Christian
Hello, my name is Christian and if I were to sum up what my life has been up till now it would be: ”I went home and sat in front of a computer”… I’m going to assume that that one sentence isn’t enough so I’ll add some more.
I was born in the Philippines and came to America when I was 1 year old so I don’t really know that much about the Philippines. I’ve lived in College Point for the first half of elementary school; Fresh Meadows for the other half of elementary and half of high school; and since then, I’ve lived in Queens Village. I may have lived in those neighborhoods but by no means does that mean I’ve left my house to explore them so I’m as lost as I am anywhere else that has english on its street signs. That has been changing recently due to college forcing me into the city so there is at least that.
As for the people that make up my family, I live with my mother, father, brother, and grandmother on my mother’s side who was petitioned several years ago. My father, mother, brother, and I used to live with my grandmother (on my father’s side), aunts, uncles, and cousins in their home in College Point when we recently arrived in New York. We slowly made our way up to owning our own home.
At the moment I’m thinking of a biochemistry major with maybe a minor in psychology if I can handle pre-med let alone figure out what I need to do for it. Medicine has been on my mind for as long as I can remember and seems to be stuck there so that’s what I’ll work towards. As for hobbies, there are a few. I’m trying to teach myself how to draw since I have gotten into Anime and Manga a few years back. I enjoy reading and watching things that get into horror, insanity, and the darker side of the human mind/condition (might try getting into writing if I find it fun). In terms of instruments, I used to play Bass Guitar but that ended after I graduated middle school and the occasional “I’m going to learn to play Acoustic Guitar” learning kicks die out quickly.
That’s pretty much me in a nutshell.
BLOG POSTS
Refleception: Sleep Deprived Reflections on the Tenement Museum
From the outside, the tenement seemed rather large and imposing. The old style of building surrounded by the modern city was a rather interesting contrast. I’ve heard of tenements before in 8th grade through social studies but have never been inside of one as far as I know. I knew it was supposed to be crowded but never thought it would feel that uncomfortable. The atmosphere was comparable to a rush hour subway car: hot, unstable, and claustrophobic. In the late 1800s, there were several workers as well as several families all working in those 1-2 room “apartment” sections of the tenement while outside there was a bustling, foul smelling city of commerce. Each and every member of the families we examined worked hard every single day to make ends meet as well as to make coming to this country worthwhile. Each and everyday the sweatshop machine would work for the hope of a better life. The museum did a very good job in maintaining the aesthetic as well as finding the documents and items that decorated the exhibit.
The visit to the tenement museum surprisingly reminded me of my own family’s start in America. My grandmother, father, mother, brother, two aunts, uncle, three cousins, and myself were all crowded into my grandmother’s home in College Point after we came from the Philippines. She worked with cloth and made clothes back in the Philippines so she cordoned off part of the house to continue her trade. The layout of where they worked on clothes was somewhat familiar with cloth strewn all over the tables and dresses hanging from any part of the house that jutted out. It was somewhat nostalgic to see a metal sewing machine though the one in the tenement was definitely smaller and required more manual effort in using. She and my aunts would generally take care that business while my parents worked as nurses and the four kids went to school. I’m sure it was much more comfortable compared to having to work the entire day in that sardine can of a building back in that time period. The hard work paid off at least, the proof being that picture we were shown of the remaining members of the families. They seem to have continued on to thrive within this time period.
