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Macaulay Honors College
at Baruch, Spring 2013Professor Els de Graauw
ITF Benjamin Miller Log in
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Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better
Although Lilya learned English back in high school in the Ukraine, she hadn’t used it until she came here at the age of 42:
When you start life all over again, at 42 years old, it’s not easy. But I think you know, some people think that my English is not good, I understand that my English is not good, but in some way I understand that I accomplish a lot.
It’s Not Your Fault
Throughout Lilya’s 17 years in New York she never felt discriminated against by America or it’s people:
You know, I like this country. And I like to live here. Despite, you know, to be an immigrant, it’s not an easy (chuckles) it’s not an easy process. And through these 17 years, I went through many difficults. I went through many problems, but you know, I whatsoever happened to me here, I never ever blamed the country, I never ever blamed the United States.
To Leave, Or Not To Leave….Definitely Leave
For Lilya, leaving the Ukraine was an easy decision after 42 years of hardship:
I’m a Jew and it was not easy to be a Jew in that country because of umm anti-Semitism and a lot of discrimination to the Jews that I went through, and that’s why I always dreamed to live in some country that I feel freedom, that I wouldn’t feel discriminated to get the job, to get the education because I’m Jew, not because I don’t have enough knowledge, enough education, enough experience, but because I am a Jew and I don’t think that this is fair and I don’t want this life for myself and I don’t want this life as I told you, for my kids and grandkids and future generation.
Becoming American
Not only when you speak the language because you can speak the language in any other place, in different countries. You can speak two, three, four different languages. That is not the case. Its when you are already so many years in, in the United States, that you forget that you were born in a different country. And everything here is, for me, is perfect… [Its about]the time that you already spent in some place that you don’t think anymore about your past, you think about your future.
Not a Fan of Fidel Castro
Lets put it this way: I don’t want to give Fidel Castro anymore of the dollars that he took from us before we got to the United States. Not only that he did not let us bring money and possessions, but at the same time my father used to have a photographic supplies in Cuba, and we have to leave everything and came with empty handed. And that’s why I said that he took our money enough from us.
The Center of the Universe
James, a German immigrant, talks about why he loves New York City:
It is the center of the universe! It’s so… the variety of people, of languages, of customs, of traditions, of… you have access to so many things. It is a city, although so big, so organized. The subway system and all the planning of the roads and being done by somebody that was very smart. I don’t know if it has something to do with Robert Moses or one of those outstanding New Yorkers. The planning of the city, the way the streets and avenues are, it’s amazing how they planned that. They are now using tunnels that were built a hundred years ago. I think that was extremely clever.
America: The Land Freedoms
A Traveled Young Man
James, a German immigrant, talks about his travels as a young man:
I was born in Germany, in Frankfurt. My mother—German—and my father was British. He worked for IBM and was in charge of opening new offices. Soon after we were born—I was born—we moved to England and from there to Spain. I’m sorry, to Paris, France first…some years there and then some years in Spain… some years in Venezuela, some years in Mexico. All that in my first 16 years.
Beer Before Milk
James, a German immigrant who has been living in the United States for 45 years, talks about what he finds strange in the United States:
Then it wasn’t a law but they were already trying to push as a law… the drinking. The drinking age should be twenty-one… In Europe we always had beer and wine at home. It was like… I always say that my mother gave me beer before she gave me milk!
Why Lucy and Her Husband Left Guyana
Lucy describes the evils and corruption of Guyana:
There’s a lot of bribes- people can commit crimes, and the rich person- if- say- like this, the rich person son do something, you c- i- to the poor one – who doesn’t have money – you can’t do anything about it. Because you don’t have the money. The judge would take the bribe, and the rich one walks free. That’s how it is with everything. You bribe people to get a good job in the government. Every- everyting is a bribe, and lotta drugs money dere. And de police and de government and de president and everybody is involved in it.
She goes on to describe the poor conditions and low standard of life in Guyana:
[My husband] didn’t have a job in Guyana, so his grandfather brought him over here. He came and I wanted to come too; me nah get food for the kids, me nah get money to spend on them, and there was a lot of hardship and no job…and I can’t even buy clothes for myself. I couldn’t even feed my children properly, couldn’t even buy books for them. Shoes, milk, anything.
Coming to America for Education
Lucy describes why American education makes America so great, and the opportunities it creates that Guyana lacks:
This country like I said, have educated all my children. Made me get houses, and cars, I couldn’t- I didn’t even have a bicycle in Guyana. I have my money- you can work over here- once you work you can buy anything you want. Like dey se the sky is the limit. You can do anything you want. You educate yourself until you are 80 years old. In Guyana there’s no way you can go to school after a certain age. You don’t have the money, the means the nothing. And after that you don’t have a job, even. But this country- God bless this country. I love- I will not trade it for anything.
Coming to America For Education
James, a German immigrant, talks about why he came to the United States:
I was always in the American school system. I said, well I’m studying all this [including learning English]… it’s something I would like to do. So I said, ‘Let’s begin giving it a try by going to the university there.’ And of course, once I got here… it was like I was finally home!
