3/9/17 Dear Mom, Thank you for coming into our class to talk about your immigration from Korea. It was really fun because I really didn’t know all that much about your immigration. I also now see why you talk about hygiene so much. I canNOT imagine not knowing my own parents, you guys are awesome! Ah, yes, bagels I love bagels too, it’s in my DNA (literally)! I believe your story was really interesting and I also think that it was funny how you liked the dixie cup dispenser. Love, Your son, Lorenzo Brigode

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March 9, 2017 Dear Sandra, Thank you for coming in and telling us your immigration story. A few things I learned about you are: your parents wanted you to have an easy name to pronounce for Korean people and you said something like “Gwendolyn” would not work and they always wanted to call you Sandy, so they named you Sandra. Another thing is, your parents moved without you because you were a newborn and they barely knew how to speak english so it would have been a little hard. You also only had one cousin in America already. The last thing is, our class is learning about Ellis Island, but you flew on a plane, where people could smoke and you found out about Dixie Cups. You did not go through Ellis Island. My mom also came from Korea when she was three and flew on a plane too. like you, she did not go through the Ellis Island process either. Was Korea more “high tech” then or now? And when your parents left, did you know them well enough to cry and stuff like that? Sincerely, Jade

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Dear Sandra, Thank you for coming in and telling us about your immigrant story. I really liked to hear about the Korean War. I liked that because I have heard about it before from other  people but I like to hear what other people have to say about it. I also liked you telling us about food from America food like Spam and other canned food and special Korean food like on new year you have a soup and a cake shaped like Korean money. I liked you telling us about people smoking on the plane and how you first found dixie cups. I was shocked when your parents left you to go to America. Hearing about how you learned English was cool. How you did not know it at first, like when you went into the boys bathroom and they told you not to but you did not know what they were saying? I was also shocked when you said you did not have showers in Korea! I also really like Bergen Bagels. I wish I lived in Hawaii like you used to – I am very jealous. I really loved hearing your story and hope you liked coming in. Thank you again for coming in. I am also Korean. From Nate

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Dear Sandy, Thank you so much for visiting our classroom and sharing about your journey to America from South Korea. I thought it was fun to hear about how your grandparents raised you because your parents had to leave America. I would be so frightened to hear that your grandparents actually aren’t your real parents even though they raised you. What was your reaction? I also liked when you showed us the pictures of you when you were little. It helped me make a picture in my head of your story. How many years did you live in Chicago until you moved to Hawaii? Thanks again, Bailey 🙂 

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Dear Sandy, Thank you for coming. I really enjoyed the story about you meeting your parents when you were three years old. I thought how interesting of a story it was. I really want to be a writer when I grow up, and I’d like to use it in a book. Your childhood in Korea sounded really interesting. It was really funny when you spoke Korean and Yves kept translating. What was your favorite part of childhood? I hope you enjoyed the visit. Sincerely, Kieran]]>

February 27th, 2017

AN INDIAN IMMIGRANT’S STORY

By Gia Garland NY, NY – Earlier today, Payal-Nevatia Garland, a mother of one of the kids at LREI’s 4th Grade, shared her immigration story. She came from Madras, India in the early 1990’s with her parents and older brother, and moved to New Jersey. Her father was a businessman and used to always travel to the U.S. Whenever he came back, he would always bring stuff from  America back to India for his kids. Payal read American books while she was growing up in India. She went to the movie theater and watched American movies, she watched American TV shows, listened to American music, etc. Basically she liked American stuff, and everyone in her age group did too. The city Payal grew up in was very different from any American cities. Animals such as cows and dogs were allowed to wander around in the streets. “Once when I was in 5th or 6th grade, my class took a field trip to a farm.” said Payal. “The farmer milked the cow and made us all drink unpasteurized milk. I refused to drink it, but they forced me to. As a result, I puked.” The entire grade said “Eeeeeew!” Payal had a house that was very big. It had six bedrooms, a living room that was the size of an elementary school classroom, a kitchen that was the size of a bedroom, and a front yard+backyard. The house had other residents too. Her grandmother, aunt, two uncles, and cousins also lived with her, her brother, and her parents. When Payal moved to America, she was 18 years old. Since she usually had maids to do her housework, she was not used to doing housework by herself. She had already completed a year of college in India, but when she came to America she had to re-do her first year of college. Her brother was 21, so he didn’t have to redo college. She also had to learn to drive on the other side of the road. In India, the steering wheel is on the right side of the car instead of the left. “Adjusting to a new life in a new country must have been hard. A change is good every once in awhile, and having a fresh start  is good too. Meeting new people, making new friends, it’s all part of life’s journey, ” says daughter Gia.  

