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Do you mind if we get the door? Okay, sure. We can close it. Okay. It’s just cause I have to transcribe it later, so. I see. Thank you. I’ll try to speak fewer words to make it easier.

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Um, I’m Cindy Thaung and today is April 10th, 2013. I am here at an office at George R. Brown Hall to interview for the Houston Asian American Archives. Uh, to start with, what is your name?

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Weiwei Zhong. Uh, when and where were you born? Uh, I was born in China. 1975. Uh, where did you grow up? In China. Um, describe your hometown.

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My hometown is Nantong, which is a midsize city. Uh, it’s close to Shanghai, but not as busy as Shanghai, which is a very big city. Um, but it’s also not like a small town-ish, so

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just medium-size city. Mhm. Um, how has it changed over the years? It’s growing bigger. Now it’s, there are many new buildings. When I went back, I could hardly

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recognize my old neighborhood. Uh, what brought about the changes? In…I guess it’s economical growth. Um, from your childhood, what memories stand out the most,

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and why? Umm. I have to think about this one. So there is, um, in my childhood, I remember going to the market. Um, back

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then, actually I don’t know whether they still do it now, um so back then in the market you can buy, like, fish and chicken and everything. Um, we—there was no giant grocery stores,

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like we have here, so you just go to the market and then everyone buy all the food, everything, fresh. Um, and there was no refrigerator involved, and at the—I think at the end of the day, the vendor pretty much sold everything. Um, so we’d have to go to the

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market in the morning. So that’s kind of, uh, I think it’s uh, very unique for that time, or that place. You don’t see it anymore. Um, do you know any relationship stories of your family?

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Like how your parents or your grandparents met and married? Um, my parents, uh, they went to the same medical school, and then they worked in the same hospital, and that’s how

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they met. Um, my grandparents are, at that generation it’s likely arranged marriage. Uh, they never talked about it but I just guess.

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Uh, do you have any siblings? No. Um, what occupations has your family had in the past? My family means my- Like your parents, like what kind of jobs they had or your grandparents.

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Oh! Uh, my parents are both medical doctors. Um, my grandparents… I think they were, my—my mom’s side, my grandparents are like little small

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corner store owners, they sell something. And then later, they’re like little clerks in the shop. That’s my impression.

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Um, on my dad’s side, they were also like little vendors or something. My grandma probably is a housewife. Mhm. Um, what kind of education has your family had?

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Uh, my grandparents I really don’t know. Uh, my parents as I said both of them are medical doctors. They went to medical school.

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Um, what kind of jobs have you had? Mm…me, well I… do you—do you count graduate student as a job? Yeah. Okay. Yeah, then um, my first job was a, just as a graduate research assistant, um, when I was a

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graduate student. And after that I was a postdoc, and after that I’m a faculty member here. Um, what kind of education have you had? I have a PhD in cell biology and

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I have a master’s degree, also in, uh but that’s in computer science. And where was that? Uh, both degrees were obtained from University of Georgia. Mhm. And what was school like?

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Which school? Any. Or, starting from, like, the beginning. The elementary school? Uh, it’s different. In—in China, schools are, um…you have more—

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so, so in, so I did my elementary school, high school, and um, college in China. Over there, it’s um, I think the training is, seems to be more intense. You have more materials to learn, and um, more homework

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to do. Um, so, then I came to the states for a PhD, so in graduate school here, it’s more, it’s probably graduate school so, it’s more research-oriented, it’s more hands-on experience and less, like, textbooks.

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Uh, and for my postdoc, that’s also just more research, it’s... And here at Rice, then I started teaching, so it’s—it’s

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totally different. Hard to say. Have you experienced any kind of discrimination in the workplace? Um, noth—nothing stands out.

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There may be subtle, maybe people don’t like me or something, but nobody—at least, you know, there’s nothing I could notice. I have

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a friend, um, she’s—so I—she told me one instance, um, back in graduate school, she told me that when she was um, buying a used car, when she called, um, and the person just said I’m not selling it to you cause I don’t like

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your accent. So I would think that’s kind of discrimination. So I would say discrimination exists in this country, but I just have not personally experienced it, um, probably because I’m just dealing with people

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inside, uh, on campus, you know, in school, that’s um, probably why I’m kind of protected. Right. Um, are there other Asians in your field? Oh many, yes. Mhm.

