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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.
Isabel Mangoba
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed.
James Garcia
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound.
[June 2, 2019]<br />[Begin Audio File]<br />[0:00]<br />MANGOBA: Could you give me your name and just a brief introduction about who you are?<br />GARCIA: My name is James. I am a 1.5 immigrant. I immigrated here when I was 9 years old in<br />2006.<br />MANGOBA: Who are you right now?<br />GARCIA: [laughter] I’m a 4th year college student at UC Davis. [pause] I don’t know how to<br />introduce myself.<br />MANGOBA: That’s fine.<br />GARCIA: Just cut this out. [laughter]<br />MANGOBA: So you’ve answered where and when you were born.<br />GARCIA: Okay.<br />MANGOBA: Where and when were your parents born?<br />GARCIA: So my mom was born in Batangas in the Philippines in 1971, and then my dad was<br />born in Cavite in the Philippines in 1971.<br />MANGOBA: How old were you when you immigrated to the U.S.?<br />GARCIA: So I immigrated to the U.S. when I was 9 years old.<br />MANGOBA: Where did you first live in the United States?<br />GARCIA: So the first place I lived in when I moved here was in Los Angeles in 2006 in<br />Koreatown.<br />MANGOBA: Is that where you live now?<br />GARCIA: No. So my family lives in West Covina now. So they moved from L.A. back in 2009<br />to West Covina.<br />MANGOBA: When you immigrated, who did you come with and who did you leave behind?<br />GARCIA: My mom actually came here first in November 2005, and then, during that time, there<br />were four of us- three of my siblings and I- being taken care of by my grandmother in the<br />Philippines- my mom’s mom. In May 2006 was when we first moved here to the U.S.<br />MANGOBA: Why did your family decide to move out of the Philippines?<br />GARCIA: So, as you know, the life in the Philippines is kind of tough compared to the life in the<br />U.S. The Philippines is filled with situations where there might be possibilities that my siblings<br />and I are going to get sucked into a life of drugs, a life of alcohol, gambling, and stuff like thataddictions.<br />My mom really wanted to take us out from that life, so she decided to bring us to the<br />United States and bring us here so that we can have a better life, better education, and a better<br />future.<br />MANGOBA: What were your family’s hopes, or your own hopes, for your new life in America?<br />GARCIA: Like I said, my mom’s one hope, or one wish, is that we all grow up to be really<br />successful in life- to live a life without drugs and have a really bright future- to live up to our<br />potential basically.<br />My hope from moving to the U.S. is really to just one, reach my dreams, which is to become a<br />doctor, support my family in the future ‘cause my mom worked really hard. My one goal is to in<br />the future just buy her a house. It’s not just my goal, it’s my siblings and I’s- it’s all of our goals.<br />Right now, we’re all just working really, really hard to get a really good career and give back to<br />our families once we grow up in the future.<br />MANGOBA: Did immigration affect what you planned to pursue [as a career]?<br />[4:32]<br />GARCIA: Yeah. In the Philippines, I studied really, really hard. I was in a good school. I was top<br />one out of my whole class in kindergarten, in grade 1, grade 2, grade 3. I worked really, really<br />hard to just excel in school. But immigrating here, I think that it kind of advanced that skill and<br />the experiences. Because of the opportunities that I was given here, I was able to integrate that to<br />who I was in the Philippines and do better here. So I would say that immigrating here really did<br />just give me the skills and give me the experiences I need to really excel and become a better<br />person than I was as a child in the Philippines.<br />MANGOBA: What was the most difficult part about leaving?<br />GARCIA: So the most difficult part about moving from the Philippines to the United States is for<br />sure adjusting to the life here- to the American society- and there was a lot of challenges that just<br />came with that. ‘Cause, you know, there’s that language barrier, the culture barrier. It was really<br />hard. When I was a kid, it was hard for me to adjust just because 1, I couldn’t really speak<br />English that well. There was a time in elementary school where I didn’t talk to anyone for 6<br />months and I just sat by myself during recess and lunch because I didn’t know how to talk to<br />people. That’s the thing- I couldn’t make connections and really engage in communicating with<br />my peers when I was in elementary school. And also the cultural barriers- the life. Families here<br />in the United States are very different from how I lived in the Philippines, or how my family<br />lived in the Philippines, so there was that disconnect between my friends and I. What they<br />experience in their life is so much different than the way I experienced my life. Their values are<br />different, their heritage. I have a very different heritage than they did- a different upbringing than<br />they did. Just like understanding where they come from, and really just assimilating to how they<br />lived their life- I think that was my main goal as a child here growing up. Just to like understand<br />how to really live in the United States. That was the hardest part. I really had to learn a lot and<br />really sit in the background and try to learn how to live here with people- with friends.<br />MANGOBA: Since you were so young, how did you approach having to transition [into<br />American culture]?<br />GARCIA: I had a really good school. I think that, when I was in elementary school, my parents<br />tried really, really hard to let the principal know and my teachers know where I came from, who<br />I was, and that I immigrated here. So my principal and my teachers there were very<br />accomodating of me. It was actually my principal who introduced me to the first person I ever<br />talked to in elementary school here in the U.S- the first friend I ever made. I still remember his<br />name. I don’t talk to him anymore, but he’s made a big impact on me, on my life. I think they<br />were really willing to help me adjust to life here. I tried really, really hard in fifth grade and<br />fourth grade. I still excelled in my studies which was good, but it was because of the them-the<br />staff that worked there- that made it easier to interact with my peers.<br />MANGOBA: Do you think that anyone saw you differently?<br />GARCIA: I think so. I think that fifth grade is that time, you know- I was like 10 I think- where I<br />started to become more integrated into the culture here. In the beginning I’m sure they did. I’m<br />sure they saw me as that kid that just sat alone by himself, didn’t talk to anyone, didn’t have any<br />friends. But once I started to integrate myself more into extracurricular activities that they<br />offered- I was in the basketball team- I did all these extracurriculars. You know, softball,<br />volleyball- I just really tried my best to participate in as many activities as I [could] as my way of<br />trying to fit in. I really liked playing sports, so I was like, “You know what, I might as well try<br />it,” and make new friends, learn from them, and maybe it would make it easier to adjust here.<br />MANGOBA: What was different about living in America as opposed to living in the<br />Philippines?<br />[9:43]<br />GARCIA: [sigh] There’s so much more freedom here. I don’t know. I think that’s also the<br />cultural [difference] here compared to the Philippines. In the Philippines, [pause] there was a<br />problem with poverty and stuff like that so, in the Philippines, it was more restricted, you know?<br />I didn’t have as much freedom as I did here because I didn’t have the capacity to. My mom<br />didn’t have the mean to give us that kind of life. But here, when I moved here, I just found it<br />really easy to [...] In terms of, let’s say, financial capacity, right? They were just giving me<br />money and everything, and I was just like, “Damn, I could really just save up and buy stuff.”<br />Whereas in the Philippines, it was really hard for me to get money. My mom was trying really<br />hard to provide us with money. I think that’s it. [pause]<br />Sorry, what was the question?<br />MANGOBA: What was different about living in America as opposed to living in the<br />Philippines?