Grace Perterson _ Interview by: Chu Min Li

Grace Peterson ~ Fulfilling the "American Dream"

Introduction: In this project, I interviewed Grace Peterson, who is a Filipino American living in San Francisco.  Grace was a city girl in Manila, Philippines, with a job and family, but she still wanted to come to America. When Grace was twenty-two, she got a chance to come to America from the company she works for. Grace was fortunate to marry her husband, who is a U.S. citizen. Now Grace is living a happy fulfilling life with her husband and children in America, but at the same time, she will never forget her homeland, the Philippines.

Home Country:

Where were you born and raised?

What was it like growing up in the Philippines?

What does you family do for living?

Did you enjoyed the time you were living in the Philippines?

How does people describe America in the Philippines?

Leaving the Philippines:

How old were you when you leave the Philippines?

Did you come with you family?

Why did you choose to leave the Philippines? What was the motivation?

What do you expect in return in the U.S.? 

What was one thing that you missed the most in the Philippines? Do you still feel the same way now?

Settle in America:

What was your first impression when you first arrive U.S. ?

    Did you have any family members, relatives, friends, or people you know that are already here at the time? Who were they? Did you receive help from them when you first got here?

Living in the U.S:

 Do you adapt the life style here? How long did it take you?

  How did your life here compare to your life in Philippines? Were there differences in values between the Philippines and America? 

  Have you ever experience any discrimination, racist, despise, or tease by others? 

   What do you believe was the biggest change you have in America? Do you think it would happen if you were still in the Philippines?

Can you tell me a little bit about the different stages of life here? 

Filipino in the U.S:

Do you experience any homesickness?

 Do you keep in contact with the people there? Who are they?

    What different do you see between the Filipino in Philippines and in America?

Do you maintain any Filipino culture, traditions, or religion? What are they?

Reflection:

Do you plan to ever going back to Philippines and settle? Why?

 If you were to choose again, would you have chosen to come to U.S.?

Looking back on your experience, what would you have done differently?

 Do you feel as if you’re living the “American Dream”? 

   Do you think your personality, expectations, living desire have change after being in United State that you would not if you were in the Philippines?

 Do you consider your self more Filipino or American?