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Um, what kind of networks are important in your life? Like, like the Chinese American community, or like the job network, or anything like that? Oh yeah, I see.

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Often, yeah, there—there are, my—I’m a very, um, not a very social person, so, my— my social circles are very limited. One is uh, in the U.S., my job, like my colleagues.

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Um, when I was a graduate student, and um, and the postdoc, my people working in the same lab or people working in the same department, so I knew them very well.

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Uh, that’s my social network, we also hang out together. And uh, aside of—from that, I also know um, many um, Chinese people, that kind of similar background, is also Chinese immigrant, came to this country for um, graduate

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school, and like, well, like now I know a few, uh, a few friends of mine, they all came to the U.S., um, from China, and now they, they’re married and they have kids. So we still keep in touch.

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So that’s a, I would say Chin… they’re not really Chinese American, because they—they don’t switch the citizenship. How would you describe? It’s like self-identification, I guess.

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Yeah. Yeah. Uh, so are you, like, maintaining these, uh, relationships from China, mostly—uh, mainly? Or are you, um, like getting to know other people. How do you—how do you network, like, in Houston?

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Uh, Houston, not much, um, before Houston I just got to know them at parties and stuff. Um, so it, it’s not I started from, like, in China. But in my college, a lot of us came to the states.

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So that’s like a separate network, we all kept in touch, all through the years. And then, if I go to parties I get to know other people, and then that’s how I meet people. Um, in Houston would be a little bit different, because now I

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have a young child and I just don’t have that much time for parties and stuff. So, then I get to know just from my neighbors, and uh, or just Rice, you know, campus, and we get to meet people and know the

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people. Um, are there any organizations that you’re involved in? Uh right now, not really. Okay. Um, there’s some professional organizations, probably, that’s not what you’re asking, right?

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I mean, it could be any organization. Okay, like, oh, I’m a member of the American Society of, Genetic Society of, uh, America. Um, I’m…I’ve been a member for many years.

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Um, so I’m still a member now. But that would be the only… association I’m a member of. Um, when you were growing up, were you, um, like encouraged to learn?

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Yeah. Um, like, what do you think about education? It’s, I think in China, you’re just taught from very little, you just have to excel in your class. Um, there wasn’t really—I never thought about it, I

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just have to do this, I don’t know why I just, you know, have to do my homework, I have to do everything, so that’s how I was brought up. Um, was there a lot of, like, pressure growing up? Yeah, there—there is.

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Um, so, it’s very competitive because people, you have to get really good grades, uh, in this national exam, um, to—in order to get into college.

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If you do well in that one exam, you get to college, you have bright future. At least that is what I thought at that time. Uh, if you don’t do well, then you end up, then you have to look

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for a job, which is often a low-paid job because you don’t have college education. Um, so everyone in high school, they tried very hard, tried to do well in, uh, exams. Did your parents’ background influence, uh, the career path that you

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chose? Um, a little, yes. Um, I—I didn’t want to be a medical doctor, um, but I chose life science, which is similar, it’s more on the research side. Why did you leave to come to the United States?

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Um, that’s, uh, because uh, graduate education. The graduate—the quality of graduate education is much better in the United States than in China. After I graduated from college I decided to go to graduate

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school, and um, and then shoot for the best, so. And that’s how I came to the States. Um, so how did you leave? What? Like, how did you, uh, leave China to come to the United States?

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Is it just, like, for education, and you came like through that path? A student visa? Yeah. So, so yeah, I applied, uh, for a few PhD programs here, and I got accepted.

