{"@context":"http://iiif.io/api/presentation/3/context.json","id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/iiif/z89280667c/manifest","type":"Manifest","label":{"en":["Rinchen Dolma Oral History"]},"logo":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/010/original/Aviary_QPLlogo_192x192.png?1578574261","metadata":[{"label":{"en":["Date"]},"value":{"en":["2021-12-14 (created)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Type"]},"value":{"en":["Audio"]}},{"label":{"en":["Description"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSummary of Full Interview\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eRinchen Dolma recalls her memories as a child growing up in Tibet until 2001 when she was 10 years old and her subsequent experiences attending schools in India, Norway, and the United States; she obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Comparative Studies from Duke University and a Master of Arts degree in International Comparative Education at Teachers College, Columbia University.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eRinchen discusses her active involvement in YindaYin Coaching, a nonprofit organization based in Jackson Heights that provides support to young immigrants, including Tibetan immigrants and refugees in Queens, as they navigate their education journey in the United States. Rinchen describes the variety of programs that YindaYin Coaching offers ranging from early childhood education for toddlers to college preparation for teenagers, the organization's contributions to teaching Tibetan language and culture, and how the organization's virtual programs during the COVID-19 pandemic have attracted international attendees.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},{"label":{"en":["Rights Statement"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eCC BY-NC-SA Contact digitalarchives@queenslibrary.org for research and reproduction requests.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},{"label":{"en":["Source Metadata URI"]},"value":{"en":["http://digitalarchives.queenslibrary.org/search/browse/42354"]}},{"label":{"en":["Agent"]},"value":{"en":["Rinchen Dolma (Interviewee)","Tenzin Tsetan Choklay (Interviewer)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Source"]},"value":{"en":["Interview recorded as part of the Queens Memory Podcast's 3rd Season: Our Major Minor Voices."]}},{"label":{"en":["Coverage"]},"value":{"en":["1990s-2021 (temporal)","Jackson Heights, Queens, NY; Tibet; India; Norway (spatial)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Language"]},"value":{"en":["English"]}}],"summary":{"en":["\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSummary of Full Interview\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eRinchen Dolma recalls her memories as a child growing up in Tibet until 2001 when she was 10 years old and her subsequent experiences attending schools in India, Norway, and the United States; she obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Comparative Studies from Duke University and a Master of Arts degree in International Comparative Education at Teachers College, Columbia University.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eRinchen discusses her active involvement in YindaYin Coaching, a nonprofit organization based in Jackson Heights that provides support to young immigrants, including Tibetan immigrants and refugees in Queens, as they navigate their education journey in the United States. Rinchen describes the variety of programs that YindaYin Coaching offers ranging from early childhood education for toddlers to college preparation for teenagers, the organization's contributions to teaching Tibetan language and culture, and how the organization's virtual programs during the COVID-19 pandemic have attracted international attendees.\u003c/p\u003e"]},"requiredStatement":{"label":{"en":["Attribution"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eCC BY-NC-SA Contact digitalarchives@queenslibrary.org for research and reproduction requests.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},"provider":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/aboutus","type":"Agent","label":{"en":["Queens Public Library"]},"homepage":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/","type":"Text","label":{"en":["Queens Public Library"]},"format":"text/html"}],"logo":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/010/original/Aviary_QPLlogo_192x192.png?1578574261","type":"Image"}]}],"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/167/141/small/Rinchen_Dolma_aviary.jpg?1701197221","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141","type":"Canvas","label":{"en":["Media File 1 of 1 - dolma-rinchen-2021-12-14-trim-amplified.mp3"]},"duration":3529.11674,"width":640,"height":360,"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/167/141/small/Rinchen_Dolma_aviary.jpg?1701197221","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/content/1","type":"AnnotationPage","items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/content/1/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"painting","body":{"id":"https://aviary-p-queenslibrary.s3.wasabisys.com/collection_resource_files/resource_files/000/167/141/original/dolma-rinchen-2021-12-14-trim-amplified.mp3?1701196367","type":"Audio","format":"audio/mpeg","duration":3529.11674,"width":640,"height":360},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141","metadata":[]}]}],"annotations":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010","type":"AnnotationPage","label":{"en":["Full Transcript [Transcript]"]},"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Tenzin Tsetan Choklay: Okay, Rinchen. Thank you so much for meeting me today and welcome to the Queens Memory podcast. So to begin with, I've asked you to select a picture from your past that you can share with us. Can you describe to the listeners what we are looking at and tell us why you chose this image and its significance in your life?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=1.0,22.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/2","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rinchen Dolma: Thank you Tenzin. It's my pleasure. And thank you for the opportunity. For the picture I chose, a picture of my hometown in Tibet. It's not my picture, but somebody sent me, maybe two years ago. So I chose this picture because this is a place that is very special in my heart. And when I think about my home I think about the river, the mountain, the nature, and even neighbors. So in this picture, you can actually see the neighbor's house and a lot of things have changed since I left home in 2001. That's like a long time ago, but a lot of things remained like the trees and the river and the mountain. So looking at this picture, it brings back to my childhood and the place that sort of made who I am today. So I feel like it's, it's very special.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=22.0,94.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/3","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Tenzin Tsetan Choklay: So to continue with this, can you tell me a little bit about your childhood? I mean, you grew up in Tibet. So can you tell us where were you born and what was it like living in Tibet?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=94.0,107.