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Macaulay Honors College
at Baruch, Spring 2011Professor Els de Graauw
ITF Emily Sherwood -
Authors
▪ Alyssa Alicino
▪ Brandon Baksh
▪ Ru Xiao Chen
▪ Belinda Chiu
▪ Els de Graauw
▪ Becca Glickman
▪ Elisabeth Greenberg
▪ Doris Hu
▪ Peky Huang
▪ Toby Joseph
▪ Haesol Jun
▪ Nika Kartvelishvili
▪ Farrukh Khan
▪ Holly Kiang
▪ Julian Kipnis
▪ Kar Yi Lim
▪ Yang Lin
▪ Cait McCarthy
▪ Sofya Moshkovich
▪ Mariya Tuchinskaya
▪ Ying Zhang Login
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Changing Family Roles
Choi immigrated to the United States from Korea about 10 years ago. She is now 46 years old. Here, she talks about how living in the United States has made her question traditional family roles:
In Korea, my husband did all the moneymaking. Here, I have to make money, too. It’s unfair, because only I got more work to do! He doesn’t do any chores at home. He always complains he’s so tired. I understand. But that’s not fair. I’m very tired, too, but I come home and I cook, I clean, I do laundry. He doesn’t do anything when he gets home. He goes straight into his room and never comes out. It’s unfair.”
I Know What I’m Doing
Choi immigrated to the United States from Korea about 10 years ago. She is now 46 years old. When asked if she had experienced any form of discrimination at her workplace, she said:
Not really, because I hang out with Koreans all the time. But there are some white girls who work there too, and they always complain about how Flushing is not America because it’s all Chinese and Korean. And they talk among themselves behind our backs, but we all know what they’re doing. We just don’t say anything. Once, I was looking at the appointment book and she comes up to me and says, “You’re supposed to check the date first. This page is for Friday” in such a condescending tone. So annoying, that b****! I know what I’m doing, you know? So [she suggested that] I need to learn English.”
Language Discrimination
Choi immigrated to the United States from Korea about 10 years ago. She is now 46 years old. Here, she comments on what she sees as language discrimination:
Once, I went to the bank and I was waiting on line for the longest time. Not because they were really busy, but only because they were busy talking with each other for fun. And when I try to confront them, they don’t care. They ignore you and say “go wait online, I’m busy.” But if some other person who speaks English fluently goes to confront them, they say “sorry.” Nothing big, but things like that happen all the time. You need to speak English to be treated right.”
You Need English to Get By
Choi immigrated to the United States from Korea about 10 years ago. She is now 46 years old. When asked what she does when in need of translation assistance, she replied,
Usually, I go to my son. His English is much better because he went to school here. Whenever I need to call the company to claim my money – because they do that a lot, they make all sorts of mistakes – I make my son do it. When he was younger, I used to call and ask for Korean translator, but they don’t help much and it’s easier to get my son to talk to them directly.”
You Can Only Improve So Much
Choi immigrated to the United States from Korea about 10 years ago. She is now 46 years old. She explained why it has been difficult for her to keep improving her English language skills:
So my English was getting better, but it stopped so I can make a living at my workplace. But since all my co-workers are Korean, I end up speaking more Korean than English.”
A Victim of Immigration Fraud
Choi immigrated to the United States from Korea about 10 years ago. She is now 46 years old. Despite her best efforts to follow legal procedures and apply for a green card, she became an undocumented immigrant today due to fraud:
My lawyer took the money and fled. I should have known, since he wanted me to switch to a P-3, which is for people with specialized skills. I don’t have any, but he told me it’s okay, so I did it. That jerk. So many frauds in this country, you know? Targeting the poor ignorant immigrants who don’t speak English. Such corrupted society.”
Just Like Korea
Choi immigrated to the United States from Korea about 10 years ago. She is now 46 years old. Here she comments on the neighborhood in New York City where she initially settled:
I didn’t like the neighborhood itself, but it was convenient. It was just like Korea. There were Koreans everywhere and stores had everything written in Korean everywhere I go. It didn’t feel like I was in the U.S. Sometimes I got shocked to see a white guy passing by the street.”
