Ok. Tell something about yourself.

My name is Miriam, and I'm a junior in high school, and I live in City Heights.

What was it like moving to your neighborhood?

Moving to City Heights was a big culture shock, I wasn't expecting, when we first moved here I wasn't expecting a lot of diversity, but seeing too many, just so diverse ethnics in one place concentrated, and it was just an eye-opening for me.

What kind of vibe do you get out of this neighborhood?

It's a mix of everything, so, there are like, we're all Asians, but there are different kinds of Asians, so there's some difference and similarities, which as an immigrant is really helpful for us. 

How safe do you feel in your neighborhood? What makes you feel safe?

I feel pretty safe, cause in this neighborhood you see people walking around everywhere so there's always crowd, but the only time I kind of get scared would be like going to get, to buy water in the evening, that's kind of the time that can be scary at times.

How do you stick to your cultural roots when you move to a new place?

Having our relatives and cousins and friends of speaking the same language, there's really not any chances to let go of the culture and the values that we have been given from our country. 

How do you experience your cultural identity in your neighborhood? How do you experience cultural identities of others?

[pause] Culturally, um, it's very to identify as Burmese, because there's a lot of Burmese here, and for me, it's very easy to know other people too, because I kind of got the chance to be with a lot of different people, so it's not that hard to get along and know other people and be, still be myself.

Is it important, or do you feel the need to experience or maintain your cultural identity in the neighborhood?

Yes, I think in terms of keeping the language, not forgetting the language, and still learning English at the same time. I think that's one way to keep the culture, but going to school, we definitely get influenced by the American culture, but it's not that hard to  keep our culture.

Do you think your family accepts different culture?

Yes, living in City Heights, we have to be really open-minded and be aware of other cultures and races there are in our neighborhood.

To what extent can you be yourself, who you want to be, in your neighborhood?

There's really so much freedom in City Heights to be who you are because everyone here is from, like, mostly immigrants, and everyone understands each other, and knows where everyone, like other people are coming from, so in that way it's very comfortable to be yourself.

Where do you hang out with your friends and family? Do you hang out somewhere else in the neighborhood?

Hanging out with friends, like especially going to friends house, or going to the park and playing tennis, or going to the malls, yeah, that's some of the ways we spend time together with friends and family.

Is it in City Heights or in outside?

Going to park, and playing and walking around, that's pretty much in City Heights, yes.

How would you describe your neighborhood to someone who has never been here?

I would tell them that City Heights is a very diverse place with mostly immigrants, and if you want to experience like the real America, come to City Heights, you'll see a lot of diversity.

Do you want to add something else?

No that's all.