<br />GARCIA: Yeah, so again, the culture part is a big thing. Different cultures, different values for<br />sure. [pause] Yeah, I want to elaborate on it, but I just don’t know which example [...] ‘cause,<br />you know, American families are very different from Asian [and/or] Filipino families. Our<br />values are different, and there’s just that clash between cultures that I just really had to learn how<br />to live with. You know, as Filipinos, there’s this certain hierarchy that we have to follow, right?<br />We have to always follow our parents, we have to respect our elders. Whatever they tell us, we<br />just have to follow it. It’s just the way it works in our culture. Here, once you’re 18-once you<br />have the ability to make decisions on your own- you can kind of start living on your own life and<br />really just start learning and experiencing whatever opportunity was given to you- whatever is<br />presented to you either in school, at home, or in any other place you come across here in the<br />United States.<br />MANGOBA: [inaudible] So with such a big difference, in culture and value, do you find it<br />difficult to stay rooted in your Filipinx culture while transitioning into America and American<br />culture?<br />GARCIA: Surprisingly, no. [...] There’s two different examples for why I was able to stay rooted<br />in my Filipino culture. One is because, being a part of an immigrant family, my whole family<br />was deeply rooted in our culture. That would help because I would come home to my family, my<br />mom would cook Filipino food, I would speak Tagalog at home because I couldn’t speak English<br />at home. Well, it’s not that I couldn’t, but my mom just told me that in order for us to not forget<br />our language, we have to preserve it at home. And two, my first group of friends here were<br />Filipinos. They were the ones that I spent all of my elementary school [years with]- Fourth and<br />fifth grade and most of middle school. We just stayed friends and they were all Filipinos too. A<br />lot of my friends, even now, are mostly Filipinos, and that’s the main reason I was able to stay<br />rooted. We were able to share our values, our experiences, our culture. So being exposed to the<br />values of being Filipino both at home and at school and my other experiences too, I think that<br />kept me rooted in my culture.<br />MANGOBA: So you say most of your friends are Filipino and always have been, but do you<br />notice anything different between first generation immigrants and Filipino Americans here?<br />[14:14]<br />GARCIA: Yeah. My friends back then- yeah, they were Filipinos, but they had a very different<br />upbringing than I did. They were second gen[eration] Filipinos, so meaning that they were born<br />in a society where they can live their life as Americans. Yes, they are Filipinos- that’s how they<br />were born- but they were really living American lives. Whereas, for example, for me, I was born<br />as Filipinos and I lived a Filipino life. Yeah, so the main difference again, it comes back to how<br />we function in society. The culture and the values that we all have are very different. So, for<br />example, like I said, even if my friends were Filipino, the way they talk to their families, or just<br />the way they spend time with their families, were not similar to Filipinos do it. You know,<br />Filipinos are very family-centered. They’re very collectivistic, meaning that family is one of the<br />big things for them. They always want to support their family. They always want to respect their<br />elders. Whereas here, Filipino Americans- yes, they do still live that kind of life, but they<br />definitely live by the American life more. They’re more towards autonomy, like making your<br />own decision. They’re more into following their dreams. In Asian culture- in collectivistic<br />cultures, especially in the Philippines- you can follow your dreams, but your main goal is to<br />support your family in the future. You can always see that. Kids in the Philippines, once they<br />grow up, they’ll still live with their parents. There’s kind of that switch in roles: once they grow<br />up and get their jobs and make money, a lot of that money is going to go back to their families.<br />Whereas here, once you get money, you can start buying stuff. You can create your own life.<br />You can experience new things. The family values is very diminished within Filipino Americans<br />here compared to Filipinos in the Philippines.<br />[pause]<br />MANGOBA: So your family has tried really hard to maintain that type of dynamic right?<br />GARCIA: Yes.<br />MANGOBA: And it’s still like that to this day? Nothing has really influenced [a shift away from<br />those values]?<br />GARCIA: Actually, no. So I live in SoCal, my family’s in L.A. I think there has been a shift in<br />the way my parents have treated [my siblings and I] now compared to how they treated us as<br />kids. I think that once my siblings and I started to adjust to the American life, my parents started<br />to treat us like American kids. They would tell us, “Follow your dreams or whatever makes you<br />happy.” which is not common in the Filipino culture. The fact that they’re saying it really just<br />shows that they’re really trying to give us the means to be happy and to do a career where we can<br />prosper and love what we do. There has been for sure a shift from how they treated us as kids<br />and how they treat us now. I think living in the United States has really influenced how they<br />treated us.<br />MANGOBA: [pause] [inaudible]<br />GARCIA: [laugh] It’s okay, take your time.<br />MANGOBA: [pause] How do you think migration has changed or formed who you are today?<br />GARCIA: That’s a good question. I think definitely moving to the United States has given me<br />more opportunities prosper, to become a better person, to do more with my life. I think it really<br />goes back to the things I was given as a kid- the opportunities I was given: better education, a<br />better way to develop my own autonomy. If I was in the Philippines, for sure I would’ve been<br />different- I wouldn’t be the same person if I was in the Philippines. The way I am now, I’m a<br />very service-oriented person. Service-oriented meaning that I like to give back to my<br />community. I think the main reason why is because I experienced living a life in poverty. I<br />experienced a life surrounded by stress, surrounded by pressure to assimilate into this culture. So<br />whatever I can do to lessen that stress, because I went through it, in other people, I think I really<br />try my best to make sure that other people- not remove that experience, not remove that feelingbut<br />just alleviate what they’re going through. Yeah, I think my experiences before migrating here<br />and, actually, my experiences after migrating here, really shaped who I am today and what I<br />want to do in the future.<br />[20:52]<br />MANGOBA: What do you wish more people knew about immigrants and immigration?<br />GARCIA: I love this question. So, in my opinion, I think that when people think about<br />immigrants, it’s more like people coming here to work, to have a better family, and that’s just<br />where it ends- to work and to have a better future for their families. But they never really think<br />about the things that these families have to go through. I don’t know if you know the word<br />“acculturation”. Acculturation is a little similar to assimilation, but more towards adjusting to<br />the receiving culture and experiencing everything that comes with this cultural clash, like stress.<br />There’s something called acculturative stress that is very big on mental health research in Asian<br />American immigrants. People need to realize that immigrants come here not only to work, nbut<br />also to really overcome challenges that go with that. The United States- yes, it was built by<br />immigrants. We all know that, it’s in our history books. But it’s it is not made, right now, for<br />immigrants. As you learn in [Asian American Studies], the path to citizenship is so difficult right<br />now. I have Filipino friends whose families aren’t even citizens yet, and they’ve been waiting for<br />20 years. There’s so many implications that come with that. You can’t do much in the United<br />States without being a citizen. In order to rent an apartment, you have to be a citizen. In order to<br />start a bank account, you have to be a citizen. All these challenges that come with becoming<br />citizens, and not even [just] that- like providing for your families, looking for jobs that don’t<br />require you to be a citizen. A lot of those jobs are minimum wage, low-income jobs. In addition<br />to trying to become a citizen, you’re also trying to get a lot of money for your family. All this<br />stress builds up to the point where it affects immigrants’ mental health and physical health. I<br />think if we can come to an understanding that immigrants are going through much more than just<br />trying to get a job- just moving here and trying to get a job. They all have to go through a great<br />deal of obstacles. A few do rise above. It takes time, but it happens. In order to live a good life in<br />another country, you have to work for it. I think our society, especially the American society, just<br />needs to sit down and understand what’s going on within these immigrant families.