DEPARTED FROM
London, England
ARRIVED IN
San Francisco, California
YEAR
1978
AGE
31
TRANSCRIPT
TRANSCRIBED BY Teja Greene (x 3)
So, what was your city and country of departure?
United Kingdom.
What's the city and state of arrival?
San Francisco, California.
How old were you when you arrived?
I was thirty-one years old. Not thirty-one, actually I was thirty.
Okay, and what year was that? That you arrived?
1978. I came before to visit but permanently I came 1978.
Okay, I see. Who picked you up from the airport?
My friend Paul Grewal.
What do you remember from your first few days in the United States when you arrived?
I have a good friend here living here in San Francisco so he picked me up and I stayed with him I think for a couple of months before I was looking at a business. I was just, I had a good time because my friend was there. He entertainment me then I had another friend. I really had a good time. Those two months I wasn't doing anything, but looking for a business to establish myself.
Was there anything that you ate that was brand new to you?
Steak, basically American steak. I had a steak in England, but American steak is different.
So how long until you moved into an apartment or a house or something?
Then I found a business, then I found a 7/11 franchise. In July that year, I went for the couple of months training then I took over this - My business life was a 7/11 store in Stockton. It was August. In August, September I stayed with my cousin in Stockton, then my wife and my daughter and my son was also joining me. So then I rented the Duplex before they arrived. It was in October of 1978.
Is there anything else you would like to share?
Share in what sense? I have a lot of stories to share.
The only thing I can share then when we moved to the house and my wife didn't like the apartment, the duplex, she claimed there was no windows, nothing, but there were windows - some windows. She don't want to stay in that place. So then we have to rent a house, so we rented a house after that. Our children were younger, I think, Seema, your mother was - I think she was three year old, and Amar, was two year old.
Yeah, okay. Okay, cool.
So, anything else?
Is there anything else you want to share?
No, I mean, nothing much, I mean only thing share- I always love America. I still love this country so much. All the politics going on, but I hope American people take the right decisions, so be good for everybody. But I do love this country, right when I arrived. So this is my country now.
It is.
* The contributor of this story has asked that their name be withheld.
