Audio Interview Transcript

Audio Interview Transcript: 

Audio File #1 (STE-003.wav): 

Me: Okay, so in our pre-interview, I asked, you mentioned how you used to live in Korea and you have really happy memories in this one neighborhood, especially with your mother and you were really happy there. Can you tell me more about your life there and what the neighborhood was like? [00:14.01]

Jung: So I was living in this neighborhood, oh my god I don't know how to phrase it. [00:21.23]

Me: You're good, just keep talking. [00:22.26]

Jung: Alright just cut it. So I'm from Korea, and I lived in this neighborhood for two years. Uh I guess that's the happiest moment of my life. The neighborhood was pretty small, I was young and small so that was my entire, entire world. [00:46.15] 

Pause.

Me: What about the neighborhood made it so special? Like what did you do there, like what was there that made it so special to you? [01:07.18] 

Jung: So, the entire neighborhood was like my playground. I knew everyone and everyone knew me. And every single day after school I went to, every single ... pause ... I explored the neighborhood... oh god you know what…. [01:41.15]

Audio File #2 (STE-004.wav): 

Me: So how did you find out you were moving to New York and what was your reaction to it, if you remember it? [00:09.28]

Jung: So it was so young so my memories are unclear but I found out I'm coming to New York when my mom just announced to me one day that we were moving to New York we were going to America and it was like and at that time I couldn't think of anything, I was like where's that? That was all, I was like oh when do we come back then and I thought we were gonna travel or something, take a vacation, but my mom's expression was serious that I remember now [00:48.01] but I couldn't catch that at the moment so I just asked her when do we come back and my mom was like 100 days later, so I trust her and I couldn't even. So after she told me that we were going, uh, that we were moving to New York we just, everything moved so fast, she just packed up things and I think it was two days later or one day we just went, got on the airplane and came here immediately. So I couldn't, I couldn't have the time to see my friends and say goodbye, everything happened so fast. [01:36.25] 

Me: So what was your first memories of New York? Or what was it like for the first year or two that you lived here? [01:47.01] 

Jung: So when I first arrived to New York I still remember it was night, it was night time, and it was raining. So I was holding my mom's hand and that moment was not that clear but my dad's aunt came to pick us up and got in her car and drove to her house and that's where we started to live at first. [02:23.18] 

Me: Um.. no you're good... um so in our pre-interview you told me that once you moved to New York your personality changed a bit and you kinda changed. Can you tell me about the change that happened? [02:47.10]

Jung: So, when I came to New York I didn't know any english, I couldn't learn any, so and then we really went to our grandparents house and I just stayed home all day. I couldn't go out, I mean it was a whole different neighborhood, it was very unfamiliar to me, I was kind of scared, I just stayed home, it was very different from the times back in Korea. I was outside all day but now here in New York when I came, I stayed, I became an insider, so my personality so I guessed kind of switched and in that moment I became shy, I couldn't speak to anyone [03:43.27] except my parents so all day home I just watched videos, the same one over and over again [03:51.20]

Me: Um, have you ever thought about what your life would've been like if you didn't move to New York? [04:02.08] 

Jung: If I didn't move to New York I think my personality would be a little bit brighter because I didn't have to go through all that moments so now I think that I continue missing Korea each day. [04:27.23] Still I think, I still like living here now it's okay. I learned english, I know people around here, my parents are used to it, we're all used to it, to New York, now that we lived here for 15 years now. So now I'm a New Yorker I guess, so when I go back to Korea things would be changed so much so now Korea will be the place I'm unfamiliar to. and when I when I think of the neighborhood I used to live in when I was in childhood and when I hear how the place changed a lot I guess I don't want to go back I guess I don't want to see how my memories are, just my memories. So I guess America is my home now [05:42.16]

Me: What do you like it best about it here, like what is special about New York? [05:51.06]

Jung: Uh if you asked me to differentiate between Korea and America I really have no idea cause, cause, Korea and here in New York is actually very similar. So if you asked me why I think New York is special, no I don't think that's true. [6:23.19] It's just where people live. [06:26.19]

Me: What was it like learning English? [06:33.14] Like, how difficult was it? Like, what hardships did you have to come by to learn the language? [06:40.24] 

Jung: So the very first night I came here I didn't know English so I had to learn from the very beginning, from a b c d. [06:57.09] And even that was hard to me it was learning a whole entire language in just a quick moment. So at first I went to a whole lot of after school. [07:10.22] and every single english program, my mom sent me to all these different places to make me learn english as fast as possible. [07:22.20] so it was summer vacation when I came here so I really couldn't go to school. so the very first after school program was at the church, the church program that where they taught english to very young children. and starting from there I moved from places to places [07:47.11] learned english, read english books and yea and then all of a sudden my language started to come from my mouth and that's how I learned english. [08:01.16] 

Me: So have you gone back to Korea yet? Or have you not? [08:11.15]

Jung: I didn't get my chance to go back to Korea yet. And... and I can't. I can't go back since I'm not a resident so I didn't get a chance to go back. [8:34.21]  

Audio File #3 (STE-005.wav):

Me: So you told me about how when you lived in Korea you were always outside and exploring. Can you tell me more about that? [00:07.22]

Jung: So in my neighborhood there was only one school, elementary school, or to my memory that was the only school there. [00:20.00] so after school ended I always went to, I would always visit my mom's mall which was right across the street. So I always went there and played. The mall was the best place ever. That was my number one treasure. [00:44.01] I explored every single floor. and there was other kids living there to so, I... [00:55.06] 

Audio file #4 (STE-011.wav):

Me: So when exploring the mall and like the neighborhood what did you find intriguing or interesting about it? Like what made, what did you find that made it so special? [00:12.16]

Jung: Well the neighborhood especially the mall that my mom used to work in was special because thats where I spent my entire day there, after school ended I would always went there straight and not even go to different places [00:32.16] to my mom's mall and then from there I met my friends who's parents were also working there. And together we explored the mall and the neighborhood and every corner possible. [00:46.01] We explored every single floor, and on top of the roof there was this balloon playground, they would put air in and then you paid like one dollar to play there. we used to play like hours up on the roof. We used to explore all the offices there in the mall. and then my mom used to come find me [01:17.07] from the announcement, the lost child announcement, she used to make it to get me to come down for lunch. [01:24.18] so I didn't, so when I was in Korea I never stayed home I never stayed inside. My mom's mall ended around 11 pm, really late, and I was always around her, next to her, stick with her [01:42.17] and to me the home that we used to live in wasn't really home it was just a place to sleep in since we were all outside, no ones home. Yeah so I was very active kid. [2:11.20]