<br />[ 24:49]<br />MANGOBA: You took ASA 150 [The Filipinx Experience in America] right?<br />GARCIA: I did. Yes.<br />MANGOBA: Do you think the class does justice [in reflecting the experiences of all generations<br />of Filipinx in America]?<br />GARCIA: I think so. ASA 150 is one of the few classes in the United States where it talks about<br />the Filipino culture, Filipino migration. I think that’s really important because it gives us the<br />opportunity to learn something about ourselves- learn something about who we are that we didn’t<br />learn in high school. When I took ASA 150, and I learned a lot of different topics about Filipino<br />migration, export, and stuff like that, it really just took me back to how my family is. Honestly,<br />that’s how my family is- how one of the greatest sources of income or GDP for the Philippines is<br />labor export. I have my aunts and my uncles that work in Dubai and Singapore, and all of these<br />remittances go back to the Philippines and raise their GDP and stuff like that. Learning about<br />these things in ASA 150 really opens your eyes to how the process is. It really makes you realize<br />that it’s not just your family, but it happens to families all over the world. At least in my opinion,<br />understanding that this is happening not only to you but to everyone else is a doorway- an<br />entrance to figuring out how to help each other out. Because, again, our Filipino culture is very<br />family-oriented and we really try to do our best to look out for each other so ASA 150 is a<br />subject that gives you the first step in how to do that. It always comes back to understanding<br />where you come from.<br />MANGOBA: I think you covered most of my questions, so is there anything you’d like to add<br />that has not been asked?<br />GARCIA: No. Unless you have any other questions, but it’s up to you.<br />MANGOBA: I don’t think I have anymore questions.<br />GARCIA: Cool.<br />[End Audio File]<br />Finding Guide for Oral History of James Garcia<br />[0:00-10:00]<br />Immigration at 9 years old in 2006 - 4th year college student at UC Davis - mom born in<br />Bantangas in 1971 - dad born in Cavite in 1971 - First lived in Koreatown in 2006 - Moved to<br />West Covina in 2009 - Mom immigrated first in 2005, grandmother takes care of siblings in the<br />Philippines until immigration in 2006 - hopes for immigration - effect of immigration on career -<br />transition into American culture as a child - comparison between American and Filipino culture<br />[10:01-20:00]<br />Comparison of life in America and in the Philippines - affect on personal cultural life -<br />comparison between immigrants and Filipino Americans - family values - affect of immigration<br />on family values - affect of immigration on identity<br />[20:01-27:24]<br />What more people should know about immigration - acculturation - acculturative stress - affect<br />of immigration on mental health - Immigrant perspective/opinion on ASA 150
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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
Oral History Interview with James Garcia
Subject
The topic of the resource
Batangas, Cavite, University of California Davis, Immigrant families--United States, Filipino Americans -- Social conditions, First Generation Immigrant Families, 1.5 Generation Immigrant Families, Second Generation Immigrant Families, Children of immigrants -- Education, Immigrants -- Education, Americanization, Acculturation, Assimilation, Collectivism, Individualism, Filipino Labor Export, OFWs, Reasons for Immigrating, Language barrier, Filipino Americans -- Family relationships
Description
An account of the resource
Oral history interview with James Garcia, interviewed by Isabel Mangoba
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_0027
1.5 Generation Immigrant Families
Acculturation
Americanization
assimilation
Batangas
Cavite
Children of immigrants -- Education
Collectivism
Filipino Americans -- Family relationships
Filipino Americans -- Social conditions
Filipino Labor Export
First Generation Immigrant Families
Immigrant families--United States
Immigrants -- Education
Individualism
Language barrier
OFWs
Reasons for Immigrating
Second Generation Immigrant Families
University of California Davis
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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.
Matthew Lawrence
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed.
Andrea Alcantra
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound.
[Andrea Alcantra is a 1st year civil engineering major, I know her through PASE as she is part of the incoming board with me. I’m interviewing her for the ASA 150 Final project spring quarter 2019]<br />Matthew: <br />The first question is when and where were you born?<br /><br />Andrea:<br />I was born in Manila Philippines on November 12, 2000.<br /><br />Where my mom was born in Balayan Batangas and my dad and I have no idea i have no information on him.<br />Do you want me to talk about my dad or my biological dad or like?<br /><br />Matthew: whoever you feel more connected to<br /><br />Andrea: Ok um, Well then my dad is born in Manila Philippines<br /><br />Matthew: did your mom and dad meet in Manila?<br /><br />Andrea: yeah that's where my mom grew up. She was born in the province then came to Manila<br /><br />Matthew: and then the next question is what jobs did your parents do growing up?<br /><br />Andrea: growing up[pause], my mom had a restaurant that lasted for just like the most recent thing I remember she had a restaurant down the street from my house and that lasted for like 8 years. And she was an english teacher online and that lasted for another 6 years and then no, yeah we came here. <br /><br />Matthew: <br />Alright, do you know your grandparents on either side?<br /><br />Andrea:<br />I know my grandma from my mom’s side.<br /><br />Matthew:<br />And then, Do you know what your grandma did or where she was from?<br /><br />Andrea:<br />My grandma is also from Balayan Batangas and she also grew up in Manila, that’s usually how it works<br /><br />Matthew: <br />Yeah I kind of figured<br /><br />Andrea: <br />Yeah that’s kind of how it works, you were like raised in the city and my grandma did everything. She sold everything that she could sell. She graduated college with journalism, and so she was writing a little bit but that doesn’t really make money. She was also a realtor and that’s really all I know from like what she did before she came to the US. and then when she came to the US she worked for [inaudible Bishop?] and worked her way up and became a manager and then she retired<br /><br />Matthew: <br />Do you have siblings? Wait you have more than one right?<br /><br />Andrea:<br />Yeah I have 9 siblings, or there’s nine of us yeah from my mom’s side.<br /><br />Matthew: And then do all of them live here?<br /><br />Andrea<br />Uh so all of us live here in the US except the eldest Which because when we were trying, immigrating she was like overage. <br /><br />Matthew: <br />And then did anyone move to America before in terms of your siblings, or obviously your mom, did your mom come over first?<br /><br />Andrea:<br />No so my great grandma came here, then immigrated my grandma and her kids. Then my mom was overage so she had to wait 15[?] years and then immigrated all of us like my grandma did it<br />So we all came here at the same time <br /><br />Matthew:<br />Ok. and then what age did you move over from the Philippines?<br /><br />Andrea:<br />I was 8. <br /><br />Matthew:<br />And so yeah do you remember anything from school in the philippines? What was that like.<br /><br />Andrea:<br />I was there until I was in third grade. I was put into a school a really big private school, and all the kids were rich and it was a really competitive school. Out of all my siblings I was the youngest so I was the only one they could afford to put in there. And then it was like a bunch of spoiled rich kids And I wasn’t that because I had so many siblings and had very little money and whatever money we had was to put me in school. And then it was a lot of comparisons between what they had and what I didn’t have. And but yeah school was a lot harder in the Philippines they’re just less sympathetic with your needs in education and how people are in different levels. They expect you to just be smart and if not you just fail [insert expletive from Matthew]<br /><br />Matthew:<br />So have you had any professional experience?