Interview with Angelina Kharovsky
INTRODUCTION
For my interview, I sat down with my coworker Angelina Kharovsky to talk about her experience as an immigrant to America. Angelina was born in Belarus in the late 90s and lived in the city of Gomel with her family until she was 7 years old. Belarus was once a member nation of the Soviet Union before gaining independence in August of 1991. Though this was years before Angelina was born, lasting effects of the Soviet union were still evident in Belarus and were part of the motivation for her family to leave for the U.S. In the late 90s, some of Angelina’s extended family immigrated to Harrisonburg, inviting Angelina’s family to join them in America. It took some time after that for the money and legal papers to be acquired for the move, but in 2005 Angelina, her brother and her parents immigrated to the United States, settling initially in a house just outside of Dayton. Harrisonburg and the surrounding area is home to many immigrants from Eastern European nations, thanks to many stories like Angelina’s, where immigrant families here in America are able to invite and support more family members in their journeys here.
METHODS
My first thought when first planning this assignment was to ask one of my coworkers for an interview. For a few months now I have been working at a grocery store here in Harrisonburg and have had the privilege of meeting multiple people who immigrated to the United States at some point in their lives. I was nervous to ask at first, but once I brought it up with my friend Angelina, one of my coworkers, she quickly agreed to share her story. The interview was conducted in my apartment and recorded using my phone. I looked for other methods to use instead of my phone, but after testing my other microphones’ audio, I decided my phone was the clearest option. I prepared questions and had them open to take notes during the interview, though once we started I did not go in order through my questions. After the interview I used Descript to transcribe my recording and made corrections to the results wherever needed.
Angelina was a little nervous for the interview herself, worried that she would not be able to answer my questions well having come to the U.S. when she was young. I assured her I just wanted to hear her story from her point of view, and that there were no wrong answers. As the interview went on I felt like Angelina was able to open up more and more as we discussed more parts of her life and her journey.
MIGRATION
Angelina talked about not remembering much from Belarus since she was so young when they moved away, though she noted that people were generally less friendly in her home country than they are here in Harrisonburg. Gomel, the city Angelina is from, is the second largest city in Belarus with a population of nearly half a million. Angelina remembered the city was well-maintained, while being “presentable and nicer, so people would like to always come and visit it,” though this was not necessarily representative of the country as a whole. A few years before Angelina and her family moved here, her Uncle and Aunt immigrated to America with their children and chose to settle in Harrisonburg, in part because of the large Russian and Ukrainian population in the area. After becoming settled, they were able to make arrangements for Angelina and her family to move to the area, including the required paperwork and some of the funds needed for the trip. Even once everything required was completed, the paperwork for immigration to America took over a year to process. A year is a very long time to wait, though it is much less time than some face, with other wait times starting at over a decade. Angelina said that higher wages and more opportunity were the main drivers of her family’s immigration to the U.S., a “pull factor” for many who immigrate here. Despite the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Belarus remained largely authoritarian with less personal freedoms and civil liberties than many other places in the world, a strong “push factor” for many families like Angelina’s. Once her family heard about the benefits of living in the U.S. and were able to meet all requirements, Angelina left Belarus along with her parents and older brother.
INTEGRATION
Angelina described her first impressions of the United States as being “like paradise, heaven.” Some of the first things that she noticed being different was the change in the geography and the weather. Angelina’s father worked in construction in Belarus, a skill he was able to transfer to the U.S., though things were not easy at first. “In the beginning, he had a hard time finding a job,” Angelina stated, though after some searching, and with the help of family already in the area, he was able to find employment in the same industry as he had in Belarus. Angelina’s mother was a homemaker and caretaker for her kids and other family members, as this was traditional for the mother of a family. Soon after their arrival, Angelina and her brother enrolled in public school in nearby Dayton, close to where they and their family lived and one of the most important contexts of reception for children. Here they learned English for the first time, as they had no preparation in it before coming to the states. Learning English was one of the biggest challenges Angelina said she faced here, and something that she is still not fully comfortable with to this day. School was also the place Angelina first faced difficulty for being an immigrant. While most of the community was generally “very accepting,” this was not always the case. Some teachers had little patience for children who were still learning English, something that can be very damaging for young kids to deal with. Early school ages are a key time for development, and trying to do so in a brand-new environment and in a second language can make for a very tough time. Angelina was able to persevere, however, and by the time she was in middle school, she “pretty much knew how to speak English.” Angelina still spoke Russian exclusively at home though, and is still fluent in it today.
Angelina’s first job was at a grocery store named Super Save just outside of Dayton. She was first hired there at 16, and worked there for a few years before eventually moving. Looking back this was her favorite job, she said, as she felt a strong sense of community there with her coworkers and their regular shoppers. This sense of family is something often attributed to small-towns here in America, and can be very helpful in making immigrants to a community feel welcome. The job only paid minimum wage, but for a high-school student in Dayton it was the best job available. While working at the grocery store, Angelina met her husband through a youth group at her church, one of the main places for young people to meet within the local immigrant community. After they were married Angelina moved to Erie, Pennsylvania, where her husband worked as a mechanic. Angelina said it was typical for a wife to move for hasband’s work in her culture, even though she did not necessarily want to leave Harrisonburg. There in Erie Angelina had two children, but she eventually returned to Harrisonburg after splitting with her husband. Here she has worked a couple of different jobs while trying to make enough money to move closer to her kids.
