A Migration Story from the Philippines
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“We were only allowed like 2 boxes per person and, well I guess we had to carry the other more important things. And we just came with our clothes, ...um, my dad’s shoes. He had a lot of shoes (laugh). I guess he had to take all of ‘em. And, um whatever stuff he had from the Navy, and one box was just for him. And, um, what else did we take? A... lot of photos. I don’t think we left any photos at all. And then my mom took a few patron saints. Like those uh, statues. Um, yeah and I remember taking those and she was like ‘Be very careful, you don’t want the head to get, you know.’ (laughter). I was amazed that they made it. One was made of wood, and it was very fragile and the other one was made of, like ceramic. But I think that they wrapped it pretty well. Yeah, I think that’s it. We came with those. We stayed with my grandparents, for let’s see, about 4 months. And I think that was... that was the most that my parent’s could handle. Especially my dad, living with his in-laws. I don’t think it did well for his, you know morale. (laughter). So, we lived there for about 4 months, um went to school there, and then we moved to North Hollywood. It was great though, to leave to have your own place. I mean my grandparents were great, and my grandfather was also in the military, so he had a very regimented way of conducting the household. So, that sometimes got a little stressful. I have to say, when we came here, one of the most difficult things for me when we came here was going to school. It was February. It was so cold they thought we would freeze. So, my mom bought me yellow jogging pants, with a hooded sweater. And a matching lunchbox. So, in the Philippines that’s cool, you know to have lunchboxes with he matching thermos. So, when I come into the classroom, I see kids with makeup, with hair that’s really done, and purses. I mean like adult purses. I don’t think I even came with a purse; I just had a notebook and that lunchbox. And then I thought, 'Okay I think we have to go back to K-Mart. It’s not gonna work out with a lunchbox.' Everyone had their lunches in the brown bags. It was time to eat lunch, and I was like 'Oh, I guess I’m the only one with a lunchbox.' Everyone’s carrying this sort of, like, I thought it was trash! But I guess it was the way you pack your lunch. So, I think for me the most difficult part was trying to transition to a different sort of ... at least within my age group, how you’re supposed to look, how you’re supposed to carry yourself. That was a little different because, in the Philippines I would have been fine the way I did with a lunchbox. That would have been cool! And getting used to the way things are said. I mean, I knew how to speak English, but in some ways it was a little bit more formal than what was necessary. So words like ‘you’re busted’. That was the first word that I learned that, 'Oh, okay that’s what it means.' When they said, “you’re busted” I thought that’s a word you use to describe electrical outlets. I don’t know why I had that idea, so it took me a while to realize, 'Oh, you’re in trouble.' So, there were those ways of saying things that took me a while to sort of adjust.”
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