<br /><br />Andrea:<br />No but here I don’t know what that means.<br /><br />Matthew:<br />Did you move anywhere else before coming to the US?<br /><br />Andrea:<br />No I’ve only lived in two countries, and like 3 homes<br /><br />Matthew:<br />What were your thoughts about the US before moving here?<br /><br />Andrea:<br />I thought the US was a lot of chocolates, and I thought the whole US was chocolates and it was really cold everywhere and that there was snow everywhere all year long. And then when I talked to my cousins on facebook they come from the philippines to here and they were like your feet don’t get dirty here and everywhere’s carpet so your feet don’t get dirty.<br /><br />Matthew:<br />And so what was it like finding out the US wasn’t full of chocolate?<br /><br />Andrea:<br />Well when I came here it was like, I didn’t know I was going to stay here forever cause it didn’t like register to me till like a few months of being here and then like i don’t know, I didn’t love it because it wasn’t my home and I thought we were going to go home. And like I just started hating little things about the US and then the chocolate was [insert Matthew saying: so the chocolate was gone] like way gone I didn’t even think about it anymore. And then I realized even here we weren’t rich and there were a lot of trips to the dollar store with my grandma but like as a kid to me you know it was just a store you went to. It wasn’t until school like influenced my thoughts on what like poor people had or rich people had.<br /><br />Matthew:<br />What was the switch like coming from private schools in the philippines to US schools? Did you go to private school, public school, catholic school?<br /><br />Andrea:<br />I went to public school and I went with my cousins so it kind of helped. She was around for like recess and stuff. It was a lot more diverse people, and in the Philippines I went to school with like a lot of muslims and it was weird not to [see] people with Hijabs and stuff.and I went to school with a lot of Koreans too so yeah and it was weird not seeing that. And then it was like it was a lot of people that look different but was all American. As for school was I wasn’t really studying for tests like I did in the Philippines where I had like pages and pages of study guides and practice exams in the third grade [laughs] and then here it was like all the test scores didn’t matter and it would be hard to fail a grade.<br /><br />Matthew:<br />That’s a big change. then what school did you go to in the US, what city are you from?<br /><br />Andrea:<br />Um I’m from richmond. But for my first year of school I lived in Pinole which is also in east bay cause that’s where my cousins went to school.<br /><br />Matthew:<br />And then in school did you stay with your cousins, did you stay at your cousins school?<br /><br />Andrea:<br />I’d stay with my cousins During the week and then on the weekends my Uncle would bring me back home.<br /><br />Matthew:<br />Ok<br /><br />Andrea:<br />That was also because my house was really crowded, [inaudible]<br /><br />Matthew:<br />And then how much older is your oldest sibling?<br /><br />Andrea:<br />My oldest sibling is like 30,yeah, but then like they’re all like a year a part and me and my sister is like 3 years apart.<br /><br />Matthew:<br />And then when your family first moved here did you stay with extended family like cousins and uncles?<br /><br />Andrea:<br />My grandma actually bought a house for us before we moved here and that was in Richmond so then yeah and then a month after living there she had us pay for everything so my siblings got jobs like 2 weeks after moving here. But yeah it was with my grandma.<br /><br />Matthew:<br />Let’s see, [commentary on questions not being applicable] and then what were your thoughts on America moving here? You mentioned a lot of transitions any thoughts on that?<br /><br />Andrea:<br />Well in terms of family we didn’t really have extended family in the philippines anymore because they all came here so it was getting to know family and cousins who barely go back to the Philippines and there was a lot of family parties and trying to have everyone connect. And there was a lot of like I remember my mom tried to keep me out of it but there was a lot of like financial problems you know? Because my grandma didn’t really give us much room to make money and expecting payments and stuff. I don’t blame her but she’s already had done a lot for us. That brought me and my siblings together and that kind of helped us mature faster. I can’t really be a kid anymore because they’re too busy working. And like theres more serious things going on than me wanting to play or wanting nice things and stuff<br /><br />Matthew:<br />I suppose the next question is when you were in high school or as you got older were you expected to work a job?<br /><br />Andrea:<br />My mom always put that I was going to college no matter what, because on top of everything that was the priority that was why my family came here in the first place. So that even though none of my siblings went to higher education, I would go and I would graduate but I knew that we wouldn’t have money for me to go to college. And at 16 I started looking for jobs so junior year. I knew I had to start saving up money for college and anything else I wanted to do. The last thing in my family’s mind was to be giving me money for like needs I had with everyday stuff. And then seeing my siblings work it was kind of weird for me not to work and I always wanted to work because [my siblings were working] and so I wanted to work. It was never expected of me though<br /><br />Matthew:<br />I know your mom expected you go to college, what brought you here to Davis instead of the East Bay or SF state or something?<br /><br />Andrea:<br />It had a lot to do with family. I didn’t apply to schools in like Southern California or anywhere else other than Northern California just cause I wanted to stay close to my family ,as close as possible, even though I wouldn’t be going home very much like every weekend so if anything I could just go back. [inaudible/and/um] The thought of being like a flight away from my family I just didn’t want to do it. I wasn’t ready for it and I’m glad I stayed close to home.<br /><br />Matthew:<br />Do you notice anything different between first generation immigrants and the FilAm community? Things like cultural differences, between people born here vs people coming here as a kid. <br /><br />Andrea:<br />Yeah I do, like I’m not going to name any names but I here some rich kids talk and it’s just really different cause they never really experienced not having money even though they can speak on their parents’ behalf. If you’ve never experienced it first hand, you won’t really now how much you had compared to how much you would have had<br /><br />Matthew: <br />Any cultural differences that you noticed?<br /><br />Andrea:<br />Yeah actually, I noticed like back home with a group of friends back home there’s no judgement and everyone’s close. No matter who you hang out with it’s not like a conclusion that you’re into that person. Here it’s like oh you talk to one person it’s easy to assume you’re into that person. You know? [You can’t just be friends with someone without people starting to talk] In the Philippines it’s common they don’t really see the gender if you’re a group of friends you’re a group of friends anyone is going to be talking to anyone. And then there’s also like yeah sometimes I feel like people aren’t as genuine as people back home. There’s still like fakeness despite coming into the FilAm and expecting genuinity and yeah it’s still like a bunch of American kids.<br /><br />Matthew:<br />Were you surprised by that coming into it because I know you spent a lot of time about half your time growing up here were you surprised that people weren’t as genuine<br /><br />Andrea:<br />I expected people to be exactly like people from back home. Or at least resemble that like family trait or that family comes first and that we’re all family. It’s not like that we’re just friends.<br /><br />Matthew:<br />Any other differences you noticed culturally with about food, relations, sports ?