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/4","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rinchen Dolma: Mm-hmm, I, I was born in the Amdo region of Tibet it's called [unclear] and my hometown is a very small hometown. I mean, it's a small village. And I, I think at the time when I was little, maybe we had around like 50 houses, like 50 families. So it was not big, but now I can see in present day pictures there's a lot more houses and in the population, I think, grew more than what it used to be. So this village is a semi-nomadic region of, so that means my family was also semi-nomadic. So that, what that meant was we had, you know, animals like yak, sheep, horses and all of that. And we also grew like Tsampa, barley, and then we also grew vegetables like potatoes and like onions.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=107.0,175.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/5","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rinchen Dolma: And also those are the things I remember, after school or especially during the weekend, when I used to come home, visit my parents, then I remember going in the farm and helping my family. And especially my mom, even though I was very little. So I used to be very concerned about like, I need to help my parents from early age. Those are some things that I remember. And I went to a, our village school. So this at the time it was Tibetan medium school. So what that meant was all the subjects were taught in Tibetan except the Chinese language, which, but now I think it's changing vice versa. And I studied in Tibet until like half of third grade. And after that I came to India for my education. Yeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=175.0,236.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/6","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Tenzin Tsetan Choklay: Yeah. So, so you, you went to India at the age of 10 and then you studied there, then you also spent some time in Norway then you immigrated to the U.S. and studied here. So can you tell us a little bit about your overall journey and what was it like? I mean, leaving your family behind and coming this far.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=236.0,260.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/7","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rinchen Dolma: Thank you for the question. This question is something that, I get a lot, especially in like the Western world when people like, oh my gosh, you left home at the age of 10. How did you survive? What was, you know, like all of that, but for Tibetans, I think it's our like normal stories. So it's not just my story, but it's a story of thousands of children, you know, who had the aspiration to pursue an education, a better life. And especially for me, I think my parents envisioned, future where, you know, I can learn about my culture, history, you know, all of that on the top of the modern education, I would say. So I came to India when I was 10 years old. I started from ABC at that time. And then I spent around eight years in India.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=260.0,317.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/8","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rinchen Dolma: And after that, I got a scholarship to study in Norway. So I pursued international baccalaureate in United World College, Red Cross Nordic in Norway for two years. And after completing that, I, again, I got a scholarship to study in the U.S., so that's how I moved from one place to another. And I think, you know, looking back and I always feel very grateful for all the opportunities that I got on that journey, because I think when my parents decided to send me to India, they didn't really understand the challenging, you know, all the challenges and then how it is supposed to be in a foreign country. So when I look back, I feel like they have been so brave and they, this risk and they took a risk that could have changed my life in the other way around as well.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=317.0,384.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/9","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rinchen Dolma: It was really risky, especially crossing the border and all of that, but now I feel so grateful and I feel always, I was so privileged to God all this opportunity today. You know, when I look back, like there were so many people, not just, you know, when you say I, I grew up in a boarding school without parents and all of that, so people feel pity like, oh my gosh, it must have been so hard. But I would say that I really had a good time in my boarding school. I made lifelong friends. I met so many amazing educators. I felt loved. And yeah, so I would say that journey was in many ways it was challenging, but it, it was worth the experience. And I'm so grateful for that. Yeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=384.0,435.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/10","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Tenzin Tsetan Choklay: So you spent eight years at a Tibetan children's school in India, right? So can you describe to the listeners, what was it like in the school? Like, I mean, can you describe how the school was structured? What kind of living conditions were you in? Can you tell me a little bit about that?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=435.0,454.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/11","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rinchen Dolma: So I spent two years in north India, so there are many Tibetan Children's Village schools across India, so it's not one school. So when I came to, when I came to India for the first time, I got the opportunity to study in the Tibetan school, main school, the TCV [Tibetan Children's Villages] in Dharamsala, which is located in Northern India. I would say that the first time experience in TCV was pretty challenging, when I look back, because I came from Amdo region of Tibet, which is the Northeastern part of Tibet. And I think it's really important for listeners to understand that when we talk about the Tibetan plateau, it's a very huge land mass we are talking about. So that means Tibetan language itself, as there are a lot of varieties, I don't like to use term dialects, but I would say Tibetans with different varieties.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=454.0,525.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/12","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rinchen Dolma: So what that means is different regions have their own way of speaking, even though it's the same language. So when I came to India, so the majority of Tibetans in India at the time they spoke mostly the central and the western part of Tibet dialect. So in school, I felt like, you know, I was kind of like ashamed for being different. So nobody really understood my, my Tibetan. So it was kind of like a hmm experience that I, I had to like learn another Tibetan. So it's an eye-opening moment, too. Right? Like I thought my Tibetan was the only Tibetan that was spoken by all the Tibetan, but when I came to India, then I realized like, oh, there are different kinds of Tibetan spoken in India, as well as across Tibet. So, yeah, so in the beginning it was obviously challenging for a 10 year old to leave home forever and then kind of coming to a boarding school where you don't know anything and it's a different country and the food, the climate, everything you have to adjust and adapt to it.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=525.0,590.