Robert G. Lee’s article, “Making the Model Minority Myth” resonated with me since I can relate to the article as an Asian-American. The article mainly discusses how Asian-Americans are very successful because of traditional values and their hardworking nature. I can relate to most of Lee’s argument, but not all of it. Lee argues that […]
Cheburashka is a popular Russian cartoon character that was created by Eduard Uspensky in 1966. When my parents were children, this oddball of a character was one of their major sources of entertainment, which was rather scarce in the Soviet Union. Kids would wait patiently for the cartoon program appearing twice a week and lasting […]
http://yourstory.tenement.org/artifacts/rice Rice. All day everyday. When I asked my parents why I had to eat at least one meal of rice everyday, the answer was simply “It’s our culture.” With its mundane and repetitive taste, rice seemed to be everywhere in my house. Whenever I looked for a snack, my mom’s automated reply was “perhaps […]
The name Pearl River may not sound like much among big brand names like Steinway & Sons and Bosendorfer, but it was the first piano that I played. In 1999 when my grandfather decided to purchase a piano for me and my cousin, I was one year old and he was just born. I started […]
Tradition crosses continents: hitched to backs, etched in minds, clinging to lips. Those customs offered to immigrants’ children stand firmly as testament to endurance through difficult journeys, picking up memories along the way. My grandfather carried his religion with him from Riga, Latvia in 1934, and faithfully clung to it in Tel Aviv, Israel and […]
http://yourstory.tenement.org/artifacts/egg-tart The egg tart is one of my favorite foods that can be labeled as “Chinese food.” I’m not a huge fan of “Chinese food,” or maybe more accurately, “Americanized Chinese food,” the takeout food from Chinese restaurants these days. The egg tart also represents my family’s immigration story quite well, since it represents both […]
Yesterday, I finally realized that I have become conscious of stereotypes and assumptions that people make based on looks. I was sitting with a girl from my Biology class, I’ll call her Girl 1, and someone in our Biology lecture, I’ll call her Girl 2, came to sit with us. We started talk about families, […]
Disclaimer: I am only going to focus on my mother’s side of the family because I don’t have a relationship with my father since he got remarried three and half years ago and had another baby three years ago. Also, my grandma was so happy that I was asking her about my family history. She […]
A friend of mine once made a joke that might too accurately sum up how I view life. He said, “Waffles are top priority. School is second.” He went on to change it slightly to say, “Okay, waffles aren’t top. Sleep is top. Then friends, then food in general, then waffles, and then somewhere at […]
I come from generations of working class people. My grandparents as well as my parents grew up and lived in Albania during the communist regime of Enver Hoxha. The country had jobs and prosperity but it was a very limiting time during which those who wanted to pursue or be anything outside of the norm […]