<br /><br />Andrea:<br />A lot of people in the filam actually play volleyball and in the philippines everyone played volleyball and everybody knew how to play volleyball. It was funny to see how every Filipino played volleyball. And then there’s some weird sports that filipinos wouldn’t know. Like you play water polo? And then the thing where everybody likes boba, that’s a thing in the philippines too[Matthew: so the addiction goes across the ocean?].yeah Bingsoo too. And like yeah people in the Philippines are obsessed with falafels and korean food, and even here filipinos are known to go to Korean BBQ. [Interjections from Matthew about mutual friend Anthony going to korean BBQ the preceding day] yeah but Korean BBQ is so expensive!<br /><br />Matthew:<br />Yeah I think that’s a NorCal thing because I used to go to a place back home that was $10 and I complained when it became $12.<br /><br />Andrea:<br />Yeah I went to Socal it was so much cheaper<br /><br />Oh I guess that was another thing. Famous people were like everywhere but that was just LA. I thought all the Landmarks were all in one place and I could go to like the Statue of Liberty from the Golden Gate but it’s like really big. I thought no states existed other than California and New York. [Matthew: So Texas that’s not real?] Yeah [laughs] I didn’t know there was so many different states<br /><br />Matthew:<br />When you were going to high school and middle school did you interact with the Filipino community there? Or was Davis FilAm your first experience with Filipino Americans?<br /><br />Andrea:<br />Yeah it was, there was just a lot of Latinos. I guess it’s just cause it was California. It was either white, black, latinos yeah.<br />You can ask me about my profession, I worked here!<br />I worked at target here and every summer I worked at a camp.<br /><br />Matthew:<br />What was the camp like?<br /><br />Andrea:<br />It was Camp Galileo, so it was for exploring science and stuff like that. It’s about advancing science and technology, stuff like that.<br /><br />Matthew:<br />So getting more people into the engineering major?<br /><br />Andrea:<br />Yeah like basically K-8th grade<br /><br />Matthew:<br />What was it like coming to Davis and going to Engineering?<br />Andrea:<br />Well as a woman, there’s a lot of men with intentions. It’s really hard to get respect from people as engineers and as a student because yeah. I feel like people always got their intentions. Like I’ll help you in this class but they got intentions. Like my professors are really intimidating, as a colored person I always try to go for a colored professor or hispanic or at least women. That way I won’t end up with some random guy with a really bad accent. <br /><br />Matthew:<br />And then the other question I have that I ask a lot of the filam, do you ever felt impostor syndrome?Like it’s all kind of an act or that you don’t belong?<br /><br />Andrea:<br />Yeah I feel it, coming into Davis I knew because I talked to like so many people about it. How I get through things is you know fake it till you make it and it’s like I know I belong here and as long act like I belong here, I belong here. And no one can take that away from me because I’ve worked hard to be here. Impostor syndrome, I didn’t know that there was a word for it<br /><br />Matthew:<br />Are you a first gen-[switched the phrasing in the moment] are you the first in your family to go to college? How was navigating things like college applications and filling out the FAFSA for Financial Aid<br /><br />Andrea:<br />Yeah my mom never finished college, and she was really good at filling out forms like tax forms. My siblings also went to CC [community college] before I did. They never really graduated, my mom also went to CC for a couple semesters so she knew and was able to help me with that part. It was more she didn’t know how hard it was, she just, I couldn’t show her how hard high school was or how hard applications were or the essay questions. [Matthew: groans, oh the damn essay questions.Do you want to say anything about them? For context I spent nine months writing mine] [Laughs] no I don’t want to say anything about them I blocked them out. I’m never gonna look at these again, I don’t remember the ones I answered. It just goes to show how unimportant these [expletive] questions were.And then my mom was an english teacher but she wouldn’t look over them.<br /><br />Matthew: <br />Did you have any language barriers coming over here with your mom or grandma?<br /><br />Andrea:<br />No because my mom was an english teacher and I was taught to speak english and Tagalog at the same time.That’s another stigma in the philippines, if you don’t speak english you’re poor. So yeah my grandma was a journalist and wrote some books. She even has a published book, it’s a poem book. [Matthew: Do you want to put a plug in here?] Nah I don’t even remember the name. I didn’t really support it because when she was looking for pictures and stuff because she chose my third cousins. My grandma never really liked me until I got into Davis. Then she started representing me before she didn’t represent me because I was the dark kid. She would always representing my sister because she had the lighter skin. She’d always represent my third cousins because they had lighter skin.<br /><br />Matthew:<br />Did you ever have to deal with that in the philippines or from you family here outside of your grandma?<br /><br />Andrea:<br />Yeah um, when I first came here there was jokes about how I’d be surrounded by black kids and be in a group of black kids because I was dark. Like that was something my uncles always played around with. They always made jokes when we’d get together like “How is your black friend?” even though I didn’t really have black friends. Black people actually hated me, I was hated by black girls a lot. I only remember a few black girls who liked me because of my hair. It was really straight and yeah.<br /><br />Matthew:<br />Has your experienced changed since coming to Davis?<br /><br />Andrea:<br />Well it was, they compared me a lot to my other cousins. Since I got here I was always compared to my cousins. We were still being compared and that they always had this idea that I didn’t work hard to get to college and that it was given to me. I don’t know how college acceptance works but I guess however you want to make yourself feel good about yourself. None of my aunts went to college and the aunt that came here when she was the same age as me had a kid by like 16 and ran away from home. A lot of people thought that I was gonna be like that but she didn’t really take advantage of the privileges. She took it as a joke and didn’t really plan out her life. By the time she came here my grandma was working and had money where by the time I came here my mom didn’t have money so I saw that struggle and used that as a motivation to work harder in school.
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Title
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Transcription of Immigrant Interview of Andrea Alcantra
Subject
The topic of the resource
Richmond, Pilipino Americans in Science and Engineering (PASE), Manila, Philippines; Balayan, Batangas; Families -- Philippines, Grandmothers -- Family relationships, United States -- Emigration and immigration, Immigrants -- Education, Criticism of American Dream, Filipino Americans -- Family relationships, Filipino expectations on education, Generational differences, Food habits, Impostor Syndrome, Women in engineering, Colorism
Description
An account of the resource
Oral history interview with Andrea Alcantra, interviewed by Matthew Lawrence
Date
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6/20/2019
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
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Audio Recording and Transcript
Identifier
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ucdw_wa014_s001_0025
Batangas; Families -- Philippines
Colorism
Criticism of American Dream
Filipino Americans -- Family relationships
Filipino expectations on education
Food habits
Generational differences
Grandmothers -- Family relationships
Immigrants -- Education
Impostor Syndrome
Manila
Philippines; Balayan
Pilipino Americans in Science and Engineering (PASE)
Richmond
United States -- Emigration and immigration
Women in engineering
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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
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Filipino Immigrant Oral History Project
Publisher
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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.
Jenny Khoeut
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed.
Jaselle Abuda
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound.
