State your name?

What state or province and country

did you come from?
My name is Marivic Bautista. I was born and raised in the Philippines in the province of
Canaolan in the city of Binmaley, Pangasinan. It is about 5 hours away north of Manila,
the capital of the country.

Binmaley is a fishing and agriculture town, which is the main livelihood of most of the
people.

My maternal grandparents owned their own fish farms as a source of income.

People would start as early as 2am to fish and by morning go to the market to sell their
catch and others to sell produce such as mango, tropical fruits and vegetables.

How old were you when you left? Was it your choice to
leave??
I came to this country in 1979 with my brothers and sisters in Fairfield, California when I
was 13 years old.

My family left by choice with the help of my Uncle to this country for a better life.

Why did you come?

We came to this country to seek a better life like most people do. We all know that
America is the land of opportunity and with the help of my uncle, my parents were
petitioned to this country in 1972. My paternal Uncle Fidel migrated here in the 1940's,
he is the one who petitioned my father and mother. My uncle and his fellow Filipinos,
who migrated at those times, farmed the land of California; Delano, Lodi, Stockton,
Salinas. They traveled wherever the land needed to be farmed.

My uncle was my fathers mentor about work ethics, raising a family and emphasizing
on education. All 4 of his children are highly educated. One with a PhD from USF, one
from UCLA, Yale, and Sacramento State.

Im very thankful for what he has done for my father.

Why did you settle in that particular place?

My Uncle settled in Fairfield, California with his family. He also continued to help his
brothers and sisters back in the Philippines financially and financially helped with his
siblings education. And eventually petitioned my father and mother to come to America
in 1972. In Fairfield, California is where we all settled when we arrived, all six children in
1979.

Did you experience any culture shock?

I guess I can say that one of the culture shock I encountered was learning to
communicate in a different language. One more I noticed that was a culture shock to
me, was how the elders were addressed. Back in our country, when we encounter
elders in a room, we were to take their hand and we tap it on our forehead, an
acknowledgement of respect to our elders. It is not a practice in this country. How I
wished my children was born to do this gesture.

Did you speak English when you first came here?

When I arrived to this country, my grasp of the English language was limited. I
remember I had to listen really carefully on what was being said so I can fully
understand. I did a lot of observation of my surrounding and the people when I first
came to this country. This prepared me to be a good listener and observer that I have to
be for my patients; I am a registered nurse, by profession.

What were your impressions before arriving to the US?

Did those impressions match your impressions?
When we were growing up in the Philippines, our parents sent pictures and letters, to us
monthly. We saw how clean and beautiful America is through pictures, the trimmed
grass, white snow, bright lights, beautiful dresses, and a white 4 door car. my first
impression America through pictures made me more eager to come to this country. My
parents were sending my grandparents money who were caring for us to use to take of
six children made me thought that my parents were rich in this country.

When I arrived finally in 1979, the pictures I saw matched the beautiful country; truly
clean and green and so private; each house was bordered with fence. My parents
picked us up at the airport with their very clean 4 door white car. After one week in
America I found out my parents had to work so hard in a clothing factory in Napa,
California to earn their living and to support us. I leaned very quickly they were not
monetarily rich, but rich in ambitions for them and for us, their children. I remember my
mother saying, they have to leave all of us behind for nearly 7 years, so they can built
our life in this country and have a better future. It took 7 years to join them but that
needed to happen so that here was a house and a car when we arrived in the US.

How is the Philippines different from the US?

There are many opportunities to do in America for young people and adults if they are
willing to work. Also, in American everything is paid to keep everything clean, and in
order, and safe, and regulated, and properly run; you pay for garbage, water, car
insurance, life insurance, taxes, and health insurance and on and on. In my province
where I grow up, there were few regulations. The people bury and or burn the garbage,
we have water well and water pump for water consumption and supply. We pray a lot for
everything and anything worth having, we have abundance of faith among my people.
There are not a lot of employment opportunities in the Philippines but the people are
willing to work, but unfortunately few jobs exist. Which makes life difficult for the people.
I understand that the economy of my homeland is weak in comparison to a lot of
countries.
How was your familys life like as you started living in
the US?
My parents worked very hard in a clothing company in Napa, California. Early on, my
parents stressed the value of education. It was a priority we needed to do and during
the summer, we helped by doing summer jobs. It was a cycle of nine months of
concentrating on our studies then during summer, we worked to help the family until all
six children left for college. My father's mantra was "with a college degree a better
opportunity comes your way". We believed him because he had to work two jobs to
support and provide for his family. He was one hard working man, determined to make
sure his children had a better life than he. With his vision for his children, I was able to
graduate with a Bachelors Degree in Nursing from Chico State in 1992 and Ive been a
Registered Nurse for over 20 years. In college I met my husband of 22 years who is
computer engineer who graduated from Sacramento State.

