-
Period: to
Life Immigranting
-
Born
My name is Jia Li, and I was born on February 6th, 1858 in Eastern China. My father died before 3 days before I was born of an illness, and my mother died right after I was born. I was taken to an orphanage, until one year later an old woman adopted me and became my grandma. -
Period: to
Drought in Farming Areas
Drought in farming areas of China that ruined many farms. -
My 19th Birthday!
I'm turning 19 today! Everything has been well at home with my grandma ever since she took me home after adopting me! We had a small cake that my grandma makes for me every year. However, my grandma has not looked good and is getting thin. I am worrying about her seeing as she is 72 years old. -
Rest In Peace Grandma
Today, Grandma didn’t look well and was very weak. She said she’d lie down for a second, and called me over. She said to go to America and leave my life here since she was dying. She closed eyes and didn’t wake up after that. I checked to see if her heart was beating, but as I had though, she had passed away. I called my neighbor over who is knowledgeable in medicine and the body. He said that she had died of old age and fatigue.There's even a drought in our area which makes this day even worse. -
The Nauseating Boat Ride
After Grandma died, I sold our farm and saved up money to go to America. I can’t make any money here because of this drought ruining our land, so I decided go for a new life! I am going on a boat to California today. I took all our jade jewelry and silver antiques to sell in America to get myself started. When I was on the boat, I was in the steerage part of the boat, and met another Chinese girl my age named Kai Lau. The boat ride is so nauseating I've thrown up a couple of times. -
Still one more week to go...
The place we are staying in on the ship is so crowded, dirty, and stuffy. Kai and I stick together all the time because it is so crowded. They say we have only one more week to go, but it is not for sure because if the conditions on the sea are bad, it could take longer to get to Angel Island. I hope we can go out on the deck today for some fresh air. -
America and Angel Island
We are here! Everyone was cheering when someone told us they saw Angel Island! I was so happy that we hadn’t died or was still going to be stuck on this ship! When we got off, I thought we were going to go through inspections in a flash, but they put Kai and I in the waiting area. I don’t know how long we are going to be here, but they probably won’t let us go anytime soon because we are young and have no job or anyone waiting for us. I hope we get out soon! -
Chinatown
We finally got off of Angel Island! We had stayed there for two weeks! Kai and I first went to exchange our money and went to a small trading shop to sell the rest of our items for more money. After that, we looked around for any open apartments and rooms to stay in, but had no luck. Instead, we walked to Chinatown and found a small, cramped apartment for only $1.50 a week which would only be $1.00 a week, but we got a larger room. Tomorrow’s plan is to look for jobs! -
Need a Job!
I have been searching for more than a week for a job, but nobody wants to hire a woman unless you want to work at a factory. Kai is working in the factory, but I decided to look harder because I didn’t want to work there. I almost gave up until I found out the bakery near our apartment needed a baker desperately! I took the job and started working as soon as I got in. They pay me a good amount and it always smells good in the bakery! Learning baking from my Grandma has paid off! -
The Only Thing I want for Christmas
It’s Christmas Eve! I can’t believe it has already been four years since I first moved to America! Kai and I still live in the apartment, and have the same jobs. Though I love working in the bakery and living in San Francisco, I want to move towards the east where it is clean and beautiful! Chinatown is so dirty and polluted now I need a new place to live. I told Kai about it and she says she would move with me! We decided that our Christmas presents this year would be moving to Nevada in May! -
Chinese Exclusion Act and On the Road
They have passed an awful act called the Chinese Exclusion Act. It states that no Chinese immigrants are allowed into America and the Chinese already in America don’t have citizenship. There has been a lot of discrimination today and it is so crowded because most of the Chinese people are protesting. It doesn’t really apply to Kai and I because we already left to get our land in Nevada near the border of California.The air is so nice and clean here. We are traveling with another group of people. -
My New Life and Home
It has been two years since Kai and I moved to Nevada and it is my 26th birthday this year! I can’t believe how much time flies by because I was only 19 when I first came to America. In Nevada, we settled down and built our house and even my own bakery called Jia’s Bakery. Kai got married last year and lives with her husband while I live above my bakery with my cat named Fluffy. The bakery is doing very good and I love all my neighbors! I hope they bring me a present for my birthday!