The large community of immigrants already present in Harrisonburg made the transition from Belarus and reception to America much easier, as even though the environment here is completely different from what she was originally used to, there were many people who underwent a similar transition who were able to help. Immigrant networks can be seen across multiple communities here in Harrisonburg, with the Russian culture group being one of the largest. It’s similar to Latin American communities that have been established in Harrisonburg and have grown larger over time through connections across the world, something we discussed in class on multiple occasions.
OBSTACLES
Living here in Harrisonburg, one of the main challenges Angelina said she faces is making and saving money. While there is a variety of jobs available in the area, the vast majority of them are low-paying opportunities with little room for expansion or raises. Harrisonburg also has a high cost of living compared to many other similarly sized cities, making it hard for many to afford all of their necessities. Angelina described the challenge of working here and trying to make enough to move back to Pennsylvania and trying to fight for custody of her children, as it is exceedingly difficult to do much of anything in the legal system here in America without the money for a lawyer or other legal resources. Legal challenges and anti-immigrant policies are hard for anyone to deal with even without the stress of having to keep up with bills. The legal system has historically been much less accessible to those born outside of the United States, with many barriers to entry that stop those without many resources or who speak English as a second language from being represented fairly and equitably. In matters that involve children, the emotional toll that this can have is magnified even further, something that many immigrants including Angelina are forced to deal with.
Another obstacle for immigrants is staying connected to the “old country.” With Belarus being on the other side of the world, it is not easy to travel there from America. Traveling home is something that’s out of reach for many immigrants, something common in the Eastern European communities here in Harrisonburg. Angelina has never been able to travel home since arriving in America, though she’s satisfied living here; “it would be nice to actually visit them, see my, some of my family. Um, but honestly, I would not want to live there.” Angelina and her family here still talk to their relatives in Belarus on video calls and over the phone, but there is no substitute for an actual visit.
MEMBERSHIP
“Welcoming” and “accepting” are two of the words that Angelina used to describe Harrisonburg and her experience as an immigrant here. Save for some bad experiences here and there, the people of Harrisonburg and the compassion that they have for those around them has made Angelina feel like she was part of the community since she moved here. Working in grocery stores where she gets to talk to lots of people in the area has helped Angelina to really connect with the community. This was felt especially at her first job, where Angelina said “a lot of the same people would come, our regulars, and we’d always have a good conversation.” Small conversations while checking out may seem like a small factor when it comes to feeling a sense of membership in a new community, but they can do a lot to create a sense of belonging. Angelina talked about how in Belarus people were much less outgoing, and the openness here is one of her favorite things about America.
CONCLUSION
I am incredibly grateful that I was able to hear Angelin’s story and that I am able to share it with more people through this project. I already knew from working with her that Angelina is a strong and hard-working individual who can talk to anyone, but seeing how her journey has shaped her into that kind of person was eye-opening. Angelina has been able to accomplish a lot so far in America, and has been supported by her family and the larger community of immigrants here in Harrisonburg along the way. Her story is a great example of the social nature of migration, where connections and relationships made in the old country create immigration chains to the new country. It also exemplifies some of the struggles that immigrants often face in this nation as they adapt to new surroundings and try to make the best lives for themselves. Harrisonburg is lucky to have such a strong and vibrant community of immigrants from places all around the world, and I am lucky to know one of them in my friend Angelina.
Russell: [00:00:00] Start again here. Do you want to introduce yourself again?
Angelina: Hello, this is Angelina Krakowski and I’m from Belarus. I’ve been living there for seven years until my uncle that lives in America, he was able to give us invitation to come to America with my family. So in 2005, we were able to come to America.
My little sister was born. And
Russell: so your sister was born here in America. Yeah, my
Angelina: little one. Not to interrupt your hearing. So, January 12th, right the next day we came to America, was my birthday. So, it was a really nice day to remember how we came to America. Then, later on, we, I and the rest of my [00:01:00] siblings, we went to school.
We had to learn English. It was not that easy. But we really had really good teachers that were able to Uh, teach us some words that were even hard to learn. Um, then,
then when I turned about 16, 17 years old, Um, got my first job, and I’ve been working there for like three years, and it’s in Worst Cave.
Russell: Okay. Did you, uh, and your family move to Harrisonburg when you came to
Angelina: America? Yes. Well, first we moved to this little house. We like rented a house. It was in Dayton. We lived with Mennonites, and we got really connected with them, [00:02:00] and they were able to help us out, continue our, kind of, help us get a new place.
Kind of
Russell: acclimate to the
Angelina: country. Yes, yes. Um, but most of it, it was my uncle and the rest of my relatives that live here. They were able to help us, kind of, show everything around, and kind of, help us get to know everything, because it was Completely different from Belarus, where I was living, and it was a lot, you know, a lot of change that had to happen.
Even though when I was small, I don’t really remember much, but all that I can remember is, you know, how everything’s different, everything’s better, more food, more stuff that’s better.
Russell: Do you know, uh, like why your family chose, kind of some of the reasons they chose to come to America? Can you speak to that? [00:03:00]
Angelina: Um, why they chose is because All of my relatives live here, and they all, uh, pretty much told us that this is one of the best places to live. And, you know, the mountains, it’s a pretty quiet place, and they just recommended us.
And until now, we still like living here, because it’s really nice for my parents, and for us, and me.
Russell: I know you said you were, uh, you were really young, you were only seven when you came here, but did you have any ideas of, like, what America was like, or any expectations for the process?
Angelina: Honestly, I didn’t.
