Old Country

Where did you come from and when?

What was the reason you came to America?

What was your old country like? (customs, climate, food, childhood/special memories)

Did you leave anyone or anything behind? If so, would you like to tell us more about it?

Is there anything else you would like to tell us about your old country?

Journey

What was it like traveling to America?

How did you get here? (Car/boat/train/plane/other, time it took,)

Do you have any interesting stories that happened while you were traveling?

Did you travel with anyone and if so, who? Tell me more if you wish.

Is there anything else you would like to tell us about the journey?

Arrival

Where did you go when you first arrived and what was it like? How did it make you feel?

Where did you finally settle and why?

What did you think America would be like? Was it what you expected? Why or why not?

Did you know anyone here, family or friends, and if so whom?

Did you know English? If not, how did you learn it and adjust to the new language?

Is there anything else you would like to tell us about your early days in your new country?

New Country

What are the big differences between your old country and the new country?

Have you been back to your old country? If so, what was that like?

What do you miss about your old country?

What are you doing now? (job, school)

What is your current status in the citizenship process? (Are you a citizen? If not, do you plan to become one? )

Is there anything else you want to tell me?

Oral History Techniques

• How to create good interview questions.

• How to listen during an interview, how to create good follow-up questions on the spur of the moment.

• How to use a recorder.

• How to transcribe an interview.

• How to select the most significant parts of the transcript.

• How to take these parts and craft them into a piece of historical writing.

A Model Immigrant Book
You will observe how someone interviews and develops the interview into a book.

Book Study
You will study a variety of picture books that all present immigration stories
in different ways. We will also look at other innovative picture books for ideas
on how to create your own books.

Individual Student Project

Subject Selection.
Each of you is required to interview an immigrant to the United States. This individual can be a family member, friend, or acquaintance. It is important to be sure that whoever is chosen is completely comfortable telling his/her story. In particular, you need to be aware and sensitive to those who are uncomfortable telling their stories. Some people love to do so, others do not. It is important not to press someone to do so, if it clear he or she does not wish to. If you are unable to find a subject we have many willing subjects in the school. Many teachers, administrators, and staff members known to you would be delighted to serve as subjects for this project and have done so in the past.

Interview Preparation
To prepare for the interview you will need:
- A working recorder and extra batteries and tapes (unless it is digital).
- A carefully prepared set of questions. (You will create this with your class.)
- A release form.

Interview
Do the interview outside of school. As soon as it is done bring all the documents, the tape, and the recorder to school.

Transcription
You will do this in class.

Follow-up interview
You may decide that your interview is not sufficient and may need to contact your subject for more information on certain topics.

Selecting Good Quotes
Go through your transcript and highlight those quotes that you feel most present the subject’s immigration story.

Craft an Immigrant Narrative
•Draft your subject’s immigrant story. Some possible approaches:
First Person
“I was five years old when I first came here….”

Third Person
“Mary immigrated when she was five years old….”

Question/Answer,
Q: How old were you when you immigrated?
A: I was five years old.

Subject’s View/Author’s Response.
Subject: I was five when I immigrated to the United States.
Interviewer: Boy, that must have been incredibly scary!

•Revise as necessary
You will be continually conferring with teachers and peers during this stage.
•Proofread and Teacher edit

•Plan Illustrations
Decide on medium, how they will work on the page, etc.
Also do research so the illustrations accurately reflect the subject’s story.

•Create final copy in bound book.

Oral History Celebration
Once all books are completed we will invite friends, family, and subjects mto an Oral History Celebration.

With Ms. Kirsch you worked on writing a good paragraph describing your immigration oral history book.Eventually people from all over the world will read these, but for now it will just be the others in our class. So today you will create a post based on this work. First Ms. Nickles will show you how to add images from your book (the cover and two pages used at our Oral History Celebration) into it and then you will type in the edited version of your oral history book paragraph. If you don’t finish during this period, do it during Lab.

Here are the steps for today:

1. First, save your oral history images to your eeePC

2. Start a new post and add those images to your post

3. Type your oral history paragraph into your post

4. Publish your post!

Begin by writing your first draft on the eeepc.  Your introduction should have a good topic sentence, several (at least three more) sentences, and then a final sentence to finish things up. Here’s what we talked about including:

• Who you interviewed and relationship to you
• Briefly summarize process and your response; what you learned
• Based on an actual interview of an immigrant
• Why you did this — part of your long immigrant study
• Final sentence as a “hook” to encourage the reader to turn the page and read on.

