BEFORE READING Think about where your parents or caregivers come from.
Multicultural stories Our stories start before we are born. Our parents make choices that not only affect their lives but, in turn, influence what our lives will be like. Meet three teenagers
caregivers omsorgsgivere
whose parents left their mother countries to find work, to
mother countries hjemlande
seek safety or because they fell in love.
earn a living tjene til livets ophold Mandarin mandarin, officielt sprog i Kina
Janet My parents came to Australia to find work. I was born in Melbourne and have only been to China once. It is strange to think that my parents have lived a life very different from the life we lead here in Australia. They grew up in a small village as children of farmers, but I am growing up in a city of more than four million people. In China, children are expected to take care of their parents when they grow old. My grandparents live with my uncle, but my father is expected to help with money. My parents decided it was easier for them to earn a living in Australia, so they packed up and left. I know that was a difficult choice to make. Now, they send money home every month. My mum misses her Chinese village a lot and insists on speaking Mandarin at home, although her English is fine. I realise that my background is different from many of my friends’. At school, I feel Australian. At home, where my parents speak a different language and cook different food, I feel more Chinese.
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