Benson (82) & Lisa Yip (81)

Benson and Lisa Yip came from China to help support and care for Lisa’s parents, who were living in San Francisco. They describe their lives as ordinary, but describe joy in doing the things they love. Mrs. Yip has a passion for volunteering and gardening. They have made use of Zoom to keep active and exercising. The pandemic kept them indoors and more isolated, and so has the more present threat of violence and lack of safety.

This interview is in Cantonese and a translation is below.

Interview date: 9/2/2021

Interviewed by: Karen Yuan

Referred by: Wanda Liu

Edited by True Medusa Pictures. Music by Soundology.

Translation of Interview

by Linguaficient

Interviewer: OK, please say both of your full names and your ages.

Mr. Yip: Say my Chinese name or English name?

Interviewer: Say both or say either one is ok.

Mrs. Yip: You go first.

Mr. Yip: My English name is Benson Yip. My Chinese name is *[In Cantonese]* Your turn…

Mrs. Yip: How old are you?

Mr. Yip: 82 years old

Mrs. Yip: I am Mrs. Yip. My English name is Lisa Yip. My Chinese name is*[In Cantonese]*. I’m 81 years old this year.

Interviewer: Please introduce yourselves. How do you describe yourselves?

Mr. Yip: How do I describe myself? I studied a little in China. I started a new life after that. I had an ordinary job for 30 to 40 years. It was nothing special. I live a simple and peaceful life. I live decently and was able to raise our children and send them to school so they can complete their education. That’s it!

Mrs. Yip: That’s basically it.

Interviewer: Why did you both come to San Francisco?

Mrs. Yip: Both of us were working in China. My mom and dad lived in San Francisco. When we first came to San Francisco, my dad was already retired, he was getting old. He needed his children to be around to take care of him. So, we applied to immigrate to America. Our application was approved. Then we successfully moved to San Francisco.

Interviewer: Then Mr. Yip followed you here with the same reason?

Mr. Yip: That’s right, that’s right.

Interviewer: What do you enjoy about living in San Francisco?

Mr. Yip: The weather is the best. That’s the main reason. There are many places in China that are either too hot or too cold and a lot of mosquitos and bugs but it's peaceful and quiet here.

Mrs. Yip: We came to San Francisco because my parents lived here. My dad was a teenager when he came here. He said he went to many places in the U.S., and he liked San Francisco the most. That’s why he settled in San Francisco. The reason why we came here was mainly so the whole family could be together, and we could take care of the elders. So, we stayed in San Francisco.

Interviewer: What could we do to make San Francisco a better place to live? The high cost of housing, for example. What could be improved?

Mr. Yip: We are ordinary residents; we do not have many suggestions. We are just a modest family, and don’t think of other things too often.

Interviewer: Do you think public safety can be improved?

Mr. Yip: Public safety is really a big problem and I think it can be improved. Because of safety concerns we rarely go out now. We always stay home.

Mrs. Yip: It can be improved.

Interviewer: When we are not sheltering in place, where are your favorite places to go? When both of you could go out freely in the past, where did you go?

Mr. Yip: Do you mean in San Francisco?

Interviewer: Right. Before we had to shelter in place, where did you like to go?

Mr. Yip: We went to Chinatown the most.

Mrs. Yip: Fisherman’s Wharf.

Mr. Yip: It was convenient buying groceries in Chinatown, prices were good and there’s a good selection.

Mrs. Yip: During holidays, we liked to go to Fisherman's Wharf and hang out there.

Mr. Yip: Half Moon Bay.

Interviewer: Is there anything you’ve experienced in your life that compares to the COVID-19 pandemic?

Mr. Yip: Probably not. My life has smooth sailing, not many setbacks. There aren’t many ups and downs. It has been uneventful.

Interviewer: What did you both do for work in the past?

Mr. Yip: I worked in railway engineering when I was in China.

Interviewer: What did you do when you arrived?

Mr. Yip: I worked in a restaurant. What could we do here? There was no opportunity for me to work in the railway here, plus our English was limited. So, I worked in a restaurant.

Interviewer: Mrs. Yip, what about you? You are retired now? What did you do before?

Mrs. Yip: I had many jobs when I came to San Francisco. At first, I worked as a seamstress, sewing clothes. I also worked at a laundry company. In my spare time, I was a Chinese teacher in the after-school program at Cumberland School, teaching little children. After that, I found some odd jobs to do.

Interviewer: What does a typical day look like for you two? Do you do exercise or go for a walk?

