Anonymous — Family questionnaire

The questionnaireanswers as written; unanswered questions are not shown

What languages get spoken in your house, and who speaks which to whom?

Both grandmas speak shanghainese and mandarin, Mom and dad speak mixture of Shanghainese, Mandarin and English, aunt and cousin speak english and I answer in whatever they speak to me in. Mom also speaks cantonese

Describe a normal weeknight dinner at your house.

Usually nanny cooks because parents don't like to. Dinner is usually braised meat/fish, chicken soup with morels/腌笃鲜, and at least one vegetable (豆苗，上海青，红苋菜) and rice.

Is there a dish your family makes that you have never seen anywhere else?

百叶包，烤麸，年糕毛蟹，梭子蟹，

What is in your kitchen that would not be in most of your friends' kitchens?

dried morels, dried sea cucumber and abalone

Where does your family food shop, and how far do they drive to do it?

We shop at wet markets or grocery stores near our house in Shanghai, around a 15 min walk at most

What happens in your house on a Sunday?

There is no family day. I used to go to my paternal grandma's house and we would play cards and mahjong, but i don't see them much anymore

Is there a word or phrase your family uses at home that does not really translate?

老灵额- means something is nice/good xi le- refers to good food 搞七捻三- doing too much

What sport, instrument or activity did you end up doing — and who decided?

I played piano and golf when I was little. I think golf is associated with status. When I moved to Vancouver and realy liked to ski so that is what I do now at CA.

What do your parents expect of you, said out loud or not?

To assimilate into American society/have white friends

What was the first job or business anyone in your family had in America?

My aunt tried to start a fashion brand in NYC

What city or neighbourhood did your family first live in when they arrived?

New York City

Is there a story about your family that gets retold?

My grandma tells a story of her dad being the director of a major hospital in Shanghai during the Cultural Revolution.

What is happening in the photos you uploaded?

first img- not a family photo, was taken in nyc around 1990s. mom is in the purple dress. second photo is a family photo, my mom, my aunt and grandma are in it. I don't know who the white man is. also around 1990s

Held, not published

• Contributor's contact details (never published).
• Two photographs (New York, 1990s). The contributor wrote "don't publsh the photos pls". They are held and will not be published.
• The contributor's fuller answer on when the family came to the US, which names a parent's current city of residence; summarised in the metadata rather than published in full.

Editorial notes

• The family's household is in Shanghai; the contributor boards at school in Massachusetts and previously lived in Vancouver. Generation is recorded as the contributor ticked it.