Girl in Translation

I'm currently in the midst of this book, and it's dredging up lots of memories and feelings about my experiences moving from Jamaica to America...




Girl in Translation is about a young girl, Kimberly Chang, who moves from Hong Kong to Brooklyn with her mother. It chronicles their struggles with poverty, learning a new language, living in a roach and rat infested apartment (with no heat in the winter!), and working in a sweatshop enduring very long hours with below minimum wage.

During the day, the very bright Kimberly, who has serendipitously earned a scholarship to a private school (she is that smart), maneuvers her way through her new world and new school, trying to fit in but only standing out. And by night, she works in a Chinatown sweatshop, alongside her mom, bearing the burden and responsibility of trying to get them out of this hard life.  She gets little sleep each night, only to do it again and again each day.

Even though I didn't have to learn to speak English like Kimberly and our circumstances are different, one particular scene in the book is strikingly similar to an experience I had in school when I first moved to the states. It's almost like a chapter out of my life!

I was sitting in an English class one day when suddenly I needed to erase a mistake I had made.

Do you have a rubber? I innocently asked the girl next to me.

The looks and stares I got in return clearly made me realize I had made a big error. In Jamaica, a "rubber" is an eraser, but certainly it means something else in the U.S. Lesson learned! That was not the first time something like that would happen to me.

Experiences like that definitely taught me to have compassion for other immigrants. How could it not?  Certainly as adults we are more forgiving of mistakes like that.  But kids can be so cruel and are not as forgiving. That's why I have so much empathy and humanity for my students who are immigrants.

The good thing? Kids are resilient! I endured my culture shock and mishaps along the way, and am able to help my students with their language barriers because I understand what they're going through.

Even though I'm not finished with the book, and I have no idea how life turns out for Kimberly, I'm hoping she continues to work hard, she never gives up, and that there is a better life for her and her mom.