Interview reflection

In doing this interview on an immigrant in which I chose my mom ,I learned so much about her that she never told me and my sisters. I realized there is so many moments of her life she was a able to tell me like her feelings on moments such as her first day of school. I was able to see why my mom is so strong willed in teaching me and my siblings ,and understand why she continues to instill the importance of education in us. She did not have the same opportunities I did and she doesn't want me to make the same mistakes.

The most interesting part of the interview for me was my mom telling me she has always wanted to be a flight attendant. I've never thought to ask my mom that,mainly because i thought she always wanted to work in the bank.I also found out she hated the bank at first, or that she sold vacuum cleaners on the phone for her job.There were so many things I found out by doing this interview that I'm glad I did. As a kid/teenager you don't really understand why your parents to some of the things they do. Sometimes we may think their being harsh or hard on us but everything they do their teaching you. Lastly doing this interview showed me that me along with regular people these days take things like safety ,jobs opportunities and health-care for granted. I'm fortunate that my mother was able to immigrate to Canada which is why I'm here today. I'm grateful for what I have and what i am able to become career wise because I have the resources available to me.

Overall doing this interview gave me a lot of insight into being in the shoes of an immigrant, and what differences there are with someone like me who was born here. It was was a great experience that I really enjoyed doing.

Excerpt from Ru

By reading Kim Thuy's excerpt from Ru I was able to see a lot of visual images she put foward in her writing. Most importantly her encounters she has had in her life in terms of her arrival into Canada,learning a new language and her parents. What stood out to me the most is the imprtance of her name. Thuy says "my birth was to replace the lost lives my life was to prolong my mothers". She tries to say her life was a symbol in a way to replace the lives lost maybe of her parente friends or relatives or people in general. In addition for her to lengthen her mothers to carrry on her n her family's legacy, traditions and create generations. Thuy goes on to say that her name originally was the same as her moms with the only distinction being the dot under the i. When they were taken across the Guelf of Siam the accents were dropped and the meaning was gone. At that point Thuy felt that she was no longer an extension of her mom. As a kid you look up to your parents and as a girl your mother,who you try to be like which is what thuy tried to do. Her having basically the same name as her and gave her that feeling or role as being the one to continue what her mother started. Furthermore gave her that sense of belonging which after that that moment she no longer felt.

Sentence post

Wah gwan good afternoon everyone mi jus wan fi post this blog in both my patois and english.

Amalia Ortiz spoken word

In class we saw a spoken word/video by Amalia Ortiz on the borderlands.In this this spoken word she talks about the conflicted topic of the borderlands, and how she feels as a mexican in America. Some lines that me about her spoken word is when Ortiz says "I fit the profile of a predators prey you cant help but take the crimes personally. Basically she tries to say that because all of the women being killed at the maquiladoras are a resemblance of her, and she could have been or could have been one of them. Which is why she continues to repeat "they all look like me". She feels as if she is a target and wont stand by slient as the Americans watch a slow genocide happen. A line that really made me think is when Ortiz says "she is a symbol of those who survived". This made me realize she means there are innocent women being killed everyday, and she is alive to speak for them. By telling people whats going on instead of trying to cover it up and dismiss the dead women as run-aways.

This spoken word can be related to Gloria Anzualda's concept of the borderlands because Anzualda describes the borderland as an "open wound where the third grates against the first". In a way this describes America and Mexico and although they are so close there is a border that divides them from each other. Americs is looked at as being a first world where there is more opportunities,safety and more development. While in Mexico its less employement opportunies, and minimum security along with resources. Furthermore this is why women work in the maquiladora factories where they are exploited and under foreign watch at the same time.