[Session 1, June 6, 2019] [Begin Audio File] KHOEUT: Alright, it is June 6, 2019 and it is 9:03 PM. This is Jenny Khoeut interviewing for ASA 150 Filipinx American Experience class and today I am interviewing ABUDA: Jaselle Abuda. they/them/theirs KHOEUT: Alright, and let us begin. So I’m going to ask you a few questions, just about your life history, experience, and journey here to America. So what is your name? ABUDA: My name is Jaselle Abuda. KHOEUT: And where and when were you born? ABUDA: I was born on July 2, 1996. KHOEUT: And where were your parents born? ABUDA: Same town. KHOEUT: Um, do you know what jobs your parents did when they lived in the Philippines? ABUDA: In the Philippines, no. KHOEUT: And what about what they do now? ABUDA: What they do now is that because my dad has disabilities, he doesn’t work anymore but my mom works as a CVS assistant in the hospital. KHOEUT: Okay, thank you. What about your grandparents? Do you know what they did and what they are doing now? [2] ABUDA: Yeah, I’m not sure if my parents did this back in the Philippines, but my grandparents were families of farmers, small owned lands in the provinces, we, I think we grew rice, small plants and then to either sustain ourselves or sell it to the community market. KHOEUT: Okay, cool. I wanna ask you a little more about your family. So do you come from a big family? ABUDA: Yeah. KHOEUT: Yeah? How many siblings do you have? ABUDA: I have a total of five siblings, including myself KHOEUT: Okay ABUDA: I mean 4. KHOEUT: 4 siblings? ABUDA: One unfortunately died. KHOEUT: Sorry to hear that. Um, did any of your family members or relatives move to America before you? ABUDA: So a lot of my dad side moved to america moved to america way before any of us. I believe the first one that moved here is my aunt. She’s the second oldest or the oldest out of my dad side Khoeut: Okay, do you know how that journey was like for them? ABUDA: I know snippets of it, because it’s kinda hard because she has a mental disability so conversations with her is kind of hard, but from my knowledge it was all because she married a person from the military. KHOEUT: What age did you migrate to the US? ABUDA: i migrated around 5 or 6 years old [3] KHOEUT: Do you have any academic experience when you lived in the Philippines? ABUDA: I did preschool and a little bit of kindergarten KHOEUT: Can you tell me why your family decided to move to america or move out of the Philippines? [ 4:38] ABUDA: One of the reasons my parents and my family moved to the US because they really saw how bad it was especially during Marshall Law. My dad explained that it was really hard it was a very difficult time not only for him but everyone else in the family, so what they wanted was a better life not only for us but for future generations KHOEUT: Thanks did you move anywhere before settling in the US or did your family move anywhere? ABUDA: They did here and there. I think mainly from Seattle to LA to Sacramento: KHOEUT: And your family is still in Sacramento? ABUDA: Yeah, well most of them at least KHOEUT: Okay, do you have any thoughts abouts America before you moved here? Did you family have any thoughts? ABUDA: I thought America was its own planet because I always thought each country was in each own. [laughs] I don’t know how to describe it because the plane when you were a young kid it’s kind of a big jump from the provinces to another country so I always thought it was something foreign something new. I didn’t know what I was going to what I was putting myself in. KHOEUT: What about your parents? What did they think? ABUDA: They thought that the US was a great opportunity to make a family and build a family because the education here is free, the K through 12 at least is free. They saw the opportunity for us to receive education the way that they weren’t able to in the Philippines. [4] KHOEUT: Okay, moving on. Did you have any impressions about the culture or politics of america before moving? ABUDA: I did not. In what way? KHOEUT: Like when you were younger? ABUDA: No. KHOEUT: No? Do you know if your parents had any impression about the culture? ABUDA: I think they know about the racism and bias in the workplace, especially for my dad and yeah what was the question? KHOEUT: The impressions about the culture or politics before moving to America? ABUDA: I think a lot of them thought was better like I guess the way of living. A lot of them were I guess full assimilation. They wanted us to be fully assimilated into American culture, because they didn’t want us to struggle in America. KHOEUT: After settling and living in America, did those impressions change or alter at all? ABUDA: For my parents? KHOEUT: For your parents and for you? ABUDA: Definitely yeah. I think they realized that although it’s kind of better compared to the Philippines, the same problem such as poverty and working harder than you should is the same here then there. So like all their struggles didn’t leave the Philippines. It was the same here in the US. KHOEUT: So what was different about living in America as opposed to living in the Philippines? [9:49] [5] ABUDA: So something that was different was especially the environment especially in the Philippines or in my region, it was predominantly trees, fruits that you could pick out of the trees near my house. Just being able.there‘s a different connection to nature in the philippines compared to here where it’s predominantly buildings, building structures. KHOEUT: What do you have a preference living in? Would you have rathered stayed in the Philippines or continue to living here? ABUDA: As a young person or now? KHOEUT: Now. ABUDA: Now I think I would’ve lived in the ph because it’s simpler there and also it’s just different there. And also, but I know there’s things that I can’t run away from and the situation in the ph especially for my family in the Philippines, we’re not the migrants that migrated to the Us who were educated and well-off and have financially stable. I think that will always be a dream not only for me but for all of us here and like yeah I would love to live in the Philippines, but I don’t think it’s sustainable considering the state of the Philippines and like I don’t know you have to work harder than you should to survive. KHOEUT: So earlier you mentioned you went to school in the Philippines. Did you go back to school here in America? ABUDA: So my situation is I came to the US at 6 years old and then I stayed here for 3 more years. Did and finished my kindergarten years here and then went back to the Philippines at 9 years old and stayed there for 3 more years so I was there for 1st grade and 2nd grade and then after that 4th grade, I started 4th grade in the US, so it’s like a back and forth situation. Sorry I didn’t give you that context. KHOEUT: No worries about it. Can you describe how that transition was like and if you can what was different about the education. ABUDA: The education in the Philippines is by period, from what I can remember. Its by period where the 1st period was like math or science and then there’s so the curriculum that I was exposed to there was always math, science, social science, I guess that ties into history, and then Tagalog as the language and then English as the language. That was kind of a little too much. I didn’t excel in Tagalog. I didn’t excel in English either, so I don’t know. [6] [15:00] The transition to the US is that although I had a fundamental understanding in English, I wasn’t fluent. So coming to the US around 4th grade to 6th grade, I was always taken out of the classroom to go to a different classroom because I was considered ELS, English learner student. We would always have separate worksheets that I would do for English, so have me be more fluent and meet the requirements to pass to the next grade. Yeah, okay. [laughs] KHOEUT: [laughs] Okay. What generation would you consider yourself? ABUDA 1.5 KHOEUT: 1.5? Okay. Do you notice anything different between 1st generation immigrants and Filipino Americans? ABUDA: I think I see a difference because in the first generation there’s certain ideals that they’ve been exposed to in the Philippines compared to in the US, so I guess there’s a hint of or a mixture of American culture, not to say there’s no influence of Ameican culture in the Philippines but there’s more here in the US [pause] KHOEUT: Okay. ABUDA: Oh wait, I want to add this in. A lot of what I noticed is that there’s always this push for authenticity within the Filipinx diaspora where the Filipinx migrants from the Philippines to the US feels more authentic than their FIlipin American counterparts and that’s something that troubles me because the notion of authenticity is kind of in a grey area and it doesn’t necessarily define a person or country, and I’ve been seeing that throughout my years in the US and the Philippines, and all around my community. KHOEUT: Okay, thank you for sharing that. To end this interview, can I ask what you believe is culturally authentic or what makes someone Filipinx? ABUDA: I think what I believe what makes someone Filipinx is not forgetting Filipinx American and Filipinx history. As much as there’s hurt and trauma in our history, in Filipinx history such as 330 years plus 4 years of Japasnese colonial and 48 years and beyond of US imperialism. [7] [20:00] I think that even in those histories, they’re important because it not only shaped the Filipinx identity because it also shows our resistance as a Filipinx diaspora and nothing defines a person authentically but what I think defines a person’s authentic self is looking back on their own history. Not only their families histories, but their ancestral histories and not forgetting where they came from and how they came to be and how they came to exist. KHOEUT: Okay, thank you so much for taking your time for this interview. ABUDA: [laughs]
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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
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Oral History Interview with Jaselle Abuda
Subject
The topic of the resource
Martial law -- Philippines, Immigrants -- Education, Discrimination in employment -- United States, English Learner Student (ELS), English language -- Study and teaching -- Foreign speakers, Education -- Philippines.
Description
An account of the resource
Oral history interview with Jaselle Abuda, interviewed by Jenny Khoeut
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
6/6/2019
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
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Audio Recording and Transcript
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
ucdw_wa014_s001_0023
Discrimination in employment -- United States
Education -- Philippines.
English language -- Study and teaching -- Foreign speakers
English Learner Student (ELS)
Immigrants -- Education
Martial law -- Philippines
-
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.
Jake Hutchinson
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed.