Mrs. Yip: After the pandemic, we are staying home most of the time. We are doing exercises over Zoom. OnLok has an “Always Active” program, and we participate in that program for exercise classes. Also, Self Help for the Elderly has a lot of activities. We spend a lot of time attending the classes on Zoom, like Qigong. We try our best to exercise more. After exercising, we will go to the backyard to get some sunlight. We have a busy life.

Interviewer: That is good. You both are also taking Ms. Liu’s computer class, right?

Mrs. Yip: Ah right, I forgot.

Mr. Yip: Learning to sing too.

Mrs. Yip: Ms. Liu has a lot of patience. We learn a lot from Ms. Liu.

Interviewer: Do you watch YouTube or watch dramas?

Mr. Yip: We watch dramas on TV.

Mr. Yip: Yes, we also watch that too.

Mrs. Yip: Yes, we like it. I like gardening most. I’m always planting something in my backyard, with smaller varieties. I have different kinds of flowers and plants. I enjoy it a lot.

Interviewer: What are you both looking forward to?

Mrs. Yip: World peace. Hope the pandemic will end soon and everyone has a happy and normal life. Don’t you think?

Interviewer: Yes, good. Both of you fully vaccinated?

Mrs. Yip: I’m vaccinated. My husband has a rather serious underlying condition, so he needs to wait a little longer.

Interviewer: Be careful. Take care of your health. That’s very important.

Mrs. Yip: Thank you. Thank you.

Interviewer: Is there anything that has surprised you about how your community is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic?

Mr. Yip: We don’t really have contact with the outside world. We always stay home, exercising, watching TV, or getting sunlight, etc. We have very little contact with the outside but learn about the situation a little bit through watching TV. That’s why we do not have much feeling towards it.

Interviewer: If you could give advice to younger people, what would it be??

Mr. Yip: Advise them to get the vaccine. That’s very important. Also, wear masks when going out. Go to crowded places less often. Try to avoid unnecessary contacts, like try not to go to a restaurant. Buy groceries and cook at home. We haven’t been to a restaurant for a couple of years.

Mrs. Yip: Don’t attend big parties.

Interviewer: What has been surprising to you about getting older?

Mrs. Yip: We are not very sure. As we are getting older, the most important thing is to maintain good health. We can take care of our health by ourselves and I think that is the most important thing. Since we are very concerned about our health, we always look up information on how to stay healthy on YouTube or Baidu. People always say: “Your foot is the first to age.” That’s why we are so focused on foot exercises. I hope we can be healthier and won’t burden the young people. That is our biggest hope.

Mr. Yip: Yes.

Interviewer: How has technology changed your life on a personal level? Like you know how to use the computer and Zoom now, how has this changed your daily lives?

Mrs. Yip: Technology has brought us a lot of convenience. We can exercise at home without leaving the house. I can grasp a lot more knowledge than before. Previously we had computer classes at the senior center, but you only took one class at a time. Now there are so many different classes online, like Zoom. They are all very good. But I think advanced technology also brings difficulties for the elderly. A lot of them don’t know how it works and don’t know how to handle it. So, I prefer to go back to the old way of living.

Mr. Yip: The best part is that technology enables us to connect with our friends in China a lot more. When we called them in the past using AT&T, it was over $10 a minute. But now, we can talk the entire day. This is convenient.

Interviewer: I remember when I was little my mom and dad bought prepaid phone cards to make calls.

Mr. Yip: Yes, those are already very cheap. There were no prepaid phone cards when we first came to the U.S. We used AT&T to make international calls that cost over $10 a minute.

Mrs. Yip: Later, it changed to a dollar something for a minute. But we rarely made calls because we needed to watch our wallets since we made very little, and expenses were big. So, we were not close with our friends and family in China. Nowadays, we can use WeChat to make phone calls and we don’t need to pay. There’s been a lot of progress in this area.

Interviewer: Where is your hometown?

Mr. Yip: Mine is Xinhui

Mrs. Yip: Mine is Toishan

Interviewer: What would you say are the major values or principles that you live by?

Mr. Yip: Being honest and having integrity. Do your part. No meddling in other people’s lives. Don’t gossip. Stay out of politics. We are indifferent to politics regarding who’s right and who’s wrong. We are most concerned about the growth of our own family, and the growth of our children. As long as they are able to learn, have a good career, and a stable and steady life, we don’t ask for too much.

Interviewer: Mrs. Yip, what about you?

Mrs. Yip: I agree. I am pretty satisfied with a stable life. I have passion for being a volunteer and supporting community events. Due to my limited English, I don’t go out much to help with other activities. But….

Interviewer: Go ahead

Mrs. Yip: Like what my husband said, anything related to politics, I am also not willing to get involved.

Interviewer: What kind of volunteer work have you done?