Its All Worth it in the End
Jane, a 24-year-old girl who moved to America from Canada two years ago, talks about the rewards of the immigration system:
I guess my overall reaction is that it’s a pretty grueling process, with lots of intricacies, and it can be annoying and inconvenient. And there is definitely one thousand percent room for improvement in the system. But in the end of the day, the people who want to immigrate for the right reasons shouldn’t have a problem. I mean, I’m sure there are good people who get denied acceptance, but I got a green card in the end. And so did my sister, so it wasn’t just by chance. I’m grateful for that, because I get to live here and go to school here and work here and raise my beautiful baby here.
Losing Out For No Fair Reason
Jane, a 24-year-old girl who moved to America from Canada 2 years ago, talks about the frustrations of getting a green card:
The process of getting a green card just takes so long, the job wasn’t willing to wait to find out if I was approved. They were like, listen, you’re a great candidate for the job and your exactly what were looking for, were so sorry, try again next year. I ended up getting a different job, but its not as good, I get paid less and I have worse hours. So I didn’t get the job I really wanted because of the green card process.
What’s the Point of U.S. Citizenship?
Jane, a 24-year-old woman who moved to America from Canada 2 years ago, emphasizes her strong sense of being a Canadian:
I definitely consider myself a Canadian citizen. I’m very proud to be a Canadian. It’s a great country and its fun to be different. (smiles) Everyone around me is American, but I’m a Canadian. I just happen to live here. I don’t associate myself as an American.
A Welcoming Journey to America
Miriam discusses her voyage to America.
We came, uh, on a ship. And I remember coming and I could speak a little English, so I was able to talk to the sailors, and I also played the piano, and they taught me some American songs. And I would play and sing. And I remember when we came here we had to stay on the ship an extra day because we came on Thanksgiving day and the immigration office was closed. So the captain of the ship had a Thanksgiving dinner for us and explained Thanksgiving and what it meant and Thanksgiving was always a special holiday for my family because, you know, it was really a day of giving thanks for being here.
Proud to be an American
Miriam, an immigrant from Russia with vast experiences traveling all over Europe, comments on her pride for America:
Oh, I’m an American. A 110 percent. Let me tell you something – we live in one of the greatest countries in the world. One of the greatest – not the greatest. There are a lot of countries that do things better than we do, but a lot of people refuse to acknowledge that, but it is one the greatest countries in the world. And I’m very proud to be an American. And that’s the only thing I ever felt. As soon as I came to this country, I felt this was home
A New Lifestyle in America
Miriam, an immigrant from Russia, decides to break her parents’ old-world tradition and goes to college against their wishes:
No, my parents did not want me to go to college at all. They felt that college was not necessary for a girl at all. A girl was going to get married and have kids, and so on, and if I hadn’t lived in New York City, and been able to go to a City University, I would never have been able to go to college, because they didn’t have the money, and even if they had, they wouldn’t have spent it. They wouldn’t have thought it was important.
Making a Living as Skilled Shoemaker
Miriam talk about her father, a man with modest human capital, who made a living as a shoemaker:
My father was a shoemaker. He was in an old-fashioned European intern…no not an intern…he was an apprentice when he was 11 to a master shoemaker, and he learned his trade from them, you know. And he was the kind of shoemaker that…he could make a shoe and just say, ‘put your foot on a piece of paper,’ he’d draw it, and the next thing you know, you had shoes. I mean, he could make a shoe from beginning to end. And when we came here, there weren’t too many jobs in shoemakers, so he worked as a leather cutter in the pocketbook industry. In the expense of pocketbooks, you have to know how to cut the leather properly so that it fits together and looks right, and there are no damages and so on, so of course he was very knowledgeable about leather, so that’s what he did.
Drawn to the Land of Opportunity
Miriam and her family came to America because they heard the streets were paved with gold:
We came to New York because everyone knew at that time that this place, specifically here, in America, was the land of opportunity.
Why Come to New York City?
Sarah, a woman in her mid-seventies from Tel Aviv discusses why she chose to immigrate to New York City 21 years ago:
I have family here. My aunt and two cousins, they invited me here and I come. I decided to do a vacation for like six months….And then to go back. But I stayed [laughs]…. Because I got the job I stayed. So I decided after on year to stay for another and this is how it goes—year after year.
Why I Don’t Vote
Sarah, an elderly immigrant from Tel Aviv, discusses her relationship to American politics:
Yes! Yes, I follow [political events in the U.S.]. The election, Obama and everything. And the news—its very interesting. I don’t go feel myself to vote though….I don’t have an influence; it’s not my country.
Return to the Mother Country
Sarah, a woman in her mid-seventies from Tel Aviv immigrated to Brooklyn 21 years ago. Here, she addresses her relationship to her home country:
That I [am] missing Israel? I knew that I will eventually [be] going back. I knew that I am not stay [in America] until I die.
Sarah’s Linguistic Learning Process
Sarah, a woman in her mid-seventies from Tel Aviv, immigrated to Brooklyn 21 years ago. Here, she discusses her struggle with the English language:
It’s very hard for me; very hard for me to read. Slowly… and I read mostly Hebrew. All my books… and also speaking.. Because most of the people are Israeli because I have to speak only English on the phone. And when I call the parents… I don’t speak enough English. All my friends are Israeli—I only speak Hebrew.
