Timothy

Why did you leave Ireland?
I left Ireland because there was very little work.  At the  time I was making 2 Pounds (about $8) for a 6 day workweek in a beet  sugar factory.  But the work was only in November though January.  Since  I was the second youngest of 10 children my brother inherited the farm  and so I couldn’t stay there after he married.          

When did you  leave Ireland? 

I left Ireland in April 1948and arrived in New  York on the second RMS Mauretania in May 1948.  I was 35 when I came  here. What was your first impression of New York?          I  didn’t like it.  It was too confusing and there were too many people.
What did you like?
I can’t really think of one think I liked.  We had the same  freedoms in Ireland as here.  We just didn’t have the work.
What didn’t you like? There were just too many  people and it was all too confusing.          

Where did you first live?           

I first moved in to my brother’s house in Rego Park, Queens.  I  lived there for about 4 or 5 months.  Then I stayed with my sister in  Woodside on 65th Street.  I lived there for 3 weeks or so until I got  married and bought a house of my own nearby.          

Other Notes           

Before leaving Ireland Tim had a car service business that was very  busy during World War 2 because of the poverty in Ireland and the war  time rationing of fuel, metal and rubber.  After the war rationing was  lifted and people began to buy cars.  So the car service business went  down. 5 of Tim’s siblings (3 sisters and 2 brothers) had already come to  New York years before and so were established.  His future wife arrived  in New York in December 1948, 7 months after Tim came here.  They  married in May 1949. 3 weeks after arriving here Tim’s brother-in-law,  who was a NYC Police Sergeant, arranged for him to get 2 job offers –  one for the Telephone Company and the other as a bus driver for the  Fifth Avenue Coach Company.  That was a private bus company taken over  by NYC several years later.  He took the bus driver job and was  immediately making $78/week – almost 10 times what he had been making in  Ireland. Tim is the second youngest of 10 children and is the last one  living at 92 years old.  He grew up on a 50 acre farm in Cork, Ireland  in a 3 bedroom house.  There was no running water in the house in his  time.

I arrived New York on April 5, 1989. My Daughter, Mercy  was 8 years old (Now 23 lives on Long Island) My husband Edwin was born  in USA. I came here for a better life and opportunities. In Eqador I  finished the highs and had 3 years of college experience studying  computer science. There, I worked for Banana Program National as a  computer programmer for $8600 a year.  In New York, I worked for  9 years at the Royal Prestige Company until I lost all the  money I had  invested in the company. I love New York but I hate the trucks and the  delinquents. I work at Queens College as a office custodian. My  English is not good to work on computers."

When did you come to the United States?  

1986        
Why did you leave?    

Everybody in his or her life has to  face a variety of choices.  Sometimes you can make the choice, sometimes  there is no choice for you.  When I was 16 years old, I was sent to the  countryside to be a farmer. for 61/2 years.  Because of the Chinese  Cultural Revolution, I had no choice.  Kids like me couldn’t go to  advanced schooling and my parents, who were doctors, were not allowed to  treat patients.  Our country faced severe suffering.  During that time I  tried to help. I was a barefoot doctor, carried a Red Cross box place  to place to relieve suffering. When the Cultural Revolution was  almost finished, I took a chance and  I went to Shanghai First Medical  College.  I studied both Western and Chinese medicine and then, I worked  in a hospital.  At that time, I feared things were unsettled.  Would  the Cultural Revolution happen again?  The country was poor and there  weren’t many opportunities.  After I graduated Medical College, I chose  to come to America.  That was the biggest choice I ever made because it  changed my whole life. What happened the first day you arrived?           

I arrived at JFK airport in N.Y. with two suitcases, $40.00,  no relatives, no friends, a little English, but full of guts! . I was  worried on the plane that no one would pick me up when I arrived.  But  one of my mother’s previous patients met me.  I stayed with her for 2-3  days. What were your first impressions of New York?          I  did not speak English and I was afraid. What kind of work did  you do? I tried to do acupuncture in houses.  After that, I  took care of the wife of the Taiwanese Consulate for about 1 ½ years.How do you feel now living in the United States?  What did you  like and not like? At first, I was too busy with trying to make  a living and didn’t think about what I liked or didn’t like.  What  don’t I like?  I don’t like the guns and crime.  Now I miss China for my  childhood memories, but I like it here.  The more I stay here , the  more I like it.