We’re All Family…In America!

By Lorenzo Brigode Payal is a immigrant from Madras, India who came to America when she was 18. Her dad applied for a green card for them when she was 7 or 6, but they got it when she was 18.  Payal already had many ties to America, especially New York.  Many of her relatives moved to NYC and NJ.  When she was still in Madras, Payal went to school, her first school, which she described as, “an organized forest.”  In the school there were bugs, hawks, birds, butterflies and many other kinds of animals. There were many trees and there was one big Banyan tree that they would all play on.  That school was very big – it was 20 blocks long, that’s about 2 miles.  She said that it was a good 15 – 20 min walk from homeroom to art. She also said that it was fun to go sightseeing on walks to classes, “We would look at a nest a hummingbird might have made and we would look at the birds.”  Her home was big, “like 10 bedrooms and 3 floors,” Payal recalls. Once a coconut tree fell on the bedroom of her parents, but because everything is concrete there was very little damage.  Teachers were very strict, they would slap the hands of kids that were messing around with rulers “OUCH!!”   There were many differences between India and America. Payal saw snow for the first time in America when she moved.

When Payal came to America, in the airport a stranger smiled at her which she thought that was weird, in Madras NO ONE smiled at each other.  

Payal now has a daughter and is doing great in America.  She also still goes to Madras sometimes.

Immigrant From India

by Ezra NEW YORK-Fourth Grader Gia Garland’s mom, Payal, came in and talked to the fourth graders about emigrating from India. She lived in a small town called Madras. When Payal was younger, she had lots of connections to America. Her dad used to work in NYC and sometimes brought stuff back, but he was always going back and forth. “My school was about 20 blocks long,” she said, before a chorus of wows from the fourth graders. There were lots of trees near the school and sometimes animals came into the school. Once there was a snake that came into the school. There was a big banyan tree that spread throughout the school that kids liked to play on. Her dad applied for a green card when she was 6 or 7, but she got it 11 or 12 years later, when she was 18. “When I walked into my aunt’s house in a New Jersey suburb I was like ‘Where are all the people?!’” said Payal. “I was used to growing up with all my family members like uncles and cousins etcetera.”  Her parents go back to India every winter. “One of my first impressions of America was when I got off the plane a stranger smiled at me,” said Payal. “That had never happened to me before.” She also had to relearn how to drive. A lot of the fourth graders impressions were “I want to go to India!” It would be really fun. It was also cool learning about this immigrant from India!

An Indian Immigrant’s Story:

by Margot Story MANHATTAN, NY-Today, February 27, Payal Nevatia-Garland came in to talk to a Fourth Grade class at LREI. Payal Nevatia-Garland is an Indian immigrant, and the mother of Gia Garland in the Fourth Grade at LREI. She grew up in Madras. She moved to the U. S. when she was eighteen. Her father had gone to New York frequently because of business. “My father applied for a green card when I was about six or seven, and we only got it when I was eighteen. So that was about ten years, and a lot had changed.” She said that her father’s business crashed, and so they had no reason to go to America anymore. “My parents realized that the education would be better for me and my brother.” Payal said. Payal’s father had connections to people who had gone to “amazing” colleges and schools in the United States, like Princeton and Harvard. So they came to America. “I went to one year of college in India, because apparently in India we start college a year earlier.” In America, Payal went to Rutgers. “It’s a very good school,” she said about Rutgers. “I lived in a huge house, like, six bedrooms.” In Madras Payal lived in a big house with a lot of her family. She had cousins on both her parents sides living with her, along with her grandmother. She said that she enjoyed living with so many kids. “I went to a school a lot like LREI, where they taught, hmm, progressively.” Payal went to a school in Madras that she said was “like 20 blocks, maybe?” There they taught subjects like Woodworking and Weaving. Payal stayed at that school until Fifth Grade, when she was ten years old. There were a lot of trees at her school. “There was a huge tree, a Banyan tree? Sometimes my friends would swing on the roots which wasn’t completely safe, but still fun.” There was a lot of wildlife near her first school. “At my next school, the teachers were a lot stricter.” Payal said when she talked about the difference between her schools. Payal had to relearn how to drive when she came to America. She also had no practice in India about how to cook or clean, so she struggled when she first had to fend for herself in New York. “I saw snow for the first time when I was eighteen because there was such hot weather in India,” Payal explained.]]>