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/13","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rinchen Dolma: But after that, like, I think I matured so much when I left home. I kind of felt like, oh, now I am on my own and I need to do what I need to do. And I, the reason why I left home is because of education. So I focused my entire like energy on education and I didn't really like have time to do other things and miss home. And of that, obviously in the beginning, it was very challenging. I missed home so much, but slowly I would say, yeah, I adapted to the environment and I made friends and all of that. So, yeah, that was the beginning. And then after two years there was a new school opening in different part of India. So, which is like maybe 12 hours bus ride from that, that school, the TCV in Selakui.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=590.0,647.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/14","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rinchen Dolma: So at the time they were recruiting students and I heard that school was supposed to be better and it has better facility resources and all the children, or the students are selected from all the TCVs. So, you know, I happened to be one of the students selected. So yeah, finally I got the chance to change my school. So I got to study in the new school, which is TCV Selakui for the next six years. Yeah. So I've, I studied in TCV Selakui for six years, and I would say that TCV Selakui has been one of the most important, the time that I spend there, I would say is one of the most important moments or, an experience in my, one of the experiences in my life because that was the time I felt like I understood education beyond classroom learning because our principal [unclear] really focused on holistic development and holistic education for us, right?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=647.0,729.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/15","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rinchen Dolma: And all this Tibetan refugee children, I felt like he, the teachers, educators and staff members, and especially the, what, what would we say the leadership team in that school really invested there 100% in us in terms of, you know, not just like teaching in the classroom setting, but from the point of extracurricular activities. So that means I really took part in all those opportunities given and that really benefited my life. So I would say like more than the classroom learning, like I was, benefit so much from the outside, like, or you can say the extracurricular activities or the extracurricular education there. Yeah. So that prepared me for the next steps in my life.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=729.0,789.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/16","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Tenzin Tsetan Choklay: So the school you went to in India has been a huge influence in your life, the path that you took after that. So do you still have family back in Tibet and are you able to keep in touch with your family? I know there are many restrictions in terms of communication between Tibetans in exile and their families in Tibet. Is that something that has been affecting you and your loved ones?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=789.0,819.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/17","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rinchen Dolma: Yeah. So when we talk about Tibet, obviously we know that, you know, Tibet is not just one entity, because right now, when you think about Tibet, it is divided into so many pieces in terms of land mass, right? Also, so in terms of jurisdiction also in terms of policies, so I would, I cannot generalize everything for Tibetans and I cannot speak on behalf of everyone, but from my personal experience, so my part of Tibet, the place where I am from right now is currently divided or incorporated under the province of Sichuan. So, which is, one of the major provinces in China. And it is not under Tibetan Autonomous Region, which is the TAR, where central most, mostly the central and western part of Tibet is divided or what they call the Tibetan Autonomous Region.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=819.0,883.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/18","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rinchen Dolma: So actually the majority of Tibet is not included there. So my hometown is from, you know, one of the excluded ones, it's a Tibetan prefecture, but it's not in the Tibetan Autonomous Region. So in my hometown, I can communicate with my parents, through WeChat, but it is, as you said, it's very, it's very sensitive to talk about like certain topics. So we basically check in with each other just to make sure that everyone is healthy and fine. So basically those like surface level conversations I can have with my families, as long as they have the internet. But, you know, obviously there's like censorship all the time. Yeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=883.0,934.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/19","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Tenzin Tsetan Choklay: So now we are gonna start talking about what you do at the Yindayin Coaching Center. Can you tell me what you guys do at Yindayin Coaching and why you guys think it is important to have a space like this here in New York?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=934.0,954.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/20","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rinchen Dolma: Yeah, thank you for that question. Yindayin Coaching Center was started by two of my colleagues in 2015. All of us are from Tibet. So that means at some point in our, our life, we got the privilege to spend some time in Tibet. Actually, one of my colleagues, like he actually did, like, he came to America after he finished his undergraduate in, in China, but, because there're limited higher educational opportunities in Tibet. But what that means is all of us have seen what is happening in Tibet. And we went through the education system there at some point. So in the beginning, my colleagues started this organization because we felt that there is a gap, not just learning Tibetan language and culture, but as one of the newest immigrant communities in the U.S. we Tibetans are struggling in many aspects. And education is a lifelong investment, and it is a long term investment, not just in one generation, but we know that it can impact the, the following generations to come.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=954.0,1045.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/21","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rinchen Dolma: So what that meant is, what does it mean to be in New York City? And what does it mean to be in America where we call this country as the land of freedom? It's debatable in many ways, like, you know, what, what do we mean by that? But compared to so many countries in the, in this world, we actually have a lot more freedoms to pursue your dreams, right? And you are not restricted to, you know, preserve your cultural identities and you are, in some ways you are free to practice your beliefs, and your faith. So that, that means there a lot more opportunities that we can pursue in this country. So I think that was the beginning of the dream of how we can create a space for young Tibetans to come together and preserve and actually feel proud of our heritage.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=1045.0,1106.