Because I was too young and did not really understand anything much, you know, it was just whatever my parents told us It’s just you know, they said it’s gonna be better and life is gonna be easier there So I just kind of went did whatever they told us to do just kind of move and we’ll see how life gets here
Russell: You know how long the process took like from when you [00:04:00] first found out you were moving to when you were actually able to get To America.
Angelina: It’s been
at least a year To actually, like, start to figuring things out, getting to know things much better. With my cousins and uncles, with all their help, we were able to, you know, get everything
Russell: prepared for the journey. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you already talked a little bit about, like, you have your uncle and a lot of family here.
Yeah. Would you say there’s a large community of people from Belarus and, like, that area and Harrisonburg? Uh,
Angelina: yeah, there’s a lot of Russians here and there’s a lot of, like, people, but I still have, like, My grandparents and one of my aunts that still live in Belarus, but yeah, moving here was a completely [00:05:00] big change for us, for our family and for me, but I really like it here and It’s very nice that I get to see the difference and how life is much better here than it is How people are saying in Belarus.
Mm hmm. But yeah, we live kind of poor there as well. So it’s it was a big difference, obviously
Russell: Did your family have a different job here in Harrisonburg than they did, uh, in Belarus?
Angelina: Uh, well, my dad was working as a constructor there. Um, in the beginning, he had a hard time finding a job. But, eventually, he was working as a constructor in the beginning.
And now he’s a truck driver.
Russell: Did you say those are jobs that are, like, a little bit easier for immigrants to get around here? Or are there some that are a little bit harder? Well, like,
Angelina: since he had construction, it was kind of easy for him to do it, because he already knew, kind of. [00:06:00] But, obviously, there’s more, they pay better here and it’s much better, but he had to, he went to,
he went for a truck driver because they pay better and it’s easier for him. Like that. Easier work. Yeah, easier work and it was better pay like
Russell: that. Mm. Back to like when you arrived here, I know you said you’re young, you don’t remember much, but do you, uh, remember any like your first impressions of America or Harrisonburg here?
Angelina: It was very like, like we were like in paradise or heaven. I don’t know. It’s just something like crazy, something better than it was, you know, better than I was experiencing Belarus. Everything’s new. Everything’s like, I don’t know, so [00:07:00] much food, like different varieties. Um, the weather is different and a lot of people like, you know, they’ll speak different language and it was hard to understand them.
But obviously as we went to like school we learned, but yeah, a lot of people are really nice here You know because a lot of people in Belarus are more like, you know, kind of meaner side, but here in America, everybody’s really nice to you usually
It was a good experience.
Russell: Do you remember much about the like place in Belarus you came from like what city you were from?
Angelina: I’m from Gomel. That’s the part of the city. You know how to spell that? Yeah, it’s a G O M E L. Okay. And a lot of people say that this place was actually a beautiful city from most of them and they [00:08:00] usually kept that city clean and, you know, I don’t know how to say that word.
More presentable. Yeah,
Angelina: presentable and nicer, so people would like to always come and visit it, you know.
Russell: Would you say that’s not super, like, representative of the whole country? It
Angelina: is, but, like, what I’m trying to say that It was more,
Russell: that’s okay,
Angelina: like it was more better, not better quality, it was more like better, I can’t remember this word I’m trying to say, it’s, it’s better than other cities, like it was more cleaner, it was more, that better like, Maybe stores that are more cleaner than Kind of a wealthier
Russell: city.
Angelina: Kind of wealthier, yeah, and kind of [00:09:00] It was more They took care of it.
The city was more, like, taken care of, you know? It was always, I don’t know, clean. At the top, remember, it was clean. Everybody was, you know, making sure. Everything is well and good for everything. Would
Russell: you say it’s a much bigger city than Harrisonburg?
Angelina: It’s not much bigger, no. I think it’s about the same.
Russell: Um, so you talked like a little bit about coming to school and it was hard learning the language. Do you have any like other big obstacles first coming here and trying to acclimate to the culture? Or talk a little bit about like learning English as a language and how that is, cause I’ve always just known it.
Yeah,
Angelina: English was, was one of the biggest things that I had to learn. Took us a [00:10:00] while for me. I had like, ESL teachers, and they were doing a really good job of training me, teaching me English.
Russell: You say, like, how long it took you about to learn English? Like, you say you came here at seven years old, so what’s that, like, second grade? Up to fourth grade, I think. So, like, second or fourth grade or so? That’s pretty fast, honestly. And like, I don’t want to compliment your English, I feel like that’s cliche, but like, especially meeting you or at your job, like, you’d never be able to tell.
That’s your second language, I don’t think.
Angelina: Well, uh, obviously I still had like ESL teachers that would help me, like, you know, teach me, learn me. But yeah, up to like middle school already, I pretty much knew how to speak English, kind of. It was more Easier for me to understand and learn. Mm-Hmm. , even though I still had to like read some books, kind [00:11:00] of still had to understand, but me already speaking, speaking language was already like easier for me to understand and actually interact with people.
Russell: Did you speak, uh, English at home at all or was it just uh, your old language? Just
Angelina: our language. .
Russell: Okay. And can you talk about like some of the other like big differences between Belarus and here, like culture-wise, like lifestyle people doing different things? You said like people were. But if you can kind of like, uh, delve into that a little.
Angelina: I mean, that’s what I’ve noticed. But even like people telling me, like, like I said, I’m seven years old. Like, I don’t really remember much, like what I heard my people, I mean, my family telling me like a lot of people that come visit here, they. Tell me, even my sister when she went, how, how rudely they are to, to us, that people actually live outside of the country and come visit to the Belarus, they become more like evil, mean, and rude to them.