Once you’ve completed your draft, read it over, revise as needed, spell check and look for capitals, punctuation, and sense.

Then you may sign up to have it checked by a teacher.

Make any final corrections, format for your book, print, cut it out to fit, and then paste it into your book!

(If you haven’t yet, you may also put in a dedication. Check how other writers do it in the books we have around.)

• Write on ONE side of the paper.
• Skip lines between each question and each answer. This will make it much easier to read.
• Use script or print — whatever is easiest for you and easiest to read.
• Number the pages and (ideally) keep them stapled together.
• Write down your subject’s words as accurately as you can.
• You will probably have to listen more than once to some bits of the interview to get the exact words.  Get comfortable rewinding your recorder just a bit to do this.
• If you can’t understand a word, try to figure it out using context clues (the rest of what they are saying). If you still are having trouble, ask a teacher to listen. And if she/he can’t figure it out just put in “unintelligible” and move on.
• You may leave out “um” “er” and words like that. Put ellipses (…) in where you do.
• Don’t worry about spelling.  Just get the words down so that you can read them when you go back to the transcript. (You will take care of the spelling later in the process.)

Remember to use the same format that was used for our model interview with Yolanda Ortiz:

Yolanda Ortiz: My name is Yolanda Ortiz Rodriguez.  In the Spanish countries you use the two last names.

Stephanie Fins: And what do the two names represent?

YO: My father’s is Ortiz, and my mother’s is Rodriguez.

SF: OK and your father’s name comes before your mother’s name.

YO: In Puerto Rico.

SF: In Puerto Rico, and in many Spanish speaking countries.  So that’s why when you tell me your name I can figure out who your father was – his name at least – and who your mother is.  Ok so where did you come from?

YO: I was born in New York.  I come from a group of parents that they came in the early 50’s when a group of Puerto Ricans immigrated to the United States.  They all came to New York, my parents met here in New York City.

Oral History Interview Questions
Edinger House
Fall 2008

Old Country
Where did you come from and when?
What was the reason you came to America?
What was your old country like? (customs, climate, food, childhood/special memories)
Did you leave anyone or anything behind?  If so, would you like to tell us more about it?
Is there anything else you would like to tell us about your old country?

Journey
What was it like traveling to America?   Did you come straight here or stop in another country first?  If so, why?
How did you get here? (Car/boat/train/plane/other, time it took,)  Did anything interesting happen en route (that is, while on the way)?
Did you travel with anyone and if so, who?  Tell me more if you wish.
Is there anything else you would like to tell us about the journey?

Arrival
Where did you go when you first arrived and what was it like?
Where did you finally settle and why?
What did you think America would be like?  Was it what you expected?   Why or why not?
Did you know anyone here, family or friends, and if so whom?
Did you know English?  If not, how did you learn it and adjust to the new language?
Is there anything else you would like to tell us about your early days in your new country?

New Country
What are the big differences between your old country and the new country?
Have you been back to your old country?  If so, what was that like?
What do you miss about your old country?
What are you doing now? (job, school)
What is your current status in the citizenship process? (Are you a citizen?  If not, do you plan to become one? )

Is there anything else you want to tell me?

Now for your second post. I would like you to write a good paragraph describing your immigration oral history book. Eventually people from all over the world will read these, but for now it will just be the others in our class. Be sure to read your book over before starting your post (and you might want to see how the kids last year did it).

Next week we will show you how to put the images from your book (the cover and two pages used at our Oral History Celebration) into this post.

Some possible information to include:

• A really great opening/lead/hook.
• Name of the person you interviewed.
• Where they came from.
• Summary of the main steps involved in creating the book.
• Why you did this project.
• What you learned.
• How the subject is connected to you and perhaps how long you know them.
• Final sentence needs to be something that gets your reader to want to turn the page and read on.

Steps:

1. Brainstorm ideas.

2. First draft. (Be sure to save it on the desktop!!!!)

3. Read it over and revise for sense, is it interesting, does it cover everything you want it to?

4. Proofread for spelling (use spellcheck), capitals, punctuation, etc.

5. Teacher check.

6. Final draft. Save it in your student account.

7. Print out TWO copies. (One for your book and one for the map.)

1. I grew up in the South of Mexico City. I was born there. I grew up there.

(Remember how Ms. Edinger redid this one? She changed it, with your help, to this: “I grew up in the South of Mexico City. I was born there….”)