Mrs. Yip: Excelsior Center used to hold charity sales. My friend and I helped at the charity sales together. But because I have had lower back pain since I was a child, I am not able to lift or move things. My friend thought that this work was not suitable for me, so I quit. Another friend took over. I was not able to move things around but sometimes I would eagerly support other events and activities that were held in the center.

Interviewer: What have you done lately that made you happy? What is the happiest thing that you guys like to do during the day?

Mrs. Yip: What do you do?

Mr. Yip: Me? One: exercise. I always start the morning with some activities. Two: getting some sun. I insist on getting sunlight every day. Three: rest, which I take seriously. I get up early, rest in the afternoon, and go to sleep early at night. I don’t stay up late; I go to bed around 9 o’clock. I get up a little past 6 every morning. I rest up after lunch around noon, and then I will take a nap. I have a daily routine to follow. Every day is basically the same.

Mrs. Yip: I am not as disciplined as he is because I will follow my activity schedule. If there are more activities on Zoom, I stay longer on the computer. If there are fewer activities, I get off the computer sooner. No matter how many activities are on Zoom, I still make time to check on my plants in the backyard. I love flowers and plants. Gardening is my hobby. I love doing that. I must get some sunlight every day, it’s my habit. If I can’t get any sun, or there is not much sun on that day, I won’t feel good. I feel like there’s something undone or unaccomplished that day.

Interviewer: Besides planting strawberries and flowers, what else did you plant?

Mrs. Yip: A few vegetables.

Interviewer: What kind of vegetable?

Mrs. Yip: Mustard green. This is the best one and the easiest to grow.

Interviewer: Green onions are also very easy to grow.

Mrs. Yip: Right, green onions, they are very easy to grow. I just need to buy a bunch of green onions from the market, cut off the bulbs, and stick them in the soil, simple as that. And garlic.

Interviewer: Peas or beans are also very easy to grow. Like snow peas?

Mrs. Yip: I grew snap peas in the past. They were very productive and very good. But it was very troublesome, the plants were all over the place. Also, peas or beans are difficult for the elderly to digest. I stopped planting that.

Mr. Yip: We planted chayote squash and lots of peppers. We like to eat the pepper leaves.

Mrs. Yip: Yes, peppers.

Interviewer: Oh, I see. Chayote with or without pricks?

Mr. Yip: With pricks.

Interviewer: That one tastes better, but it’s more difficult to handle.

Mr. Yip: Right, we need to be careful when peeling it.

Interviewer: Who cooks between the two of you?

Mr. Yip: We both cook.

Mrs. Yip: We cooperate.

Mr. Yip: I cook breakfast mainly because I wake up early.

Interviewer: What do you make?

Mr. Yip: Very simple. I make oatmeal, millet porridge, and a couple of hard-boiled eggs. We eat eggs every day. We like hard boiled eggs.

Interviewer: For meals, what dishes do you cook?

Mrs. Yip: We like snow peas, cauliflower, broccoli, Chinese broccoli, lettuce, and cabbage. Napa cabbage with bean vermicelli is this gentleman’s favorite.

Mr. Yip: Lettuce.

Interviewer: Bean vermicelli clay pot. Yes.

Mrs. Yip: Right, he loves it.

Interviewer: What about spareribs or others?

Mrs. Yip: Yes, fish.

Mr. Yip: Sometimes I will make Chinese BBQ pork.

Interviewer: You are good.

Mrs. Yip: We learned how to make it from YouTube. Braised instead of baked.

Interviewer: Braised Char Siu? Very Interesting.

Interviewer: Ok, that’s pretty much it and I don’t want to take too much of your time. Do you have any other things you would like to chat with me about?

Mr. Yip: Nothing. Thank you very much!

Mrs. Yip: Thank you so much!

Interviewer: Thank you both for your time.

Mrs. Yip: You have a very good spirit and a good heart. You can volunteer for the community to help the elderly. We are very grateful.

Interviewer: Both of you are very optimistic. I’ve learned a lot. It was a pleasure talking to you.

Mr. Yip: You have a good way conducting this interview with us by using your own words and sharing your experience. You didn’t just ask us questions. You also expressed your own thoughts. This made it easier to communicate with each other. That’s good.

Interviewer: Thank you very much! I will let you both go now for grocery shopping or doing your exercises. Wishing you both good health. We must fight the pandemic.

Mrs. Yip: Likewise. Hope you can help the elderly more. Please take care of yourself. Send my regards to your parents.

Interviewer: Thank you. I will. Bye bye.

Mr. Yip: Bye bye

Mrs. Yip: Bye bye. Thank you.