]<br /><br />HEWITT: Alright well I think that’s about it.<br /><br />BOTOR: [whispers] Is it long enough?<br /><br />HEWITT: [laughs] Do you have any more remarks?<br /><br />[9:59]<br /><br />BOTOR: I don't know. I hope - obviously with each community, especially one that's like Filipino Americans and things like that, they'll always have their flaws, but I hope that they continue to grow in the rights ways in rather than the wrongs ones. That’s all I have to say about that.<br /><br />[10:25]
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<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XSOvKh19e86704AoblViFK-pmv3PYhad/view?usp=sharing">https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XSOvKh19e86704AoblViFK-pmv3PYhad/view?usp=sharing</a>, <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1a3RiYBPt_hvBbFcbesm-NXZsM8g8pq9V/view?usp=sharing">https://drive.google.com/file/d/1a3RiYBPt_hvBbFcbesm-NXZsM8g8pq9V/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 Noemi Botor, interviewed by Samuel Hewitt
Subject
The topic of the resource
Brentwood, CA, California, Baguio City, Philippines, floral shop, florist, nurse, Navy, England, UK, United Kingdom, California, Millbrae, first generation, immigrants, immigrant families--United States, model minority, UC Davis
Description
An account of the resource
Oral history interview with Noemi Botor, interviewed by Samuel Hewitt
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
24-May-19
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_0018
Baguio City
Brentwood
CA
California
England
first generation
floral shop
florist
Immigrant families--United States
immigrants
Millbrae
model minority
Navy
nurse
Philippines
UC Davis
UK
United Kingdom
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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.
Clarimin Diaz
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed.
Noemi Botor
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound.
Diaz: Okay it is June 2, 2019 and it is 3:00pm. This is Clarimin Diaz interviewing for the Filipino Immigrant Oral History Project for the Welga! Filipino American Labor Archives and the Welga! Project. Today I am interviewing:<br /><br />BOTOR: Noemi Botor<br /><br />Diaz: Okay, let us begin. So lets begin our discussion by talking a little bit about your childhood and early adult life. Where and when were you born?<br /><br />BOTOR: I was born in Baguio City, Philippines.<br /><br />DIAZ: Can you talk about your childhood experiences in the Philippines?<br /><br />BOTOR: I moved at kind of a young age from the Philippines so from what I can remember, I just remember like the area I lived in and going to school but like not too much [laugh].<br /><br />DIAZ: Okay Noemi, where were your parents born?<br /><br />BOTOR: So my parents were also born in the Philippines [Baguio City].<br /><br />DIAZ: Do you know anything about their experiences in the Philippines?<br /><br />BOTOR: Not very much, I know that they went to college there and what not. They didn’t come from or move to the states or go to college here [The United States] so we didn’t know very much about what to do with that process [going to college]. Their experience there, they were both working as nurses and we moved because they didn’t get paid very well in the Philippines so I guess they were looking for a better life elsewhere.<br /><br />DIAZ: I see, so do you know what kind of jobs your grandparents had?<br /><br />Botor: My grandparents. I know for my dad’s side, my grandmother was an office worker and my grandfather was in the Navy.<br /><br />DIAZ: So did you come from a big family?<br /><br />BOTOR: Yeah, it was a pretty big family. I remember for my first birthday there were like hundreds of people there, so it was a pretty big, yeah [laugh]<br /><br />DIAZ: Did any of your family members move to America before your you or your parents?<br /><br />BOTOR: There were a couple, but it wasn’t family that we were very close to so, I am not sure where they are now. But I know there people who had moved before us.<br /><br />DIAZ: Earlier you mentioned your experiences in school, can you give me any more specific details about your academic experiences in the Philippines, like what it was like to be in school in the Philippines at that age?<br /><br />BOTOR: Well I remember first I went to a private school and our teacher was only responsible for our class and within our class there was only about I would say 10 kids max. It was very small, private, and personal. I remember having to walk to the school every day. I feel like the basic things that I learned were things I needed when I moved here [United States], but I also learned other things like brushing our teeth [laugh] and stuff like that [laugh].<br /><br />DIAZ: Why did your parents decide to leave the Phillipines and move to America?<br /><br />BOTOR: Well first we actually moved to England before moving to America and I feel like one of the biggest factors was just basically how much they were getting paid. Like I said, they don’t pay nurses in the Phillippines very well and so they got jobs offers in England so we moved there, but I think they got better job offers in California so then we ended up moving to California.<br /><br />DIAZ: Around how old were you when you were living in England? Do you remember what it was like living in England?<br /><br />BOTOR: I left the Phillippines when I was like 4 or 5 and then I lived in England for two or three years before moving to California.