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Um, and then it— it pays for… so—so you know in graduate school, they pay for your salary, and everything, so I just took that document to get a visa, and then I just

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flew here. Where did you first settle? Uh, in Athens, Georgia. And how was that? It’s a very small town. It’s a college town, and I thought it was uh, quite different

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than in…than what I’m used to in China. Because um, it’s a small town, not—I was surprised there are not many tall buildings because my impression of the states, was

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all from like images of Manhattan, right, I expect skyscrapers. But over there in Athens, the tallest building was like five stories. But it’s nice, I—I like the um, college town atmosphere.

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Um, and I felt lucky that I started in a small town rather than a megacity. Because in…if I had gone to a big city like LA or Houston, I would probably stick more—because you have bigger Chinese or Asian communities here, right.

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So I would probably stick to things I’m familiar with. So I would just hang out with other Chinese students or you know, only eating Chinese food, you know, everything’s familiar, like, I would be able

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to do that. But because it’s a small college town, I was forced to try new things. There was no Chinese grocery store there, uh, unless I drive. I think I had to drive to Atlanta to do some grocery shopping if I really wanted Chinese

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food. But it forces me to, uh, be more exposed to the American culture. Um, what was the community like in Athens? Mostly, uh, college students, or, um, university employees.

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There are…yeah, it’s a—it’s a town, there are lots of live music and it’s pretty nice. What was the diversity like? I would say, it has,

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it’s quite good. It has sizeable—some students, Chinese students, some Indian students, and um, Hispanic students. Actually I know all of them. Yeah, among my friends we have, uh,

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all kinds of friends. I think the dominant is still, uh, Caucasians. We have, you can see lots of um, there are many, uh, sororities.

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Um, yeah, it’s just crazy. Um, but as we said, because you know at one point I can hang out with, um… so the Chinese community is not that big, so we were hanging out with

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like Indian student association, or Hispanic student association, and that’s how I got to actually learn a lot from other cultures. Um, . And from Athens, where did you go?

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I went to Los Angeles. Mhm. And how was that? Los Angeles is much, um, bigger city, and um the difference would be, as I said, I could, I realize I could pretty much live the way I used to live as if I were

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in China. In LA I could just go to the Chinese restaurant, which is, they have a—Chinatown like just really, just all, everyone is Chinese, and the, even the street signs are in Chinese.

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And then the food is Chinese, very authentic. Um, I was uh, at that time I realized that oh, actually you know, had I been to LA first, I would probably, not knowing anything what I knew at

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that time, right, I just, you know, I would just eat Chinese food, hang out with Chinese people, I would not mingle with anyone else. But, because of Athens, it’s like a college town; you’re forced to, um, to expose

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yourself to other cultures, which turned out to be a good thing. Um, LA is a very—yeah, I think it’s very nice city to live in, because of the diversity, it’s much more diverse than Athens, Georgia. Um, there are many

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many Hispanics, many more than you’d see in Athens, Georgia, uh, and then more crowded, um, there’s people everywhere, and I also got to uh, see that. At the university they’re very ef…more efficient, probably

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because so many students, so many people go there so they’re more efficient in doing business. What kind of neighborhood did you live in in Los Angeles? Uh, I lived in Pasadena. It was near, uh, Caltech. Caltech was in Pasadena so I lived near Caltech

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and that’s where I worked. Um, and how was your, uh, job or studying in Los Angeles? I was a postdoc, I just did some research and it was fun.

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Okay. Yeah, it was not as um—I’d say that’s probably the best place for research. Um, so what brought you to Houston? Um, I applied for jobs everywhere, and

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um eventually I decided to come to Rice University. Um, I came to Houston mostly because of the job.

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Um, so the—was the only deciding factor to come here your job? Uh, yeah, well so, I had—at that time I had several other offers, I chose Houston because um, I, I want to live in a major city cause—with uh, international

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airport, because that will help me if I want, I still go back to China often. So if I live in a small town, you can imagine that it’s very uh, troublesome to get

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connections and fly to China. So that—that’s one thing I was looking for. And then the second thing I was looking for was that, I didn’t want to go to places that are too cold, because

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I was—my hometown in China was kind of like a warm place similar to Athens, Georgia, and then you can imagine I went to LA, which is also a warm place. So I was just looking around at, uh, places that’s not too cold, so that

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kind of blocked out all those um, like Chicago or Boston. Um, and then some places in California I was considering, but living cost was

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so high, so I tried just Houston. Um, what kind of neighborhood do you live in now? I live in Pearland, it’s uh, suburbia, and just. It’s good for families, I have to say.