But,[00:12:00]
other than that, I mean, I didn’t really notice any much difference. The weather is colder, obviously, and
Russell: You say Harrisonburg is a more diverse city? It
Angelina: is, yeah. But also, there’s always a lot of traffic there. And it’s always very busy, um, and the roads are bad, just everything low quality, you know, like in different countries, how it is, you know.
Russell: Can you talk about like some of the things you like the most about America versus Belarus or some things that you miss about Belarus that you maybe don’t like so much here?
Angelina: I like everything here. And the only thing mostly I like is how people are nicer here, you know, they’re much nicer, [00:13:00] they’re more Give you, I don’t know, more attention and care and worry about you.
Um, I like the weather here. I like the mountains. The area where I stay right now. Um, The food is obviously different, most of it. And I like it because different varieties. Um,
let’s see. That’s pretty much the biggest part of, I like the people here.
Russell: Is there anything you miss
Angelina: especially? I miss, well I miss like my family. I still have like grandparents that live there. So I miss them and one of my aunts that lives there too, but other than that I don’t think I miss anything much about because I was [00:14:00] little I was staying mostly with my Grandparents when my mom worked and my dad worked and we pretty much stayed with my grandparents So it was really nice with them spending time and
We didn’t really go out much Out in the city, just kind of stayed home most of the time Because my mom worked and my dad worked and we had to have somebody to take care of us But then we went to school, I remember Um, they were very mean to me, like very rude to me One of the teachers, she was just very very strict And they were very strict there And they’re very mean too, honestly, they’re very mean.
I remember this one teacher, she just, I mean, hit me with, you know, the stick, you know, desk ruler. [00:15:00] And yeah, until then, my mom was really mad and not happy. Because they’re not treating, they have to, we’re still little kids, you know, we’re learning. They don’t have to, like, kind of, they need to understand and they need to be still nice.
Understand us and, uh,
yeah, kind of be nicer to us because we’re still kids. Mm hmm.
Russell: You can’t really learn things. That’s okay.
Angelina: Um.
Russell: You said your, you know, your uncle and a lot of your family are already here. Do you know when they came to America from Belarus?
Or why they came? Anything about that?
Angelina: Um.
Honestly, I[00:16:00]
Russell: If not, that’s alright. We can, uh, come back to it or something like that. Okay. I’m trying
Angelina: to think, honestly. I don’t know if maybe somebody told him that it’s a good place to live, or maybe one of his, like, relatives, maybe.
Russell: Was your uncle the first one, kind of, in your family to come
Angelina: here? I had my aunt and my uncle, so technically both of them came almost at the same time.
Um, so they live a little longer than we are. Maybe, like, a couple years. More than we came
Russell: after. So it wasn’t here for like too long before you and your family came? Yeah. Um,
what else? Is there any other place like you and your family looked at to move or was it always just like going to where your family was? Just here.
Angelina: We just like to here. I mean, we visited a few places. [00:17:00] We had like friends that we met in different states. But, they, they want to stay here for the rest of their lives.
They just like it, everything’s pretty, beautiful, the mountains, they like that it’s a quieter city and state, um, and all of our relatives are here, so it makes it easy for them.
Russell: Is that something like you feel that way, or is there any other place like in America or just anywhere in general that you have thought about like moving to later in life?
Angelina: Well right now, I like Virginia. I did go live in a different state, Europe, Pennsylvania, but I didn’t like, I didn’t like it there. Not a good experience. But, here, I like it more. I’m not a really big city person.
Russell: Mm hmm. So you know, uh, where in Pennsylvania you lived? Uh, Erie,
Angelina: Pennsylvania.
Russell: Erie? [00:18:00] Oh, I’ve been there.
I don’t think I’d like to live there either. I know,
Angelina: it’s so ghetto, so cold all the time. Yeah, the weather sucks, and I don’t know, the people there just don’t like, I don’t know, in general. Do you
Russell: ever think you’d be a big city person?
Angelina: Well, definitely not in Erie, Pennsylvania.
Russell: I don’t think I’d call Erie a big city, necessarily.
Angelina: I mean, no, I’m actually not really a big city. If I want to go out and do something, like, With friends or something but like not live in the city city itself, you know I would like to go visit kind of do stuff and not live there. Mm hmm. I like to live more quieter places where it’s More peaceful countryside Do
Russell: you know like what are your favorite things to do around here in Harrisonburg or your favorite things about Harrisonburg specifically?
Angelina: Honestly, there’s not much to do in Harrisonburg. Yeah but I like to do some, like, outdoor activities. Um, Oh, let’s [00:19:00] see.
I mean, there’s like not much, honestly. No, yeah, that’s Just hang out with, like, friends, go, like, to the mall or shopping or
Russell: We do have one mall here.
Angelina: Yeah, it’s not that big. No. Um I don’t know, just hang out with friends. We have this little downtown as well. We can, you know, go hang out there, check out places.
Russell: You said earlier that your first job you got at 16 years old. So, can you tell me about that, what job that was?
Angelina: It was a little grocery store. Uh, it also had like a deli with it. Um, it’s a very old store, grocery store. Um, And I was getting, obviously, 7. 25 in the beginning, so it was obviously very low for us.