2. I spent most of my life in Mexico and I love my country so pretty much everything I am going to say is something positive about the country. I was born in one of the largest cities in the world, Mexico City… it’s a very, very large city, a lot of people… the pace of living is really, really fast. It’s also a little polluted… I can survive that, I survived it for twenty something years….

3. Yes I left my entire family behind, my brothers, my sisters. And since I moved to the States I have now many nephews and nieces. Some of them don’t even remember me because I go there once a year so they forget me from year to year. But my entire family is in Mexico City. I’m the only person in my family… my entire family who is here in this country.”

4. So I came on October 2, 1998… The first time that I came to the States, I came when I was still in college. I came here to spend the summer in Texas. I was doing an internship… on an exchange program… that was my very first time… summer of ’96. I was here for about three months and that was my very first time. And after that I fell in love with this country. After that I came to visit several times and when I came to New York I knew that New York was the place where I had to be. So I decided to move here in ’98.

5. [When I first came] I had one friend… who helped me a lot and still helps me. [But] it was very, very scary.

6. But, you know, sometimes I get a little homesick. Pretty much anything reminds me of Mexico. For example we celebrated the independence from [Spain] last Sunday… so I was a little homesick so I called my family, they were all celebrating and I wasn’t doing anything special.

7. When I go to a Mexican restaurant and I eat something, I remember the way we used to do it at home or the way my mother makes it…. But now it is so easy to keep in touch with not only my family but also with traditions and all that because of the Internet… I listen to the news from Mexico… it’s just so easy to call my mother. If I’m making something special for my friends at home, I just call her and she tells me everything over the phone.

8. I flew here but only with a couple of things, I couldn’t bring everything. … At the beginning I didn’t have anything…. I came with a credit card and with one suitcase…. The other day I was just looking at how much stuff I have in my house, and its like incredible, you know, I came here with a very small suitcase and a credit card and now I have like so many things….

9. [When I first came] I stayed with my friend. He lives in Long Island. So Long Island was my home for a long time…

10. …I remember the very first day I had to eat something. So I went to the supermarket, and I was going to buy some ham. But of course in Mexico we don’t use pounds, we use kilos, so I still think in kilos… So I went to the supermarket and I was going to buy some ham but I didn’t know exactly how much to ask [for]… I was not exactly sure how much a pound was so I decided to buy half a pound, and the guy gives me like, this much ham… I couldn’t say anything because I was the one who asked for it….

11. When I came to New York… I was a little insecure about my English so one day I was going to this convenience store… I was practicing what I was going to say to the guy who was selling… I get to the store and I say what I was supposed to say and the guy looks at me at like what are you saying? Why are you talking to me in English? I speak Spanish…

12. I think before I came… everything I knew about the United States was through television, because a lot of the programs that you guys watch here… are also broadcast all over the world…. and that’s all I knew about the United States. I also heard that people were not very friendly, but when I came to Texas for the first time… people were so friendly….

13. Mexico is so close to the United States that we are very similar…. Nowadays I think that the American culture is all over the place, so even if you go to a country that is really really far from here… you will find McDonald’s everywhere.

14. The cultural background…. of Mexico is much older than the one in the United States.

15. … I’ve been here for almost 9 years and I’m still a foreigner. I’m not even a permanent resident…. I’m a Mexican…I have a work visa that allows me to work in the school that I have to keep on renewing every year. It’s definitely a lot of work, a lot of money also. It’s a big hassle.

16. I am a foreigner who is working legally in the United States, so they only give me six years to work in the country, but I have already been here for nine years.… The first years that I had this work visa were kind of easy, but then after that it becomes more complicated. For example, I took a group of students from Dalton to Mexico… and I had to cancel the program for one year because I was not allowed to go out of the country. Of course I was allowed to go out, but I was not allowed to come back! … So before, like at the beginning of my nine years I was going back to Mexico [often], but now…I can’t go. I have to wait for summer, so that I can go renew my visa in Mexico and then come back, and the process takes… three weeks. … Definitely becoming a permanent resident, which is, I guess, the first step before I become a citizen, which I would love to be…. but it is very very hard.

17. I think in the back of my mind I wanted to stay but I didn’t know exactly what would happen. I came here, and I didn’t have a job, I only knew one person in the entire country, so I didn’t know. I wanted to, but I didn’t know if it would possible…. My intentions were always to stay in this country, but when I first came I didn’t know exactly what would happen, it was just uncertain.

