Dear immigrants: The assimilation process is committed to providing you with quality of life and a sense of belonging. Please take a moment to complete this survey to let us know what you think of our approaches. After you’ve completed this survey, just debit card us your money. All payment is necessary. Your response will be kept strictly viral by our online social network service. What you have to say is entertaining to us. Your opinion counts bills; Please respond today.
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Please choose one answer for each question |
Unacceptable |
Need Improvement |
Satisfactory |
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Not Applicable |
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How easy was it for you to enter the U.S.? |
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oversized faith carried on, for pleasure. |
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How well do you adjust to celebrating national holidays in the U.S. such as Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, and Christmas? |
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a dislocated mouth tastes no honey. like a palate on strike, refusing to conform. days off turn off days. I don’t know my name. |
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How well does capitalism meet your needs? |
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for 50% off I will be given a new life, but I gotta pay taxes for every breath I take. |
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How is the U.S.’ reputation in your home country? |
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As the old saying goes “the moon is rounder in America.” |
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How well do you assimilate to white/Anglo-Saxon culture in the U.S.? |
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I don’t do snow well. On sunny days the solid turns to liquid and I am the hands cupping to catch the drip. |
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How well do you assimilate to black/African-American culture in the U.S.? |
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Each walking black body sends a prayer. I wear my daughter’s skin like a 24 karat gold around my heart. I named her after Nina Simone. |
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How would you rate American neo-colonialism in your home country in connection to preparing you for assimilation? |
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In 5th grade, we had a gift exchange on Christmas day. I wore red and green to school. We sang Jingle Bells in Mandarin. The melody gripped my tongue like a bitter melon. |
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What is your level of satisfaction with the process of assimilation in general? |
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Now that I have traded in parts of myself, what am I left with? a half-bodied soul oscillating between homes. |
Kaya Arnoux is a poet, visual arts teacher, and language educator born & raised in Taiwan. After making peace with her identity as an immigrant, she began to focus her writing on the inquiry of language as a colonizing medium and how reclaiming the English language as her own gives affirmation to her existence as a migrant. Her poetry investigates the meaning of tradition, family, identity, and what it means to be Asian in a racialized country. Her poetry has been published in The Rumpus, The Seventh Wave, and others. She resides in Los Angeles with her husband and their biracial daughter. You may follow her on twitter @ArnouxKaya and instagram @kayatalkingsense