As of today, I have one brother who is a Civil Engineer, my two sisters are also
Registered Nurses, and my two younger brothers are Regional Managers of a highly
successful company.

Have you ever wanted to go back to the Philippines?

My first visit to see my relatives and my grandparents, who cared for me, was when I
graduated from college. It was a happy reunion with my grandparents and friends. It had
been 14 years since I left for the US. I continued to help them and my friends
financially. The second visit was when I shared with my children their homeland; I
wanted them to meet their relatives, and see the place where I grew up. It is part of their
story too.

What do you like most of the US?

What I like most about the US, is what I mentioned before, the opportunities it has for
everyone when one is willing to work hard; in school seeking knowledge and training,
and abundant of employment when one is not too picky on what work to do. Just like
what my father said "in America as long as you moving you are earning money and
therefore you will not starve." I learned my work ethics from him.

Was there anything that seemed particularly strange,

confusing, funny, or hard to you about Americans?
In America, because everything is overly regulated, the people learned to work within a
parameter and regulations are to be followed. Sometimes it restricts creativity in fear of
being sued. That is what I find interesting in this way of life. There is that "common
sense," factor that is missing because we may do or say something that may offend
others. For example, in my work, there is a script to follow when addressing certain
situation with patients. We follow a policy on how to answer, which in a way, I find
helpful in a difficult situations.
Has he or she had any particularly good, bad, or
interesting experiences as an immigrant?
Discriminators among the white Americans are alive and still prevalent in this country.
The power of entitlement is part of the American people. It is both a blessing and a
cursed for them; they know no other way of life in their land of abundant. Because of my
upbringing and what I have witnessed early on in my country, I am appreciative of what I
have. This is what is lacking of the American people, that experience of not knowing
other way of living which makes it hard for them to relate to foreigners, who knows and
understand hard work. That differs me from my fellow American coworkers: My outlook
in life is vast, in that I am grateful for everything. I have a work that pays for everyday
expenses plus for Emmanuel's schooling and his sister, who is at UC Santa Cruz. When
I applied for an upward mobility in my work, I was bypassed twice. Yes, I felt
discriminated and I cried, my children knew very well that experienced I went through.
But I stayed in the same place. I did not quit. Because the lesson was for me to show
my children that we don't quit when things don't go your way, but to persevere, and to
show courage to keep moving forward. What I got out of that experience is strength of
who I became. That happened just 5 years ago.

Is there anything that she or he particularly likes, or

does not like, about Americans?
I like everything this country offers to all its people, the Americans and the foreigners
alike; the opportunities, the better way of life and the standard of living is better in
comparison to my homeland. It is up to the individual to take advantage of all that it
offers and not to take for granted these opportunities because the competition is also
fierce. The age of technology and the young minds can easily replace the veteran,
experience workers. So young people have to take advantage of the opportunities and
the veteran workers like me have to keep learning to keep up of new ways of doing.

Do you still feel connected to his or her original

culture? If so, what does he or she do that maintains
that connection or identity?
I am in touch to my Filipino roots by surrounding myself with my family and friends I am
connected with. With the advancements of technology, it is easy to connect with my
relatives back home through FaceTime, cell phone conversations. I attend Filipino
organizations with my family as well. And another way to connect is through food; we
longed for my Lumpia, Adobo, Pancit, Papa It, Turon, Halo Halo. My children ask for
these dishes when they are home because not only are these delicious, but it is a
reminder that they are Filipinos in America thriving and succeeding.

What are some things that she or he notices about

American culture that Americans don't seem to notice
themselves?
I notice the American have it easy. When I say Americans that includes my children who
knows only this country. And they don't seemed to know how easy their life is. They are
blessed in many ways. They see abundance of food, beautiful places, they have
beautiful things. They have traveled to places on vacations. They are given cars, they fly
home during school breaks. They were given lessons to learn instruments and lessons
to play sport since they were young. And many more. These things I never have so I
made sure children have it. I hope they are taking advantage of these opportunities and
never to take it for granted.

How would he or she describe America to people in his

or her home country?
America, is the land of opportunities for all and a land of material abundance. But it
takes courage to understand the way of life and its people. My advice is to take the time
to listen and to observe the people and its culture, so make sense why discrimination
happens, perhaps because of insecurities or just not knowing other ways of living.
Everything here comes easy. We as foreigners need to understand them and the
American to take the time to learn from those coming to this country that hard work, and
perseverance and gratitude are keys to fulfillment and builds strength of character.