Family History

[iris]

I'm ABC born in Chicago, appearantly only midwesterner on here. My mommy born in Canton ("shun duk") and daddy from Toishan -- small farm area.

Mommy fled Canton (by train) by herself to Hong Kong when she was like 9 or 10 to avoid being branded landlord class in Cultural Revolution. (She wasn't allowed to attend school, even though she was honors student). My grandma went from wealthy lady to street cleaner.

My grandfather (dad's side) was teacher/businessman educated in the states. Was branded foreigner sympathizer and had his hands smashed. My father was only 5 then and was the only person allowed to see my grandfather in prison (to feed him) . Think when my father turned about 16 or 17, him and younger bro swam to Hong Kong and vowed to never return to mainland.

So thats why my family came to the U.S. - by luv


I was born in Springfield, Missouri, luv :P

Both my parents were born in Taiwan. My paternal grandfather was a college teacher who preached the ways of Chiang Kai-shek. During the revolution, they were persecuted and he escaped to Taiwan with my grandmother. They were also of the upper class that fell when Mao Zedong took over. My grandmother, who never worked a day in her life, cleaned houses and took in laundry. My grandfather who used to teach, farmed and fixed things for pennies. My father was the youngest of six (5 boys, 1 girl). He and his brothers used to steal fruit from graveyard offerings to have something to eat. They joined the army as soon as they could to escape poverty.

When they reached Hawaii on a naval ship, they jumped it and made their way to America. The five of them had $14 dollars total in their pockets. In the U.S., they washed dishes and found odd jobs. My mother worked as a seamstress in a sweatshop factory. 6 years later, my father and his siblings brought my grandparents over.

That is how I came to be :)

[iris]

How different our lives are from our parents, us children of first generation immigrants. :huh:

[luv]

:cry: so sad....

We are very fortunate, but think of the guilt-trip growing up. All of my friends who have family owned businesses don't wanna take over when parents retire. Everyone is entitled to do what they want to do, but they often don't even want to listen about their past -- to see how precious life could be or how hard their parents worked.

Sorry, I'm such a bummer.

[angel nympho]

I was born in Irvine. Raised in Irvine. And now I'm finally busting free of the Irvine bubble. ...Whoa, what a boring life I've had.

My parents didn't have some sob story or anything. They were pretty rich and powerful in Korea. They moved to Southern California and continued being rich.

[tapestrybabe]

i came to the U.S. when i was 3 years old... living in Ithaca, NY for awhile.. my dad, was a Carvel store owner.. he decided to change professions and become a minister... when i was in 4th grade... we moved to NJ so my dad could attend theological school at Drew University, in Madison, NJ... and i've been living in NJ since than... and have never traveled outside of the United States yet...

[amietron]

I'm a yonsei, a fourth generation Japanese American.

My dad is sansei, third generation, and my mother is issei, first generation, born in Japan.

-My father's mother was born in the USA, but her family moved to Hiroshima, Japan when she was 3. She continued living in Japan until she was older. She was a picture bride. My dad's father was born in the USA also, but as a child, like my grandmother, he and his family moved to Japan. My dad's older siblings, parents and family were imprisoned for 3 years at the internment camps at Manzanar, CA.

-My mother's parents are both from Kagoshima, Japan. My grandpa moved to the US with his older brother to establish themselves before their families made the move. My mom has been living here since she was 13.

-I was born in Stanford, CA. There's such a city? Hell, yes. Stanford Hospital, baby! I've lived in Foster City, CA since birth and have yet to burst the bubble.

[ChinaLama]

since up to (and in my father's case, including) my grandparents, my ancestors were poor, we don't have a long elaborate geneology. :) I'm not sure if my maternal grandparents were Shanghai-born, but my paternal grandfather was born in Yu Yao or some place near Ningbo, and my paternal grandma was also born in the Ningbo countryside or something. My parents and I were all Shanghai-born. :)

My dad came over here to do research on a J1, I and my mom later tagged along as J2's. After Tiananmen happened, my dad didn't really want to go back to China anymore (see, SWK, freedom DOES matter to at least some Chinese ppl. it's not just all about the Benjamins ;)), so we settled in NY, eventually all got green cards, and then citizenship.

[amietron]

Originally posted by ChinaLama@Nov 29 2002, 11:22 PM
so we settled in NY, eventually all got green cards, and then citizenship.
My mom still isn't a citizen, and she's been living here for 25+ years. :o

[princess]

Originally posted by amietron@Nov 29 2002, 11:13 PM
I'm a yonsei, a fourth generation Japanese American.