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/22","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rinchen Dolma: So that includes the cultural element and the language element. And then what do we mean to be a Tibetan, a young Tibetan, right? Especially the first generation students who are born in this country. How do we connect their cultural identity back to their, you know, American identity? Because in our own journeys, in our lives, like all of us, my colleagues and myself, like we went through so many education systems, we changed place from one another, but there's always a sense of pride being Tibetan and being someone who can, you know, speak Tibetan and, you know, also like communicate and write and read. So I always felt like there is groundedness. Like, you always feel that you have a strong sense of who you are. Otherwise, what we notice in, especially in higher education, when you finish high school and then go to college, like a lot of kids, especially immigrant, first generation kids, they lose themselves in this like big sea of so many people.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=1106.0,1181.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/23","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rinchen Dolma: And then once you lose that self pride, self-esteem and sense of who you are then, there's a lot of friends even in my college who went through mental depressions or illnesses, because of all this loop of like, you know, losing, like, what is the purpose of life. Like, who am I, what am I doing? I don't even speak my language. Like all of this can affect the lifelong happiness or the development of one person. So we thought as a new community, a new immigrant refugee community in this country, it is essential for the young leaders to equip with proper resources. And especially with our language and giving them the opportunities to come together and discuss [unclear] ideas, and actually like positively influence each other to form a community. So we started off from a very small, like humble beginning, and we are still like, you know, very small, but I feel like the impact that we had in the past six years is tremendous that I, I'm very proud to say that because it's not seen, cuz education and mental development, like, personal development is something you don't see immediately. It cannot happen in one month, it cannot happen in two months, but one year after another, right? Like one day after another. So it's an accumulation of many effort and consistency. So I feel like that had happened in the past five or six years old, six years old of Yindayin and my experience of working here for the past more than five years. Yeah. So, I don't know if I answered your question, but yeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=1181.0,1292.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/24","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Tenzin Tsetan Choklay: So now can you kind of briefly run me through your programs, like what you do here? Like, I mean, what kind of services that you provide to the Tibetan community? Can you tell me a little bit about that?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=1292.0,1306.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/25","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rinchen Dolma: So our services are not limited to Tibetan, but obviously we are, you know, our goal like first, you know, when we think about who we want to serve is obviously our own people. That's our network and our connection because most of us are Tibetan. The services that we have, we have services for children as young as one year old to college students. So what that means is we have different programs for different age group. So from age one to three, for example, we have something called global playroom that we started during the pandemic. So we teach this young children Tibetan language virtually. So our children are actually joining from across the states. So it was really rewarding. I personally, myself, I teach that class. So we meet once a week and then basically, I mean, I, we don't teach them how to write and read, and that's not their age, the developmental age yet, but we learn communication and we learn like Tibetan language through story reading, singing, and projects.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=1306.0,1383.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/26","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rinchen Dolma: So before pandemic that's, what I would say some of the silver lining is like, we never thought that we could actually teach kids as young as this age group, virtually. I have never thought about that, but now that I see, like I've been running that program for the past almost like two years and it's possible, you know. And then our, in between we have classes like, weekend classes for all the age level, and then we teach Tibetan, math, and we also focus a lot on social, emotional and ethical learning of children. So SEE learning, that is abbreviated, and which is incorporated in all the classes. So social, emotional learning is an essential, characteristic or, what is a special characteristic of Yindayin education. And then we also teach Mandarin Chinese, then math and English.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=1383.0,1448.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/27","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rinchen Dolma: And then for high school students, we have something called young leaders program. So our students, they work together and we meet every Friday and then we organize leadership workshops, we invite guest speakers. We also collaborate with other partners and then make events and bring like guest speakers here in our space. Or we also host like virtual events. So in that way, students are meeting every week here and discussing on different ideas. And sometimes we also have field trips and all of that. So the goal is for them to form a community and, you know, build friendship and like, you know, develop their personal, like leadership skills. Yeah, so the college prep is for high school students. So in that class we teach, prepare them for college in every way, like, for example, we have college prep where we teach SATs, math and reading and comprehension and all of that. And we also have college readiness program where students are guided through the whole process of application until they submit. So that means like multiple workshops and their personal essay and things like that. So, yeah so our service, our services range from like the youngest one to the oldest, but that's like a gist of what we have right now. Yeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=1448.0,1545.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/28","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Tenzin Tsetan Choklay: Yeah. You tell, talked a little bit about this already, but I just wanted to understand a little bit about how the pandemic affected your work. I mean, at some point, did you have to shut down the programs? What happened? Like, I mean, what was it like for you guys?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=1545.0,1564.