But, it was a good experience. [00:20:00] Um, I really had nice people that worked with me. And my boss was very nice and, but he was a little stingy, you know. He didn’t want to pay much, even though I worked as hard as I could, you know. It took all the hours I was able to get. But it was a good experience. I liked it because I like to talk to customers, to be around people, like to be friendly.
And that’s what I’ve noticed a lot is how people are nice back to me, the way I treat them, the way they’re treating me back. You know, it’s very nice. Till this day, I still love that store, like, and I wish it was still there, but the owner just died recently and they had to, like, change it to, like, um, different, like, um, thrift store or some kind of library.
I don’t know, they just made a whole different. But it was, it was really nice, like, to [00:21:00] work there.
Russell: Do you remember what that place
Angelina: was called? It was called Super Save. Super Save. In the worst case. In where? In Warescape. Okay, yeah, I wouldn’t know that one. You know where Grottoes is? Yes. Grottoes, so it’s like 10 minutes away from, that’s the city, it’s called.
Russell: Okay. And then, so how long were you, uh, working there? About three years. Three years, okay. And then, what did you do, uh, after that?
Angelina: After that, um, I got married and moved to Erie, Pennsylvania
Russell: did you move there because of, uh, your marriage to go with your husband?
Angelina: Yeah, that’s how, that’s how Russians, how we believe is that technically
to whoever you’re married to, um, whatever they live, we technically have to move with them because since they already have a job there and since he’s supposed to support, you know, uh, family and whatever he has the job, we typically have to move [00:22:00] where he’s at. So yeah, I lived there. It was not a really good experience.
When I came back here, lived here, then again we moved back, so kind of back and forth.
Russell: Did you meet him like, uh, here in Harrisonburg, your husband? Um,
Angelina: I met him at, oh let’s say yes, because we have like youth conferences through church, and we go to different states. But, yeah, let’s say it was in Harrisonburg.
Russell: So you met him through like a church program? Yeah, yeah. That was like intended to match?
Angelina: Like a youth conference we had, yeah. Every year, don’t forget.
Russell: Man. So what, uh, what was your husband doing in Erie?
Angelina: So he was a mechanic. So he was working on cars and, uh, now he’s a diesel mechanic working on trucks.
Russell: He does that here?
Angelina: He does that in New York, [00:23:00] Pennsylvania. Oh, he’s still in Erie? Yeah, he still lives in Erie, yeah.
Russell: And then you have, uh, two kids, right?
Angelina: Yes, I have
Russell: two girls. They,
Angelina: uh, live with you here? No, they live with him right now. Because they’re in the middle
Russell: of divorce. Oh, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to pry or ask anything about that.
Angelina: It’s okay. No, it’s fine. So yeah, now they’re staying with him right now, so I’m here trying to save some money.
To see if I can go back. To be closer with them. See if I can get the custody of them because right now it’s impossible for, like, even have them to come here and visit and stay with me. So that’s my plan right now. And it’s, it’s hard. It’s a lot to go through right now. Yeah, definitely. But, especially the jobs that you work here, they don’t pay much and it’s hard to save.
So I have to get another job, which thankfully I was able to get another job. So let’s hope I’ll be able to save [00:24:00] and maybe I’ll go visit them or stay with them. But
Russell: Can you talk a little bit about the jobs you have now, not to focus on hardships or anything
Angelina: like that? That’s fine, that’s fine. Um, yes, so now, um, When I moved to Pennsylvania, um, I worked at this, This store, it was called Home Goods.
It’s pretty much everything that’s sold for home. Um, I worked there for like a year, um, then my daughter was born. Then a year later, I moved back to Virginia. I did not work for about a year or two. Then when I moved back to Pennsylvania. I came back to the same store and, um, I worked there for about a year as well.[00:25:00]
Then I’m worked at a Dahl General also at a different city in Erie, Pennsylvania. And I worked there about a year as well. It was, I guess, a good experience as well, but. Working as a retail associate. I was getting tired of this kind of position job So then Last year of July. I moved here again And I started working the food line And I like it so far.
I like the people everybody
Working as a cashier is a lot Yeah. Dealing with customers. That’s right. And, I mean, I don’t mind. It’s nice, but some are not really nice to be around. They can be rude, [00:26:00] annoying, and But, you know, as a worker you have to do your best to give them good customer
Russell: service. Yeah, that’s what they tell us.
Angelina: And, right now, I also got another job.
Thank God. At Chipotle. So I’ll be starting next week. So hopefully that’s gonna go well.
Russell: Yeah. Would you say you faced like, uh, or have faced any discrimination for being an immigrant? Like, at any of your jobs or school or any place really?
Angelina: I think school was a little bit more like why did you guys come here? Like, you don’t know English, kinda. You know, just kinda started asking us. About that kind of stuff, but obviously like I try my best to say in English that Just I have family to live here and they helped us just get here to start a new life [00:27:00] better life But other than that everything was pretty
Russell: pretty accepting here Yeah You talk a little bit more about like, uh, the existing immigrant community.
I know there’s a large russian community and uh That’s been here for, you know, a few decades, if you know anything about that.
Angelina: Yeah, there is a lot of Russian people here, a lot of Ukrainians. And, they say all kinds of stuff right now, especially what’s going on right now in Ukraine. And, it’s a lot I hear from, from them.
That, is it affecting our country, if it’s, you know. Um, affecting anything to us, to our culture or, but so far, thank God, nothing really is affecting. Um, yeah, a lot of them come to Fuline and I see around Harrisonburg a lot of Russians, a lot of Korean people. [00:28:00] And most of them say that they like it here as well because some just moved like a year ago, some lived here for a while.