<br /><br />DIAZ: Do you know what year your parents moved to the United States?<br /><br />BOTOR: I am not sure [laugh].<br /><br />DIAZ: That’s fine.<br /><br />DIAZ: So what were your thoughts about America before you moved here?<br /><br />BOTOR: I feel like it was the typically stereotypes that people think about. I was just thinking about the types of food that I would like to eat because America is known for burgers and like really big foods and things like that. So that was one of my expectations but like culturally, that wasn’t something I thought about I guess when I was younger [age 9] but I just knew that this is how this place is and so I am going to move there and it will be fine [laugh].<br /><br />[5:20]<br /><br />DIAZ: So, growing up in America, how has your view changed about living in the United States?<br /><br />BOTOR: Well there is a lot of talk about why people move to America in the first place and its because people want to chase that American dream. So when I moved here with my parents, I knew how lucky I was compared to my cousins who had to stay back in the Philippines. But I think just like the image of the American dream and like what it stands for, that has definitely changed over time because things are a lot harder than like how people say it is.<br /><br />DIAZ: So what do you think are some of the differences between living in America as opposed to living in the Philippines, like the culture and overall experience?<br /><br />BOTOR: Yeah, I would say one of the biggest differences in definitely transportation. Back in the Phillipines my family and I would mainly travel by Jeep or like taxi but coming here or like when my parents moved to the UK [England] at first, they had to like get their own drivers licenses which they didn’t need before. So, I think that transition was definitely a big thing. And then, I also think, I remember when I was younger, I would like always be outside playing [in the Philippines] and it didn’t matter where I was or what time it was. So, I feel like when we first moved to California, when I was like living in the city, because I was living in this place called Berlingame, instead of like here where I live now in Brentwood. It was a lot more city like so I didn’t have the chance to go outside to the park and play with my friends and things like that.<br /><br />DIAZ: What is your academic experience like here in America?<br /><br />BOTOR: I feel like compared to when I was back in the Phillipines, I feel like for one the classes are bigger and I guess you’re not like so personal with your teachers compared to back in the Philippines. We [the Phillipines] still teach the basic stuff, like the education and GE’s are the same but then there are some differences because I remember back in the Philippines they would like teach us like basic hygiene, cutting out nails, and check our hands if they were clean and if they weren’t they would tell our parents about it [laugh] and I didn’t experience any of those kinds of things [here in the United States] because I thought like initially coming to America like, oh I wonder if they are stricter here but it was like to opposite.<br /><br />DIAZ: I see, so from your experience do you notice anything different between first generation immigrants and the Filipino American community here in Davis?<br /><br />BOTOR: Yeah, I know first generation immigrants speak out more on like the culture since they’re the ones who know how to speak [the native language] and things like that. And so, it’s nice to see that being involved with the community that way, educating like Filipino Americans who’ve like never have been back home [the Philippines] and things like that. <br /><br />DIAZ: How do you retain your culture in America?<br /><br />BOTOR: I feel like a big part of it is my parent’s influence because obviously if they decided not to eat Filipino food anymore then I eventually forget what Filipino food is. So it’s a good thing that my parents you know kept cooking Filipino dishes, they always speak Ilocano and Tagalog in the house, so that I would not forget how to speak [Tagalong and Ilocano] and yeah I would say that my parents role in retaining the culture is a big part of it. <br /><br />[10:05]<br /><br />DIAZ: Do you visit the Philippines often, and if so what type of things do you usually do when you go back to the Philippines?<br /><br />BOTOR: I visited last last summer [2 years ago] but before that I haven’t been there in like six years. When we do visit I notice that we never go to like where people consider tourist areas of the Philippines. We always like go back home [Baguio City] and stay around that areas or we would be in Manila just because that where the airport is. <br /><br />DIAZ: Is there anything you miss about the Philippines when you come back?<br /><br />BOTOR: I definitely miss the food because for example, us living in Davis, there is not a Filipino restaurant near by so when I like come home [Brentwood] on the weekends one of the things I like to eat is Filipino food. Its just not accessible to me back in Davis. Also like how cheap the food is [laugh] and things like night markets and stuff like that are really fun and I miss those. And of course, most of my family is in the Philippines so it’s nice seeing them because back here [in the United States] its mainly just me, my mom, and my dad.<br /><br />DIAZ: Do you currently go to college right now?<br /><br />BOTOR: Yes<br /><br />DIAZ: And what are your plans for after graduation?