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/29","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rinchen Dolma: So, it's not there anymore, but the last day of when we were here was [unclear] there, so I think I [unclear] that. So the last day when we were in this space was on March 8th 2020, that was the last day. So we were actually kind of preparing even before New York City was preparing for the pandemic to be affecting, like, to that extent. When it was affecting China, so we kind of thought that it's gonna, like, it [unclear] come here anytime, so we were preparing online already. Like at the time there was not Zoom, but we were already preparing homework through like Google Drives. And like, we were sending like homework through that. So teachers were already trained at the moment at, at the time. So when the pandemic hit, I think like two weeks after, no actually one week after we went online, that was the time, you know, schools in New York City and especially the public schools were slowly shutting down and then they were moving to online.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=1564.0,1636.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/30","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rinchen Dolma: So in that way, we really didn't close our program, not even from one day. So we, we were running for the whole time when the pandemic hit, like we like immediately switched to virtual. So pandemic has, I would say changed a lot of things in education, not just here at Yindayin, but like globally, right? And I was a student at the time in graduate school. So it was really difficult in many ways, but for us, like our team is always looking for creative way of approaching education. And we always say, you know, experiential learning and, you know, real life challenges is something that we always draw inspiration when we practice, or educate our children. So pandemic presented this challenge, and then a lot of new ideas actually came because of that challenges.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=1636.0,1695.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/31","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rinchen Dolma: So I would say despite the challenges that we face, obviously we had to close our center. We couldn't see our students in person, you know, all the major challenges that everyone face. But some of the, I would say blessing in disguise that we got out of this pandemic was, you know, we came up with new programs, like we actually ran the first ever summer, virtual summer camp throughout like, United States. So our students actually joined from more than 15 states. And then we also had students from Canada. So it went really successful. I would say I was really proud and we put months and months in preparation because that time students were all stuck at home. So you wanted to make the best out of this opportunity for the kids to have like, you know, connection, build social relations with other kids, Tibetan kids who are living in the other side of the country or the world.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=1695.0,1758.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/32","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rinchen Dolma: So that summer camp went really well. And then following year, we also had virtual summer camp as well. And then we, I was talking about the global playroom was one of the new programs that came up and we were able to collaborate with so many organizations because now it doesn't have to be in the space. So we could do anything and we could reach out to so many people. So we had guest speakers from like Korea. We had guest speakers from India. We had like, you know, so it was really powerful in that way. So I felt like the pandemic in many ways connected us with other people more than before, cuz we always said like, cuz people in other states they always ask like, are you guys thinking of opening a new Yindayin in our state and all of that, but like pandemic kind of forced us to reach out to everyone. And then our services was, reach to all the, at least, in the United States everywhere, and also like in India, we had actually students who joined in our global playroom from India, Europe, and all of that as well. Yeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=1758.0,1831.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/33","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Tenzin Tsetan Choklay: So I just wanna step back a little bit, I mean, I should have asked this question at the beginning. Rinchen, can you please, I mean like from what you were saying now, now it seems like you're doing so much, but then I realize this is not a full time job for you. You only doing it like during your spare time, right? So can you please, you know, introduce yourself and what you, what you're doing right now, I mean, these days. You can start with your, my name is like, your name—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=1831.0,1863.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/34","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rinchen Dolma: Yeah, so my name is Rinchen. As I said, I was born in Tibet. I left Tibet when I was 10 years old and then I spent eight years in India and then I studied in Norway in one of the UWCs [United World Colleges] for two years. And after that, I was very privileged to get scholarships to study in one of the school, I mean like one of the universities in, in the U.S., which is in North Carolina, Duke University. So I finished my Bachelor's degree with a degree in international comparative studies and documentary studies. So after I finished my undergrad, I work, you know, I came to New York and I found about Yindayin. So that was the time that I started working here. So in the next four years I was working here for most, most of the time.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=1863.0,1927.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/35","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rinchen Dolma: And then after that, I decided to go back to school to pursue a graduate school Master's degree. And then I graduated this year in May 2021 with a degree in international comparative education. Yeah, so that's me. And so Yindayin holds a very special place in me. And I think it's because I spend most of my time, like I would say like my young adult times out of Tibetan community for many years and that was the time I used to actually reflect on my experience in India, for example, in India, you know, we were sheltered in a very secluded Tibetan community where I don't remember interacting with Indians that much, you know, in Tibetan boarding schools. And, and that was the time that I kind of started to think, what does that mean? And then when I got out of Tibet, like this cocoon of, you know, Tibetan community where I could speak Tibetan and like, you know, everything is kind of given.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=1927.0,2009.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/36","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rinchen Dolma: And then when I came to the west, I started to question and reflect on my own cultural identity. And I feel like I started to study more what that meant. And it meant so much. And I felt like, oh my gosh, I was so lucky to have so many mentors and supporters and educators who plant this seed of love for Tibetan as language, because I know that it's not the same experience for many of my peers. Because a lot of schools they teach Tibetan in the traditional way, in a very monastic kind of education way. So children tend to lose interest in learning the language from a very early age. But for me, I met some really like influential Tibetan teachers in my life. So even in Norway, I had the opportunity to study Tibetan as a self-taught literature class for one of my programs.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=2009.0,2075.