SSIS Names & Faces
Happy Every Day
by Marie Gaucher, Jia Xin Koh, and Amy Wu
Born in 1960, on the 18th of June, He Yi Juan has always lived in Suzhou and has never left China. The only place she travels around is Jiangsu Province. Her previous job was to check if clothes were proper and fitted the specifications. She now works at SSIS, amongst many other Chinese people, in the stationery room. A friend introduced her to this job and she was very excited to come here, but her expectations were not met, and she is disappointed because she does the same thing, every day. She wishes her life could be more interesting, but she does like one thing about SSIS—she feels younger and more alive amongst us students.
She remembers when she was younger, and how she always went up on stage to sing or dance. She also played the flute. A happy memory that came every year, at Chinese New Year, was when her mother made new clothes for her, her younger brother, and her two older brothers. He Yi Juan still wishes she could be a singer and travel to America. She does regret marrying so young, because it took away her liberty and freedom. At first they didn’t even have a house to live in because they did not have enough money. She wishes her family could have been richer so they could have all afforded a big house. But she loves her parents, because they always gave the best they had to their children. She remembers when they survived a food shortage that lasted three years, and how brave her parents were. So she is thankful for her meals, even if it’s always porridge in the morning and rice and vegetables for lunch and dinner, since meat is too expensive. The best thing in her life is her 22-year-old daughter, whom she is extremely proud of.
He Yi Juan learned to knit with her mother, and it is one of her favorite hobbies. She enjoys knitting clothes for others and says the only thing that will stop her from doing so, is old age. Her favorite saying is “Happy Every Day”, like a phrase to hang on and to follow. She only went to Walking Street once during her holidays, because that was all she had time for. She has no time for pets, but she would very much like to own a Chihuahua . . .
When we finish our interview we ask her, “What do you want to do in the future?”, and we leave with warmth in our hearts as she answers with a smile, “Still be happy every day!"
View or download the colorful PDF version of He Yi Juan's profile:
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Comments
Nicolas Navarro (unauthenticated)
May 27, 2010
WOW!!! she really is holding on her dreams! She knows she can get what she wants! i wish her luck!
good job people!
SCAF07167Y
May 27, 2010
I liked the structure of this profile, since it is not just question, answer. However, I feel that the introduction could of been better, so instead of saying who the person is and when she was born, you could of came up with something different and imaginative so it would catch the readers eye. I feel sympathy for the ayis, since not everyone shows respect to them. For example today I saw this kid taking 3 yogurts from the cafeteria and the cafeteria ayi said:"please don't take more than one" and that person just laughed and ran away. I mean, its not that the ayis greedy or something, it is just her job, and some kids needs to give the ayis their respect Also, some kids make huge messes in the classroom and they do not clean it up as they leave the ayi to clean up the whole mess. This is sad.
I agree with the fact that when ayis hear that they are coming to work in an international school, they are very excited since their impression of foreigners are rich and friendly people whom always say hello. However, I guess we sort of ruined that impression with our coldness.
I really like the ending though, since it brings the reader happiness.