Mia Hosain-Hutchinson
Transcription
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For my oral history assignment I chose to interview my mom, an immigrant from the Philipinnes in 1985. While this is the second time I have conducted an interview with my mother on her life experiences, this course and assignment was an opportunity to dive more in depth into how experiences related to labor, education, family, language and immigration form Filipinx-American identities. <br />Mia Lucylyn Hosain was born in Baybay City on the Island of Leyte in the archipelago of the Philippines on 31 October 1972 to Pacifico Hosain and Aurora Ramirez. Mia was devlivered by a midwife in the home she was raised in for the first five years. She joined an older brother, older sister and two parents in this house, with a local community and distant family on the Hosain and Ramirez sides. In her adholescence Mia was exposed mostly to family on the Ramirez side, and was closer to her mom’s family because of how frequently she saw them. For the first twelve years a few blocks were Mia’s whole world. A walk around the bend to Grandma’s or a friend’s house seemed greater than miles. Until leaving the Philippines, the corners of her world had not much expanded past the local church and the Franciscan College of Immaculate Conception, her Catholic grade school. Everywhere Mia and the Hosains went they were walking. They could not afford a car or cabs until well after they’d lived in California, but walking remains Mia’s favorite means of transportation. She would walk to Catholic school, where they taught her subjects she enjoyed like problem solving and religion. While she spoke Visayan at home and around town, in classes they’d learn Tagalog, the national language, and English, a subject she had great struggles with. Writing and speaking in different languages may have proved difficult, but reading was where she focused her practice with them. Most of what she read was in Visayan, but standardized texts were written in Tagalog. For English reading, the students read the Bible, but were also provided random literary artifacts from the west such as syllabi, labor contracts, terms and conditions. Mia’s peers bullied her for her short height starting in grade school, but the antagonism would not end here. At Mia’s first home, the family unit commonly consumed food from the market like fish, steamed rice, and vegetables such as okra, eggplant, squash and zucchini; Everyone wa always more excited for weekends when Papa purchased chicken instead. Mia enjoyed her time with family in Baybay, especially in Grandma Lons house at age five. Her grandmas was sweet, generous, and taught Mia many of the values and identities she holds today. It was with Hosain family who would visit from the US that she began to understand there is a larger world. She did not have many toys accept household objects imagined into something more playful. They did not have many sweets either, unless Auntie Erlene mailed the children candy that Aurora divided three ways. While most of the music she heard was in Tagalog from the Phillipines, Papa’s brother Allen also played lots of “American” records from his turntable. Despite being raised outside of the United States, Mia grew up listening to the Jackson family, Queen, and Frank Sinatra. <br />Mia was 10 years old when she found out she’d soon be leaving for America to join the rest of the Hosains. After experiencing snippets of American popular culture she was excited about moving, even if she had never been there, or actually understood the dangerous political climate in the Philippinnes under President Marcos. Unfortunately Mia still doesn’t quite understand the violence of the Marcos administration despite being very aware of the devloping violence of President Duterte’s regime. The lessons Mia learned in the Philippines as a child instilled religious and family values, as well as an amaterial sense of home, community and happiness. What she most enjoyed about being a kid was the freedom from responsibility, worry, and living closer to the Ramirez family. Even with poverty, violence, and sometimes bombings tied into her childhood, she always managed to see the light. Nothing could’ve shatter her little world, but eventually she’d have to leave for a new one.<br />Embassy visits, full-body medical examinations, and invasive interviews occupied most of the family unit’s time in the years leading up to their departure for the United States. It had taken ten years while living under Marshall Law for the request Erlene submitted to be approved and for the Hosains to know they were escaping. Mia had just been born when they fearfully applied to migrate, and being the youngest, was nearly born after the request was submitted. When the day came to leave Mia was twelve years old. While she may not have realized it at the time, all of the questioning she recieved as a child was to gauge the threat posed to them by the Philipinnes, as well as the threats her family may pose to the United States. The travel process would be long and arduous too, filled with driving, flying, and rough sea voyages. Nervousness and excitement competed for her mind’s attention. The anxiety of not knowing what was happening or where she was going or what family she was going to in America ate away at her for most of the trip. Mia remembers throwing up her last meal on the taxi ride to the airport in Manila, having never even experienced anxiety before. She was finally relieved when they arrived in San Francisco to Erlene and a bag of Burger King to fill the void. The year was 1985. They would hold green cards for their first five years in the states until they collectively applied for US citizenship in 1990. Mia was the only minor when they applied, being seventeen years old, and so there were fewer questions about US history and denouncing her former nation. The logistical process of leaving the Philippines and later becoming a US citizen had less of an impact on her evolving identity than her experiences in the states during and after high school.<br />For the first two years in the US there was a separation in the family unit . Aurora, Henry, and Pacifico stayed in Pleasanton with Mel and Baltizar Tongco, while Mia and Ruthie lived with James and Ruth Hosain in San Lorenzo. James was more strict than Pacifico had been in the Philippines, and in those two years Mia had more chores and responsibilities in addition to school than she’d ever had. By cooking, cleaning, and babysitting her baby niece Rhea, Mia grew up exponentially during the time period she attended American middle school. In various Hosain households in America she slowly began to speak Visayan less. English was more commonly used to get everyone adjusted, and to educate Hosain children born in the states. The idea was transitioning to English speaking was how they could assimilate and succeed in this American society. Middle school was a major challenge and a radically different system of education from the Philipinnes. Mia struggled through middle school, but used these new experiences to exceed expectations in her next grade. The family unit reunited and moved to Livermore her Freshman Year at Livermore High School. High school would prove much easier than middle school had been for a recent immigrant. Mia was alwyss bullied for her height, but in 7th and 8th grade her difficulties with the English language also became the punchline of cruel jokes. During middle school she had few friends, and was often mistaken for having a different nation of origin, like Fiji. Before High School she questioned what this said about the “positive” American culture and values, and reinforced her love for herself, her family and heritage. High school changed some of this as Mia became extraordinarily more sociable and popular and talked to patriotic American men. Her English improved enough, she socialized and met lots of new, interesting folks, and has come to believe and accept that the men who bully her for her height project their own bodily insecurities. The lifelong friends she first made in high school introduced her to all sorts of new experiences, like country music and rodeos, early nineties boy bands, cars, wine and varieties of homemade Asian foods she’d never gotten to try in the Philipinnes. At sixteen, her Junior year, Mia was employed by Little Caesars along with her sister Ruthie; They easily landed the positions because the owner was an American friend of the Hosain family. The varous Hosain family units made lots of American friends when first arriving, and it typically made it easier to become part of the new community. Between working in food service, attending American schools and hanging with Asian-American friends she was speaking almost entirely English during this period. While Little Caesers was influential in defining the value of labor for her, the work experience was short lived. Nearing the end of high school and being ahead of her class, Mia enrolled in ROP classes to begin working at a local hospital to train for a nursing career. Mia earned favor with management and remained as a receptionist at Valley Care Medical Center after high school. On the side she began taking courses at Las Positas College to fulfill General Education requirements. One of the things about living in the US Mia most appreciates is the ease she had in acquiring an education ans a variety of careers, calling it, “truly a land of opportunituy”. Working as a receptionist was where she met Jeffrey Hutchison. Dating had been new to Mia. Mia remembers romantic interest was handled very differently in the Philippines, even though she was just a child. Filipino pursuants often wrote letters to their interests and their interests family members, as dating was more “formal” than the notably aggressive, spantaneous behavior of Americans. Jeff would ask the other nurses if they knew when Mia was working, so he could be sure to bring his fresh-baked goods when he knew she’d be there to taste. It was through dating that Mia says she picked up the most “Americanisms” for herself as they relate to food, colloquial language, confidence, and performance.