Airport Pick-Ups (Blog#11)

(Source: http://files.myopera.com/macmoe2001/albums/5314232/P1010147.JPG)

 

       

             The airport has been my second home in the last 3 years of my life. My job as a Case Manager's Assistant includes picking up new arrivals from the airport, taking them to their new home and giving them a brief orientation and so forth. It is pleasant but painful sometimes. It is pleasant to tell them "Welcome to America!" although I know it will be one of the toughest challenges they have faced; it is also painful to see them physically tired. Some of the new arrivals come from Asia, some of them include: Thailand, Malaysia, Bhutan, Nepal, Vietnam, and Laos. Other countries include: Iraq, Somalia, Jordan, and so forth. Because I am a Burmese Interpreter, I only pick up new Burmese arrivals therefore; I get to say "Welcome to America!" in Burmese. It's the greatest feeling of all, to be able to welcome them with a familiar language and a familiar figure. After all they are in a country where most people do not understand their language, traditions and etc. Sometimes I will have to go to Logan International Airport in Boston if the new arrivals have serious medical issues, in such cases we immediately transfer them to Children's Hospital, or Mass General Hospital for further medical treatments. Most of the time the arrivals will come late at night and it is bothersome for me to pick them up but still, if I don't go, who would? No one else in my office speaks Burmese therefore will not be able to make the new comers feel welcomed. I remember once when I was picking up a family, their flight kept delaying; midnight to early morning and so forth. The flight was delayed for 4 hours and I had to wait and eventually fell asleep at the airport waiting for the family to arrive. I was so exhausted that I couldn’t even go to school the next day. The best way to have a friendly relationship with the newcomers is to pick them up from the air port and that way they will remember that I am the first Burmese person they say when they came to Lowell. That is the most rewarding thing of all; recognition…

Burmese Tigers (Blog#10)

(Source: Aung Khine Min)

'Burmese Tigers' is a soccer team that I created last summer to compete regionally with other Burmese teams around the state. I personally recruited Burmese men who reside in Lowell between the ages of 18-25 to play for the team. It was very difficult to get the men involved in the team because they had work, and obligations at home which take precedent. Therefore I had to scrape together what I could with the guys and tried to work out a schedule that was flexible for all. Our goal was to win the state tournament for the four cities that had Burmese communities. The cities are: Boston, Lowell, Lynn, and Worcester. You see, the problem was that we wanted to play Burmese soccer, not the English or the American soccer; therefore we didn't want to participate in other tournaments that were being organized by the state or other organizations. The main reason why we didn't want to participate in state-organized by tournaments is because of health issues. The state and organizations require all players to have health insurance and if a player gets injured, they will probably make a big deal out of it. We didn't want that. But of course, we had proper equipments such as: cleats, socks, and shin guards. When we play soccer, we don't whine, we don't complain because the referee didn't care, it was pure soccer combined with a lot of fighting techniques. The conditions of the field did not allow us to play barefoot which we all preferred because cleats get heavy and they might cause injuries. But in America, I guess we had to conform to the social norms. It was really hard getting the uniform. Because I was the captain of the team, I had to organize fund-raising and budget handling for my team; we didn't have a real manager so I had to fill in. My position was a right half-back. We only had 11 players exactly so we couldn't afford to lose any players; therefore we were very careful in playing other teams. On the 26th of August, the tournament took place in Lowell. The scores and the match-ups are as follows:
1. Lowell 4 Vs Lynn 1
2. Lynn 3 Vs Worcester 2
3. Boston 4 Vs Worcester 1
4. Boston 4 Vs Lynn 3
5. Lowell 3 Vs Boston 2
6. Lowell 5 Vs Worcester 1
We won the year's tournament although they couldn't afford a tournament we were very honored and respected by every city. We will be doing this again this summer and I look forward to organize and participate in the soccer tournament before I go off to college.