I asked last time where you would think an immigrant Asian Buddhist Monk living at a Temple in Quincy would seek services. Well I saw a monk leaving the AACA on Tyler street. I asked him which Temple he was from because I thought maybe there finally is some sort of Temple in Chinatown and that I should check it out. I mean I saw monks before, but I always assumed that they were doing something for a University and decided to come into Chinatown for some reason. By the AACA is not a restaurant. Why was he here?
It turns out, he lives in a Temple in Quincy and he was just going to the AACA for English class.
Why is this weird? Well... an English class seems like a really easy thing to set up. Is there a lack of English speakers or people who can teach English in Quincy? So he has to get on the red line at Quincy Adams station, go all the way into downtown, switch to the orange line get off at Tufts Medical, and that's every week or whatever.
(I should check out the English class for the blog I know.)
So as big as the Asian and Chinese population in Quincy is people are still coming from there into Chinatown for certain services.
Chinatown is still the center for a lot of things even when it really doesn't make sense.
In people's minds (Chinese Americans) they will assume for instance that I tried to get my kids into the Josiah Quincy school. I mean I went there and I liked it okay. They had a pool and a gym. But that was because I lived down the street. Why, if I no longer lived down the street would I try to get my kid in there?
People can start rattling off how it has better test scores and all that. But I went there. I no how that works. The Chinese kids are smart so the school gets a higher rating. It has nothing to do with the actual class. It has to do with their parents taking them to the library on Sunday and testing them in math questions on the spot just like they are tested on the correct term to call a relative. a bak? a suk? Kow few? Whack! They say stress helps you learn faster.
If the parents speak English, even if they are from China, they will tend to not like Josiah Quincy School actually and may move out to the suburbs if that is an option for them.
And yet still, it is in people's heads that the first choice would be Chinatown. Because it still is the center. Is it because Boston is bigger than Quincy and Boston's Financial District is bigger than Quincy? I'm not sure.
There are people (white people) who are all for making Quincy the new center. They want Chinatown in Quincy because they appreciate Chinatown. They aren't Chinese. They just like having a Chinatown down the street. Isn't that interesting?
Now Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center has started to expand into Quincy too. So Quincy is rapidly getting services. But to me, it just seems strange that still, even with QARI and all that, someone would be in Chinatown to learn English.
Of course this has got to be a temporary thing. Eventually Quincy will have better resources fro the Asian Community. It has too. They even have elected officials that are Chinese there. So when all the services are in Quincy, will Quincy then become the center? And if Quincy becomes the Center, does that mean that Chinatown in Boston will fade away?
It turns out, he lives in a Temple in Quincy and he was just going to the AACA for English class.
Why is this weird? Well... an English class seems like a really easy thing to set up. Is there a lack of English speakers or people who can teach English in Quincy? So he has to get on the red line at Quincy Adams station, go all the way into downtown, switch to the orange line get off at Tufts Medical, and that's every week or whatever.
(I should check out the English class for the blog I know.)
So as big as the Asian and Chinese population in Quincy is people are still coming from there into Chinatown for certain services.
Chinatown is still the center for a lot of things even when it really doesn't make sense.
In people's minds (Chinese Americans) they will assume for instance that I tried to get my kids into the Josiah Quincy school. I mean I went there and I liked it okay. They had a pool and a gym. But that was because I lived down the street. Why, if I no longer lived down the street would I try to get my kid in there?
People can start rattling off how it has better test scores and all that. But I went there. I no how that works. The Chinese kids are smart so the school gets a higher rating. It has nothing to do with the actual class. It has to do with their parents taking them to the library on Sunday and testing them in math questions on the spot just like they are tested on the correct term to call a relative. a bak? a suk? Kow few? Whack! They say stress helps you learn faster.
If the parents speak English, even if they are from China, they will tend to not like Josiah Quincy School actually and may move out to the suburbs if that is an option for them.
And yet still, it is in people's heads that the first choice would be Chinatown. Because it still is the center. Is it because Boston is bigger than Quincy and Boston's Financial District is bigger than Quincy? I'm not sure.
There are people (white people) who are all for making Quincy the new center. They want Chinatown in Quincy because they appreciate Chinatown. They aren't Chinese. They just like having a Chinatown down the street. Isn't that interesting?
Now Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center has started to expand into Quincy too. So Quincy is rapidly getting services. But to me, it just seems strange that still, even with QARI and all that, someone would be in Chinatown to learn English.
Of course this has got to be a temporary thing. Eventually Quincy will have better resources fro the Asian Community. It has too. They even have elected officials that are Chinese there. So when all the services are in Quincy, will Quincy then become the center? And if Quincy becomes the Center, does that mean that Chinatown in Boston will fade away?
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