My dad is sansei, third generation, and my mother is issei, first generation, born in Japan.

-My father's mother was born in the USA, but her family moved to Hiroshima, Japan when she was 3. She continued living in Japan until she was older. She was a picture bride. My dad's father was born in the USA also, but as a child, like my grandmother, he and his family moved to Japan. My dad's older siblings, parents and family were imprisoned for 3 years at the internment camps at Manzanar, CA.

-My mother's parents are both from Kagoshima, Japan. My grandpa moved to the US with his older brother to establish themselves before their families made the move. My mom has been living here since she was 13.

-I was born in Stanford, CA. There's such a city? Hell, yes. Stanford Hospital, baby! I've lived in Foster City, CA since birth and have yet to burst the bubble.
im yonsei, too

[luv]

my grandma just got her citizenship!! she's 88 and been here for 15 years. it was her third time, can't believe they made her read the word "constitution" on her 2nd try. But i'm happy for her. :dance:

[SunWuKong]

Originally posted by ChinaLama@Nov 30 2002, 02:22 AM
My dad came over here to do research on a J1, I and my mom later tagged along as J2's. After Tiananmen happened, my dad didn't really want to go back to China anymore (see, SWK, freedom DOES matter to at least some Chinese ppl. it's not just all about the Benjamins ;)), so we settled in NY, eventually all got green cards, and then citizenship.
hahhah yeah if i was your father, i would have done the same thing. actually well, i would be tempted to go back and join the students.

but hey it's a different china now. the students want money. :D

[kimchee63]

My father's family is from Kaesong, a town just north of the DMZ in Korea. While my last name (Kim) is very common, I'm told that there aren't too many from my dad's hometown. My grandfather was a doctor and my grandmother was a school teacher. Dad was the only son, spoiled rotten from Day 1. Things got worse when my grandfather died. I didn't find out until much later that this grandfather had gotten addicted to morphine, and had actually committed suicide. Lots of big big secrets in this family!

Dad got involved in the Korean War as a 19 year old, working as an interpreter for the British Army. After the war and with the partitioning of Korea, he found himself stuck in the South, with a sister and mother still up north. He emigrated to the US in 1957 to study at Bradley University in Peoria, IL. The unresolved crap with his mother and sister has made things hard for my dad.

My mother's family is huge (3 brothers, 3 sisters) and from Seoul. My grandfather owned a large distillery at one point, which was destroyed in the war. Subsequent efforts at business weren't nearly as successful. Apparently the Midopa department store in downtown Seoul is on land once owned by granddaddy. My grandmother was unusual - HER mother was granted a divorce (~1890) and was a single mother.

Mom went to Ehwa University, then came to Juilliard to study voice. Mom and dad met through a mutual friend. Mom says dad had "a big head like a lightbulb." A whirlwind courtship followed, and I was born in Tuscaloosa, AL, where my father was working as a professor.

[kimchee63]

Originally posted by luv@Nov 29 2002, 08:57 PM
:cry: so sad....

We are very fortunate, but think of the guilt-trip growing up. All of my friends who have family owned businesses don't wanna take over when parents retire. Everyone is entitled to do what they want to do, but they often don't even want to listen about their past -- to see how precious life could be or how hard their parents worked.

Sorry, I'm such a bummer.
It may be a bummer, but it's true. I don't think that anything that I've experienced or accomplished can compare to what my parents went through. I'm not nearly as tough or ballsy as they were.

[maldito]

Wow, everyone has interesting stories and it's good that people know their family history. Wish my family knew theirs. I'm the one who had to piece it all together. :D

My paternal grandmother left the Philippines with her brother and on the ship she met a man who she ended up marrying, my grandfather. My grandfather had already been to Hawai'i and was hired to recruit Filipino laborers so he travelled around the Phils. and this trip was his last. This was in 1922.

My grandparents ended up having 9 children total, but only 8 survived. They lived on 2 different islands having children on each before they settled for a tiny island of Molokai where they had their last 3 children.

My mother's father was also from the Phils., not sure his story. But he later met and married my grandmother Julia a year after my mom was born. There was some ambiguity at first who the father of my grandmother's child. It was either her first husband, a white man from Kentucky or my grandfather. But, my mom does not look white so we know who her father is. *L*

My grandmother Julia grew up in a typical Hawaiian fashion where the child is given to a close relative to be raised just like some of her siblings. Julia's father was a Portuguese man from the island of Madeira, somewhat off the coast of Portugal and Africa. Christopher Columbus lived on one of the Madeira islands.