And different stories, different people tell me, um. So most of them, they say they like it here. Everything’s much better than in all the countries.
Russell: You said a lot moved like a year ago. Would you say like the conflict in, like between Russia and Ukraine kind of spurned a lot of immigration
Angelina: here? Yeah, yeah.
A lot of immigration happened, yeah.
Russell: Did you want to, or if you’re comfortable talking a little bit more about your daughters? Sure, I can talk to you. Uh, so, uh, can you tell me their names?
Angelina: Uh, so my daughter, uh, first one is Abby. She’s five years old.
And [00:29:00] my second daughter, her name is Milana. Do you know how to spell that? M I L A N A
Russell: Abby with, uh, two B’s. Yeah. I know it’s her little, all over the place.
Angelina: Milana, yeah, she’s three. Um, so two girls, um, yeah, they’re very sweet. I love them and I wish I could be around, be with them more. Um, but right now with my situation, I only get to spend time, like little time with them. Um, about 25%, unfortunately, but I’m hoping.
Fuckin move back to Europe and Swinia. I will file for like at least 50 50 so I’ll get to see them, be with them more often. [00:30:00] Hopefully. But yeah, they just started school, my older one.
She talks a lot. She, you know, understands a lot now and anything, even what my husband’s saying to them, they learn fast and puts A lot of bad stuff in their heads and it’s kind of sad, but they learned, yeah, they learned fast. They’re really good, like smart and um, a little one as well. They, they talk a lot.
They talk a lot. It’s really nice to hear them. They sing. They love, you know, they love school. That’s what my daughter is saying. She’s learning a lot of things and it seems like she likes it.
Russell: Um. Would you say it’s harder, like, uh, to do stuff like divorce filings and custody hearings being an immigrant since that you were, or since, because you weren’t born in America?
I don’t really know much about the system at all, but [00:31:00]
Angelina: Honestly, in America, I think it is harder. It’s a lot harder. Especially depends what state you live. Since I was living in Europe and Slovenia, and technically, we’re still going by Europe and Slovenia law. All this divorce and custody is It’s a lot harder to deal than, like, I know Virginia is a lot easier, I know, you’re able to go through this faster and better and easier, but Erie, Pennsylvania’s office, they have different laws, most of them are very strict and very, like, Old fashioned.
Yeah, it’s really hard. They’re very, like, into the laws. Like, they’re not, you know, they don’t really care about the people. They care about the laws. Yes. They just want to do their job, just get the money, and, you know, don’t care about people at all. Mm hmm. But, it’s just [00:32:00] a lot, you know, to go through. But, I’m hoping, I’m hoping I’ll get my kids back.
As soon as I can. But, I’ve been having a hard time finding a job there and an apartment. Mm hmm. So, right now I’m gonna continue living here until I maybe save some money. Save some, I don’t know, keep looking for different places. But right now it’s not a, what I see is not a good time to go there.
Russell: Mm hmm.
So, more in the future? Like, a year from now? Hopefully
Angelina: even sooner than that, you know, and I know they miss me. I know they love me and they obviously need a mom, you know, mother, any kid needs a mother, you know, he’s, he’s a very harsh person. He, he doesn’t care about [00:33:00] nobody at all, only cares about himself.
And that’s why I feel sad right now because what they’re going through right now and every time I visit them, um, Cause I only get to visit them twice a month. And every time I visit them, they just, you know, they seem really happy to see me. They’re very like excited and they don’t want to let me go. And next day when I call them, everything’s back the same.
Says negative stuff to me and just kind of, you know, and it’s upsetting. Because that’s what he puts in their heads. Yeah. But I know they love me. I love them too. And they’re They’re my kids and they’re always going to be my kids. Yeah. No matter what he says,
Russell: you know. Yeah, I’m sorry to ask a lot about that.
It’s okay, it’s okay. That’s a very difficult topic.
Angelina: It is, but I’m just, I hope something actually changes. Honestly, because it’s hard.
Russell: You’re a very strong person, being able to [00:34:00] deal with that and work two jobs and all that. It’s a lot more than most people would be able to do.
Angelina: I don’t know, honestly, like, I was also working at the hospital, I had a really bad experience there, honestly.
They were really, uh, they were just not really treating me good there. I just remembered about the job, yeah. Um, yeah, it was just not a really good experience, especially I had to work like 12 hour shifts, and then my days off I would work on, in Foodline. And the way they were just not treating me was not right and I mean got sick like physical sick because too much Too much like well my body just could not take it of that stress and that much work that work and just being so tired all the time and Yeah, so that was one of the jobs actually that I just remember that was not treated well, and they were very like mean to me [00:35:00] Kind of Impatient with me Because I had a little hard time learning But they were learning faster than me and they were working there like for a while and me as a new like person that Just started a new job new position knew everything technically, you know beginning like completely different thing And they just weren’t patient with me.
They just didn’t like it. They thought i’ll be like quick, you know learning But I wasn’t it took no longer than but the way I saw it I guess it just wasn’t meant for me, because this job was stressing me out too much. It was too much for me, honestly. So hopefully this new job probably won’t be too crazy, which I doubt, because a lot of students come there and everybody goes there.
Yeah, it gets kind of
Russell: crazy in there.
Angelina: We’ll see.
Russell: Hopefully. Yeah. So what would you say is like, your favorite job that you’ve had, if you had to choose one?