<br /><br />BOTOR: So after graduation, I’m thinking of taking a gap year and during the gap year I want to continue to taking education classes and I also want to start preparing for the GRE and take that. I am hoping to apply to grad school in like this upcoming year. I am going to apply to Davis [UC Davis] again so hopefully I can stay in the area but I am also going to apply to other places like UC Santa Barbara for their toxicology or environmental program.<br /><br />DIAZ: What are your career goals? Is there anything you want to pursue specifically?<br /><br />BOTOR: Well one thing, there is something I keep telling myself that I am going to do but I don’t think I will end up doing it until I really have the time and certain outlet to do it for, but I’ve been really wanting to become more fluent in my language [Tagalog and Ilocano] because I would want my kids to know it too and so I can teach then obviously, but I don’t know it myself. So I think it would be cool to become more fluent in Tagalong and Ilocano.<br /><br />Diaz: Have you been involved in any activism while in college at UC Davis?<br /><br />BOTOR: No not really.<br /><br />DIAZ: How involved would you say you are in the Filipino American community on campus [UC DAVIS]?<br /><br />BOTOR: I was more involved during my first two years. I definitely went out to more events and things like that. I’ve kind of been more focused on my other club activities during my junior and senior year, so I wouldn’t say that now I am extremely involved with the Fil-Am community.<br /><br />Diaz: So, I want to as you a few questions about your academic experience here in America. Have there been any obstacles you’ve experienced while pursuing higher education?<br /><br />BOTOR: I think one of the biggest obstacles that, I don’t know much about it, but I just know from what my parents have told me but people always say that “Oh if you want to apply for this, just know that they also offer financial aid” because there was this one summer where I wanted to study abroad in Japan but I have never applied for financial aid and I know from my parents it can get frustrating because sure they both make enough to be considered okay financially but I feel like they don’t consider that they put their money into other things like for example, my parents always send money back home to the Phillipines to help out there, they don’t just use all of their expenses on me. There are so many other things that are not considered. So its kind of annoying that we are not able to get aid.<br /><br />DIAZ: Have you struggled in college or has it been a smooth sail for you?<br /><br />BOTOR: No, I would definitely say that I struggled a lot, just like trying to figure out how the [academic] system works I guess. Like I said, my parents didn’t go to college here so we didn’t really know the things that I could have taken advantage of. I later found out that people take college classes at a community college while they are in high school to help them with GE’s and stuff. I wish I would have known that because I would have done that if I did, but I didn’t. So there’s just little things like that that my family and I didn’t know just because they haven’t been to college here so I’m kind of like the guinea pig in this trial.<br /><br />[15:00]<br /><br />DIAZ: Is there any advice that you would have for any Filipino immigrants that are pursing higher education?<br /><br />BOTOR: I would definitely say if you know family that have been here for a while, definitely talk to them and ask for advice because sometimes when you go to [academic] counselors they have the same experience as you do and although some of their advice may be helpful, there is no harm in finding someone who’s like more similar culturally and how they went about things.<br /><br />DIAZ: Okay Noemi, thank you for your interview today.
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Link to download files
<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PLgpOo4hJf2sw08uD22E-Rw9D8TTPnbd/view?usp=sharing">https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PLgpOo4hJf2sw08uD22E-Rw9D8TTPnbd/view?usp=sharing</a>, <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zMO_7fTa-xndInro7jGALQoXIjrlxOXa/view?usp=sharing">https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zMO_7fTa-xndInro7jGALQoXIjrlxOXa/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 Noemi Botor
Subject
The topic of the resource
Baguio City, Philippines, nurse, nursing, office worker, Navy, England, UK, OFW, California, American Dream, Berlingame, Brentwood, Filipino school curriculum, Filipino education, Davis, Tagalog, Ilocano, UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara, toxology program, environmental program, graduate school, grad school, financial aid, finances, Japan, study abroad, first generation, first-generation, immigrant families--United States
Description
An account of the resource
Oral history interview with Noemi Botor, interviewed by Clarimin Diaz
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2-Jun-19
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 archivst 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_0008
American Dream
Baguio City
Berlingame
Brentwood
California
Davis
England
environmental program
Filipino education
Filipino school curriculum
finances
financial aid
first generation
first-generation
grad school
graduate school
Ilocano
Immigrant families--United States
Japan
Navy
nurse
nursing
office worker
OFW
Philippines
study abroad
Tagalog
toxology program
UC Davis
UC Santa Barbara
UK