Julia's mother Emma was Hawaiian and Chinese. Emma's father arrived from China in 1861 but I was told he was on his way to California when he got off in Hawai'i and never reboarded. He married a Hawaiian on the island of Maui, a descendant of the Hana and Hilo chiefs.

Later my grandmother Julia took my mom (she was in her teens) to Molokai since Julia had relatives there. Later my mom married her husband there, had 2 children and then she got to know my dad and had me and my brother. :dance:

[Elizabeth A.]

My mother's side: My family came from a small farming town in Southern Greece. My great-great grandfather was a Greek Orthodox priest, but mostly they were farmers. My great grandparents (on my mother's father's side) came to New York City in 1916. The family hasn't moved from there since. The other great-grandparents came to New York in 1928. At first they worked in sweatshops making coats and such, but they later owned their own businesses: diners and grocery stores. My mother was born in Brooklyn.

My father's side: My father came from a rather high-born family in India, though most of their money was gone by the time he was born. (I never did find out how) He came to New York in the mid 70's after graduating from college in India.

My parents met while both were working in a hospital in Brooklyn.

[kimchee63]

Originally posted by Elizabeth A.@Nov 30 2002, 08:34 AM
My mother's side: My family came from a small farming town in Southern Greece. My great-great grandfather was a Greek Orthodox priest, but mostly they were farmers. My great grandparents (on my mother's father's side) came to New York City in 1916. The family hasn't moved from there since. The other great-grandparents came to New York in 1928. At first they worked in sweatshops making coats and such, but they later owned their own businesses: diners and grocery stores. My mother was born in Brooklyn.

My father's side: My father came from a rather high-born family in India, though most of their money was gone by the time he was born. (I never did find out how) He came to New York in the mid 70's after graduating from college in India.

My parents met while both were working in a hospital in Brooklyn.
E:

How did your grandparents react to your parents wanting to marry?

[Adaon]

Lemme see....I'm first generation ABC......

My parents met in HK while my dad was dating a schoolmate of my mom's........both were upper class in HK....paternal Grandfather was a doctor in HK who also ran an import/export business with his brother *three cities - Canton Shanghai HK*.......grandfather died when dad was younger than his teens, my oldest uncle took over the business and eventually squandered and lost the company through money laundering by his mistress. the uncles ditched my grandmother and their sisters with the debts and ran around HK hiding from debt collectors while my aunts worked their fingers to pay for it while my dad was working here and sending cash home......Dad came to tennesee *Christian Brothers' University* became a chemi engineer......worked for Chevron/Standard Oil for a while and somehow got dubbed a computer engineer.....*shrugs*.......met his first wife, and had my oldest sister while first wife was working for NASA AMMES (sp??).....then first wife cheated on dad, leaving the kid with him, who couldn't raise her on his own so my sis went to my aunts who were now living comfortably after the debts were gone and uncles came crawling back.

Dad met momm who was nursing in SF at the time and they talked about old times in HK and then fell into the loops of things, sucked into romance and junk :rolleyes: then they married and had my next older sis, sponsored my oldest sis, and the rest of the extended family *90% of my mom's immediate family and the lowlife scum that were my uncles* into the states, and then had me and my bro.


Odd thing was, my faintest memory as a kid, when i was youngest, was a memory of my paternal grandmother.......met her when i was under a year old *dad was her favorite kid, and me being first son of my dad meant i was damned spoiled while i with her :lol: *......and i can remember the detail of the room and stuff better than my dad and aunts who were there with me......i kinda wish she were around to spoil me while growing up.....oh well...:-P

[LT25]

Born in Vietnam (1973). Adopted when I was 11 months old. Lived in Massachusetts for 23 years until i graduated collge, got comissioned as a 2LT on active duty and moved to Georgia for training (1998). Lived in Watertown NY for one year as part of my Army life (1999). Returned to Massachusetts and lived with friend and her family until activated for Operation Noble Eagle 2 (2002). Currently residing on post at FT Dix, NJ until at least September 2003. Orphaned so I have no idea who my birth parents are. :(

[artsfartsyjanet]

Um.... where should I begin...

