{"id":2863,"date":"2018-01-24T22:28:59","date_gmt":"2018-01-24T22:28:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/commarts.pleather.us\/2018\/01\/24\/the-unedited-storycorps-interview-norma-mai-tsen-wang-braun-dava-weinstein\/"},"modified":"2018-01-24T22:28:59","modified_gmt":"2018-01-24T22:28:59","slug":"the-unedited-storycorps-interview-norma-mai-tsen-wang-braun-dava-weinstein","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.valdosta.edu\/m2\/2018\/01\/24\/the-unedited-storycorps-interview-norma-mai-tsen-wang-braun-dava-weinstein\/","title":{"rendered":"The Unedited StoryCorps Interview: Norma Mai Tsen Wang Braun & Dava Weinstein"},"content":{"rendered":"

Did you know that the\u00a0stories\u00a0you hear from us on NPR<\/a>\u00a0and our\u00a0podcast<\/a>\u00a0are excerpts of interviews pulled from the StoryCorps Archive? Participants visit one of our\u00a0recording locations<\/a>\u00a0with a friend or family member to record a 40-minute interview with the help of a trained StoryCorps Facilitator, or record a conversation using the\u00a0StoryCorps App<\/a>. We\u2019re sharing this unedited interview from the StoryCorps Archive with you in its original form.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"BraunBody\"<\/p>\n

In October 2008, Norma Mai Tsen Wang Braun\u00a0talked\u00a0with her friend, Dava Weinstein, about what it was like to grow up in China during World War II, her family\u2019s emigration to the United States, and her experiences as a child of mixed race parents. Their conversation was recorded at the StoryCorps\u2019 Lower Manhattan StoryBooth in Foley Square.<\/p>\n

Norma\u00a0remembers always having to run during her childhood: \u201cI remember my legs weren\u2019t long enough to run fast enough.\u201d She shares the story of Englishman in Hong Kong who took them in, remembering that \u201cHe allowed us to stay the whole week, which is the longest we\u2019d stayed anywhere when we were running\u2026 And the day we left was the day he was interned by the Japanese, and we never saw him again.\u201d<\/p>\n

She tells Dava about wandering around markets as a young child and how one day, she came across a homeless woman suffocating her baby. The woman told her, \u201c’I was able to sell my son, but no one wants a daughter, and I can\u2019t watch her starve to death.’\u201d<\/p>\n

When Norma and her family moved to the United States, her and her siblings were beaten up by the other kids in school because they “looked Asian” and \u201cany Japanese had to be an enemy.\u201d She recounts the story of a kind teacher who kept them after school and took it upon herself to teach all of them how to speak English: \u201cI think these are America\u2019s unsung heroes, our teachers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Throughout the conversation, Norma recalls stories about her mother\u2019s strength and sense of humor. She tells Dava about the time her mother took over a luncheonette in Philadelphia so that\u00a0her family would always have\u00a0something to eat. When her customers would give her advice, Norma remembers, her mother would say, \u201c’It\u2019s so wonderful that you give me advice, and whenever you pay my bills, I\u2019ll take them.’\u201d<\/p>\n

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