Angelina: [00:36:00] So far, I think food line. Food line? So far. Yeah. Well actually my first, first Jobb actually that I got the first grocery job done. Yeah. Yeah. That it was, I don’t know if you wanted me to tell you, like in general or like after, like whichever, whatever.
Yeah. Your answer. The first job. The first job was actually really nice because that’s, you know, first job is always good to have a good, um, memory. Mm-Hmm. . But I had a lot of nice people. A lot. There was just like, they were like more like family to me. ’cause it was a small grocery store. And a lot of com like, a lot of same people would come, our regulars, and we’d always have a good conversation.
We were always happy to see each other, you know, just always wishing a good day to each other. I don’t know, I always had fun coming into work there. You don’t have fun going to work at Food Lion? I do! I do! Well, this is like, before I got married, before, like, my first job. But now, yeah, I like coming here. I just wish the pay a little more.
Yeah, that’d be [00:37:00] nice. Yeah, and I wish I could Change to a different like position or department, but they don’t have anything unfortunately That’s why I had to get another job. But plus I have to pay child support That’s one big problem as well because it’s I don’t have enough to even support myself But yeah, I live with my brother right now So thank God he’s letting me stay until I find something And I don’t have to pay anything for him.
So that’s one good thing as well but
Anything else?
Russell: Uh, yeah, kind of trying to move on from the heavy talks before I get to kind of the, the lighter questions, but I was talking about like, how do you, uh, try to stay connected, like, with your family that’s still back in Belarus, or like, how do you, uh, kind of keep some of the culture and traditions you had there, maybe bring here to America?
So,
Angelina: um, yeah, excuse me, um, we, [00:38:00] Able to like talk to my grandparents like once in a while call them through like Viber Because that’s my dad’s parents So he usually talks to them most of the time I call once in a while talk to my grandma grandpa but Yeah, I would just talk once in a while through Viber video call Um, and culture wise, um, we pretty much just transferred the way we do everything here.
It’s nothing crazy. Um, the foods, I mean, we still make the same food, cultural food. Um, the way we dress sometimes, you know. Um,
that’s pretty much it. It’s not a big, you know, [00:39:00] transformation or big Difference.
Russell: Would you say, like, kind of religious traditions or holidays are kind of different here in America?
Angelina: So, like, for example, the Christmas is, is in January. Here is in December. So they celebrate it like different, yeah, the Christmas, but, and Thanksgiving too, I think they have it like different.
I think they do. Some, some of them, like, some of their holidays would be different in here. Yeah. Yeah. Um.
Russell: Is there anything like, uh, they did differently in Belarus that you kind of miss here that you wish was here, or anything that changed and you kind of like more with those?
Angelina: Honestly, like, I was small, I don’t really know, don’t know much of the tradition that they do, but I know we always made, like, the special foods, like, um, on Easter, we [00:40:00] make those special, like, um, Buns, I don’t know what you want to call them, like it’s bread, but they’re like buns kind of.
They’re like sweet Sweet rolls, sort of like, but it was the Russian way that they made it, their recipe and it was We would make them every year for Easter holiday Like like I said some foods we still like obviously do it here Sometimes, yeah, the way we dress or the way they, um,
honestly, more it’s food, honestly. Mostly it’s food. Here, we’ll pretty much just do everything what is here, you know. We don’t really do much. Unless we go there, we kind of have to kind of,[00:41:00]
kind of go along with the flow, I guess, with what is there.
Russell: Have you ever thought about going back to Belarus or like visiting there? I’ve wanted
Angelina: to visit, yeah, but I’ve never had a chance yet. Some of my family did go visit. They like it. Um, it’s different, obviously, but
it would be nice to actually visit them, see my, some of my family. Um, but honestly, I would not want to live there. I don’t know. I would just not want to live there. Especially that I don’t have much family in there. And I feel like, Um, Even, What they were saying, since like, I won’t be able to get my kids Probably as soon as, like, Anytime soon.
The only way I could probably do is Get them From, from Pennsylvania And just fly to Belarus and stay there. And never come [00:42:00] back. But I would not want to do that, you know? I would not be able to live there Just with my kids, alone. Even though I have grandparents, but. So I feel like I need more, more family, more support structure, but I don’t know.
Like I said, I would visit. It would be nice to visit, but not stay there.
Russell: Um, is there anything else, uh, any big differences or you think like being an immigrant in Harrisonburg versus, uh, someone else, how that, that affects just your experience, any kind of final thoughts or.
Or maybe like, uh, the biggest challenge, I guess, you faced being an immigrant.
Angelina: Yeah, so like, I’ve noticed that how people were treating there in Belarus and how they’re treating here in America. And it was, it was a completely big difference, honestly. They, [00:43:00] in America, they treat more nicer and in Belarus they’re more ruder and they’re more, you know, don’t care about people at all.
And, um, the foods, everything, they’re just completely different from there. It’s, it’s kinda nice to actually be able to start, I guess, a new chapter with new things, new country, new,
just everything’s new, you know? Um, I enjoy living here. It’s, it’s a great place. And, um, yeah. I would not want to go back and live there.
Russell: And then just kind of like one, one final one. So if you had to choose like one place in America to live that isn’t someplace you’ve lived before, do you know where you’d want to go?
Honestly,
Angelina: I haven’t really thought about it so far. Like I [00:44:00] don’t like it here because first of all, it’s like my family here. Um, I’ve never been to different like states, so I don’t know how it is. If I would visit, check it out. Maybe I would, would want to move, would want to move to a different state, but so far, look, Virginia’s been Pretty nice place to live, but the problem is that there’s not much to do.