Mom's side (all Chinese born in Vietnam): My maternal grandfather died when my mom was 16. He was a family doctor in Vietnam, but he died probably from lung cancer, but my family doesn't know the name of the disease. I'm not sure what my mom's family's social class was but her and her siblings used to wear uniforms to school.... but a lot of school children did back then... Anyway, My maternal grandmother spoiled me. When I was less than 8 years old, she gave me $100 to spend, but my mom took away from me and said she'd put it in my savings... yeah right. Anyway, I got a bag of candy out of the $100 my mom allowed me to spend. ;) I'm not bitter.... <_< :rolleyes: She was born in Saigon...youngest of like 6 children i think. She only has one brother... and I have a million cousins from just her side of the family. My mom's side now lives in San Francisco or Oakland.... not sure anymore.

Dad's side (all Chinese descent): Paternal grandfather was born in Guangdong province. Grandfather was captured by Japanese (based on what i was told) and "dropped off" in Saigon with his older sister. He must've been 14 years old. My grandfather's father was killed by the Japanese. Um... anyway, he worked odd jobs to make ends meet....he was a taxi driver and a bunch of other odd occupations. He was a handsome man (judging from his pictures). When he became a young man, he and his friends were body builders. lol.... And my grandmother was a babe.... hehe.... Anyway, they got married. My dad's the oldest of four children. haha... sorry, I just thought about how weird my family is. My dad's the oldest and the most militant and most laborous (if that's the word). The second child is a mom of three children now. The third child works for Xerox in Los Angelos and has a family of his own, and the fourth child (my youngest uncle) is in jail.heheh..... He's the bad apple in our family, and no one in my family associates with him. It's kinda sad. Anyway, my dad (the oldest) met my mom through his Xerox brother back in Saigon...

My dad worked in the American Embassy, and during the Vietnam War era, my dad, my mom (not married yet), and my Xerox uncle had the privilege to flee early from the country in 1974. If he had stayed, he would've been killed. Anyway, my mom and dad married in L.A. city hall.... worked there for a few years and came to St. Louis to start the restaurant business in 1979. Then, I was born!!! Hello! =) The first restaurant they owned was in a bad neighborhood... So, they started another one in August of 1980 in a better area...more middle working class environment. The restaurant is still operating. My paternal grandfather came to the US from Vietnam when I was 7 months old, and then the majority of the rest of my family members came to St. Louis when I was 4 years old. Everybody looked so dayam skinny back then. Now everybody's chubby, and my dad and my grandfather have the gut to prove it. heh....

[wylin]

i came from my mothers poon after my dad used his cockmonkey to impregnate her before marriage and is was borh 6 months after they got hitched.

- ok now in a less vulgar geniology

- my dads side are farmers of aborginal blood mixed w/ hakaa blood in the northern part of taiwan. he has alota siblings 2 sisters (1 deceased), 3 brothers (1/2 half from fathers mistress), he came in 1968 after getting his veteranary degree in sum college in taipei as a student to at first washington state university and later UC davis getting a bachelors in micro-biology and getting 2 doctorates in vetrinaty medicine and another in microbiology. he met my mother at age 35 (late bloomer) in 1976 driving his chevy nova. And they dated and married because of an opps namely me in 1978. my father owns part of a biotech firm in taiwan is and is often gone and has residencies in shanghai, taipei, hacienda hts. ca, sandiego, and off the north coast of china (forgot wat province) and is divorced from my mom.

-my moms side she comes from a taiwanese judges family who was appointed the 1st "native" non KMT judge in taiwan. she has 9 siblings counting her and she came to the US in 1972 because my grandfather was dying of cancer and he came and got treatment and thearapy and eventually used his connections with the taiwan goverment to legalize and naturalize a majority of his children and their families. she lived w/ father from 1972-78 and was married at age 30 in 1978 and bore me and 1 brother. most of our family lives in and around hawthorne CA because thats where the orginal few who came to the USA lived in a small 2 bedroom apartment and later in gardena in a 3 bedroom home shared by 2 uncles, 3 aunts, and my mother and father...she now divorced from my father and awaits me and my brother to spawn children.

[luv]

Wow, i wonder if we are all related somehow....big...big extended family. :huh:

[artsfartsyjanet]

Originally posted by luv@Dec 2 2002, 09:13 PM
Wow, i wonder if we are all related somehow....big...big extended family. :huh:
probably..... :o but i hope not. lol Then again, all of you are weird. *ducking* And my family's no exception.

[azizgilani]

My father was an engineer in West Pakistan when he applied for work permits in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, and just for fun, the US.

When he found out he got "residency" (a green card), he was pretty annoyed. "Why would I want residency? All I want is to work."

He never really did anything with his greencard, just kept extending his emigration window. Finally, after the 1971 Indo-Pak/Pak-Civil war he decided to try the US out.

He is still here.

[AliBabaIncorporated]

My grandpa came to Philippines from M'sia to get married. He was still around when WWII started, so he joined up with the US Navy. Afterwards, he had served long enough to qualify for US permanent residency, and didn't want to go back to M'sia cuz of all the communist noises coming out of the Chinese community there, so he came over to California instead.

[YuheiCarreau]

My dad worked at the Hong Kong branch of his bank for about five years. He was offered a job in the London branch, but he turned it down because my mother was pregnant with me and my sister. A few months later, he was offered a job at the New York branch, and he accepted. So when my sister and I were about six months old, we were on our way over to the US...

My father took forever to get a greencard. Somehow he got in and out of the US hundreds of times on a temporary work visa, but after 16 years the INS threatened to deport him if he didn't become a 'resident alien' or whatever.

[Emperor_Mike]

"Here" for me would be Canada as opposed to the United States, though we almost moved to Bangor, Maine.

Anyway, government pressure caused my family to move to the West from our home in Malaysia. In a overly dramatic way, I suppose we're like the French Royalist emigres during the Revolution. The Malaysian government attempted to seize all of the family's assets, but all they got was an apartment and a small townhouse. I still have a virulent hatred for Mahathir and Malay government officials in general to this day.

[AngryABCGirl]

I don't know the whole story of why my parents came here, just bits and pieces. They both came from screwed up families that were leeching off of them, they were both wai sen ren whose parents told them to get the hell out of Taiwan all their lives, they wanted more $$$, so all the more reason to take off. My mom got a job at the Chinese Daily News/World Journal off some experience she did working in Taiwan and my dad went to USC for grad school and they just lived it up.

[azizgilani]

I just realized that I ignored the story of my mother's migration. Prior to my father leaving West Pakistan, his family demanded that he get married. They didn't want him marrying any "Americans"

In a big rush he got an arranged marriage with my mom and then left for the US. My mom gave birth to my twin sisters while he was in the US. Once he figured out he would never leave the US (about three years) he summoned my mom and sisters to join him in NY.

[Eros]

My mom moved here from Panama (much like her sister and brother would end up doing when they grew up). As for why they were in Panama, I'm not sure of the exact reason my great grandparents left China but I do know they tried to get into the US and when they couldn't they ended up in Panama.

Who knows on my dad's side. We've had ancestors in America for centuries.

[golden_buns]

<!--QuoteBegin-Eros+Aug 12 2003, 08:50 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Eros @ Aug 12 2003, 08:50 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> My mom moved here from Panama (much like her sister and brother would end up doing when they grew up). As for why they were in Panama, I'm not sure of the exact reason my great grandparents left China but I do know they tried to get into the US and when they couldn't they ended up in Panama.

Who knows on my dad's side. We've had ancestors in America for centuries. [/b][/quote]
There's a lot of ethnic chinese in Central America primarily because of;

the construction of the Panama canal

the railway construction in Mexico

I've met a lot of central americans whom are of chinese descent

[golden_buns]

My dad wanted to become a spanish professor at a University so he Went for a Masters degree in Colombia, eventually got offered a job there for a joint venture between the Colombian govt and private Korean investors, so he came back to Korea to take us down there with him.

[seanp]

Vietnam War,
Dad is south vietnamese captain
mom is international bank manager.
US army deployed,
the war ended
Parents immigrated to US
because both of my parents work for south vietnam goverment
and we're among the wealthiest (first wave of viet refugee in US are wealthy or royal viet.(where did the money go :blink: )

[SunWuKong]

azizgilani: i've changed the title of this thread to "why my family came here".


anyway, like many other Cantonese people, my family has a history of emigration, on both sides of my family, even. i have relatives from my great-grandparents' generation that have moved overseas from China. my great-great-grandfather actually married an English woman and had kids with her in England, which means my great-great-grandmother was an Englishwoman.

but as for my immediate family, we came for a variety of reasons. when we applied for emigration to the US, my mother's parents, as well as 2 of 3 sisters and her brother were already in the US. so it was partly for my mother to be closer to her family, and it was also partly for better opportunities and better lives. not that life in HK was so terrible, because the economy was actually booming back then, but in the late 70s and early 80s, HKers have an image of life in the US being a lot better. we actually applied for emigration before 1984, and in 1984, it was announced that HK would be handed back to mainland China in 1997. initially there was widespread panic and everybody started leaving HK in droves. so getting away from a China-ruled HK became another reason for us to leave.

the ironic thing is that most HKers expected the HK economy to stay the same after the hand-over, but expected politics to affect the very fabric of their daily lives. it turned out to be the reverse - the HK economy has sunk after the hand-over (but that has a lot to do with the Asian financial crisis), and politics hasn't really affected (or changed) people's daily lives at all.

[lethal]

My family came over from Vietnam in 1979. I was a wee tyke back then. After the South fell, the communists put my dad in a camp. My family was under a watch and probation. We had to check in every week. It was like parole or something.

My parents plotted to escape and left by fishing boat along with about 40 other people. We floated around the South China Sea for about a month under considerable fear of attack by pirates. Apparantly we almsot were caught once, but we managed to escape. The communists were giving hefty rewards to pirates who caught people trying to escape by boat.

Eventually a ship picked us up and dropped us off at a refugee camp on an island off the coast of Malaysia. We spent 8 months there until we were accepted as refugees by the U.S. government.

Our sponsor lived in Philadelphia, so we got an apartment close to her. Her church group helped us a lot with clothes and basics. My parents took English classes at Temple University and my dad started working within a year of us arriving.

That was over 20 years ago.

[SunWuKong]

ok, i've merged this thread with a previous and similar one.

[MellowDrama]

<!--QuoteBegin-AliBabaIncorporated+Aug 12 2003, 05:01 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (AliBabaIncorporated @ Aug 12 2003, 05:01 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> My grandpa came to Philippines from M'sia to get married. He was still around when WWII started, so he joined up with the US Navy. Afterwards, he had served long enough to qualify for US permanent residency, and didn't want to go back to M'sia cuz of all the communist noises coming out of the Chinese community there, so he came over to California instead. [/b][/quote]
In similar fashion, my father's older brother, my uncle, joined the USN, then brought over his parents and siblings from the Philippines. :dance:

[Ogumo]

I am a first generation japanese person. I have been in america for a few years now. Our reason for being in this country is so my father can be close with his brother. Although I do not blame him.

[Mr.Lum]

im mixed. if i was full chinese i would be 6th gen chinese american. my dads ancestors went to South Carolina in the 1800's to work on the plantations/replace slaves. they when his contract was my ancester 's(not sure what "great" grand pa he was) contract was up he moved to Charleston and then my grandpa moved to NewYork (chinatown) and then moved to Queens after meeting my grandma and they had my dad. if i were full Fijian/Polynesian id be 2nd gen. my grandma was born in Fiji (on Vanua Levu) andgot married to a Fijian guy and had my uncle. then he died in WW2. she remarried to my granpa who was born on Rotuma (in Fiji). they moved to Hawaii and had my mom. my grandpa was a chemist. they moved to CT and had a whole litter of kids. my mom my dad and had my sis and I.

[SunWuKong]

I am a first generation japanese person. I have been in america for a few years now. Our reason for being in this country is so my father can be close with his brother. Although I do not blame him.
how did your uncle ended up in the US? what about the rest of your father's side of the family?

[ModernLogic]

My father was an economics professor in China. He graduated from Sun Yat Sen University, but I'm not sure where he taught.

Anyways, he criticized the government and was got smacked down by the Anti-Rightist movement. For those who don't know, Mao invited the nation's intellectuals to criticize the government, but as soon as they opened their mouths, he blacklisted them and rounded them up.

Anyways, my dad then spent the next 15 years in a slave labor camp in Manchuria as means of "re-education" Had a lot of hard times there while the rest of the country went to hell in handbasket. Thank god Mao died in 1976, and my father was freed. Came to the US, got married and stuff.

As for my mom, she was a former red guard.

LOL... Ironic isn't it!

[SunWuKong]

Anyways, he criticized the government and was got smacked down by the Anti-Rightist movement. For those who don't know, Mao invited the nation's intellectuals to criticize the government, but as soon as they opened their mouths, he blacklisted them and rounded them up.


oh wow, he participated in the Hundred Flowers Campaign (¦Êªá运动)? do you happen to know what he spoke/wrote about?

for those of you who don't know about the Hundred Flowers Campaign and the Anti-Rightist Movement, here is a short write-up (http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundred_Flowers_Campaign).

a similar thing also happened in 1978 called the Democratic Wall Movement.

[Emperor_Mike]

I was born in Malaysia to an investment banker father from Oxford University/MIT and a mathematician mother who graduated from Imperial College, U. of London. Unfortunate circumstances led to our flight from Malaysia and we ended up in Canada in '88. To make a long story short, we loved Vancouver, we prospered, the parents are now retired and I'm setting out to seize a spot in this world to call my own.

[Ogumo]

My father was an economics professor in China. He graduated from Sun Yat Sen University, but I'm not sure where he taught.

Anyways, he criticized the government and was got smacked down by the Anti-Rightist movement. For those who don't know, Mao invited the nation's intellectuals to criticize the government, but as soon as they opened their mouths, he blacklisted them and rounded them up.

Anyways, my dad then spent the next 15 years in a slave labor camp in Manchuria as means of "re-education" Had a lot of hard times there while the rest of the country went to hell in handbasket. Thank god Mao died in 1976, and my father was freed. Came to the US, got married and stuff.

As for my mom, she was a former red guard.

LOL... Ironic isn't it!

Damn your father had a hard life. You must show this man your respect.

[ModernLogic]

oh wow, he participated in the Hundred Flowers Campaign (¦Êªá运动)? do you happen to know what he spoke/wrote about?

for those of you who don't know about the Hundred Flowers Campaign and the Anti-Rightist Movement, here is a short write-up (http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundred_Flowers_Campaign).

a similar thing also happened in 1978 called the Democratic Wall Movement.


Yea, it was the Hundred Flowers Campaign. Anyways, I didn't say "100 Flowers movement" since most people would have thought it was a floral arrangement competition or something.

I'm not sure what he specifically wrote about but it was economic policy.

[SunWuKong]

Yea, it was the Hundred Flowers Campaign. Anyways, I didn't say "100 Flowers movement" since most people would have thought it was a floral arrangement competition or something.

I'm not sure what he specifically wrote about but it was economic policy.


that's cool man. much respect to your father for speaking out.

[coagulated fat]

I had an interesting thought the other day.. that my grandparents' internship during world war 2 is helping to pay for my college education because of the government grant. That started a whole chain of thoughts about what the implications of that are and how far or not far our families have come through the generations. If you look back at your family lineage can you see how each generation contributed something or built your family up somehow? How do your family's experiences relate to the history of asian america? How is this process being continued with you?

[coagulated fat]

My great grandpa worked in a fish market and was a bit of an asshole, my great grandma died young from tuberculosis. My grandma was a maid and my grandpa fixed watches. They sort of live in a ghetto area. All of their kids, my mom included, now work for the state and live in nice burbs and drive toyota camrys. I probably will be lucky enough to get the best education in my family so far. I don't know what the hell I'm going to do with it though.

[John0101]

Mom-side: From China, during the cultural rev. the government took away all their property. She constantly reminds me how her grandfather was well off and then the government took it all away. I can tell she was spoiled when she was younger. Then had to work on farms. Then moved to HK worked as a teacher, meet my dad and got married, then moved to Boston. Now she works in the disability department for Boston. She failed her road test 3 times and is not a good driver. Grandparents lives in NYC now. My mom is really loud and vocal for a 5'1 asian woman.

Dad-side: came from a rural village in China, him and his brothers did really good in school. Got into a prestige college but then dropped out. Moved to HK, meet my mom, moved to Columbia to start a plastic factor w/brothers (I make fun of him telling that he once started a sweet shop :)), then jumped the boat and meetup with my mom in Boston. Grandfather got kidnap once by revolutioniares in Columbia when he was working in a mine. They killed all the miners except for him because he was chinese. Its kinda of funny because when my cousins came to Boston for school (they went to MIT and harvard) I heard them speak spanish to each other, was kinda of cool watching two asians speak perfect spanish. In Boston he worked as a bartender. Got into a car accident and quit working. All he really does now is trade stocks and reads all day. He's a really good stock picker, I saw all of stocks once and was blown away. My grandpa passed away a few years ago :( looking back I wished I could of talked to him more, and my Grandma currently lives in Boston and has no teeth.

[kasia]

moving to histories, traditions, and diaspora.

[SunWuKong]

merging.