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Um, very safe, very laidback, um, very family oriented, lots of playgrounds and things for kids. Um, what are your neighbors like? My neighbors are uh, I would say, typical, um, middle-class people.

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Um, they’re hardworking and most of them have fulltime jobs, and they, they also have kids, so they’re very family oriented. Uh, I think

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we share a lot in common. They care a lot about kids’ education, and care a lot about um, like the, the activ—what activities they can bring the kids to, and all those—the

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community safety. Um, yeah, so that’s uh, that’s my current neighborhood. It—I think it just changes, when you have—when you have a family,

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when you have, in particular when you have a kid. Your social circle completely changes from your previous life. Um, how did you, how did you start your family, like how did you meet your

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husband, or? My husband—do I have to answer? You don’t have to. Okay. Um, so I would not mention how—so, my husband also

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works at Rice, and uh, he’s from Mexico. Um, I think we like each other, just, we—we’re both, uh, passionate about science. Um, we like…

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you need to be a little bit idealistic to be very devoted to, to scientific research, so I think that’s something we have in common. Um, your husband is from Mexico, what ethnic background

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is he? He is Mexican. He’s like real Mexican. So, are there like any challenges for an interracial marriage? Oh yeah. Like, I think communication is—so, communication, I

00:24:14.490 - 00:24:31.280

guess is the most—is the biggest issue, but we try to um, we try to be more understanding. I’ll give you an example.

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Um… like, I was looking at a bunch of um—he took me to some party, and there was some Mexican, was it a wedding or something? I can’t remember. It was just a party, and there—like, girls were there

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dancing, I said, ‘Oh look at the girls, they look—they’re all so good looking,’ you know, with the dress and all that. And…and then he was saying that, ‘Oh, but you know, by the time

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they’re your age, they’ll look ugly.’ I said, ‘What do you mean, my age?!’ So my take was that, so offensive, you know, you’re implying I’m really old, but on his part he was trying to compliment me, because,

00:25:20.650 - 00:25:33.100

you’re still good looking. So you can see the difference right, so then we had a fight of course. But, then we understood, and it turned out that he was,

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that those girls were obviously just teenagers, which I thought they were in their twenties, um so, he told me that of course, like, a teenager, you cannot compare yourself to a teenager! So that was his mentality, so

00:25:49.270 - 00:26:04.130

that when they get your age, was not implying you’re old, just saying you’re still in good shape. So that was his thought, but first I took it very offensively, like what? So that’s kind of uh, issues we have, we

00:26:05.430 - 00:26:19.810

still, we fight over that. Um, the other thing we have, like food preferences? Um, that, that was actually easier to handle, cause I like all kinds of food, and he—he actually likes all kinds of

00:26:19.930 - 00:26:31.160

food too. So we’re, um, pretty easygoing on that side. But some peop—I know some of my friends are very picky in terms of food, so then, that probably is an issue over there.

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Um, is there any sort of, like, language barriers? We both speak English, um, we try to understand each other. Uh, most of the time, yeah like, we can, we can get around.

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If I can—if I cannot say a particular word, I’ll draw it or try to express in other ways. Um, I don’t…I learned a few words in Spanish, mostly just food names, but that’s

00:27:09.540 - 00:27:26.150

not gonna help much. Uh, his Chinese is not good either, so we just settle for English. Um, how did your family react to, um, you marrying, um, outside of the Chinese background?

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My parents are very traditional parents, uh, very traditional Chinese parents. They were not happy about it, but they just, you know, if I insist, they’ll, you know, accept.

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So that’s, I think they accepted the fact and…but if I—I think they would be, if they could choose, they—they would definitely prefer uh, a Chinese guy. Mhm.