18. I also speak French and I speak Spanish, and I don’t think I remember what I dream in, but I think it’s most of the time in Spanish, I don’t think I’ve ever dreamt in English or in French.

19. This is my home now! When I go back to Mexico… Mexico is also my home you know because I was born there and my family’s there… but you know, I miss New York. I was in Mexico for the entire summer, for two months, and I was definitely ready to come back to my home, and that’s the feeling, you know, I have when I [return] to the country…. Although I’m still not a permanent resident or a citizen, this is my home and this is where I would love to spend my life.

Oral History Transcription
Edinger House
Fall 2007

Monica Edinger: Mr. San Juan, where did you come from and when?

Carlos San Juan: I’m from Mexico. I come from Mexico City and I came to this country nine years ago. So I came on October 2, 1998… The first time that I came to the States, I came when I was still in college. I came here to spend the summer in Texas. I was doing an internship… on an exchange program… that was my very first time… summer of ’96. I was here for about three months and that was my very first time. And after that I fell in love with this country. After that I came to visit several times and when I came to New York I knew that New York was the place where I had to be. So I decided to move here in ’98.

ME: Thank You. So you gave us a lot of information about why you came. Before I go on…where exactly from Mexico are you from?

CSJ: Mexico City. It is the capital of the country. So that’s where I’m from it’s where I’m where my family is right now.

ME: You may have traveled in many other places besides Mexico, I mean the United States?

CSJ: I lived in Europe for a year and three months. Before when I was in high school I got a scholarship to study in France. So I lived in France for one school year and then I also lived in Switzerland for three months.

ME: So, tell us a little bit what Mexico and Mexico City was like: the customs, climate, food, any special memories, childhood… give us an idea of what Mexico is like.

CSJ: I spent most of my life in Mexico and I love my country so pretty much everything I am going to say is something positive about the country. I was born in one of the largest cities in the world, Mexico City… it’s a very very large city, a lot of people… the pace of living is really really fast. It’s also a little polluted… I can survive that, I survived it for twenty something years….

ME: What neighborhood?

CSJ: I live in the South… I grew up in the South of Mexico City. I was born there. I grew up there. My family’s still there … it takes about twenty five minutes to get to the downtown area by public transportation. Like being somewhere far in Brooklyn or Queens and coming to 42nd street Times Square.”

ME: Did you leave anyone or anything behind?

CSJ: Yes I left my entire family behind, my brothers, my sisters. And since I moved to the States I have now many nephews and nieces. Some of them don’t even remember me because I go there once a year so they forget me from year to year. But my entire family is in Mexico City. I’m the only person in my family… my entire family who is here in this country.”

ME: Is there anything special that reminds you of Mexico?

CSJ: Yeah… I’m still in love with New York and with the United States. But, you know, sometimes I get a little homesick. Pretty much anything reminds me of Mexico. For example we celebrated the independence from [Spain] last Sunday… so I was a little homesick so I called my family, they were all celebrating and I wasn’t doing anything special. When I go to a Mexican restaurant and I eat something, I remember the way we used to do it at home or the way my mother makes it…. But now it is so easy to keep in touch with not only my family but also with traditions and all that because of the Internet… I listen to the news from Mexico… it’s just so easy to call my mother. If I’m making something special for my friends at home, I just call her and she tells me everything over the phone.

ME: What was it like traveling? You flew I suppose…

CSJ: The first time I was out of Mexico City was…my sophomore year of high school…. I guess it was a little scary because I had to do all the traveling by myself… I was fluent in French at the time, but I had to go to Germany first and then to the South of France, so that was a little scary because….”

ME: And when you came here for the first time? You moved here? To explore?

CSJ: I was here before on a scholarship, and then, you know … it was really scary…now that I think about it I don’t know how I did it… I just left my country, my job, left my family…

ME: Did you have friends?

CSJ: I had one friend… who helped me a lot and still helps me. It was very very scary.

ME: You flew here with all your possessions?

CSJ: I flew here but only with a couple of things, I couldn’t bring everything. … At the beginning I didn’t have anything.

ME: You came with a couple of suitcases?

CSJ: I came with a credit card and with one suitcase.

ME: Where did you stay?

CSJ: I stayed with my friend. He lives in Long Island. So Long Island was my
home for a long time… The other day I was just looking at how much stuff I have in my house, and its like incredible, you know, I came here with a very small suitcase and a credit card and now I have like so many things….”