Yeah, that’s why a lot of people just want to move away from here but it’s a nice quiet place and it’s Like the country. Mm hmm.
Russell: You see yourself living in Harrisonburg for a long time and, or like, if you were able to have your kids here I’ll
Angelina: say aside from that I don’t know. I want to try become more like independent, not really just always focus on, you know, have always like family support, even though it’s good to have family support, but you never know what can happen.
I might have to move to a [00:45:00] different state, like even when I get my own kids and might have to face, you know, maybe some new, um, challenges. But, I will Still learn and, you know, I will become better, stronger, and kind of be more independent. Even though it’s probably going to be a while and hard to do that.
But, right now, I’m staying here, so we’ll see. Hopefully, after I get my kids back, probably I’ll move here, stay for a little bit. Because my mom misses my kids and she would want to, obviously, be as long and as close as possible with them. But we’ll see in the future. I don’t know. But right now, I like it here.
Yeah. So, yeah.
Russell: And then, I guess, I kind of said that was the last one. This doesn’t really fit at the end. But, would you say you kind of have like a stronger connection with your family, like, versus people who aren’t immigrants? Is that something that like, uh, moving here to be with them and living there, or living together with [00:46:00] them, kind of fosters that?
Angelina: Well, obviously, like, if you move back, if The closer you move with your family Especially that we were different language, they kind of know already the language better than we were when we came to America. And they were the ones that were able to help us, you know, like learn and also like help us with everything here that we wouldn’t know.
It was nice to have them close with us because when we need help. But now we’re technically on our own, but we still obviously have like family, but we still keep connections and we still, you know, kind of, but. If I knew English a long time ago, honestly, like, from my side, I would not want to stay, like, close to my family, like, um, forever.
It’s because you, you can’t stay with your family forever, you know? Like, everybody has their own, like, um, decisions they make, their own, like, opinions, their own, um When they’re grown up They already have their own [00:47:00] perspectives, their own mindset, their goals and stuff like that. So We won’t like I feel like the farther away like from my experience right now I feel like the farther away from my parents the better.
I’ll have more relationship with them honestly because It’s they’re very controlling right now. They’re very like They want us to follow their house rules And I don’t want to, you know, that’s why I’m glad I’m living with my brother. He’s able to, you know, give me a little freedom, like a little space, like, but my parents would call me like every day, all the time, always just, I mean, I understand they worry about me because, but same time, it’s a little too much for me.
That’s what it seems like. But like I said, I’ve noticed a lot that the farther away from them, I feel like the closer like a relationship I get to, you know, with them. Because it’s just what I’ve experienced, what I’ve noticed. [00:48:00]
Russell: You think them being, your parents being from Belarus and maybe that being like a more traditional place kind of makes them like that, a little stricter here?
Angelina: Yeah, and that’s how they were when, um, my mom, my, so my parents, my grandparents from my mom’s side, they’re, they already passed away. So, but their father was very, very strict, very strict. The mom. Oh, my grandma, she was very nice. More like, you know, uh, like had mother love, you know, but their dad was very like strict, very like mean and rude.
And that’s just, that’s, that’s what kind of person he was. And that’s, uh, my parents are being real strict right now too, to us always. But now like my sister, she moved away. Maybe like four years ago or something from parent’s house. They had a really hard time to accept it. They didn’t want her to leave.
They, because [00:49:00] they start to understand that she, she’s grown. She has her own like, um, opinions, her own decisions. She wants to be independent and then it was a little hard, you know, that’s when parents are having a hard time to kind of, uh, let us go or let us, um,
Support us with whatever our decisions we make. And that’s why they’re still very strict and they’re kind of following what the parents were. They were in Belarus kind of doing, you know, how they were taught. That’s how they’re treating us. Because, you know, they were more strict and they were more Here it’s more like laid back.
Here more like it’s, you know More freedom to choose your path. Yeah, that’s why it’s a little hard for them to understand that. And they just want to keep following what they were when they were still in Belarus.
Russell: Would you say they kind of had like an idea for what they wanted you to do? Like how your [00:50:00] life would go when they first came here?
Well, they wished
Angelina: best for all of us, you know. They knew like whatever they Well, the thing is that since my other cousins, my uncles, they’ve been living here before we came, they kind of knew already how it is. So that’s what they kind of told my family, my parents. How it’s gonna be so they can like tell us kind of, um, teach us how to Like how we’re supposed to act or how we’re supposed to you know, act differently than how we were in Belarus Because people here are different and the way they treat the way they are in general everything’s just different So I have to follow whatever they were telling us But now since we understand we’re grown we know how it is like in America how I pretty much know everything what it is right now, you know, everybody has their own opinions now, but they understand what it is completely different from Belarus and America.
So, I mean, [00:51:00] everybody’s just having their own opinions, their own perspectives. But the way I see myself right now, I like it here. I would like to visit Belarus, but I would not want to live there. And hopefully, if I get my kids back, I would want to live and stay with them here. But I will see in the future.
Russell: I think that’s all I have for you, all the questions I have. If there’s nothing you want to add,
Angelina: imagine. Yeah, I think that’ll be all. I’m just grateful. Yeah, of course. I live in America, you know. Mm
Russell: hmm. It’s a better place. I’m grateful for you, uh, doing the interview. I really appreciate it. I think, uh, we got a lot of good stuff.
Thank you.
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