Kelvin’s Migration Story
My mom and dad’s families used to live in a small village in China called Taishan. It was only one of the many villages in the province Guangzhou so I wouldn’t be surprised if you never heard of it. However it was home to many of my relatives until they decided to come to America.
In 1984, for a better life and such my mom, her four sisters and my grandparents, they decided to move to America. At first they lived in a one-bedroom apartment where my mom and sisters sleep in bunk beds while my grandparents had to sleep on the couch. Later on they were able to get a house and eventually another house next door.
Some time after my mom moved to America, she went back to China to get married to my dad. Even though they were hemispheres apart, they still loved each other. Finally in 1989, my dad got a visa finally came to America. When my dad was looking for a job, he decided to take up the position of a waiter. The article was telling the truth when they said Asian immigrants are usually employed as waiters.
When my sister was born in 1990, my family was still living in an apartment. Later on, they finally found a house to live in and are still living in it to this day. There have been some changes with the wallpaper and the furniture but it is the house of many good memories.
When I was born, my dad’s parents wanted to see their grandson. They got a visa and ended staying for a year before they moved back to China. For my dad’s parents, life in America did not suit them. They preferred the life they had in China so I didn’t get to see them around 10 years later when my dad, mom, sister and I went to visit them for summer vacation.
Now my dad has around 6 to 7 siblings, all are married, and all have children. They decided life in America would be more prosperous so in December 2006 and September 2007, the families of two of my dad’s siblings decided to move here to improve their lives and their children’s as well. They now live in the house next door, which my family acquired in the early 2000s.
One of my dad’s siblings moved here with her husband but decided they liked life in China so they moved back, like what my grandma on my dad’s side did years ago. However, my grandma is now living next door as well. The siblings of my dad that moved here were taking care of my grandma in their house in China. My grandpa passed away a few years ago so if even though my grandma didn’t like life here, we couldn’t leave her alone in China.
Even though life in America was not as it seemed to some of my relatives, to me as well others it became home. My mom would tell me stories of how expensive meat was in China and that she would eat it only once a month while here I eat it everyday. Things that I take for granted are all the reasons my relatives decided to come here. Although not all of my relatives got to receive an education here or all the opportunities, those who did receive it are now taking care of the children so they live with what they didn’t in China. Immigration is not for everyone but that is just how life works.
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