ME: …Was it very exciting? Anything about that when you first came? What did you do? Go out? Go to Times Square?

CSJ: …I remember the very first day I had to eat something. So I went to the supermarket, and I was going to buy some ham. But of course in Mexico we don’t use pounds, we use kilos, so I still think in kilos… So I went to the supermarket and I was going to buy some ham but I didn’t know exactly how much to ask [for]… I was not exactly sure how much a pound was so I decided to buy half a pound, and the guy gives me like, this much ham… I couldn’t say anything because I was the one who asked for it….

CSJ: When I came to New York… I was a little insecure about my English so one day I was going to this convenience store… I was practicing what I was going to say to the guy who was selling… I get to the store and I say what I was supposed to say and the guy looks at me at like what are you saying? Why are you talking to me in English? I speak Spanish…

ME: What did you think it would be like in New York, before you were ever in America? What were your ideas based on? Movies, television? Did you have some idea?

CSJ: I think before I came… everything I knew about the United States was through television, because a lot of the programs that you guys watch here… are also broadcast all over the world…. and that’s all I knew about the United States. I also heard that people were not very friendly, but when I came to Texas for the first time… people were so friendly….

ME: How about in New York?…

CSJ: I’ve been really lucky since I’m here, I’ve met a lot of nice people who have helped me a lot. Not everybody is friendly… I have had a very good experience.

ME: What are the big differences between Mexico and the United States? …

CSJ: That’s a very hard question. Mexico is so close to the United States that we are very similar…. Nowadays I think that the American culture is all over the place, so even if you go to a country that is really really far from here… you will find McDonald’s everywhere. The cultural background…. of Mexico is much older than the one in the United States.

ME: So, finally, are you still a Mexican citizen? Are you considering… dual [citizenship]? …

CSJ: … I’ve been here for almost 9 years and I’m still a foreigner. I’m not even a permanent resident…. I’m a Mexican…I have a work visa that allows me to work in the school that I have to keep on renewing every year. It’s definitely a lot of work, a lot of money also. It’s a big hassle.”

ME: Is it more difficult now because 9/11?

CSJ: I think it became much more difficult, but it was already difficult. Especially for someone in a situation like my situation – I am a foreigner who is working legally in the United States, so they only give me six years to work in the country, but I have already been here for nine years.… The first years that I had this work visa were kind of easy, but then after that it becomes more complicated. For example, I took a group of students from Dalton to Mexico… and I had to cancel the program for one year because I was not allowed to go out of the country. Of course I was allowed to go out, but I was not allowed to come back! … So before, like at the beginning of my nine years I was going back to Mexico [often], but now…I can’t go. I have to wait for summer, so that I can go renew my visa in Mexico and then come back, and the process takes… three weeks. … Definitely becoming a permanent resident, which is, I guess, the first step before I become a citizen, which I would love to be…. but it is very very hard.

Student: When you came here to move were you planning on staying here?

CSJ: I think in the back of my mind I wanted to stay but I didn’t know exactly what would happen. I came here, and I didn’t have a job, I only knew one person in the entire country, so I didn’t know. I wanted to, but I didn’t know if it would possible…. My intentions were always to stay in this country, but when I first came I didn’t know exactly what would happen, it was just uncertain.”

S: Now that you speak English do you ever have dreams in English?

CSJ: I also speak French and I speak Spanish, and I don’t think I remember what I dream in, but I think it’s most of the time in Spanish, I don’t think I’ve ever dreamt in English or in French.

S: When you’ve gone back to Mexico have you been happy to leave and come back to the States or would you have rather stayed?

CSJ: No! This is my home now! When I go back to Mexico… Mexico is also my home you know because I was born there and my family’s there… but you know, I miss New York. I was in Mexico for the entire summer, for two months, and I was definitely ready to come back to my home, and that’s the feeling, you know, I have when I [return] to the country…. Although I’m still not a permanent resident or a citizen, this is my home and this is where I would love to spend my life.”

S: …Why is it much harder now that you have been here longer than six years?

CSJ: Because, as a foreigner, the government allows you to work for six years in the country, and then after that you have to do something you have to either go back to your country, or become a permanent resident. But the process of becoming a permanent resident is very difficult…. I have to keep on applying for a visa and I’m never sure if I’m going to be denied the visa, or when I’m going to get the visa… it’s very uncertain….

Here is the podcast of my interview with Mr. San Juan: