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WEEK of FEBRUARY 2, 2004
@BFS! archives

Coming to America

by Jeffrey Stanley

The third annual 4th grade immigration interviews took place this week in Seth Flicker and Emily Zucal’s classrooms 4A and 4B. Student questioners clustered in teams of three or four, pencils and interview forms in hand, to grill immigrant parents who had come to school just for this event.

On the eve of Chinese New Year, 4th grader Gavriel Loria’s mom Diana Loria, Chinese name Moy Lai-Mee, recalled her trip to the United States from Hong Kong when she was 8 years old. “We took a plane. It was a long plane ride. We had to sit in the same seat for 20 hours. We landed in Seattle.” Loria came here with her mother and her six siblings. Her father came a year later. Her interviewers, who remained intense and professional throughout the interview, wanted to know why she came. Loria explained that her grandparents had fled China and come to this country in 1947 to escape Communism. Loria grew up in Hong Kong, where her parents had to change their family name in order to avoid scrutiny from Chinese officials due to her grandparents’ decision. Eventually Loria’s parents decided to come to the United States so the family could be reunited.

Flicker explained the purpose of the interviews. “We’re talking in class now about the people who emigrated to New Amsterdam, now New York City, in the 1600s, and the reasons we think they chose to come here. Because we can’t go back and interview them, we decided to interview people who are coming here today to find out if the reasons are the same.”

Loria eagerly showed the students old black-and-white photos from her youth and colorful currency from Hong Kong. At the end of the interview, she took a bright red Chinese envelope from her purse, explaining that she had just gotten it from her mother that day, and unsealed it for the first time in front of the students. It contained a small amount of money, which got many many “oohs” and “ahhs” from her young questioners. Loria smiled, explained that these red gift envelopes are traditionally exchanged as part of the New Year celebration.

Meanwhile across the room, student Sonja Sepkowitz’s mom Janette Mary O’Sullivan, who came here from England in 1964—“the same year the Beatles came”—chatted casually with her team of junior researchers. Later, she discussed the interview experience, which she found entertaining and impressive. “It was a fun thing to do. They were really interested. They came up with some nice points—the issue of stereotyping, assumptions people make about other countries.”

One of her interviewers, Joe Gilbert, later emphasized that point. “I like how she said when she went to a new school [here in the United States], it was stricter than her old school in England.” Gilbert and his cohorts Claudia Tanney, Zoe Labian, and Rachel Van Metre were surprised, admitting that they assumed the British to be incredibly stern and reserved.

At the same time, another group of students interviewed Juliette Delman-Lagot’s mom Catherine Lagot, who emigrated from France at age 39. Afterward, interviewer Jessica Carlson highlighted her favorite part of their talk with Lagot. “I liked it because at the end she taught us to say goodbye in French.”

See a previous in-depth story on this fascinating annual Lower School event.

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