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Hi, my name is Hao Jin and I live in Brooklyn, New York. I went to Forest Hills High School and I am currently attending CUNY Baruch College. I came to New York with my parents when i was fourteen and have lived here ever since. As first generation immigrant, it was hard to assimilate into American society in the beginning; however, i gradually adapted the new environment and so did my parents. When my parents and I first came here, everything seemed interesting and fascinating; however, the first frustration i experienced happened quite quickly.
It was the first day of school. I got myself all dressed up and ready to meet new friends and people. However, things didn't go the way i expected. When i was in the administration office, the teacher asked me what language i speak so she could get me a translator. I smiled and answered, "Chinese," thinking that everything went just the right direction. Then she smiled too and asked again, "Good, do you speak Mandarin or Cantonese?" I believed I blushed and thought that she probably didn't understand my Chinese accent, so i answered again, with a smile, "I speak Chinese." Surprisingly, she didn't stop asking me, "Yes, but do you speak Mandarin or Cantonese?"
By then, i was both embarrassed and frustrated, but with patience, i answered the third time, "I speak Chinese," then i thought she probably never heard of Chinese language, so i asked, "you know Chinese?" She was kind of frustrated too and answered, "yeah, i know, but i want to know what Chinese you speak." "I speak Chinese!" I had to raise my voice a little bit to make sure she could hear my answer, even though i knew she already did, but at that point, i didn't know what better i could say. At the end, she just got me any Chinese person and that translator told me later on that Mandarin and Cantonese are two different language derived from Chinese. God knows how red my face was when i heard it. Here you go, that's my immigration story.
Email: hao.jin@baruchmail.cuny.edu