Dear Sidi and Mommy, Thank you for coming to my classroom and sharing your stories. I enjoyed when you (Sidi) talked about becoming a doctor and how you wanted to be one since you were little. It is inspiring how you had your heart set on something and became that thing. You did a good job being a doctor by treating 5,000 some people. I think you (Mommy) were lucky to have Sidi who opened a path for you to have an easier life. I think you really pointed that out and showed how much easier life is for all of us, including you. I think that was a good way to put it. It is cool how many immigrants are in our ancestors. I liked learning a little more about their stories and both of your stories. I learned a lot more about your and other people in our families stories. Love, Laiali Tapper _______________________________________________________________ P.S: I am glad we could reschedule because of the snow day.   February 13, 2017 Dear Hatim and Rhoda, Thank you for coming to our class and telling us your story. I liked the stories you told us. One of them I liked was how you were the first doctor in Palestine. Another story I was interested in was the story about how the part of Palestine you were living in became Israel. I also like how you changed your life story into a book. I want to ask you a few questions. What was your favorite place to go to in America and why? How did feel when you when there were so many doctors in Palestine? Are you thinking about becoming a citizen? From, Alex ______________________________________________________________ Dear Hatim and Rhoda, Thank you for coming in and sharing your stories with us. They were super detailed and full of fun. My favorite parts were: The part where you, Hatim, hid $500 in your tie when you came to America. I also liked the part where you befriended the baby squirrels. Rhoda, I liked the part where you said you had over 100 relatives on your Grandfather’s side. I was just amazed at that! The stories that you shared with us are really cool. I’m glad that you guys came in and shared them with us. I had a lot of fun listening to them. Love, Gia ______________________________________________________________ Dear Hatim and Rhoda,   Thank you for coming and talking about your life story. One of my favorite parts is that everybody wanted to be either Doctor, Engineer or Lawyer, but nobody was that good enough in school to be able to be a Doctor, Engineer or Lawyer. Also it was hard to get a sponsor, and you must have been lucky to get a sponsor, as you said it was. Another one of my favorite parts of your story is that you had to go through so many years of school after twelve grade. You went to Harvard to learn about medicine. Them you went to Wyoming learn about community health. Maybe it wasn’t too long but it might of felt like it. My last favorite thing is that you worked in the oil fields, they were high pay but hard work as you put it. It’s interesting how you both came at a young age. I mean you and Rhoda, and you both came for school. Was it safe working in the oil fields?   Sincerely, Crosby  ]]>

Mother of Zen Ze Chen Shares Her Story with Fourth Graders By Zen Ze Chen, NY-NY Today Wen Zhou mother of Zen Ze Chen (me) came over to LREI fourth grade to share her story of her life. She came over to America in August 15, 1985, the purpose of coming here was to seek a better life, education, work, hospitality, food, civilized conditions, warmth, indoor plumbing, and windows with glass. Wen said, “In Xiapu we had no indoor plumbing, no heating, no windows, we had to make windows out of paper and rice. The rice would act as glue and the paper was the glass. Since there was no heating, at recess we would line up facing the wall and push as hard as you can against the wall.” So it was not anything like New york. Wen came here on August 15, 1985. She was so surprised when she saw black people and white people, because she really never seen people out of her village. So this was a whole new experience for her. She worked in a factory cleaning the thread of jackets pants and skirts also packaging. Everyone loved Wen’s story. They thought the conditions at Xiapu there conditions were a lot worse than the city so much they thought it was interesting. Zen said, “It’s like showing a kid a vintage phone. Like the ones where the have the circle and you put your finger into them and turn it. One of those.” Wen’s Journey to Heaven By Bailey Wolfman In recent news, Wen, the mother of Zen, recounted her childhood in China to a classroom of kids in America. It was reported that many people in China at the time were quite poor and cold because of a lack of money and heat. It seems living conditions are very different between China and America. Schools are so poor that they often don’t have basic materials and the whole class had to share one textbook! In addition, many classrooms in China had no indoor plumbing and had to use a buckets to as toilets and share one water well in the middle of the town as water didn’t go to the classroom. It was also reported that they had no glass windows and used paper sheets instead of glass and rice as glue. Wen moved to America many years ago and now owns a successful clothing company. She sells kids clothes, including dresses, pants and shirts. She is appreciative of everything available in America, but also learned a great deal from her childhood experience in China.]]>