<br />Mia married Jeffrey in 1996 at twenty-four years old and after dating for four years. Another year later, she’d give birth to their first child, me. As a parent Mia made many sacrifices and returned to a lot of the values she was conditioned into in the Philippines. She made the difficult decision of dropping out of nursing school when I was born to ensure I’d have someone I could call family raising me. During my childhood Mia taught me preliminary school lessons like how to count, spell, memorize, and solve puzzles, but because of opposition from Jeff she never taught us how to speak Tagalog or Visayan. She did not want my brother and I to begin schooling behind as she believed had been after moving here, though I disagree and see her ability to speak three distinct languages as an incredible advantage anywhere. To get us ahead of our class there were some things our parents chose to teach early on, while other lessons like learning the language of the Hosain family were unfortunately sacrificed because of Jeff’s American hegemony and Mia’s acceptance. Mia took us to Catholic Mass and guided us through the process of getting First Communion, hoping we’d adopt many of her religious values as our own, but making it clearer as we got older these beliefs were choices. I think it does dissapoint Mia that I am not Catholic though, and it disapoints her moreso to talk about Catholicism in relation to colonization. Mia taught us to cherish family over all else, and never forget family stays together and cares for each other. She encouraged us to hang out with friends in oour families home so she could meet them and recreate the atmosphere she had as a child of spending time at home with friends and family together. Since they've been together Mia and Jeff Hutchison both highly value photography and documentations of family time together. While they came from different parts of the world, neither had the privilege of home photos or videos from their youth. They may hold their memories close, but they also usually keep a camera handy. Mia did not want her children to think back on their childhood and wonder what has been lost in the blur, but look back on those photographs as tools for remembering how we got here. Because Mia and Jeff have very little photographs of their childhoods at all besides legal documentation, there are thousands of photos of Jason and I growing up in the Hutchison scrapbooks.<br />Around when I was ten years old Mia went back to community college preparing to further educate herself and later begin employment. Again, Mia left school after a couple years but this time from a place of strength. She knew what she sought from working, and also knew how limited and expensive her knowledge would be onl learning in a classroom. When I neared the age of thirteen, Mia told me she’d soon be returning to work. Mia loved raising and spending time with my brother and I as we became more capable, but she also missed the empowerment of feeling she was working and learning for herself. She applied and began working at a local Costco Wholesale. While raising two was an opportunity to learn, grow and recapture those childhood feelings of freedom, Mia also missed being around other adults everyday, so work became a necessary outlet for adult communication. While employment is not enjoyable under capitalism anywhere, Mia appreciates she is a worker here instead of in the Philipinnes where she claims there are longer hours, less breaks and lower pay, though never was employed there. Mia has continued to learn being part of the American workforce about the value of the bodies of laborers, and how important it is to take care of and appreciate herself.<br />During summer of 2018 Mia returned to her home in Baybay City for the first time since 1985, and with Jason for his first visit ever. She was very excited to return to her other home! While nervous for what could possibly have changed, it was not the same anxiety she felt when she left a confused child. The process of travelling, affording to travel and avoiding discriminatory immigration practices was much easier for her as an adult with a career and US citizenship. When she returned to her little world it all came rushing back; She reunited with Ramirez family on her mothers side for the first time in over 25 years; it was a welcome feeling reconnecting, but still left her seeking more about what was missed between their times together. Mia is used to speaking English and Visayan blurred in a strange harmony with the Hosain family, but going home she realized how much her Visayan and Tagalog had faltered. Their old Catholic church still stood and the old houses are still kept in the family; They visited the local cemetery and reminded themselves of Hosains and Ramirezes past. Mia’s grade school is open too, and when visiting, she was reunited with her lovely Kindergarten instructor. The roads seemed smaller though, and those few blocks are not quite the grand landscape they had been as a child. The infrastructure of the city was mostly the same, but the population had exploded. She understood now both spaces she’d lived in are a larger world, and how different experiences change your perception of reality. Mia was usually happy with what she discovered had changed about Leyte, and especially larger cities like Manila and Cebu. The local market she used to frequent every week had apples, oranges, and other imported goods. Were the locals still eating the local food? In bigger cities, large exciting markets were replaced with shopping malls, with most of the stores inside being US-based companies like Pacsun and Forever 21. Vehicularly transportation had grown in popularity, despite not always having the right amount of space on the road for the capacity of cars, and despite sometimes not having paved roads at all. As a result they walked less frequently on this visit, and were able to visit more than Baybay City. Being back for a short three weeks and not always experiencing a revitalization of her old life made the feeling incomplete; Like she was a tourist in her own home. In her experience there were still not many Americans living in the Philippines, but the Philippines felt like it was still grappling with the ever-presence of the west. Workers from around the world in more or less developed countries are noticeably growing, usually working for American and Korean, and filling the void left by a dimishing number of skilled workers leaving the state. This disappointment was heightened by her sister Ruthie’s lack of concern over gentrification in Baybay. Ruth didn’t mind shopping from retailers or eating from chain restaurants, going as far as to encourage her own children not to buy from vendors or get “sick” from street food. Mia couldn’t understand how Ruth could have come so far from home, finally voyage back, and still, “be so American”. Mia was disapointed her sister could fall for propoganda othering their home a “third world”, and knew the space there were in was the same loving community they had been born into. <br />What seemed like a lifelong chapter in her journey from adolescence and being Filipina to immigrating to the US and adopting aspects of an American identity was concluded with the trip back to where her journey began. While Mia had always held onto Catholic and family values no matter where she went, coming back home she knew she was foremost a Filipina and loved that home. Mia valued many things about the US between the landscape, music, opportunities and diversity of other cultures, but her roots are in the Philipinnes. There is still no food that can match traditional Filipinx food, nor beaches as clean and flourishing. The energy of the Filipinx people through histories of colonialism, poverty and revolutio runs through Mia and forms into a positive and self-loving spirit no matter where she may be. Mia is proud to be a woman of the Philippines, having grown up with strong women but experiencing more feminist discourse in the US and with coworkers. Most of all Mia takes nothing for granted. Even after living in a central valley suburb for twenty years and sometimes forgetting how valuable her privileges are, going home she still disdains how Americans have tried to “make our home beautiful”, and prefers a walk down those small, rough streets to anywhere else. She still loves speaking Visayan with the Hosain family despite being most comfortable with English now. In the future Mia wants to speak her orginal families language more and has asked Jason and I to try and learn as well. She also would like to travel on her own accord more; In travelling she’d hope to explore her connection to other women in other parts of the Pacific in ways she could not do by simply staying in school, though remains cautious of the realities she’ll have to accept the more she understands the history of Catholicism infiltrating Asia. Throughout her journey she has come to identify as Catholic, as a wife and mother, a proud Woman, a Hosain, Hutchison and Ramirez, and in part as an American worker, but for forty six-years Mia has been most proud of being a kind Filipina in the world and from where her journey started.
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Title
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Oral history of Mia Hosain-Hutchinson
Subject
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Baybay City, Leyte; Education -- Philippines, American popular culture, Marcos regime, Martial law -- Philippines, United States -- Emigration and immigration, Green cards, U.S. Citizenship, Identity, Family Separation, Assimilation, Immigrants -- Education, Las Positas College, Interracial marriage, Interracial families, Language shaming, Catholicism, balikbayan, Capitalism, Multilingualism
Description
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Oral history interview with Mia Hosain-Hutchinson, interviewed by Jake Hutchinson (written as report)
Date
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6/13/2019
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
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Report
Identifier
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ucdw_wa014_s001_0021
American popular culture
assimilation
balikbayan
Baybay City
Capitalism
Catholicism
Family separation
Green cards
Identity
Immigrants -- Education
Interracial families
Interracial marriage
Language shaming
Las Positas College
Leyte; Education -- Philippines
Marcos regime
Martial law -- Philippines
Multilingualism
U.S. Citizenship
United States -- Emigration and immigration