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/37","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rinchen Dolma: And I studied Tibetan and then I felt like I studied so much better than when I was in India. You know, that was the time that I was initiating myself. It was not, you know, imposed by the system. So, and then even in college, I was a Tibetan TA, so we had Tibetan language as a language course at Duke and that time I was also TA-ing. So I started teaching Tibetan from a very, like early on, and from those experiences and coming to New York, then I kind of felt like, oh yeah, it was like, we need to approach Tibetan language from, from a different angle. Like we, we kind of have to update like our teaching methods and then the materials, how we interact with the materials and the resources, because oftentimes there's a gap and disconnect, and that is not like known in many households and families because a lot of these families, they personally, haven't been to school, a lot of them.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=2075.0,2141.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/38","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rinchen Dolma: And then a lot of them didn't even get to learn Tibetan in many ways. So I think it's a really tricky, like parents, as much as they want their kids to learn about Tibetan culture and Tibetan, but we don't really have appropriate educators and appropriate resources that can actually pass on that value and treasure. So I thought like we, like we as young, younger generation and at the time myself, like I thought, like I could do something because I feel like there's a way to sort of change how we see Tibetan language from this like boring and hard and like textual to something that can make kids excited, fun. And then when they think about learning Tibetan, they feel like, oh my gosh, I want to learn Tibetan. And it's so fun, right? Instead of like, oh my gosh, I need to learn this.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=2141.0,2196.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/39","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rinchen Dolma: And my parents told me you learn this, right? So, yeah, so that's how I started to work here. And right now I am a full time educator. I'm a consultant in one of the education companies in New York, but I dedicate all of my free time for Yindayin, that is from designing curriculum to leading the young leaders program or educating and teaching. So like all of us, all of my colleagues, like we wear different hats, right? Like we are everything from, you know, like running this organization. So yeah, that's how we are working and we are trying to find our free time to meet and then run the program. So we have story time. Yeah, like one of the highlights of our pandemic is like, until now we actually read more than 300 stories in both English and Tibetan.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=2196.0,2257.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/40","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rinchen Dolma: So we have had like a bilingual story time for the past two years. And it's amazing just to see how, you know, kids are learning. And we got like, reviews and feedback from like Switzerland. They're like, oh my gosh, my kids love your program. Like they're watching this every day during the dinner time and, which is great cuz as all this resources are available for all of this, whoever, it doesn't matter where you are, so it's archived there. So we wanted to continue that. And for that, like we also need to, you know, balance, right? So we're trying to squeeze whatever free time we have into this work. And you know, so it's an, it's an ongoing project. But yeah, so pandemic made it harder, but it also made it happen. So a lot new, a lot more new ideas were born out of the pandemic. Yeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=2257.0,2315.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/41","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Tenzin Tsetan Choklay: Right. So my next question is there's been a number of reports coming out of Tibet in the recent days about how Tibetan language activists and teachers are being incarcerated in Tibet. And then a few days ago, has been one report, which says that up to 80% of Tibetan children are being forcibly sent to Chinese indoctrination schools where the medium of language is primarily Mandarin. It seems like the Chinese government is putting in a lot of effort to deliberately eradicate the use of our language. So my question is, I mean, what do you feel when you hear such news from Tibet?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=2315.0,2365.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/42","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Tenzin Tsetan Choklay: Or like, I mean, have you like heard about these recent reports?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=2365.0,2369.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/43","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rinchen Dolma: Mm-hmm. Yes. I actually read everything and I actually took a lot of classes about bilingual education and what are the benefits of actually like, you know, teaching kids in their own mother tongue, which is a really sad story. I mean, it's not a story, it's a sad reality that now the policy is kind of reversing back into how like in, in many ways it is, because language is a powerful tool for someone to, it's actually a gateway for someone to see who they are because language is the gateway to the culture, to the history of their heritage and to what happened, right? Like, so through language we, we learn about ourselves and now that this kind of policies are putting into places, which is really detrimental and sad because this is the way to get rid of our identity. And this is the, I would say active way, like deliberate way of assimilation. So once you are forced to learn in the dominant language, then that means you are already assimilated in that system. So the current situation in Tibetan schools, especially changing the policy regarding the bilingual education is a very sad reality. And it is, I feel like it is intentional and, you know, it's not like, it just, it's not like, oh, it came in one night. It's been a process for the past many years. So now it's happening and it is like visual and we can see it. Yeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=2369.0,2515.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/44","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Tenzin Tsetan Choklay: And there's a, so now like coming back to Queens, there's a substantial number of Tibetans who've made Queens their home in America, right? And there's a community here. As someone who lives in Queens yourself, can you tell us what it is like being here and what do you think have drawn Tibetans to choose to live in this particular place? This borough of Queens.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=2515.0,2543.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/45","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rinchen Dolma: I personally really love this neighborhood for so many reasons. One reason is you, you know how diverse it is, right? You can pretty much find like anything in this community, right? In Queens, you can find like so many communities coming from so many different backgrounds, right? Whether that be religion, whether that be culture, whether that be language, and everyone is kind of coexisting each other. So right now Yindayin is located on 90th street. And then our neighborhood is like Latino, like mostly Spanish speaking neighborhood. And once you go down a little bit, then it's going to be Jackson Heights where, you know, south Asians are predominantly located and us Tibetans too. And I think Tibetans are located in this area is also because of the cultural and language proximity that we share with our south Asian brothers and sisters because a lot of Tibetans are coming from India.