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Uh, and your child, how will you raise your child? Like, like how in touch with the, with both cultures? Oh, um, we want her to be American. So that’s, uh—well, we tried—so our pediatrician

00:28:24.230 - 00:28:41.920

recommended that we teach the kid, uh, multiple languages, um, so, so my husband speaks to her in Spanish, uh my parents speak to her in Chinese, and

00:28:41.940 - 00:28:57.740

I’ll speak to her in English. Wow. Yeah, we’ll see how that goes. She’s—she’s only two right now, so we don’t know whether, um. She can—we don’t know whether it’s a good approach or not, the

00:28:57.810 - 00:29:11.690

doctor says it is but I’m not sure, um, I’ll try. So far she can, she can say a few words in each language, and she seems to understand a lot… like she can

00:29:11.770 - 00:29:29.850

understand Spanish that I can, there will be—if her dad tells her to touch her nose or touch her hair she can do that, which I would not be able to understand. And the same, if you write the Chinese character of

00:29:30.690 - 00:29:48.120

‘mom’ or ‘grandma’ she could recognize it, and she can actually tell you in Chinese. Um, how do you feel about your decision to move to the United States? I think it’s, it’s probably the best decision I made.

00:29:48.170 - 00:30:01.600

Um, it totally changed my life, and opened up many, many opportunities afterwards. What was the hardest thing about starting a new life? Oh, you don’t have any friends, right.

00:30:01.620 - 00:30:17.800

This um, you have to get to know people and have to join— everything’s new. And you have to try everything new. Some of them I really liked, some of them I didn’t,

00:30:18.090 - 00:30:35.200

then I have this attitude, I’ll try things and I guess learn not to take myself too seriously. How did you adjust to life here? I guess pretty well, um,

00:30:38.190 - 00:30:57.570

I still like uh… you know I still like Chinese food and all that, right. Um, also, I think because of my background I’m, because I’m exposed to different cultures I can see things that um, if you were only in one culture you would not see, right?

00:30:57.650 - 00:31:13.390

So I would see, things, you know, in that culture they do it that way, probably it’s much more efficient. Um, and if you—or if you know, you can do things this way or that way, both will work, it’s not

00:31:13.850 - 00:31:26.480

the only method, or oh you’re stuck here, you know, there—some people on other side of globe are doing different way and that seems to be working very well. So I think it’s good, you see things from multiple

00:31:28.030 - 00:31:47.160

perspectives and you become more tolerant and open- minded. Are there—were there any instances of culture shock? Yeah! So first thing I, when I just came to this country, um, first I

00:31:49.020 - 00:32:02.690

learned that, like, my English is not good, I could like read and uh, listen to those news pretty well but in real life people don’t speak that way. Uh, the first like, gosh I cannot, I think

00:32:03.180 - 00:32:19.760

I struggled so much just to um, set up my telephone line. Um, and then I found that, oh, people are so nice. Because here, you wave at every—well not here,

00:32:20.340 - 00:32:38.330

not in Houston. But in uh, Athens, Georgia, because it’s a small town, like if you’re walking, uh, in the apartment complex, everyone will wave at you, say hi, um, which we don’t—we don’t do that in China. So I found that a lot of people are so friendly.

00:32:38.600 - 00:32:56.250

Um, so then—yeah, it’s a pretty good experience. Thinking back to any major events in like recent history, what has impacted you

00:33:02.200 - 00:33:22.440

the most? Uh…I would say that I did the postdoctoral experience in LA. Um, I was working in Caltech working for Professor Paul Sternberg, I think in that research group I learned how to, um, just pursue

00:33:23.840 - 00:33:38.480

science, um, for—just because you’re curious, right, because you want to understand a particular—you want to find the answer to a particular question.

00:33:39.240 - 00:33:56.450

Um, you should not do science because, you know, that’s where the funding is, or do other things for any other purpose. You should just do it for the, um, just

00:33:56.800 - 00:34:11.430

the quest for answers, right. Um, I learned that attitude. And he’s also… I also learned how to mentor other people, from him.