BOOK REVIEW
From Ellis Island to JKF: New York’s Two Great Waves of Immigration by Nancy Foner
Book Review
If one looks at past immigration and immigration in the modern age, there are a multitude of differences in people immigrating, the process, and the intent. Nancy Foner, a Sociology Professor at Hunter College as well as a writer, enjoys working with comparative immigration, which her book, From Ellis Island to JFK: New York’s Two Great Waves of Immigration, contains a large amount of as the title suggests (“Nancy Foner”). Foner mentions the differences in perception of immigration within the introduction of her work; that the immigrants of the 1800s tend to be viewed as the ones that did the really hard work to create a place for themselves in America and that immigrants in the 1900s had it easy in comparison. Foner believes that this is simply due to the inevitable glorification of past events, which occurs in all parts of history, and in order to remedy this, a comprehensive comparison is required. Filled with facts and figures, which is to be expected of a Ph.D and writer/editor of 16 books on immigration, Foner attempts to inform the masses of how immigration once was and how immigration is now to further define the differences and similarities of the two waves of immigration that have become mixed together over time. I personally felt it was a bit bland but for those that find history exciting or are even just a little curious on their general roots in New York immigration, Foner succeeds in encompassing a large amount of data of different times and ethnicities in a style that is easy to digest for most readers. The book itself seems tailored to answer the burning questions that come across a person’s (or at least my own) mind when faced with the topic of past immigration.
Immigration is a rather large concept to write on, which explains how Foner found enough content to write and edit 16 or so books on aspects of immigration. Foner does a good job in fitting as much information on the immigrants of both eras into the chapters. At times this can be somewhat of a disadvantage as the large amount of data that needs to be processed in a few sentences does require a few repeated readings (and in my case, lead one to an early slumber). The large amount of information that is included under immigrant life is a disadvantage in itself as Foner mentions in her own introduction that she would not be able to focus on all the aspects of immigrant life within the book. She may just be covering New York but she goes into great detail in comparison to other books that I have read before. She goes into certain ethnicities and analyzes their education, status, reasons for immigration, areas of residence, and many more facts that I personally would not feel like researching or know all that much about. It is a lot, but she does well in fitting as many facts that the overall chapter theme deals with. On that note, she does a good job in organizing the massive amount of information that she does manage to squeeze in and it feels easy enough to navigate.
The book is divided in several chapters that go in a logical order: the first chapter asks the questions “Who They Are and Why They Have Come”, the next chapter asks “Where They Live”, next covers “The Work They Do”, then it begins to go into certain issues such as “Immigrant Women and Work”, “Transnational Ties”, “Going to School”, and finally a “Look Backward-and Forward”. Each part is straightforward in its direction (the title of the chapter literally tells you what it’s about to focus on) and if you have a question that falls under one of the categories, it’s easy to find. For example, if one were curious about what ethnicities and people came over during a certain period, then one would merely have to look in the chapter that asks the question in its titles. Foner does what she can in order to give readers a wider view of New York immigration; she describes that certain aspect of life as it was for immigrants in the 1800s and immigrants in the later half of the 1900s to cover both eras of immigration. She even goes out of the way to piece together why they are similar/different and to what extent for the reader.
Just listing fact after fact wouldn’t be a very compelling read but Foner included little anecdotes of immigrants’ story to both strengthen her assertions on what immigrant life was like as well as give a break from facts and figures. It ends up being reminiscent of being told of the old days by a grandparent. In addition, the charts that she includes are on topic and formatted well. As for the writing style, she chooses to use does not seem to be one that is too complicated which I personally enjoyed. I recall reading papers that use terminology that left me completely clueless, but Foner, possibly taking her goal of giving New York immigration a wider understanding into account, uses terms that I feel would be able to be understood by most if not all readers. As I stated before, I found certain areas to be bland; however, the fact that it was still generally easy to understand made it a lot more bearable than it would have been if she threw a load of complicated terms and concepts without explanation into the mix.
All in all, Nancy Foner’s From Ellis Island to JFK: New York’s Two Great Waves of Immigration is a good book with plenty of information should you ever need to write a paper or research into New York immigration. Foner sets out to inform people on New York immigration and there is plenty of information in the book that it is close to impossible to not learn something new about New York immigration from reading it. Written in a somewhat personal yet professional lecture style, it draws in an interested reader in and throws information at the sleep deprived college student writing a paper. The information is successfully presented in a writing style that does not confuse the reader with unnecessarily complicated terms and the anecdotes of actual immigrants of the era give a detailed mental picture. I may find it a little cumbersome and boring at times but there is no ignoring that Foner does well in organizing and tailoring a topic that is sometimes difficult to follow for an audience that may not be as interested in immigration as she is.