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=2543.0,2610.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/46","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rinchen Dolma: So obviously they already are aware and they already are connected to the, the culture that we share here in Queens. And I think it's easier in terms of navigating this new country when you already know like the language and the culture of your neighborhood. And then we also have like Thai neighborhood, and then there's like Chinese neighborhood. So it's, it's really fascinating for me to just like, see and learn so much from each other. And it's just like how we are existing, the coexistence that we I see in Queens is amazing. So that's why personally for me, I love this borough a lot.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=2610.0,2657.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/47","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Tenzin Tsetan Choklay: Mm-hmm. And then my next question is a little personal because I am someone who was, I mean, born in India to Tibetan refugee parents and now my parents are no more and I have moved to the U.S. like some more than 10 years ago. And for me, I mean, for most of my life, I have been preoccupied by the idea of finding a place to call home. And this is not just at a personal level, but even in my professional work, in the films that I've made, it's always been about finding a home. So I just, I mean, wonder, like, I mean, you've made a long journey, you know, since 10 years old. Do you feel like you've found a home here?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=2657.0,2705.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/48","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rinchen Dolma: That is, that is a very interesting question. The, when I was little, I always thought home is a physical place, which it was because when I think about home, when I was little, it was the physical space where my parents were, or my family was located. But as I grew older, especially when I moved around a lot, I kind of started to, like, I used to think about that question a lot. And I kind of felt, or I started to feel home is, is actually where your heart is. It sounds like cliche, but I feel like where you feel belong, where you feel belonged, I feel like that's where I call home. And right now I, out of anywhere, I feel like Queens is where I would say this is my home because I really feel comfortable, and I feel comfortable and I feel like I'm visible.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=2705.0,2770.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/49","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rinchen Dolma: And I, it's okay to be who I am. There's no one who's telling me that you have to be this, or like you have to be in the mainstream kind of culture, to be someone you are not. But that, I think that's the beauty of Queens specific, but New York City in general is like, you know, you can actually be whatever you want. Like nobody is even, you are, even if you are traveling on trains in pajamas, nobody would say like, this is wrong. You have to, you know, dress up. So I would say my sense of home right now, obviously there's still that part like physical space where I call home, that's where my parents are, but I think it is, it is also this feeling, right? Like that, your sense of belongingness. And that's what I call home. Yeah. And that is not bounded to territory or space or time. It's just in my own mind.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=2770.0,2841.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/50","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Tenzin Tsetan Choklay: So we are almost towards the end, so speaking about language again, in order for language to thrive, I feel like there needs to be practical use for it. The more people use it in their day to day life, the better the chances of its survival. So in a place like Queens, you have the Tibetan community center, and then there is Jackson Heights where there are about 20 Tibetan restaurants and businesses. Do you think these spaces contribute to the promotion and preservation of our Tibetan language?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=2841.0,2902.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/51","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rinchen Dolma: Oh, definitely. And I think that is so important. That's why I was always talking about community, sense of belongingness, right? Like where you feel that your people are. It's like sometimes you are in spaces where you feel like you have to explain so much about yourself and who you are and where you're from, and then you kind of get exhausted and it's such a relief to come to a place where you feel like you don't have to say anything, but everything is inside, right? Like, I think that is the sense of community that I'm talking about. Like, you know, everyone knows about each other and kind of like the backgrounds and stories.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=2902.0,2923.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/52","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rinchen Dolma: And we have a shared history. So that's how people connect. And definitely having spaces like restaurants where people gather and like, you know, people enjoy the, what is that? Not just the food, but the stories behind those food, right? Like, and then who are making it, and then all of that is, I think is connection. Sometimes we take our students like to the restaurants, just to like, you know, see what are the artifacts in the restaurants. Like, you know, why they put that, right? There are certain reasons why the, even the design and the decorations, like it resembles the history and the story of that particular culture. So subtle things like that. And then [unclear] community halls, community center where people can actually get together and celebrate important dates, and which I think is very active in our Tibetan community. People are, you know, gathering, like not during the pandemic, but I feel like we celebrate our culture and we are pretty proud of our culture. So I feel like that's how we are connecting and preserving our language and culture. So definitely I feel it's really important to have those spaces.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=2923.0,3001.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/53","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Tenzin Tsetan Choklay: Now, like one of the last questions I have, what do you think of the term Asian American? Is that something you are able to relate to? Like a lot of, a lot of Asian Americans, like they complain that, you know, we are not just, you know, there's no, there's no one kind of Asian American. I mean, we are from, I mean, Asia is such a huge place and then there's so many different cultures. And then if you are put together in one little, I mean, bracket Asian American, it's a little, it becomes a little sort of, I don't know, tricky to think about it. So I just wanted to understand, I wonder, like, what do you think about it?