Corrine — Family questionnaire

The questionnaireanswers as written; unanswered questions are not shown

What languages get spoken in your house, and who speaks which to whom?

In my immediate family, we speak Mandarin, but my extended family speaks Shandong dialect and Cantonese.

Describe a normal weeknight dinner at your house.

Rice, fried/cooked pork dish, greens, soup

Is there a dish your family makes that you have never seen anywhere else?

疙瘩汤

What is in your kitchen that would not be in most of your friends' kitchens?

鸡精

Where does your family food shop, and how far do they drive to do it?

My family shops at local groceries near our house, its usually within walking distance and isn't any major chains. Just stalls ran by individuals.

What happens in your house on a Sunday?

My aunt and uncle sometimes comes over to Shenzhen, other times my dad would bring me back to Guangzhou or Wuzhou with him to see family.

Is there a word or phrase your family uses at home that does not really translate?

保平安: my family is separated around the world and each individual travels a lot on their own, so this is something we often say to one another; it literally means to report that you're safe.

What sport, instrument or activity did you end up doing — and who decided?

Tennis, but at first I had to take ballet like every other girl back home.

What do your parents expect of you, said out loud or not?

They expect me to put in my best effort into everything and to have good morals and principles.

When did you first understand that your family was seen as Asian American — and what happened?

I'm not Asian American, but I did live in Poland for a long time and being in a nearly-all white community really deterred me from embracing my culture in public. I remember being referred to as one of the kpop-loving girls just because I was friends with a lot of Korean girls.

What is one thing about America that someone in your family still finds strange, or funny?

My parents told me they could never move to America because they would forever be living in a foreign and scary land, but they wish for me to stay here for better opportunities.

Is there something your family does not talk about?

My family rarely talks about conflicts or feelings between one another.

Who in your family would you most want interviewed properly, and why?

My mom, because she single handedly raised my sister and I in Poland when she wasn't even fluent in English.

Look around your house. What is one object your family would never throw away?

Old papers and notebooks for recording anything.

What is happening in the photos you uploaded?

Its my immediate family, and we were all together on a ski trip in Bulgaria when I was around second or third grade (I think).

What do you want someone to know about your family in a hundred years?

My family has worked hard to get where they are and I'm extremely proud of that.

Held, not published

• Contributor's contact details (never published).
• One family photograph (a ski trip in Bulgaria). Held until the contributor confirms it may be published.

Editorial notes

• The contributor writes "I'm not Asian American": a Chinese student at an American school whose family never emigrated. The archive keeps the record because the questions were answered and consent given; the catalogue records the contributor's own framing rather than assigning one.