Interview 2: Christine
I was overwhelmed with anticipation as I turned on my laptop. I planned on interview my best friend who I have known since I was a toddler and this was my first time Skyping with her since we've been at Uni. She began by updating me on her sophomore year and UW Madison and then I updated her on my freshman experience. I eased into the topic of my English 101 class, briefly explaining to her about my website and my autoethnography topic; however, I made sure she wasn't cognizant of being the interviewee because I didn't want her to expect the typical interview format like my former interviewee was.
"Throughout my English project, it's weird to see the difference between Asians with immigrant parents and Asians without immigrant parents." I began.
"I know. It seems like even after two generations of being in the States, they forget the language and don't carry on the culture anymore. It's quite sad actually." she replied.
"Exactly! I know I would want my children to have the ability to read, write, and speak Vietnamese, dance for Tet, and respect their Elders, but living in the West definitely provides a different set of influences."
"I concur. I will bring my children to temple every Sunday if that's what it takes to influence them. And yeah, even though it could be annoying sometimes, I'm really glad we spoke strictly Vietnamese in the house. Also, eating Vietnamese food was the best. We can actually go to a Vietnamese restaurant and know what to order."
"Oh my gosh, yes. I miss Viet food! Especially pho!" We then proceeded to go on a food tangent and talked about how much we miss Viet food. "Well Martha, would you be the parent that enforces language and culture when you have kids?"
"Of course! I would let my mom baby-sit them so they would go through what I did." she said with a laughter.
"That's what I'm going to do. My mom will watch them while I'm at work. One: it provides discipline that follows the Vietnamese beliefs; two: it allows them to be exposed to the language."
My friend had lived with me for a couple of years due to family issues and she is practically my sister. We grew up together and were raised the same way so her background is extremely similar to my own. Her mother met my mother in the Philippines, a stop between Viet Nam and America. Like me, she is very adamant on maintaining the link to her roots and culture, yet, she is very aware of the American culture, participating in many holidays such as Independence Day and Pearl Harbor Day. We could even categorize ourselves as Patriots, willing to sacrifice for this country, but we are also willing to stand up for our homeland as well.
"Throughout my English project, it's weird to see the difference between Asians with immigrant parents and Asians without immigrant parents." I began.
"I know. It seems like even after two generations of being in the States, they forget the language and don't carry on the culture anymore. It's quite sad actually." she replied.
"Exactly! I know I would want my children to have the ability to read, write, and speak Vietnamese, dance for Tet, and respect their Elders, but living in the West definitely provides a different set of influences."
"I concur. I will bring my children to temple every Sunday if that's what it takes to influence them. And yeah, even though it could be annoying sometimes, I'm really glad we spoke strictly Vietnamese in the house. Also, eating Vietnamese food was the best. We can actually go to a Vietnamese restaurant and know what to order."
"Oh my gosh, yes. I miss Viet food! Especially pho!" We then proceeded to go on a food tangent and talked about how much we miss Viet food. "Well Martha, would you be the parent that enforces language and culture when you have kids?"
"Of course! I would let my mom baby-sit them so they would go through what I did." she said with a laughter.
"That's what I'm going to do. My mom will watch them while I'm at work. One: it provides discipline that follows the Vietnamese beliefs; two: it allows them to be exposed to the language."
My friend had lived with me for a couple of years due to family issues and she is practically my sister. We grew up together and were raised the same way so her background is extremely similar to my own. Her mother met my mother in the Philippines, a stop between Viet Nam and America. Like me, she is very adamant on maintaining the link to her roots and culture, yet, she is very aware of the American culture, participating in many holidays such as Independence Day and Pearl Harbor Day. We could even categorize ourselves as Patriots, willing to sacrifice for this country, but we are also willing to stand up for our homeland as well.