“I remember my first week in the U.S. in 1979. I lived on Huntington Avenue in Boston. There’s a lot of pizza shops down there. Back in the day, the pizza shops had an Atari and games like that, and I used to go down and watch people play and eat. I didn’t even know that it was called pizza, but it smelled so good. I went back to the house and asked my grandfather, “I don’t know what they’re eating. It looks like a triangle? I want some of those.” He gave me two dollars, and I went down there and I did a hand signal like a triangle. I said, “I would like what they are eating.” I remember it was 50 cents for a slice.
We didn’t speak English and we didn’t know the area. We walked around, and it was forty-five minutes from where I lived to Chinatown. When we found Chinatown, it was so exciting. They had three movie theaters, and I remember they were playing a Bruce Lee movie. When I went to school, they put me in 5th grade because they go by age. They sat me at a private table way in the back to start from the beginning. It took me two weeks to learn the alphabet.
Starting from there and hanging out on the street with Americans, I’d always ask them, “Hey, what are you saying? What are you saying?” Just a little bit of my English is from school. Mostly, it’s from the street. That is why I was afraid to work as a waiter. Even in a Chinese restaurant, I was uncomfortable. So, I stayed in the kitchen. After my English got better, I had enough of the kitchen. There wasn’t any more I could learn. I worked from dishwasher to head chef. I asked if I could work at the front desk and wait tables. I made a lot more money with tips and working the bar than when I worked in the kitchen. That was right here in West Lebanon.
Back in the old days, there were more Chinese restaurants. Those are all gone now. Han Fusion is on their fifth owner now. I used to do deliveries for them. It was called Panda House back then. There is also a Chinese restaurant in West Lebanon—China station. The owner and I used to work together back in the day. He was a waiter and I worked in the kitchen. I also traveled around and helped people open Chinese restaurants in Lyndonville, Waitsfield, Randolph, Bradford, and in New London near Colby Sawyer College. They call it China City. I helped with the grand opening for that. That was 30-some years ago.
Now I have my two kids. They grew up so successfully, so I am already happy. They are both good, so I don’t have to worry anymore. When they were young, I told them, “You guys have to stay in school and get that degree. It’s not for me. It’s for you. I’m already on top of the hill. When you start working, then you’ll realize how hard it is. Especially if you don’t know the language, it’s so tough.” We’re doing pretty good. I don’t know how much more I can ask. God gave me that.”
– Jimmy Tang, West Lebanon, NH
