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Leah Findlay

Connie Christensen

Edu 280

7 November 2016

Immigrant Interview

The immigration process is a process that can take months and even years to get. There

are three steps to the immigration process; the VISA, the green card, and citizenship. A VISA is

what is going to let you into the United States. To first get your VISA you need to apply for it.

They divide the applications into thousands of sections but the most popular are: workers,

students, refugees, families, and lottery. Once you apply and you are accepted your VISA is now

valid. The next step to get is to have your green card. A green card is what gives you access to

live in the United States. In order to get your green card you have to have a valid visa and to

apply to for your permanent residence, that being said having done these two things does not

mean you will get it for sure. If you do get your green card you are still not considered a United

States citizen. To become a citizen of the United States you need to be at least 18 years old, and

have your green card for five years. You only need your green card for three years if you are

married to a United States citizen. If you are qualified then you take a citizenship exam and say

the Oath of Allegiance (an extended version of the Pledge of Allegiance.) It may seem like a

simple process but it is a process that takes years and lots of money, but varies for every

situation.

Miko Hashimoto is my grandma’s best friend. Although they both emigrated from Japan

they have different stories. Japan has a culture very different from the United States. While
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sitting down with my grandma, Yoshi and Miko, they told me all about the culture in Japan. For

every meal in Japan they include rice and soup. This was interesting to me because in America

we have breakfast, lunch, and dinner foods, other than water; there is nothing that we typically

have at every meal. Japan celebrates holidays that the United States does not have, such as boy

and girl’s day. March 3rd is Girl’s Day in Japan and all the girls have kimonos, all the stores

display dolls in the window, and people cook tons of food to celebrate. Boy’s day is on May 5th

and they show Boy’s day by putting flagpoles in front of the house and fish flags. For the father

in the house, they attach a big fish flag on the top, for all the other boys in the house, they all get

one small fish attached, and to celebrate they throw huge parties for everyone to attend. Just

discussing holidays/beliefs, and the food in Japan they shared information that is very different

from the American culture.

“Asian Americans have lived in the United States for over one and a half centuries:

Chinese and Asian Indians since the mid-nineteenth century, Japanese since the late nineteenth

century, and Koreans and Filipinos since the first decade of the twentieth century.” (Page 122).

This quote from the text gives us an idea of how long Asians had been in America. Fifty years

ago, Miko worked at the base in Japan, and met a soldier from the United States, after being in

love, they decided to get married. After getting married they had two children on base, which

made the two boys American citizens, and go to an American school system. “Asian American

parents seem to structure their children’s lives for academic success more than Caucasian parents

do” (page 128) I asked Miko if she had high expectations for her two sons and she said as long as

they had decent grades they were not in trouble. When his service in Japan was over, they

decided to move the family to America. They flew to America free because of her husband being
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in the military. Miko expected that the United States was a very rich country, thinking that

everybody had a big house and were very wealthy. When they got to America she did not need to

get a typical VISA because her husband was in the service, but she had to get a special kind of

VISA that showed she was allowed to be in the United States. After getting her VISA, she

applied to get her green card and it took her one and a half years to get approved. While waiting

for it to become approved she volunteered in her son’s school in the library. The final step to

becoming a citizen was waiting those three years and passing her exam. I asked if she had

difficulty with the exam and she said it was fairly easy in her opinion. After three and a half

years, she became a United States citizen! Interviews and costs were not as painful for her as for

other immigrants because not only was she married to a US citizen, but someone in the service.

Living in America, Miko learned that it is a rich country compared to Japan, but not

everyone was rich. It was exciting for her to live here because she did not realize how much

more freedom women had than they did in Japan (at the time). She had the opportunity to vote

and was able to work rather than stay at home. “..in Asian families, females do not receive the

respect that males receive; they are valued less than males” (page 125) Despite women to this

day still not receiving the respect they deserve, when Miko was immigrating women had no

freedom and could not make any big decisions. Miko’s favorite thing about living in America

was all the different sight-seeing at states she got to live in. Her husband being in the military,

they had to move states every three to four years. Christmas was a holiday that Miko never

experienced in Japan, and it was a fun transition for her. In Japan very little people celebrated

Christmas because they were Shinto and Buddhist. “Asian Americans tend to practice values

such as respect for ancestors, filial piety, and avoidance to shame” (page 128). I asked Miko if
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she felt shame for celebrating these holidays, her family being Shinto and Buddhist, and she said

that they didn’t mind. They now send each other Christmas presents through the mail and share

Christmas cards. Even though America had more opportunities as a woman, and new holidays,

she still missed her homeland, friends, family, and the food. Miko also had a hard time

expressing things at times because she spoke English and understood it but sometimes it was

hard to explain what she meant. “Understanding the spoken word and being understood while

speaking English often pose difficult situations for Asian Americans…”(page 130) Miko used

the example of when she went to the doctor, she had a hard time explaining what was wrong.

Miko is now living here in Las Vegas, NV and often visits her brothers, sisters, nieces,

nephews, in Japan. She celebrates her culture by cooking the food, and talking with friends such

as Yoshi in Japanese so she can’t forget the language.