I’m not going to lie, the first five interviews weren’t great. Don’t get me wrong, the people I interviewed were amazing, but I was not able create the interviews I envisioned. They were too short and felt too “interview-ey.” I moved quickly from question to question instead of letting things turn into an actual conversation. That’s something I need to improve if I want these discussions to be more meaningful and natural going forward.
That said, the seniors still shared a lot.
Overall, everyone agreed that the United States is a good place to live. Ms. Amy and Mr. Tang both believed that the U.S. has a strong healthcare system for elderly people, especially compared to what they were used to before. Ms. Song mostly agreed but was more straightforward about the cost of healthcare, pointing out that medical care in the U.S. can be expensive. Even so, all of them felt that the U.S. is still a better place to live than China overall. There wasn’t much disagreement on that point. I believe this is because they experienced a lot of hardship under the Communist regime.
One thing that came up in every interview was language. They all said that language was the biggest problem when they first arrived in America. Now, most of them said they’re pretty used to American life, but it was clear that the language barrier shaped their experiences in a big way. Something I found very interesting was when Mr. Gao mentioned that many seniors come to the U.S. with their children, but their children later return to China, leaving the parents here on their own. This is definitely a topic I want to explore in future conversations with the seniors. I’m also curious how they feel about being left in the US. There was also a shared attitude that showed up across the interviews. They talked about working hard, supporting each other, and just continuing on with life.
At the same time, I know these interviews didn’t go deep enough. I relied too much on a fixed list of questions, which made everything feel rushed and structured. Because of that, the conversations never really opened up. Looking back, I also realize that I should have explained my goal more clearly before starting. I didn’t frame the interviews as conversations or explain why I was asking these questions. What I actually want is to preserve their stories and share them with younger generations. A lot of people my age aren’t very connected to older generations anymore, and because of that, we miss out on these stories and experiences. If the seniors understand that I’m trying to collect and pass on their stories, I think the conversations will feel more natural.
That also means I need to get better at directing conversations. I need to learn how to guide discussions in a way that helps me extract the information I’m looking for, while still giving the seniors space to talk freely. The next batch will be beter.