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=3001.0,3048.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/54","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rinchen Dolma: I actually had a lot of discussions about that, especially during the pandemic. And for me personally, it is so, sometimes that's like, I cannot locate myself in certain things is, I've been a stateless refugee for the whole, all of my, like, life until like recently. So it's like, I really never felt like I belong to a territory. Obviously I am Tibetan and I am from Tibet. But then like when you look to the larger world map, it's under China, you know what I mean? Like, but then I never felt Chinese either. So in college, my Chinese friends they always say like, oh, why don't you say you are Chinese? Because I think from their perspective, it is absolutely reasonable that like, because you know, Tibet is under China so that's why you have to, you know, what I said, represent yourself as Chinese. But it's not about that. It's, it's not about like, I mean, I don't hold a Chinese passport. Maybe that's like one of the reasons, but it's not about the nationality or the citizenship of a country that you hold. In my case, like, I don't. But I think like, people's way of identifying themselves is very, sometimes it's limiting and sometimes it's—okay, actually, I'm gonna, I'm going to answer this question one more time. Let me think.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=3048.0,3167.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/55","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rinchen Dolma: That question, I actually get that question pretty often, like what, like, oh, at work my company was doing something that was related to that. And then, and then I was like, oh, since I was the only Asian in the crowd and they were like looking at me and like, we're so sorry to hear about all this. And I'm like, oh my gosh, do I actually represent the community cuz as an individual who had been like stateless for the entire life, I sometimes do not feel or position myself in many ways. And especially as an immigrant coming to this country, what does it mean to be an Asian American is something that I still need to explore a bit more. And I do not know if we, like as Tibetans, I think sometimes like the Tibetan-ness that we always like, we never—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=3167.0,3231.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/56","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rinchen Dolma: I don't know, I never introduced myself as Asian for example. So that was something like, I started to think about like why I always say I'm Tibetan, but I never say I'm Asian. So just like how you said Asian is very, like the term Asian can be very diverse. Like what do you mean, there're central Asians, there're south Asians, there're Southeast Asians, there're east Asians. And we Tibetans, I don't know which category we fall into. But that's why it was a tricky question when like everyone was talking about Asian American, not saying the sufferings and challenges that, you know, the community went through was, you know, not easy. But that was a question that I was also asking too, like Asian community is very diverse and there's, I don't know if it's enough to just say like Asian Americans. Yeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=3231.0,3298.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/57","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Tenzin Tsetan Choklay: So my last question, I just wanna go back to your childhood. I don't know how much you remember, cuz you said you were 10 years old when you left Tibet. So can you think of a particular memory from your childhood in Tibet? And tell us a little bit about that.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=3298.0,3320.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/58","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Tenzin Tsetan Choklay: It can be anything that you remember from your early childhood in Tibet. [pause]","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=3320.0,3343.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/59","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Tenzin Tsetan Choklay: Yeah, you can think about it. I mean, I'm friends with your brother and your brother is a great storyteller, and one of the stories that he told me, like something so visual and it's still, I mean it's, it has still stayed with me. I remember like he visited Tibet. I don't know if you were there when he visited Tibet after many years. And I think the, I think, I mean, your family members were trying to hide him before he sees his grandmother because they thought like, if she sees him all of a sudden she would have a heart attack. So as soon as he arrived, he had to hide. And then he described like how your grandmother was, you know, walking forward, dragging her, you know, clothes on the floor. Yeah. It was quite an amazing story.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=3343.0,3391.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/60","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rinchen Dolma: Yeah, actually I remember when my brother came, so it was a surprise for all of us and I think, I think I was like eight years old or seven years old at the time. I remember that event so visually. It's so clear was, I went home on that weekend and my mom sent like potatoes or something. I think that was like during the harvesting time or something. And I was so tired cuz you have to walk for like an hour to get from my school to my home. And then, we actually have a home in our school, so when I came back to school, then I saw someone in the window and I thought it was one of my other brother's friends. But then as soon as I entered the house, everyone just like, they stared at me. Nobody was saying anything, but they were just like looking at me as if like something happened, but I didn't pay attention.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=3391.0,3456.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/61","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rinchen Dolma: So I just like went inside and then I, you know, unloaded my bag and I, you know, came to the living room and then still people are looking at my face. And my older brother, my other brother, he was like, he called my name and it's your brother. And I'm like, what? Wait, I thought they were joking cuz I've never seen my brother in my life. And then it was such a, yeah, it was like shocking surprise. And then my other brother told me to sit next to him, that stranger, and then I was like, no, I'm not, I'm not going to sit next to him. And then he was mad and he was like, scolding me. And I think I cried on that [laughs], yeah so I remember that was when he like showed up without anyone's knowledge. Yeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=3456.0,3511.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/62","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Tenzin Tsetan Choklay: Yeah. All right. Thank you so much. So yeah, it's been a wonderful interview. Thank you so much.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=3511.0,3519.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141/transcript/62010/annotation/63","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rinchen Dolma: You're welcome. Thank you.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/79185/file/167141#t=3519.0,3529.11674"}]}]}]}