00:34:14.590 - 00:34:32.630

It, it doesn’t—there is an idea of how you train students, um, and postdocs, but more importantly I learned from him how you um, help your students and postdocs to

00:34:32.760 - 00:34:50.690

find the career that’s best for them and help them to be successful in their career, um. Sometimes, even, you know, at a little bit cost of your own. But it’s, uh, according to him it’s totally worth it.

00:34:51.170 - 00:35:07.470

So I think I learned from him, um, one is how to be a good scientist, how to be a visionary, how to be creative, how to be, and also, very rigorous at the same time. Um, and the second part I learned from him is how to be a good mentor,

00:35:08.990 - 00:35:28.090

um, to help other people, to be successful. That’s, uh, I think that made me—that made me want to be a university professor. So before that, I just wanted to go to—I wanted, after my postdoc, to also go to

00:35:28.380 - 00:35:40.500

company and make lots of money. And, but I think that’s the part I realized, you know, money is not that important to the, there’s more, more fun of other things, in other things.

00:35:40.560 - 00:36:06.080

So that, I think that kind of changed my view, uh, of career and life and there’s just a priority. So you came here, in, what year? 1997. Um,

00:36:06.960 - 00:36:18.230

did any current events, like, impact your experience in the United States? In ‘97? Or any time surrounding that; like, for example, 9/11. Did that impact?

00:36:18.310 - 00:36:27.150

Oh! That was afterwards. Um… When I—okay—when I came to the U.S. was on the day that Princess Diana died.

00:36:27.980 - 00:36:46.650

It didn’t really affect me in any way but I heard that on the airplane. So, um, 9/11. Okay. September 11th is uh, I—it’s a horrible day, right, so I was uh, I was in Georgia at

00:36:46.750 - 00:37:07.160

that time, I remember the whole day was uh, was very depressed. Um, but the effects that really affected me…was um, afterwards, I think they have a lot of… um, like safety checks and all that, just people

00:37:07.180 - 00:37:22.510

getting so, um, paranoid. That’s a part I get a little bit concerned because uh—there are news that worries me is uh, like you saw in Florida, there—there were two, um,

00:37:24.490 - 00:37:33.350

Indian-looking people in a restaurant and people just called the police, thought they were terrorists. Turned out they were two doctors going to a conference, right.

00:37:34.530 - 00:37:48.360

And then I, a friend of mine, he’s Indian; he said that after September 11th, he stopped flying for a year. That was just too much hassle. Um, that’s a part that I felt more disturbing

00:37:51.250 - 00:38:08.220

than the September 11th itself. Um, so, on September 11th I know lots of people died, uh, it’s very tragic, but then um, I felt even more depressed last December when in Connecticut, right, they—the

00:38:10.100 - 00:38:29.560

Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. I felt even more depressed on that because those were um, first graders or young kids getting killed, so I felt more depressed…for the events like that, um, but then I

00:38:29.920 - 00:38:46.410

hope, um, yeah, so that would be—I think the—the impact on me is quite small, because I’m not related to those victims and all that, but I can image those victims’ families, how they

00:38:47.440 - 00:39:00.700

went through the whole thing. But even for other people, it probably is not as dramatic. Um, the only effects we get is…all those security

00:39:04.120 - 00:39:25.350

checks and just people’s attitudes towards uh, September 11th in particular,

00:39:28.650 - 00:39:46.050

people’s attitudes towards immigrants and um how they treat foreigners or foreign-looking people, uh I think that would be um, more disturbing. But right now I think it’s kind of faded away,

00:39:48.620 - 00:40:09.210

it’s not as bad. Have you ever felt, um, stereotyped because of your appearance? Or do people assume things about you? Maybe not, they

00:40:09.320 - 00:40:17.490

um… not really, I don’t—um, let me try to think, uh…Not really. But they—so my friends know me, so, they just—there’s no stereotypes, so they know I’m very picky eater so I have good taste, they trust me selecting Chinese restaurants.

00:40:17.820 - 00:40:32.780

I wouldn’t call that stereotyping. Are you a citizen of the United States? Uh, yes. Um, can you do dual citizenship with China, or no?

00:40:32.920 - 00:40:42.640

No. No? Okay. Do you think of yourself as an American? Yes. I obtained U.S. citizenship uh, last year.

00:40:43.430 - 00:40:59.900

The reason was, um… also it is so that I can have the same citizenship as my daughter cause she was born here, so she is a U.S. citizen and I decided that with

00:41:00.120 - 00:41:19.990

her… It was also for my husband, right, he is not Chinese, so we’re pretty much set for this country for sure. And with my daughter, I just decided to become a U.S. citizen. Um, there are a few views that I

00:41:20.150 - 00:41:39.650

identify with America, um…it’s more, it’s kind of open to all kinds of culture, you can live here, everyone… it’s comfortable with the melting pot idea, I like that.

00:41:40.570 - 00:41:56.450

Do you think of yourself as a Texan? No. I’m not—I still need to know more about it, to learn the, yeah, like the cowboy thing and um, not yet.

00:41:56.480 - 00:42:14.520

Still too short for me to identify myself as a Texan. And I just try the crawfish, I, it just felt so tiring. I tried to like it but it’s so tiring, you get a tiny bit of meat. Um, do you keep in touch with your family?

00:42:14.970 - 00:42:27.550

Yes. In what ways? Um, well, now they are here with us. Um, before that, I called them every week. Um, actually, I’m

00:42:27.590 - 00:42:39.830

gonna invite my uncle and auntie just to do like, a tour of the, of Texas and we’re gonna take like a little cruise and see how things are. Kind of invite them for a trip.

00:42:39.870 - 00:42:57.280

I also uh, I’ve been, I used to go back to China like every other year but now with uh, my daughter I don’t travel often. Um, do you have—do you have plans to take your daughter to China? Yes! Yes, um, definitely.

00:42:57.360 - 00:43:11.410

When she’s older, I want to take her to see China, to see um, like, lots of pandas. And then hopefully she’ll enjoy the food, uh, Chinese food, different types of Chinese food. Um,

00:43:15.260 - 00:43:29.360

yeah, she’ll like it. And you said your family was here now? Yeah, my—my parents are both here. They are, they’re like, U.S. green card holders. So they—I

00:43:30.880 - 00:43:42.660

think they identify themselves more as Chinese. They’re here just because they really love my daughter very much. So they decided to stay. Uh, they visit for, sometimes—sometimes they go back to China

00:43:43.700 - 00:44:06.620

occasionally. Um, so they came here recently then? Mhm. Um, do you live together? Yes. So it’s like, a more traditional like Chinese household or? Uh, it is more like Chinese household because in Chinese culture, the

00:44:09.380 - 00:44:19.730

parents live with the kid. Um, the U.S. culture, you have two houses. But I think—my parents, they don’t drive, um, so the,

00:44:21.580 - 00:44:37.000

it’s more— and they don’t speak English, so it does—it makes sense for them to live with us. And they really love my daughter and they want to play with her all the time. So that’s how it’s arranged.

00:44:37.000 - 00:44:57.050

How do you interact with your in-laws? Not much. Um, I talk to them through the translation of my husband. Um, they’re pretty nice. They— they have many kids; I’m the only child

00:44:57.500 - 00:45:13.070

in my family, my husband’s family, like he has three siblings and like many many cousins. I don’t know how many, like 30 or 40 or something, lots, this like gigantic family.

00:45:13.430 - 00:45:32.420

So my in-laws are very busy in Mexico, they hardly have time to come here. Um, have you been to Mexico? Yes. Um, as a tourist, as a tourist most of the time. I would like to go, there are a few places I would

00:45:32.440 - 00:45:48.780

like to go, uh, probably with my daughter. And probably wait a little bit til the, the safety issues right? There…there are some warnings, travel warnings from the state department. Mexico, it’s not safe

00:45:54.450 - 00:46:07.190

to go there. Well, I think that about wraps it up. All right, good. Um, thank you for your time. Sure, thank you. And thanks for agreeing to tell your story for this project. All right. Let me know if I could be of uh, any help.

00:46:07.210 - 00:46:10.840

Thank you.